Wow, Bose isn't that bad

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Poormanq45

Silver - Posts: 597

Joined: October 27, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 2:03 PM / IP Logged

I've found a good use for the Bose amplifiers in my Q45.

I recently hooked up an Alpine deck in my Q. It had a claimed 22w RMS by 4 channels at 4Ohms. ANyways, I hooked it all up and adjusted to my personal liking.

Then, just for comparison, I hooked the bose HU and amps back up. Now, the Bose amps have a claimed 50w RMS at 1Ohm, which eaquals about 10~15w RMS at 4 Ohms.

For some reason I noticed that the Bose HU/amp combo sounded much better then the Alpine HU even thoguh it has less adjustments.

ANy Ideas why that is?

I'm thinking that the Alpine power rating is not true, and that the THD goes way UP at higher volumes.

jstruckman

Copper - Posts: 465

Joined: May 03, 2004

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 2:18 PM / IP Logged

Bose uses a lot of equalization and frequency boosting to get it to sound "better". Depending on your install also, if the speakers in the Bose system are one ohm, then your Alpine head unit is not going to be able to handle that ohm load, and i am sure the THD went through the roof if trying to drive one ohm speakers, this of course is if you bypassed the amp. Now if you still using the factory amp with the new head unit you should have used an interface to integrate with the factory amp. Adding a head unit to most amplified systems will usually not make the stock speakers sound much better in the first place.

Jazzy

Poormanq45

Silver - Posts: 597

Joined: October 27, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 2:36 PM / IP Logged

No, I installed aftermarket speakers. Specifically Infinity Reference 6x9s in both the front and rear.

The first thing I always recommend replaing is the speakers as they have the biggest effect on sound quality.

When I wired up the new HU I used the power from the HU to drive the speakers. It is a good idea to use the bose amps with an aftermarket HU sinse the new HU will allow more "minute" changes in EQing.

Your first sentence is what I was thinking. It seems that bose specially tunes their amps for each individual vehicle, AND to get the best sound out of their somewhat deficient speakers. Either way, it sounds good.

kgerry

Platinum - Posts: 3,455

This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: February 07, 2004

Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 3:36 PM / IP Logged

Bose changes the equalization of their products for almost every vehicle that they put their product into.... in their defense they do spend a lot of time and energy making sure that their products sound the best they can within the exact specific vehicle platform that the product was engineered for.....

Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

customsuburb

Gold - Posts: 1,813

Joined: January 17, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 3:48 PM / IP Logged

The 4 ohm Infinity speakers are an easier load on the bose amp so the THD is probobly pretty good. Plus the added bose equalization. If this equalization is anything like it is in their home systems it's just a boost to the highs and bass. If they actually equalize to get the flattest response possible it could probobly sound pretty good though.

gladbach

Member - Posts: 36

Joined: March 23, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 4:36 PM / IP Logged

there is nothing wrong w/ the bose systems. they sound quite good. my point to my customers, is that factory premium sound systems do generally sound pretty darn good, but the kicker is that you pay a TON of money for said systems, and if/when there is an issue, you are going to be shelling out a lot of cash to fix it.

people can get an incredible aftermarket system for half the price of most factory premium sound systems, esp the bose system. and when a speaker blows, etc, you arent' spending a ton of money to replace that one component, or being forced to redo a lot of the system at once.

my 2 cents on the issue.

OhioMike1101

Silver - Posts: 343

Joined: August 22, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 12, 2005 at 11:58 PM / IP Logged

In my experience, Bose makes great enclosures and then they take the crappiest speaker and equalize the hell out of it.

End result, crap that sounds great. It is not a result of the speaker, it is from the enclosures and EQ.

Poormanq45

Silver - Posts: 597

Joined: October 27, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 13, 2005 at 12:20 AM / IP Logged

They hav enot made any NEW enclosures. They have just taken old designs, changed them just enough to say they're different, and then patented the name/design. That way when discussing/describing their equipment they can use all these high tech sounding words to make you think their stuff is so far ahead of anything else.

gladbach

Member - Posts: 36

Joined: March 23, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: May 13, 2005 at 1:52 AM / IP Logged

lol, yes, I agree completely with the above statements. esp when it comes to the home systems. I just look at it in comparison to standard factory crap. its still better, but you might as well spend half that and buy some decent aftermarket stuff rather than go w/ a factory bose or most other factory premium audio systems.

Poormanq45

Silver - Posts: 597

Joined: October 27, 2004

Location: United States

Posted: May 13, 2005 at 9:25 AM / IP Logged

Yeah, the only Factory upgrade stereo that I think is descent is the Monsoon system in the Grand Prix. Even then it's still not worth the $1500 that they charge.

I prefer to just take the stock system and immediately upgrade the speakers for ~$100 for all 4. That makes a world of difference by itself

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Wow, Bose isn't that bad

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