Hercules

The Mazda6 has a 7 speaker system that from Edmunds, got a glaring 9.0 review.

However, the Mazda RX-8 does the 6 one better.. it adds two speakers!

Per the MazdaUSA/RX8 site, I doubt very much that the RX-8 will be under the 6's performance as far as sound quality is concerned, and with two extra speakers (likely tweeters) we should get even better sound. For those of you interested in finding out what the AudioPilot technology is,
click this link. It's essentially a system that adjusts the volume and sound according to interior noise. Hopefully pretty useful feature

wakeech

Herc, dude, do you NOT ever sleep??

man, i can tell ya, that technology would only be good in cars with really low cabin noise, as in the autos i drive, the medium bits would deafen the listener if this AutoPilot stuff turns up the volume so you can hear the soft stuff... wow...
pretty neato though.

khoney

Followed your link, Herc. That's a pretty impressive crowd to run with that has the AudioPilot technology... Porsche... Maybach...

Quick_lude

But it's still a proprietory head unit.. I need an MP3 player or an MP3 capable changer.. I hope Mazda includes that with it.

EtherDruid

Personally, a custum exhaust and a 6-speed will make all the music I need. Nice to hear it will have some quality options available though.

Quick_lude

Agreed.. obviously at the track I don't listen to music but I need a good stereo while I'm commuting.. Regular CD option is not good enough at this day and age.

Grimace

Quick_lude: you can get an MP3 player as an option on the Mazda6.

Thats pretty cool, Edmunds never gives a 9 on cars as inexpensive as the 6. They are pretty critical too, so it must be a decent stock system.

wakeech

actually, i've looked at some reviews of other cars on Edmunds, and it seems, to me, that the review of the sound system is quite subjective... i've got a Matrix in the driveway (which i never drive :p) and the system there seems to have very weak midtones, great upper registers, and overbearing bass (by which i mean the system will drown out the upper ranges with a buzzing bass thump when i really crank it up, even on a very flat equalizer setting... btw, i did do all the sound board work in my video production class in highschool, so i've got a little experience with sound)... this fellah on Edmunds thinks that this thing doesn't have ENOUGH bass, based on his impressions from some test rap music...

the guy in the 6 was listening to classical, and he thought there was a lot of thump... it could be true, but how bassy is classical music??
the 6's sound system DOES sound great, and the system in my Matrix is CERTAINLY no better than a 7, but what's with the estimation of these systems?? they've got different people with different ears for what's "good" evaluating these cars...
bah, whatever... i'm way off topic.

Elara

Not a classical music fan, huh wakeech? There's more true bass in most classical music than you're ever going to find in rap/rock/pop stuff. If he thought there was a lot of thump, then there's probably a lot of thump

And as for quietness in the cabin- haven't a number of reviews commented on the quietness of the cabin except for the rotary whine at high revs? I know Automobile said that, as least- it was the last one I've read so it's sticking in my mind. Sounds like maybe we got a great sound system on our hands here...

Thanks for posting that Hercules!

Hercules

Not a problem folks...

One thing I should point out, is that Edmunds generally listens to Jazz when testing car stereos.

If you have the right music, there is no music that can compare to the soundstage of Jazz to see how accurately music is reproduced. The highs, lows and mids are the most difficult to reproduce properly in Jazz, and thus that's what cars are tested with.

For the 6 to get a 9, it's very reassuring to me.

race1

go to freshalloy.com forums and look up the zcar with that audiopilot crap- lots of problems and horrible sound! not to mention recalls or TSB's for it which eliminates it!

droidekaus

AudioPilot??? NOOOOOO!!! You DO NOT want this in the system. Protest NOW to have Mazda and Bose eighty-six the AudioPilot.

OK, OK, you're probably wondering "why?" The Bose in the Touring 350Zs has this AudioPilot function which CANNOT be turned off unlike the older iterations of Bose volume compensation. Every Touring Z from the factory had/has this insane volume up/down and booming sub from the AudioPilot not knowing what the hell is going on and trying to adjust the system. We complained to Nissan and got them to replace the sub amps in an effort to fix the errors. Guess what Bose/Clarion (the component manufacturer) did? They de-tuned the sub amp so it won't even fire. Those who made the amp switch now have ZERO bass response now. I sh*t you not.

We (Z owners) are not finished with this issue and have gone back to Nissan to fix the system properly, or refund the cash we paid in the upgrade to this worthless system. Hopefully by the time the 8 starts rolling off the line, Bose will have addressed the issue and/or re-introduced a way to turn the AudioPilot completely off. Otherwise, if the Bose system is a stand-alone option, DO NOT ORDER IT!!!

You've been warned.

Hercules

I don't think the Z got as good a rating on the stereo anyways.. but hopefully Mazda will realize that AudioPilot does have issues and will make it defeatable

droidekaus

It didn't get a good rating because it's an absolute POS. No, seriously. WORST STEREO SYSTEM EVER! If I could have gotten factory, heated leather any way other than bundled with the Blose, I would have.

roachman

Droidekaus,

You have me very scared...
I expect a great sound system... I do not want to "down grade" and get fewer speakers...

roachman

rxtreme

iTrader: (1)

I'm sure the aftermarket will come up with something if the system is that bad in the 8, but I'm confident that it won't be that bad. Alot of people out there probably don't want to have to upgrade their stereos, but I've seen some head units lately (as well as some other stereo components) that I've fallen in love with and I wouldn't mind spending some extra cash upgrading the stereo in my RX-8 if the stock one turns out to be trash. I doubt it will, though.

BryanH

I'm not. One would think the 350Z with "premium" Bose stereo would sound good. From everything I've read it's horrible. Mazda is going to put a Bose system in the RX-8. So I don't have my hopes up.

Mazda should coax Klipsch into making some mobile audio for their cars. :D

Hercules

Well keep in mind some Bose systems sound good, and some terrible. For example in my friend's Audi A4 3.0, the Bose is crisp and clean and sounds really nice.

When I drove the Mazda6, the stereo there too was brilliant. Keep in mind that the A4 only got a 7.0 (or something) rating from Edmunds, and the Mazda6 got a 9 for their stereos.

If the RX-8 has a variation of what the Mazda6 has, only with two more tweeters, I don't see how it can possibly sound bad

BryanH

I do hope you're right. I haven't heard a good Bose system yet though. I'll try to keep an open mind.

Sputnik

Me neither.

---jps

cueball

It is kind of sad. It used to be that when you heard the name bose you thought of high quality sound systems. Now it seems that it is a joke. Half the time it is terrible quality.

wakeech

nono, i DO like nearly ALL forms of acoustic music (between classical european (BAROQUE BABY!! Bach's my idol), jazz (bebop's my fav), and flamenco guitar, there's a lot to love), it's just what i was observing what the reviewers were doing...
um, other than organ music, timpanis, the bass (duh), and ummmm, tubas there aren't many reeeally bassy components in acoustic music when compared with electronically generated music... which i also love dearly (my list of favourite artists goes on and on...)
i agree though, that acoustic music really makes it easy to hear the strengths and weaknesses in a sound system...

droidekaus

I hope I'm wrong, but I just want to get this info out there with my previous post...

I too did not want some kid tearing apart my new car to install an aftermarket system, so I opted for the Touring trimline in the Z to avoid this. The Bose in my previous CL-S was more than decent and I was quite pleased with the system. When Nissan announced the 240w system in the Z I thought I couldn't go wrong. I was more than wrong. It is single-handedly one of the worst stock stereo system blunders in automotive history.

Things that have to be considered with the Bose in the RX-8 are whether the AudioPilot (the root of all evil) can be completely disabled, and where exactly the AudioPilot mic placement is in the cabin. In the Z's case, it's in the steering column facing downward. If you have not ridden in a Z, it's a fairly loud car with a throaty exhaust (not modded GT loud), significant engine/drivetrain noise and some road noise when rolling on 18s with low-profile tires. With the mic in position where it is, I can't see how it could possibly figure out what's going on in the cabin noise-wise when it's CONSTANTLY bombarded with engine and drivetrain noise. Roll down the windows in the summer and it's all over. The volume goes into a constant loop of up/down, up/down, up/down.

unemployedpimp

i dont understand

Schills

I have never had any type of bad sound from the 1 BOSE car sysytem that I have heard. But that was from a long time ago. I don't know much about this AudioPilot or whatever it is. But from what I read on this tread that it adjusts the sound based on other noises in the car. A couple of thoughts. 1st I don't like things that adjust inside the car automatically, but that said; 2nd I think that the RX-8 will be a quieter car than the 350Z, and 3rd they have been putting BOSE systems in RX-7's for a long time.