|everso!|

i am someone who is *very* into my music. i am in a band and have a gigantic record collection (over 800 CDs and 200 vinyl). i place great emphasis on fidelity of sound. i am *extremely* picky about stereos and their sound.

i find the Bose system in my TT to be more than adequate. I personally have never been a fan of crusty subwoofer set-ups. I'm not into the whole "bumping" down the boulevards. I've also heard after-market stereos and the sound quality is not nearly as good in most of them as they are in the Bose system......

i mean, realistically, how many of you actually "BUMP" down the streets?? i play my CDs loud and find the Bose to be quite superb.

what do you people not like about it?

4SFEDTT

I don't hate it...but i think it's lacking more "highs" from the tweeters.

AgS4

seriously though,, for me it's the lack of frequency responce under 60hz and over 7.5khz at least for rock, you lose a lot of the lead guitar. IMHO of course

dave

aktif8

i used to work at circuit city.. i had a sick system in my a4.. i think the bose is wretched.

if you listen to any sort of electronic music, you need a system that can handle extreme dynamic range...and the bose sucks for this.

any sort of lowlow bass, and mine fuzzes like crazy, and the highs just sound weak, yet jacked up. i'm not a fan.

heh.. there's a reason we used to call the brand "blows"

gtt

I like mine. Compared to the AM radio's we used to have it's really quite wonderful.

cedricl

I'm a sound engineer and I find it more than adequate for a car system. There are so many other things like wind noise, motor noise, and tire noise that one can never expect the stock car system to sound like your home system. One has to turn the system up so loud to overcome the normal car noises that you're subjecting your system to beyond normal levels. If you could completely sound proof the car you'd find that the stock system is as good or better than any other stock system in any other car. My mom has the Lexus with the Mark Levinson system and it's not much better than ours. Same with my dad's Range Rover system.

msauve

they tend to tailor their systems to what "sounds good" to most people (i.e. boost upper base and treble a bit), rather than strive for accuracy. They also use a questionable center speaker to "improve" the soundstage.

Bose basically tries to use electronics to allow cheap drivers to produce reasonable sound, but the price certainly doesn't reflect that.

RoberTT-WWCD

Yeah, I still miss my 8-track :-)

Cargui

I'm not anti-Bose. But I also can't stand them. I suppose the part I really can't stand is paying an extra $1,100 to take a mediocre sound system and make it mediore+. And the + is often just one or two extra speakers (maybe a weak sub), a 6-CD changer, and a few more watts from the amp.

When I was researching a home theater about 1.5 years ago, I learned dozens of technical reasons why Bose isn't worth the money and not a premium quality speaker--regardless of the cost. But your ears are the best judge. If you love them, revel in it and be glad you don't feel compelled to spend big $$$ on an upgrade.

My S4 has the Bose premium system. My wife's RX300 has the standard sound system (it uses unbranded Pioneer speakers). Hers sounds considerably better than mine. But I'm a picky audiophile wannabe, so don't take my word for it. Again, your ears are the authority.

But an interesting case-in-point is my wife. She is relatively insensitive to audio quality. She drove the 350Z I had for the weekend (with the upgraded Bose sound system with 10" sub directly behind the driver's seat). She got back and said, "man, that stereo stinks." I had the bass at it's maximum setting the entire weekend and *couldn't tell* it had a sub. But the Phoenix Gold sub with dedicated 50 watt amp that was in my S4 (uninstalled to sell the vehicle) would raise the hair on the back of your neck at 60% bass. That was $480 installed. Think of what you could do to a smaller vehicle like a TT for only $1,000-1,250.

No, not the bump-down-the-street routine. I hate that bass pimp crap (with all due respect to the thump lovers who call the TT forum home). But clarity. Soundstage. Classical, techno, or jazz, it would sound better than most of us have ever heard. I can't wait to do it to my forthcoming TTC. It will probably be my first upgrade. I truly wish Bose made good enough speakers that I could put that first grand or so into the suspension and a chip.

I also wish I wasn't tortured by this discerning ear for better-than-Bose sound. It's all relative. As Johnrg said, it's better than AM. Likewise, relative to MB Quart and other premium car speaker brands, Bose doesn't fare well.

For more testimonials, search for posts by andrew.tt or Jeff Bipes.

Enjoy your system, whichever route you take.

Cargui

Quattrings

Sounds very good for stock. Better than 90% of the cars out there.