Studio on Wheels - Sound Impressions
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I was referring to the Bose HT systems and not the SOW. The stock system is fine for me. I'm tired of spending huge amounts of money for car audio. The SOW's is not horrible by any means and it's actually better than "most" OEM systems. I think I'm more disappointed in their highs than their lows.
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From: St. Paul, MN
Originally Posted by Hattrick
Not sure if you were referring to the SOW here or Bose in general, but in any case I wonder if there are production quality issues/differences with the SOW. I'm saying this because I have measured the frequency response of the SOW with an RTA and with everything set to 0, it does go down all the way to 20Hz and actually with some gain starting 80-100Hz and below. Highs start to roll off at about 8kHz. Front and rear is different, fronts have more mid bass and the rears have more low end bass. The rears also cannot reproduce anything above 12.5kHz. Based on that the SOW does not lack bass, if it does maybe the woofers are disconnected 
? Having said that I do think the SOW lacks some punch if that's the right word. I seem to think the amps don't have enough instantaneous power to drive the speakers. I'm not a fan of Bose especially their HT systems, but I am completely satisfied with the SOW as an OE system.
? Having said that I do think the SOW lacks some punch if that's the right word. I seem to think the amps don't have enough instantaneous power to drive the speakers. I'm not a fan of Bose especially their HT systems, but I am completely satisfied with the SOW as an OE system.Personally, I am completely satisfied with the SOW system. Two of the CDs I use to test out stereo equipment are two different arrangements of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, one with a little more emphasis on the mid and the highs, and one with a good dynamic range all the way across, and both CDs sound beautiful in the SOW system. I know auditory memory isn't perfect, but there was nothing about the ML system in the IS350 that I tested the same CDs on that stood out as being any better than on the SOW.
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From: Suffolk, LI
Originally Posted by Hattrick
I'm saying this because I have measured the frequency response of the SOW with an RTA and with everything set to 0, it does go down all the way to 20Hz
I listened to one not too long ago and was thoroughly unimpressed, at least not for all the hype. It seemed to lack punch as you stated. Then I got into my bro's 335i, which I previously thought wasn't that great either and realized how much better it was than I initially thought. Great impact and staging in comparison.
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From: Redwood Shores, CA
Originally Posted by 04NismoV35
Was this at +/- 3db? Many drivers/woofers/subs like to hide that they go down to a specified frequency at +/- 6db or even worse. There would be a noticeable difference.
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From: Suffolk, LI
Originally Posted by Hattrick
The interesting part was that I noticed some gain starting at 100Hz and below. 40-80Hz was about +8dB and 20-40Hz was about +14dB. Noise floor was about -40dB. All referenced from 1kHz.
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From: Redwood Shores, CA
Here you go:
Front and rear
Front only
Rear only
One pixel is 1dB. I forgot to note down what level 1kHz was at. The RTA's input gain was set at the same level for all measurements.
The measurement mic was mounted on the driver seat at the height of the head rest.
RTA was a Behringer DSP8024 Ultra Curve Pro
Measurement mic was a Behringer ECM8000
Signal was pink noise track from Sheffield Lab's "My Disc" Autosound 2000 Test Disc
Front and rear
Front only
Rear only
One pixel is 1dB. I forgot to note down what level 1kHz was at. The RTA's input gain was set at the same level for all measurements.
The measurement mic was mounted on the driver seat at the height of the head rest.
RTA was a Behringer DSP8024 Ultra Curve Pro
Measurement mic was a Behringer ECM8000
Signal was pink noise track from Sheffield Lab's "My Disc" Autosound 2000 Test Disc
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From: Redwood Shores, CA
Originally Posted by PiDD
I have been meaning to do this...
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yea i came from a dodge srt4 so the studio on wheels is amazing to me lol, i have been in alot of higher class cars (few days ago was in an s8, and wow was that sound amazing, but the G's sounds great to me)
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From: Redwood Shores, CA
Originally Posted by 04NismoV35
There must be some cancellations or phasing issues perhaps even due to the acoustics or who knows what. What I heard just doesn't seem correlate your findings. Very interesting though. Where was the microphone placed when you measured?
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From: Boston/West Suburbs
Originally Posted by Hattrick
One pixel is 1dB. I forgot to note down what level 1kHz was at. The RTA's input gain was set at the same level for all measurements.
The measurement mic was mounted on the driver seat at the height of the head rest.
The measurement mic was mounted on the driver seat at the height of the head rest.