decodog2

What tonal settings (bass, treble, DSP Surround Sound settings) do you have setup on your Bose DSP in the Q7 to get the best sound. So far I have not been real impressed with the sound quality out of this system. It sounds somewhat muffeled. Maybe its because I am going from a smaller vehicle (allroad) to a bigger vehicle. The Bose in my allroad always sounded great.

JDoe62

For me, I like the surround front with about 75% treble and 75% base. I normally listen to Electronic chill/lounge CD's or Satellite...

I also have the Bose system in my Mercedes SL and it sounds MUCH better in the Q7. I'm definately NOT a Bose fan though...and quite disapointed it's not a Mark Levinson system..

Oh well, I guess you can't expect a lot from German cars' audio system and should be lucky we have music at all!! ...and for that matter cup holders!

enlo

My experience with just about any speakers is that you need to give them time to break in. The suspension on the speakers and the spider are mechanical, moving components that typically are overly stiff out of the box. My home speakers needed probably 100 hours of break-in before they sounded like they sounded at the hi-fi shop. Oh, and before they got better, they actually sounded worse for a while.

My expereince with the Audi Bose system is that it can sound muffled initially. Give it time, but if you're anxious, try this for the short term- turn DOWN both bass and treble 25%. Often, the sound being muffled is a product of the midrange being obscured. Since there's no direct way to turn up the midrange, the only viable alternative is to turn down bass and treble, which nearly accomplishes the same goal.

DSP settings, I have found, seem to be HIGHLY dependant on what I'm listening to. Some material sounds best in regular stereo, and some does sound nicer with DSP wizardry. But remember, go easy on the DSP, because it's creating what's not really in the program material, thus synthesizing it. A heavy hand can lead to phasey-ness (anyone who's owned a Shure V15 cartridge and used the Shure test records will know-). The best way I can describe phasey-ness is to say that the sound has a "diffuse and directionless quality" that really isn't anchored to anything or anywhere. That can be utterly annoying.

But in truth, Bose isn't great. If you don't know good sound from mediocre, Bose will sound better than the average stock radio. But if you know good sound, have a real good system at home, well, Bose is still Bose, and ain't nothin' gonna change that. That's why Audi offers the B&O system on the A8. Personally, I would like to see a Linn system offered across the board, but Linn have only dabbled in car stereo.

What's interesting, at least for me, is that the so called 'quality' sound systems in cars is offered in a manner that is really contrary to the way people looking for a quality home system is offered. There is no auditioning, no "I like speaker A, but with amp from company B" You, the car buyer, are being dictated to.

Volvo had a nasty little thing going several years back. Stock, the car ausio system was all bass- thump, thump, thump. Maybe some folk like that, but to me, that ain't music. Yet, there was seemingly little adjustability until searching the internet revealed there are 'hidden menus' on the head unit which can quite nicely tame the thump (mid-bass from the factory was set unrealistically high). The hidden menus is nowhere revealed in the owners manual, and a call to Volvo revealed that they would not disclose the hidden menu data because it was deemed a "techician level" service. and yet, someone, who had no clue what good sound sounds like, decided for most buyers what the system should sound like.

I guess I just miss the old days when you could go to a hi-fi shop (Sparkomatic from K-Mart doesn't qualify), get a great head unit, buy a fine amp, sweat getting terrific speakers, and install them yourself, needing little more that basic skills. I once installed a killer system, consisting of a Nakamichi head unit, Kenwood front and rear amps (I can't recall the speakers- but there were 2 6x9 two-ways in the rear and 2 6.5" 2 ways up front). Still ranks as the best in-car audio system I ever heard

decodog2

Wow, thanks for this great information. What you said makes a lot of sense. Although getting much better, I think automakers still underestimate the demand for great sounding audio systems in new vehicles. Believe it or not, the best manufacturer's sound system I ever had was in my '97 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer. It was a 8-speaker JBL system and it just had very clear and well-separated sound. I recall reading in auto mag a couple of years ago where they stated that Ford had gotten away from producing the great sounding stereos of the late 90's. Makes you wonder why.