Whats in a BOSE? Can i get it fitted?

[barker196]

Hi everyone,

1st time poster, just purchased a 2003 A4 1.8T. I did lots of shopping round and although i wanted one with a BOSE upgraded stereo i settled for one without. I just wonder what have i missed out on?

1) Is the BOSE upgrade really that good?

2) What comes with it?

3) Is the Symphony CD player i have in there actually BOSE?

4) Finally i have some 17" Pioneer speakers i put in my last car and have taken them out. I may put them in my new car but can anyone offer advice on fitting them etc?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AndyMac]

Bose upgrade is purely speakers and amps. The HU is the same, just coded with a flat EQ to work better with the Bose amp. No the HU is not made by Bose, but by Matsushita/Panasonic.
You certainly wouldn't want to retrofit the Bose upgrade. It only really made the terrible Audi stereo sound OK. Money would be better spent on aftermarket upgrade.
I'd certainly upgrade the front components but the Pioneers you have need to have a seperate tweeter, otherwise it's not worth doing.
6.5" components also require a fitting adapter in order to screw the things to the doors

 

[madvw]

surely the BOSE on a B6 is a worthwhile upgrade if you can source the components cheap enough. The BOSE on B6's+ really is quite good, if you want to keep the stock HU.

 

[AndyMac]

Ummm nothing like rewiring the entire car and replacing all 8-10 speakers, running power to the boot and installing 2 amps just for a moderate increase in SQ.
You need the entire Bose loom as the amp uses both front & rear pre-outs, you need to run new speaker cable to the front speakers (currently running off the HU) and additional power for the amps, as well as the speakers themselves and the sub.
Even if you can get all that for £300 on ebay (unlikely as most Bose systems don't include the wiring), you'd be better off spending the money on a stealth sub/amp in the boot & upgrading the fron components, which dramatically improves the sound and is far less work.

 

[barker196]

Hey thanks for the advice everyone.

Sounds like i'm not missing a great deal with the BOSE stereo. I have 4 Pioneer 17cm speakers. One of the pairs does have seperate tweeters. My last car (Astra SRi ) i rewired it and installed an amp besides the speakers and a Kenwood Mini Disc stereo with 6 cd changer. That was 5 years ago and although the gear is in good nick, i'm not sure i want to start ripping the Buffalino Leather panels off to rewire the thing.

I'm sure i'll be back for more advise as soon as i get fed up of the standard stereo!

Thanks again!

 

[Tobez]

yeah we have 4 audis at work 2 without 2 with , its deffo an upgrade you need if your sticking with the standard Audi stereo, sounds 10 times better.

But as for aftermarket no ideas but prob better still, just alot of speakers to change :/

 

[docurley]

If your going to upgrade then just go for the Audi Sat Nav units as that would be a better upgrade.

 

[doeboy]

98' A4 2.8Q

Tomorrow my Car is going in for a HU change as the original system has a few issues. I for one am quite impressed with the sound and quality of the OEM setup especially when turned up loud. Pehaps it just me coming from a Ford Escort, perhaps its the seperate tweeters that mean less distortion at louder levels. 5 Years ago i spent £750 on a complete new system in a different Escort, 4 x speakers, sub & amp, frankly it wasn't worth the money, it certainly was loud but not Quality. My audi system certainly sound better than that!

Ofcourse tomorrow i may end up changing all four speakers and adding an Amp! never know!

 

[AndyMac]

I have the same car as you, with the same standard system, and it was dreadful. Far better sound in a Astra I had as a company car. Turned up loud was not an option as it was harsh with absolutely no bass.
Throwing money at a system is no guarantee of quality and £750 is not a lot of money for a complete system anyway. If a system isn't setup correctly or is just badly installed then of course it will sound terrible.
Amazing what some people find acceptable, and others attrocious

 

[jdp1962]

I had the same car too until recently. I generally don't get too excited over in-car sound, as the environment is so inherently hostile to good sound. But I have to say that like Andymac, I thought it was awful, to the point where I couldn't live with it.

 

[barker196]

Well took delivery of my A4 1.8T yesterday and all i can say is WoW!

Well chuffed with it, coming from an 1999 Astra SRi.

To stick on topic i must also admit the standard sounds are pretty damn good. The stereo has so much Bass and turns up loud enough for me! Theres no rattle or distortion from any of the panels.

As mentioned above, a quality build and environment will triumph over poor quality car build no matter how much dosh you spend on it.

Can't help but think what potential there is in the old girl though. I think a new head unit might be all i need. Blue Spot do a nice head unit, not too expensive and millions of colours so you can tailor it to match the Audi Red. Think i'm going to try and just connect my Kenwood from my last car first and see if it makes much difference. Then i've just got to decide how i'm going to connect my mp3 player. I already have one and listen to it on the train home but often wish i could carry on listening to the same mix in the car. For this reason i will find a connector rather than install a Phatnoise thingy!

Thanks again people!

 

[Tobez]

AFter lots of messing i finally got the Harman Kardon HARD wired into the AUdi.

All you need is the unit and a connect2 lead unsure what model though, and u can happily connect this to the concert headunit choose cd changr then revert back to the harman Kardon FAR SUPERIOR selector basiclaly your ipod, rather than mess with only 6 play lists as in audis and desions.

Harmnas the way forget the others, Unless you go Phatnoise there ok too, But leave FM alone cos its pants. U loose the bass compared to a CD