^ As always John, I love reading your posts and appreciate the fact that you take the time to post on our forum.

 

Deane, which one is you??

 

Because of it's easy access and anonimity, the internet (and usenet before it) has become the bully pulpit for everyone from the village idiot to the rich and famous. Recognizing/acknowledging the wide range in quality/accuracy makes a flame suit unnecessary.

But if you did want to pick one for me, it should have lots of charring and a few bullet holes.

John Feng

 

+1.....heck +10; John has come on this forum and maintained his professionalism despite facing the most scathing remarks about BOSE.

Nuf props to Mr. Feng.

 

*shakes head* Bullet Holes? Who have you pissed off?

 

I've actually spent much more time with the car and the sound system this week and am starting to appreciate it quite a bit more. (Yes, I'm backing off my original assessment, yet I still feel my manhood is intact).

I live in the south side of the Seattle metro area and work in the eastside and sometimes commute to the northside... effectively spending much time on both I-5 and I-405 -- both of which have some really rough (noisy) stretches. This, combined with the already-too-noisy all-season stock tires are probably contributing to the low-end rumble. I think just putting some decent shoes on this ride would get rid of a lot of the noise that's masking the system.

(There's a mile-stretch of test pavement on I-5 just south of Everett that's like heaven... smooooooth and quiet! Supposedly made partially with old recycled tires - why don't they use that everywhere??)

The other night while cruising around Everett, I actually cranked it up and found that it can get a hell of a lot louder than I imagined (I usually do not go for loud, but sometimes it feels appropriate). What's more, the bass followed the rest of the spectrum -- at higher volume, the bass was definitely thumpin' on the XM Rap station I hit. I didn't notice it as much at lower volumes. I'll have to dig out some more CDs with choice music and cruise around a bit more

My wife and I are headed on a 4 hour trek to meet with her family for Christmas during which I hope to be able to relax and do some real critical listening (probably some mellow stuff like Dave Matthews Band and Steely Dan to keep stress down before the fact I'm spending days with the in-laws settles in).

Cheers

 

I know that stretch as I drive it everyday. They are planning on using it throughout the HOV expansion if durability proves out (which it will). In fact, paving contractors and factions in the WSDOT were fighting its usage in the state legislature since it lasts so much longer and reduces the need for patch and repair $$$. That "Test Strip" is just political ***-covering.

 

Hey Feng, since you're part of the team that brings Bose audio systems to the automotive world, I have a question:

I've noticed in almost all cars and road types in general that road noise tends to kill bass/low frequency reproduction. Perhaps there's some cancellation happening. Couldn't Bose employ digital circuitry that actively samples noise in the environment and loops it back in, out of phase to enact some form of noise cancellation such as the type found in those great noise canceling headphones. I gotta believe it's possible, so what is it then? Is it the expense? The technology has to be refined by now since it's been in use in pilot headsets for years now.

BTW, I got some of the acronyms directly from some humorous people at 'The Mountain' a while back. Don't take the flames personal.

On the comment about the system being 'flat'. I have to chime in:

After doing AV work for years and being heavily into myself as a hobby, I constantly hear people use that term, 'flat' as if it were a bad thing. Too many people look for sound characteristic in a system & speakers that are not supposed to be there. Just because a speaker is not pounding your chest with bass or tickling your ears with high doesn't mean that it's no good. The goal of a system/speaker designer is to reproduce the original recording as it was intended, in a flat response curve that does not exaggerate any of the notes or frequencies. Meanwhile everytime someone pulls up next to me in a car blasting his/her radio, the first thing I hear is treble that sounds like someone's rustling tin foil and bass that sounds like someone farted in a tube. Don't get me wrong I like my bass as well, but when you start listening to a wide variety of music the proper way, it becomes a much more enjoyable experience.


Sorry, I tend to be an audio geek sometimes and I've had that one bottled up for while after installing so many systems 'the right way' it gets to you.

 

Good post and points. As one gets older (myself included), listener "fatigue" becomes much more important. However, the lack of transparency and "fire" is what has turned me off of the BOSE systems I have heard. I just have not had that "The Hi-Fi gear has dissappeared" experience with their stuff (home or otherwise). Incredibly difficult to do in an auto environment even sitting still. Being "flat" is desirable, but phase, focus, transient response, and spacial imaging is where the magic is. Lose any of those and the whole thing falls apart.

 

I shed a single tear, I'm finally understood! lol

I agree completely, when you have all the right attributes listening can be quite gripping and can make you appreciate music all over again. You're right I haven't gotten that from Bose in general in home or car either. As a matter of fact I haven't even heard the new system. I don't even have high expectations, but I had to comment on the perceptions I'm seeing here.

 

Re. Feng

Fact: Here's the results of the SOW survey on this site as of this morning.
Less than 50% are satisfied with the SOW and the single biggest complaint is it needs more bass.

Excellent - Love it! 39 46.43%
Very Good - but would like more bass 14 16.67%
Very Good - but would like more mid-range 8 9.52%
Very Good - but would like more volume 7 8.33%
Good - but needs more of everything 12 14.29%
Hate it! 8 9.52%

Fact: This site is probably the kindest to the SOW compared to the SOW threads on other car forums.

IMHO: I would think you guys would be back in the lab trying to figure out how to fix the single largest complaint (not enough bass) in next years model (hint... base boost button or better yet separate volume adjustment for sub).

Fact: Trying to convince people who are not happy with this system (over 50% on this site) by telling them that they are wrong because you say it sounds good is pointless. It sounds good when the majority of the people who have it say it sounds good and no amount of hype, spin, technospeak, or arguing over the job title of the engineers who tuned it will change that.

IMHO: I don't think these poll numbers will change for the better as more 2007G35's get into the hands of the public. I predict that most people will not be happy with the SOW.

IMHO: The SOW is a failure. That majority of 2007 G35 owners on this site and others like it are not satisified with it. Kinda like the heated seats in the new G.

That said, there's more to a car than the stereo and the heated seats. The SOW is "tolerable" and all that really matters anyway is what are your alternatives. Is there really another car with the styling and power of the 2007 G35 for the same price that has a better stereo with heated seats that work? Not that I could find.

 

Please, Please, Please don't start battling about the SoW again, if you want to continue there's already a tread that has been beaten to death on this topic so post there. Feng, RLampke and everyone else made their feelings toward the system quite clear in that tread. If you don't like it don't buy it.

The holidays are upon us, can we please play nice??

 

Seahawk,

It is very likely your situation has a lot more low frequency noise than what any of us considers "nominal" (or normal). You should turn up the bass. If +9dB via the bass tone control isn't enough to compensate ... then you're in a tough spot. Even if +9dB were enough, it would be too much for slower driving and not enough above 100mph ;-)

Write Infiniti a letter and push them to make Bose AudioPilot available in the G. The current M45 has AudioPilot, and it can make a pretty big adjustment to the bass notes when it detects a lot of road noise. In fact, just starting the engine adds enough background noise for the M45 AudioPilot system to start compensating in the bass range. Someone already mentioned that jsut idling the engine in the G causes some of the bass to get covered up ...

Note that the M45 system was designed 3 years ago, and technology is constantly improving. So, if Infiniti were to add AudioPilot to the G system, it would work even better than what we have in the M45, and I believe it would help your problem substantially.

John Feng

 

Uh, no. That's not fact. It's your opinion ...

Uh, no. You're putting your words in my mouth ... and they taste like crap.
I have never ever said that people who do not like the SOW sound are wrong.
I have been consistent in saying it's a matter of preference. If people don't prefer accurate then they likely won't prefer the SOW system. There is no judgment of right/wrong being made. I won't argue that there are a lot of people out there who set the tone controls for the smiley face response (e.g. bass and treble boosted to the max). We don't try to make them happy, and we don't dis them for liking hyped up sound.


It's a free country. Everyone's entitled to an opinion.
Some people can't stand the driving characteristics of Lexus ... Others love it.
You can always find people to like or dislike anything. There's no point in trying to argue preference.

It's regrettable that you don't like it. It would be great if we could satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. But then everyone would be driving exactly the same car (BMW 5 series with a V8, if you want my opinion), wearing the same clothes, drinking the same beer, ...

Merry Christmas, Railgunner, and if you don't prefer Christmas ... I won't hold it against you (preference is like religon...)

John Feng

 

There are a lot of things happening, but the dominant factor is simultaneous masking (energy at one frequency can cause energy at another frequency to become inaudible). In plain speak, the background noise is covering up the music.

Sorry, but I cannot comment on this ;-)

Maybe all the young people have highly elevated thresholds from all the Ipod hours?

John Feng