There is something that I've noticed in the stock ['05] Bose sound system and I'm wondering if others have noticed.

The anomaly is: Reaching the level volume 20 seems to increase the amount of high note reproduction even after you decrease the volume.

Notwithstanding the total lack of fidelity of this POS system - it seems to me that if you turn the volume level to 20 and above, there seems to be either a change in the amount of high frequency being processed, or that the volume of the tweeters have increased well beyond the volume indication - that does not have anything to do with the volume level itself. To clarify, there is much higher note reproduction once you hit the level 20 volume even after you decrease the volume. If you power down the radio and turn it back on, high-level reproduction seems to have faded out until you again turn the volume level to 20 again. So in this case, the level volume of 20 seems to trigger something that I can only surmise as being in relation to the active equalization. But what I cannot understand is that this “trigger” is present at all volume levels and then disappears if the radio is powered down - raising the volume level to 20 repeats the above.

Had anyone else noticed this and if so is the trigger the same..? If you need further clarification let me know.

I have to say that this system is by far the worst factory system I've ever heard - especially aggravating in a $40K car.

 

all i have to say its better then the Acura TLs sound system without a doubt

 

Sound quailty is very subjective - most cannot even tell tell difference if blind-folded between a $1000 system and a $10,000 system other then how loud it can play. Not saying your wrong, it's just subjective...

 

Sort of on topic...

But how loud have some of you gone with the '05 Bose system? And has anyone blown speakers yet? If so, at what volume?

 

I can't go above 14 on most of my music w/out it being excessively loud to the point of being uncomfortable.

 

RLampke - I am going to go try this, as I am interested to hear what you're describing. My real day job involves audio engineering so this sort of thing is very interesting to me. Before I go check it out, is what you're saying that when you hit 20 on the volume scale, the boost in the high frequencies increases? Do you have any idea what frequencies are affected (a range of say 150Hz+ or mich higher?).

LuXXXz - RLampke is right, sound is subjective. Many people are drawn to Bose because of the boomy and indistinct bass. Certain types of music tend to sound "better" with louder less accurate bass because it's often poorly recorded. Generally the human ear is drawn more to a flat frequency response, which the G's Bose system is woefully unable to reproduce. Like RLampke I think the Bose in our G's is one of the worst stock systems in a 30K+ car I've ever heard. The TL system is, imo, vastly superior, and not even for it's positional channel qualities. It just has much less "boomy" but much more accurate bass response, and unlike the Bose system it actually has a midrange.

 

picus112
why would i want a car audio system that sounds good without bass????

 

w/out proper equipment, I'd say the frequency boost is like 1000 Hz and >. Again I'm not sure if the sine is gaining on the mid-high side, or the actual volume to the tweeters is increasing also. Again I do not understand the level volume 20 trigger and why the trigger stays at all volumes once this is invoked - but disappears if the radio is turned off.

Is that clearer...?

 

I have exact same problem in my 05 sedan with Bose.

 

Yes bass is important but that's not what we are getting at - it's the control, sound stage and clarity at all volumes that is the key. This is only understandable if you are an audiophile. For instance, the TL system has a linear volume **** which is the correct way of metering a system's volume. The Bose system is clearly biased on the low level side of the volume spectrum and it way over-boosted.

 

I didn't say it doesn't have bass, quite the contrary - it can be as boomy as our system if you choose to add db to the bass. What it does have is much more accurate bass response when stock, as in, the frequency response is much smoother below say, 50Hz. Here is an example, take it for what it's worth.

Sit in a G and put in a CD with heavy guitar driven basslines, standup bass in particular - listen to the guy/girl plucking the strings quickly and it sounds like a solid hum of bass. There is no distinction between plucks. Listen to it in the TL and the bass is less pronounced, but you can actually hear the player hitting the strings. The reason for this is between 30-60Hz our systems are +5-10db, and the TL's is +/- 2-3. What that means is any sound in that frequency is boosted 5-10db in our cars, which produces LOUD but very inaccurate bass. In the TL it will sound quieter, but more accurate. And the only reason it sounds quieter is that we've become accustomed to the boomy Bose bass. Moving from a TL to a G the G's bass would sound too loud, and muddy. When you plot a systems freq response you want to see a relatively flat "curve", instead of one with lot of peaks and valleys. I've plotted our cars stock system, it looks sort of like this:



(sorry for the lame paint skills)

It had a lot more peaks and valleys, but generally there is a +8-10db till 75Hz, then the response is like -5db till 150 where it goes way up again.

For something like rap/hip hop or anything with "thump" bass, our cars sound ok, because the bass is artifically inflated and there is almost no midrange to compete with it. The bass doesn't need to be accurate, just loud.

It's the same reason you will see aftermarket systems with 2+ 8 inch subs rather than one 15 inch sub. Smaller woofers are inherently more accurate, so while 2 8" subs might not be as boomy, or reach below ~28Hz, they will generally be more accurate than one 15" sub. That is unless you just want it loud, in which case you might as well put Bass +10 in your car and thump your way down Rodeo.

I'm not trying to convince you it's a bad system. If you like it, it's a good system - it's just not considered "accurate".

 

RLampke - I'm going to go try it right now.

 

Well I wasn't down there long and I didn't bring an spl meter or anything (my wife needs the car), but I think what you're hearing is a bump in the tweeter volume once you hit 20. My only guess is it's either not intended, or if it is it's to offset the almost painfully loud bass when you get that high. The Bose system is really bottom and top heavy, so maybe they are purposely adding volume to the tweeters to compensate for the "bass module"? To clarify, I don't think what we're hearing is the equalization being boosted past 1000Hz. I think it's a more heavy-handed approach where the entire tweeter is boosted, similar to boosting your center channel to increase dialogue volume in a HT or something.

I did notice that after I turned the volume down below 20 the tweeters seemed to go back to normal, though. So I wasn't able to reproduce the problem you're having with them remaining boosted until you turn the stereo off.

one more edit to comment how bad that stock system is past ~17 or so. uhg. :/

 

Hmm - on my system the change is there after this trigger at all volume levels but it's not very obvious. Play something that is very crisp and try it again. If it's just mine that's ont thing, but I'm betting that it's not.

Again listen closely.

 

This is true about the '05. I have also noticed it and always thought it was just in my car. But now I see it is a BOSE thing. Nevertheless, the car sounds much better at 20+. It's almost as if it is another system in the car.