Re: Bose Questions

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Tue, 21 May 1996, Al Powell wrote:

> ScharfR@aol.com asked:
>
> > Over time, I have read a lot of commentary on Audi's various Bose systems -
> > much of it negative.

i have an excellent article about bose home speakers written by a speaker
engineer who knows what he's talking about.  i posted it here a while ago.
see if you can find it in the archives, if not i'll repost.

> > 1.  What is wrong with the Bose systems? I'd prefer a technical answer, but
> > recognize that subjectivity comes into play in all listening evaluations.
>
> IMO, the stock Bose system is NOT
> all that bad.  It lacks high-end response, but I could live with
> that.  It does have copious bass, which most systems lack.

i agree completely.  it is a pretty decent system as far as "standard
equipment" goes.  the bass i find to be pretty pleasant (not boomy,
quite smooth), while the attenuated highs isn't as bad as it sounds
since lots of CDs and CD players tend to have way too much highs
anyway.  the bose sound in audis tend to emphasise the mid range and
the lows more which to my ears are entirely acceptable.

someone else in another post complained that it lacked a balance control.
actually i thought that bose did a good job with filling the car evenly
with sound.  i.e. one did not hear great volume or imaging variations
in different positions in the cabin.

> *My* problem was that the Bose radio was very lacking in receive
> sensitivity on FM, and it was PITIFUL in AM reception.  This was
> compounded by the diversity antenna system, consisting of in & on the
> glass antennas.

again i concur.

my problem with the bose was that the head unit (blaupunkt) had very
flimsily built buttons, whose spring would break before long, so the
effect would be the same as if you kept your finger down continuously
on a station select channel.

the first head unit suffered this malady shortly after warranty
expired.  audi was kind enough to replace it with a refurbished one
for $20 including labor.  the replacement broke its button shortly
after and this time they weren't too nice about replacing it.
something like a couple hundred bucks.

so i started exploring aftermarket possibilities.  i found an installer
who knew how to install aftermarket head units to work with the bose.
in went my old nak 460 which served me well until it mysteriously
disappeared one day.  (it was a pull out)

right now i have some sony ES something in dash CD player and i'm pretty
happy with the overall sound, though the really low frequencies seem
to have disappeared.  but there's a new level of clarity that i've never
gotten with cassette or FM.

the sony's FM section also has significantly better sensitivity than
the previous two decks.  that was quite a surprise for me.

my sympathies to al, but i didn't have much difficulty at all putting in
either the nak or the sony into the car....

i was definitely happy enough with the bose system to keep it largely
intact.  the other good thing is that the bose system has little black
market value, thus you can count on it still being there each time you go to
the parking lot.

super duper car stereos don't have a long lives... :) learned that
lesson the hard way...


eliot