Help on bose sound system

[Lukehh]

Hi guys,

My A3 has bose as standard and i play music via aux from my iphone but im not that impressed with the bass / sound quality. Does using an aux cable limit quality or is there certain settings i need to use?

Also do these systems come with a sub at all?

Cheers luke

 

[Sayam]

I find the quality of the cable you use makes a difference.

Yes Bose has a sub, in the rear quarter panel

 

[Connorb5anda]

Is the sound quality different if you listen to a CD? Could be a poor ground to the AUX causing it to be like that - has it always been like it?

 

[Forbzeeee]

Aux via a cable is always going to rubbish. Do you not have a dock in the glove box?

 

[NHN]

Aux isn't always rubbish tbh, comes down to variety of things, cable, music bit rate, phone, headphone jack etc, variables all make a difference, look into these things before looking at the systems in the car, try an mp3 on a disc or if sat nav use an sd card see if its different.

 

[kaisah16]

Can you plug an iPhone 5 into the ipod dock with a adapter? Im guessing the ipod docks will have the old connecter type.

 

[DarkBunny]

Aren't the tone and bass settings saved differently for each 'input'? ie. Radio, CD, etc.?

I'm sure mine are all different...

 

[Mowbray89]

Aren't the tone and bass settings saved differently for each 'input'? ie. Radio, CD, etc.?

I'm sure mine are all different...

Pretty sure this is the same for mine too with the RNS-e. Removed the Bose wire on mine the other day, changed the audio settings for the radio but had to adjust separately for the AMI to get it right for my iPhone required levels.


@kaisah16, picked an adapter up from the pound shop the other day 30 pin to lightening for the iPhone 5, probably not the best quality kit for the price but it'll do for the mean time until I can justify paying £25 for one from Apple.

 

[S3Alex]

Bose systems aren't exactly hi-fi.

I've had these in both of my recent cars,and like their domestic gear,the only bass you get is mid-upper range bass,with virtually nothing below 100Hz,and certainly no real deep bass.
What you do get is boomy and poorly controlled,and the best you could hope for is to tailor it a bit using the iPhone/iPod EQ settings.

If it hadn't come essentially free on the cars,I wouldn't have wasted money on it.

 

[davc]

I find the quality of the cable you use makes a difference.

Yep.

I'm using a quality OFC cable with my iPod and it sounds great. Cost me less than a fiver on the bay.

 

[S3Alex]

I find the quality of the cable you use makes a difference.

Yes Bose has a sub, in the rear quarter panel

You'll have to excuse my scepticism on that point.

The old cable debate has been done to death on the Hifi forums and magazine tests but you'd need something a damn sight better than a Bose car-fi system to find any cable related differences.

For sure if you compare bell wire to Nordost or Kimber you might expect a difference but the resolution of the Bose setup is way below those sort of differences.

 

[Sayam]

You are correct Alex in everything that you've said. On the Bose there is no audible difference between say a £10 and £90 cable because it cannot reproduce that.

I was referring to the quality of 3.5 to 3.5 cables say something that you can buy from the pound shop and something that costs £5 or £10. I have both and you can hear the difference. As I say, more broadly your point is one that I agree with.

I must also say you can't knock the Bose for the speakers and upper end, I think most of the problem comes from the "sub" which is a glorified mid. I've never heard B and O in the A3 but that is meant to be better.

Regardless of anything I commend Audi for making some sort of effort. In a BMW anything but the expensive optional audio systems sound crap.

 

[S3Alex]

You are correct Alex in everything that you've said. On the Bose there is no audible difference between say a £10 and £90 cable because it cannot reproduce that.

I was referring to the quality of 3.5 to 3.5 cables say something that you can buy from the pound shop and something that costs £5 or £10. I have both and you can hear the difference. As I say, more broadly your point is one that I agree with.

I must also say you can't knock the Bose for the speakers and upper end, I think most of the problem comes from the "sub" which is a glorified mid. I've never heard B and O in the A3 but that is meant to be better.

Regardless of anything I commend Audi for making some sort of effort. In a BMW anything but the expensive optional audio systems sound crap.

I think that a number of car companies have finally got the idea that a lot of us like the sound systems in our cars to be at least partly reflective of the quality we expect from the car,and to go some way towards our home based systems.

Linn,Naim,B&0 have all become involved in co-operating with car manufacturers to incorporate decent,and in some cases superb,systems into a car,but for the most part,those proper hi-fi companies and their products command serious cash.

You're right about the so-called sub undoing much of the decent work of the rest of the Bose setup,but unfortunately Bose seem rooted to this idea of an inadequate box producing a bit of mid-range noise.

In a sense,I no longer have to contend with the Bose in mine as the engine is too loud!

 

[Sayam]

Haha I need to get an S3 mate I was taken on a sharp bend by a s63 amg this mornin was not impressed!!

 

[S3Alex]

Haha I need to get an S3 mate I was taken on a sharp bend by a s63 amg this mornin was not impressed!!

Ask the owner of the 63 that couldn't keep up with me,how that feels....LOL

 

[Sayam]

Lol total thread hijack !

It's insurance mate, I'm only 24...

 

[S3Alex]

Lol total thread hijack !

It's insurance mate, I'm only 24...

On that happy note,I'm ancient now,but I remember paying over £2k on one of my Cosworths some time back.

 

[Sayam]

Paying 1k on a3 tdi 170
Paid 1.5k on corolla 2.0 d4d before the a3!

 

[Lukehh]

I find the quality of the cable you use makes a difference.

Yes Bose has a sub, in the rear quarter panel

In which side? I had the left hand side of the boot door card open the other week and didnt see one.

 

[Sayam]

In which side? I had the left hand side of the boot door card open the other week and didnt see one.

Left hand side. Get the panel off there will be a black enclosure there. That's the Bose sub

 

[Lukehh]

going to try a CD and see what happens...

 

[Dan-Jnr]

If the CD sounds as it should, then it could be the quality of the music files your playing from your phone.
Most music files on a phone are not always 320kbp (highest) quality, they are less (192kpbs or lesss) or variable which can cause them to sound dull when played through a car or home system. Some music files are not always volume normalised either which means they sound even quieter compared to CD.

Check your fader settings too, make sure they are in the middle.