Bose System

Ginger Prince

Ginger Prince

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Ive just changed my 2007 S3 (8P) hatchback for a 2011 S3 Sportback which is equipped with the Bose system.

The car is great....apart from the sound system.

My previous vehicle just had the standard Audi Concert system but it was much better than the Bose system which cant be right?!

Ive got the bass fully turned up on the new system but it sounds flat as though it should have a Sub which it doesn't seem to (certainly cant find a Sub in settings anyway)

Anyone else experienced this issue, I'm not sure if its a setting i need to change cos otherwise i'll need to take it back to the dealer with a technical problem.

Thanks
 
look for the sub in the boot on the left hand side, just take the side off.

And if its there and not working, take it back.
 
Ive been in the boot and theres no sign of a sub unless you mean concealed behind a panel?
There's no sub setting either....
 
Ginger Prince said:
Ive been in the boot and theres no sign of a sub unless you mean concealed behind a panel?
There's no sub setting either....
Click to expand...

Its hidden behind the left side panel. you only have to remove the boot lip then the side, takes like 2 mins if that.

But mines no bose, and has the sub there, surely the bose system would come with it?!
and mine doesnt have any sub settings either, its just mixed into the sound.
 
Just turn the music up and place your hand over the left carpeted wall of the boot closest to the boot... Should feel some vibration from the sub?

Iv not got Bose but i have a sub and the bass is enough... I have an aftermarket Sony Xplod stereo though so it does have settings.

The Bose system does have a sub though...
 
Ive had a quick look and it seems that it maybe a VCDS setting and/or removing a Bose wire on the rear of the unit....

I cant believe this isn't something that loads of people haven't/aren't experiencing as I'm mightily disappointed with the Bose (premium) system compared to my previous standard Audi Concert head unit and speakers.
 
On my RNSE it has options for Gala off, 1, 2 3 etc which it would seem shouldn't be possible unless its in engineering mode (which it must be).

Audi asked me if i wanted to use cd's to listen to music so i said yes, they told me they had "unlocked" the system which will now allow me to remove the Sat Nav disc and insert cd's.

Im wondering if they've forgot to change a setting which has made the bass sound pooh?

Mine doesn't have a Bose HQ in the options either....
 
In my RNS-E manual it says that my unit shouldn't be equipped with DSP (Gala) and that vehicles with the Bose system are fitted with a dynamic background noise compensation system which automatically adapts the volume to the interior noise level....

Seems i'll be calling Audi on Monday! :(
 
Well i've got Bose system and it sounds awesome in my car... Had a symphony system in my old 1.... Bose is great, nice crisp sound, if anything it just doesnt go loud enough sometimes....

Infact... 3 of us compared it to the sound from bang & olufson system in new 8V S3 and there was nothing in it

i have noticed my volume levels adjust when driving and sitting at traffic lights etc...!

and my bose defo has sub in the boot... Left-hand side as previous people have said
 
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Should sound like you've got a 10" sub in the boot on real low bassy songs.

My bose system certainly does anyway.

If the rear speakers aren't working either it's all linked to the same amp.

Also check if the fader is set all the way to the front, which essentially turns off the rear speakers and the sub too.
 
All the settings (bass, fade etc) are ok, its the fact i can access the DSP menu which i shouldn't be able to with the Bose system.
I'll take it back to Audi tomorrow and hopefully get things sorted but I'll let you all know incase others also experience similar issues.
 
The Bose in the 8P isn't very good I don't think. The Bose is my 8L S3 was better IMO and the B&O system should be leagues ahead if the song format is good quality.
 
In the OP you say you got bass turned up full. That's maybe why there's no bass you're probably clipping the amp?

Try turning bass down to half and see if that helps?

Bose defo has a sub in left side of boot behind the panel as I've stripped mine out.

It's a very small driver (6" off top of my noggin) and does very well relatively speaking due to the clever (ish) enclosure design.

In addition, mids are well sealed to doors giving good mid bass performance which helps the 'sub' out some more.

My Bose tweeters had Blaupunkt stickers on though lol when I removed them
 
Ginger Prince said:
On my RNSE it has options for Gala off, 1, 2 3 etc which it would seem shouldn't be possible unless its in engineering mode (which it must be).

Audi asked me if i wanted to use cd's to listen to music so i said yes, they told me they had "unlocked" the system which will now allow me to remove the Sat Nav disc and insert cd's.

Im wondering if they've forgot to change a setting which has made the bass sound pooh?

Mine doesn't have a Bose HQ in the options either....
Click to expand...

Engineering mode is entirely separate from the normal controls and comes up on a white screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEYejZdMpeA

When you set up the sound i.e. treble, bass, fader, etc., it applies to the setting you're on - radio, mp3, cd. You set each one to your preferences.
 
Last edited:
Its deffo nothing to do with the bass being full, i only turned it to full after it sounded so poor.
It must have something to do with the fact i can access the DSP menu which vehicles fitted with a Bose system shouldn't be able to.
At least i know its not stuck in engineering mode so its Audis problem to rectify tomorrow/next week....
 
I've got the same set up in my S3 and I am also disappointed with the sound quality from the Bose system. I've also got the audi iPod interface connected.

What I have noticed is that depending on the quality of the mp3 files (Kbps), the higher it is the better the system performs. However, a lot of this is subjective. Some people have commented on how clear the sound is on the Bose system whilst I think it lacks body. I would also agree that the volume setting also seems very low. I can hit full volume and it's far from being loud.

So average is the sound that it prompted me to ask is there something wrong with it. Sadly, it seems not. I'm also not convinced that upgrading the head unit to an RNS-e is going to make a world of difference, although I'm happy to be shot down in flames.

In many ways, the 14 year golf we have has a better sounding oem ice, IMHO.
 
I'd love to compare my bose with someones who said is disappointed with it... Mine sounds great, n i was an audio/visual engineer for years... Just not loud enough somtimes!
 
Well, mine's not Bose, I'm a bit deaf and I can't bear it over about two-thirds volume as it might blow the windows out!!!

When we first got it, I was parked waiting for swmbo to come back from the shop and had Deep Purple on at what I thought was a lowish volume. When she came back to the car, she said "I thought who's the chav with the bass-box? B***er me, it's you!"
 
Haha, I don't wanna know about non Bose systems without RNS-E as I've had those and aware of what they sound like....
I was asking others with the same equipment as i was surprised & mightily disappointed in what should be a premium sound system on an excellent car.

I'll update once its been back to Audi....
 
Hello,

I have the Bose in my car and I'll be honest it sound ****** rubbish, I've used VCDS to turn the gala on my RNSE but it still turn it's self up and down with really does my head in so I need to cut the wire??? Still not done this yet I'm changing the speakers and amps anyway to morel and DLS.

Audi can sort it but be prepaired to pay them £150+ which is what Tyneside audi quoted me

Cheers Dan
 
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dandav1985 said:
Hello,

I have the Bose in my car and I'll be honest it sound ****** rubbish, I've used VCDS to turn the gala on my RNSE but it still turn it's self up and down with really does my head in so I need to cut the wire??? Still not done this yet I'm changing the speakers and amps anyway to morel and DLS.

Audi can sort it but be prepaired to pay them £150+ which is what Tyneside audi quoted me

Cheers Dan
Click to expand...

I've only had my 2011 S3 a few months and the Bose system is easily the most annoying aspect of the car..., even more than the ridiculous Bluetooth "bong."

It's infuriating when the volume at start-up is too loud, despite the fact I'd turned it down before previously turning-off and parking. And it often immediately turns itself back up again anyway which is a nightmare when coming home in the early hours of the morning. It's like having a mischievous 6-year old in the front twiddling with the volume control.

I can't find a gala or volume pre-setting on RNS-E so the car decides how loud it wants to be and it's hard luck if it's not how YOU want it. Madness!!! :banghead:
 
Ginger Prince said:
Haha, I don't wanna know about non Bose systems without RNS-E as I've had those and aware of what they sound like....
I was asking others with the same equipment as i was surprised & mightily disappointed in what should be a premium sound system on an excellent car.

I'll update once its been back to Audi....
Click to expand...


My son has Bose on his BE and neither he nor I can hear the difference......
 
I have the BOSE system in my car and since I fitted a Pioneer w\ built-in 10 band EQ, I have to say it's excellent. There's nothing wrong with the speakers what-so-ever! very powerful &\or deep bass of my choosing that I have to keep lowered or the interior [as solid as it is] rattles.

Audi's head units for the 8P are severely lacking in functionality & quality it has to be said, and don't do the BOSE system justice IMHO.
 
After going directly from a non-Bose Symphony system in one A3 to a Bose RNSE in my second A3, I always said the first was better. Better sound quality and bass at low levels. Mine does not automatically adjust the volume, lack bass at high volume or "not go loud enough" like some of you have said though.

I've stopped trying to work it out though to be honest. Now all I care about is keeping it loud enough so that I don't hear the various rattling noises coming from within the cabin..! -_-
 
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Hi guys can anyone confirm.. should all black edition S3's come with Bose as standard? Mine it seems hasnt and has a mk1 nav unit too. Its a MY11 reg and its throwing up fault codes for

03272 - control module for audio interface

00857 - CD Changer Unit no signal (2 of these fault codes came up)

No cd changer or audio interface is fitted so why is it looking for these?
 
No not ALL black editions came with Bose. Audi change the offers every year or so.

As advised on the other thread you opened it seems to be incorrectly coded as the RNSE you have looks like it was badly retrofitted.
 
Is there any way to tell you have Bose other than the branding badges on the speakers?

In my old A3 with single din concert radio-whenever you switched the radio on it lit up with Bose on the display.

It dOest do this with my new sline TDI prior to upgrading the radio to RNSE.

I have to say I also thought my sound system in my old a3(Bose) was much better than my current a3 which is also Bose.

Could this be related to the Bose wire in the loom with he RNSE? My RNSE has been coded correctly, but I don't seem to get the automatic volume control when stopped at traffic lights...
 
If you upgrade from a concert or symphony to a RNSE then you would have to move the Bose pin over to get the bose working correctly.
I personally don't like bose that much and would have preferred if my car came with standard speakers so i could rip them out and replace with decent aftermarket ones although having the illuminated Bose grills are pretty cool
 
Is there a way to find out if the bose wire has been moved by going through the menu's on the RNSE?

Or is it just a case of trial and error and listening which wire setting sounds better?
 
Take out the RNSE, on the back of the quad lock connector there is a small blue plug which should have a brown wire going into pin 5 if the bose pin hasnt been moved or pin 7 if its been moved. If you find that the pin 7 is already taken its because you have an AUX in your car which won't be working as it needs to be rewired to a new plug for the RNSE. If you need this to be done i can do that for you.

IMG_2940.jpg
 
The bose in the missus TT sounds rubbish too, has bass and treble, but no mid range. Im pretty sure something isnt working with it, going to get it looked at by a car audio person.
 
Ash187 said:
Take out the RNSE, on the back of the quad lock connector there is a small blue plug which should have a brown wire going into pin 5 if the bose pin hasnt been moved or pin 7 if its been moved.
Click to expand...

Am I right in thinking moving the brown wire to pin 5 from 7 will disable Bose?
 
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