Ioman

Dude how many times are you going to say "BOSE blows...no highs no lows it must be Bose!!!!"

It was somewhat humurous at first but its getting old. :D No offense.

Also, I believe the Bose system in the RX-8 is 300 Watt.

From Mazda's website:

Touring Package (Sport Package items plus 300-watt Bose® 9-speaker audio system with AUDIO PILOT automatic noise compensation technology; power sliding-glass moonroof; auto-dimming mirror with Homelink® system)

300 watt is not bad at all for a stock system, and is much better than most cars out there. The Harmon Kardon systems in the BMW's sound terrible compared to this BOSE system.

kristopher_d

For the most part the volume is capable of being over-kill witht he BOSE system. However, I have discovered a circumstance under which this is not true. At 80mph with the windows down and top open, it could use a little more oomph. That being said, the 8 experiences considerably stability and drag issues with the windows open at this speed. My 2nd gen 7 hates having the windows closed, but it is a 15 year old car.

khoney

I'll bet Doug works for Jensen :D

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Ouch... That's pretty harsh.. Harman seems to me to have done a spectacular job on the BMW 745i. Have you sat in, and listened to it? I think it's got better range than the RX-8 (better high freq response, and MUCH better bass), but still seems a little bit 'hollow' but still, I think the audio quality is better overall.

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edit: my vote is that doug works for Alpine..

Ioman

Well I would HOPE the BMW 745i would have a killer sound system considering the car costs more than twice the RX8. I have only listened to the Harman Kardon system in the 330Ci and it was pretty bad.

Sorry for being mean Doug, I just noticed you have been posting that in every Bose forum.

Do you work for Craig Electronics?

TEASING!!

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My take onm BMW's concept, is that they spec out what they want their radio to do. Harman is obviously capable of amazing systems, I don't think that it's fair to judge any one radio mfg. on one model. And that includes Bose. They aren't to blame for the RX-8's component design. I would have much rather had a 'conventional' 8" sub as compared to these two cheesy 9" pieces of crap.

I personally would prefer a much changed layout, but Mazda is the one who specified it, and I think it was more of a marketing and sales decision, than a technically sound decision.

I can deal with the system. It sounds good, but not great. I've heard better, even from bose, and yes, they do a good job at what they're asked to do. They sometimes don't have the leverage to set up the system ideally, and like to experiment. Much like everyone else, including the manufacturers.

So, don't blame Bose for the RX-8, son't blame Harman for the BMW 330. Blame Mazda and BMW for specifing a system that was sub-par.

Still, have fun with the systems. Audio is one of the more easily changed components.

regards,

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