bose compared to aftermarket
08-26-2008, 09:38 PM
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bose compared to aftermarket
I thinking about switching my bose speakers to aftermarket but should i do it? I know bose is considered a real nice brand for speakers so do the aftermarket speakers surpass the bose speakers in sound quality? I've been mainly looking into speakers in kenwood, jbl, and jl audio.
08-26-2008, 09:50 PM
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If the stock stereo is a giant turd, then the bose system is a gold plated turd. A full aftermarket system with JL speakers would be like a bouquet of roses.
The bose system is really dull, and muddy all over. Put in an aftermarket sysem and you'll say "holy crap! thats what my music actually sounds like?"
Youll fall in love with your music all over again.
The bose system is really dull, and muddy all over. Put in an aftermarket sysem and you'll say "holy crap! thats what my music actually sounds like?"
Youll fall in love with your music all over again.
08-27-2008, 12:06 AM
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I have many audiophile hobbies. What I realize, is that the noise floor inside rx8, and the poor acoustic environment inside, means it is a waste of money to buy good stuff.
Inside rx8, it's more important for sound equipment to commit sins of ommission rather than commission. The Bose in rx8 is very good in that regard. Omits information rather than comitting undesirable grating high frequencies, that fatigue in the long run. I'm sure that if you put in an aftermarket system, that has all these metal tweeter drivers everywhere, that add artificial sparkle, you may be impressed at first, but it will be impossible to live with eventually.
Thing is, if you want sunroof, spoiler, that Bose thing comes as part of the package so it's irrelevant whether it is worth it or not, you're going to get it period.
Bose. Good enough for car audio anyway. Nothing is going to sound spectacular in car environment.
Inside rx8, it's more important for sound equipment to commit sins of ommission rather than commission. The Bose in rx8 is very good in that regard. Omits information rather than comitting undesirable grating high frequencies, that fatigue in the long run. I'm sure that if you put in an aftermarket system, that has all these metal tweeter drivers everywhere, that add artificial sparkle, you may be impressed at first, but it will be impossible to live with eventually.
Thing is, if you want sunroof, spoiler, that Bose thing comes as part of the package so it's irrelevant whether it is worth it or not, you're going to get it period.
Bose. Good enough for car audio anyway. Nothing is going to sound spectacular in car environment.
Last edited by User24; 08-27-2008 at 12:13 AM.
08-27-2008, 02:01 AM
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I know that it is good at best.
I have my Bass at zero and treble at one. I can live with it. FOR NOW.
If you want clean sound after market is the way to go, but If you are stuck with Bose like me (Dont want to loose the NAV), then make it better.
Before doing any of this consider some good sound dampning with products such as
Dynamat.
Dynaliner
After I do this...
I am going to add the JL Cleansweep, some Boston Acoustic Seperates ans 2 JL 8w7's. I will be using 2 JL Audio 250/1 Amps (one for each 8w7), and an Alpine amp for all 4 speakers. Also replacing the 6x9's on the rear deck.
I have my Bass at zero and treble at one. I can live with it. FOR NOW.
If you want clean sound after market is the way to go, but If you are stuck with Bose like me (Dont want to loose the NAV), then make it better.
Before doing any of this consider some good sound dampning with products such as
Dynamat.
Dynaliner
After I do this...
I am going to add the JL Cleansweep, some Boston Acoustic Seperates ans 2 JL 8w7's. I will be using 2 JL Audio 250/1 Amps (one for each 8w7), and an Alpine amp for all 4 speakers. Also replacing the 6x9's on the rear deck.
08-27-2008, 02:21 PM
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I have many audiophile hobbies. What I realize, is that the noise floor inside rx8, and the poor acoustic environment inside, means it is a waste of money to buy good stuff.
Inside rx8, it's more important for sound equipment to commit sins of ommission rather than commission. The Bose in rx8 is very good in that regard. Omits information rather than comitting undesirable grating high frequencies, that fatigue in the long run. I'm sure that if you put in an aftermarket system, that has all these metal tweeter drivers everywhere, that add artificial sparkle, you may be impressed at first, but it will be impossible to live with eventually.
Thing is, if you want sunroof, spoiler, that Bose thing comes as part of the package so it's irrelevant whether it is worth it or not, you're going to get it period.
Bose. Good enough for car audio anyway. Nothing is going to sound spectacular in car environment.
Inside rx8, it's more important for sound equipment to commit sins of ommission rather than commission. The Bose in rx8 is very good in that regard. Omits information rather than comitting undesirable grating high frequencies, that fatigue in the long run. I'm sure that if you put in an aftermarket system, that has all these metal tweeter drivers everywhere, that add artificial sparkle, you may be impressed at first, but it will be impossible to live with eventually.
Thing is, if you want sunroof, spoiler, that Bose thing comes as part of the package so it's irrelevant whether it is worth it or not, you're going to get it period.
Bose. Good enough for car audio anyway. Nothing is going to sound spectacular in car environment.
1: ) You don't need to get metal dome tweeters.
2: ) Properly EQing your system (impossible with Bose) will allow you to tune those "grating" highs into line with the rest of your system
3: ) Noise floor doesn't matter when you're playing music at 110 Dba
4: ) The difference in sound clarity between bose and aftermarket can be heard across the entire frequency range. This alone is reason to go aftermarket, nevermind the fact you're going to get a wider and flatter frequency response.
Bose is the gold standard for consumer level audio. Go Pro and theres massive room for improvement.
Last edited by Socket7; 08-27-2008 at 02:25 PM.
08-27-2008, 05:53 PM
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If you love music, and like how a system sounds then you will never ever be happy with the stock system. It simply lacks whenever you have had better. It's like having sex with Jenna Jameson and then going home to Rosie O'Donnell. It doesn't work. If you can live with what you already bought, well do it because it's not cheap or easy to play with.
08-28-2008, 12:35 AM
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One thing nobody asked you yet, and should be your first consideration, is what music you listen to. If you listen to poorly recorded underground trance, then you should probably not get the most revealing speakers available.
So if you decide to get new parts anyways, don't do it by trial and error. Know first what you want to achieve and then find out what products might take you in that direction. If you have no idea how you want rx8 to sound, nobody can help. Ask the people here how certain models sound and what their overall presentation is, and more specific information. Maybe on a dedicated car audio forum on the internet, where there is more specific reviews, less generic "theories".
It would help if you found out what components sound good together, to narrow your choices of combinations. This is called system synergy.
Still this is a very subjective area.
I'm happy with stock system. It works for the road. These people try to say I don't care about quality. But I come home to music using low-jitter s/pdif relocker, SLA battery powered non-oversampling DAC, SLA battery powered amplifier, crossoverless full range drivers with alnico magnets. Most of these are custom made and modified. There are no products made for rx8, pro or otherwise, that can touch this.
Acoustic environment of rx8 is ridiculous. There are speakers pointing at your leg. Most of the sound is reflections that reach your ears. Imagine all those sound waves bouncing around on surfaces so close together, with no good way to control them. Probably listening to 10% speakers, 90% rx8 surfaces / environment.
You can spend so much money on rx8 audio equipment, but it will never be at full potential. There's no good electronics for car either, just cheap parts inside using lowest common denominator.
I just know how these audio costs can spiral out of control, so just have realistic expectation, knowing your equipment and tastes will change over time as well.
Funny sidenote, I have all these audio equipments and headphones. Sennheiser 600, Grado, and Stax electrostatic earspeakers. In the rare event I put on headphones, I'll actually go for the Bose pair due to the comfort.
So if you decide to get new parts anyways, don't do it by trial and error. Know first what you want to achieve and then find out what products might take you in that direction. If you have no idea how you want rx8 to sound, nobody can help. Ask the people here how certain models sound and what their overall presentation is, and more specific information. Maybe on a dedicated car audio forum on the internet, where there is more specific reviews, less generic "theories".
It would help if you found out what components sound good together, to narrow your choices of combinations. This is called system synergy.
Still this is a very subjective area.
I'm happy with stock system. It works for the road. These people try to say I don't care about quality. But I come home to music using low-jitter s/pdif relocker, SLA battery powered non-oversampling DAC, SLA battery powered amplifier, crossoverless full range drivers with alnico magnets. Most of these are custom made and modified. There are no products made for rx8, pro or otherwise, that can touch this.
Acoustic environment of rx8 is ridiculous. There are speakers pointing at your leg. Most of the sound is reflections that reach your ears. Imagine all those sound waves bouncing around on surfaces so close together, with no good way to control them. Probably listening to 10% speakers, 90% rx8 surfaces / environment.
You can spend so much money on rx8 audio equipment, but it will never be at full potential. There's no good electronics for car either, just cheap parts inside using lowest common denominator.
I just know how these audio costs can spiral out of control, so just have realistic expectation, knowing your equipment and tastes will change over time as well.
Funny sidenote, I have all these audio equipments and headphones. Sennheiser 600, Grado, and Stax electrostatic earspeakers. In the rare event I put on headphones, I'll actually go for the Bose pair due to the comfort.
Last edited by User24; 08-28-2008 at 01:06 AM.
08-28-2008, 08:59 AM
#19
You also continue on to say that there is no decent equipment even produced in the entire the automotive industry. You obviously have not researched/experienced enough. It is just as easy to blow $10k on car audio as it was for you on home audio. Again, I'm not comparing both final products (so please don't bore us again), but just note that many speakers are sold AND USED as both car or home audio speakers.
Then I had to wade through the paragraphs of bragging and gloating.
08-28-2008, 09:21 AM
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I'm sorry. I can't take someone seriously when they use words like synergy. Frankly, I don't think you understand how audio really works, but you've spent quite a great deal of money on it, so you want to make sure everyone knows that. Who built your system for you?
Last edited by Socket7; 08-28-2008 at 09:31 AM.
08-28-2008, 09:36 AM
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Yup, You're pretty much stuck with the bose system if you dont want a sport model. I completely disagree on not replacing it for a couple of reasons.
1: ) You don't need to get metal dome tweeters.
2: ) Properly EQing your system (impossible with Bose) will allow you to tune those "grating" highs into line with the rest of your system
3: ) Noise floor doesn't matter when you're playing music at 110 Dba
4: ) The difference in sound clarity between bose and aftermarket can be heard across the entire frequency range. This alone is reason to go aftermarket, nevermind the fact you're going to get a wider and flatter frequency response.
Bose is the gold standard for consumer level audio. Go Pro and theres massive room for improvement.
1: ) You don't need to get metal dome tweeters.
2: ) Properly EQing your system (impossible with Bose) will allow you to tune those "grating" highs into line with the rest of your system
3: ) Noise floor doesn't matter when you're playing music at 110 Dba
4: ) The difference in sound clarity between bose and aftermarket can be heard across the entire frequency range. This alone is reason to go aftermarket, nevermind the fact you're going to get a wider and flatter frequency response.
Bose is the gold standard for consumer level audio. Go Pro and theres massive room for improvement.
08-28-2008, 09:40 AM
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Car audio is not a "throwing money into the trash can" endeavor. Trying to go all out crazy is a waste of time, however. The bose system isn't TRASH, but it's certainly not really good. Don't get subs, they're way too heavy. I'm a big fan of pioneer and alpine speakers. You can get a decent set of speakers for under $100, and it will make a huge improvement. Don't bother trying to get studio quality sound, but getting something much clearer isn't that hard.
Do some research on crutchfield (they have a lot of good info) then buy the speakers from etronics. they have a lot of good prices on car audio. etronics.com
Do some research on crutchfield (they have a lot of good info) then buy the speakers from etronics. they have a lot of good prices on car audio. etronics.com
08-28-2008, 09:48 AM
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Car audio is not a "throwing money into the trash can" endeavor. Trying to go all out crazy is a waste of time, however. The bose system isn't TRASH, but it's certainly not really good. Don't get subs, they're way too heavy. I'm a big fan of pioneer and alpine speakers. You can get a decent set of speakers for under $100, and it will make a huge improvement. Don't bother trying to get studio quality sound, but getting something much clearer isn't that hard.
Do some research on crutchfield (they have a lot of good info) then buy the speakers from etronics. they have a lot of good prices on car audio. etronics.com
Do some research on crutchfield (they have a lot of good info) then buy the speakers from etronics. they have a lot of good prices on car audio. etronics.com
Thanks for the reminder and the tip.