I think I remember reading somewhere that Bose was doing a very minor upgrade to the RX-8's audio in '06. Did they? If so, what did they do, exactly? Can anyone hear a difference?

Just curious.

 

No matter what they did (if anything) it still sounds like a Bose audio system. And that is reason enough for me to swap it out.

Bose is very opinionated about how audio should sound and I don't happen to agree (at all) with said opinion. Hence I think all of their products sound like poo.

 

I believe they put the "upgrade" that was initially only for the gt package on all models.

Ah, I hate it, when I first got the car I had all my friends saying oooh, ahhh, you have a Bose, thats sick! No big deal, the Hz range isn't the greatest and there is a clear distortion as the volume goes up. Ah, I guess my ears are just spoiled by my Tannoys and jbl studio monitors at home

 

Well unless they added better tweeters and some real bass, then they have not fixed chit. No highs, no lows must be bose.

Seriously my friends MPV stock system sounds better than my bose.

 

I don't think Bose did any major upgrade since... 70's? Muff low, muff high, distorted bass if you try to crank volume up just a bit.

 

Wow you guys are hating on the Bose system bad...

I have to agree I can't really hear all of the Hz range, and the distortion does get obvious when you raise the volume....

but....

but...

...ya I got nothing... The sound system does suck.... I don't understand... Audio is one of the simplest things to measure and create within a car... Why would they upgrade a system by cutting of specific hertz?

 

I got into my buddy's 2004 Altima SE and his BOSE system sounded 10x better then the POS system they put in our cars!

Good thing I yanked out my bose last weekend...

 

Tis why I didn't get the Bose system... I'm in the process of finishing up my audio install and I think the low-end line of Sony xPlodes sound better than the best car Bose system I've heard.

Also, have you heard those Rockford systems in the new Xterra... UGH, horrendous!

 

Ya... I used to own a 04 SE S/C 4X4 Xterra... With the Rockford Cocksgate system! It is horrible... All the speakers are actually made by Clarion... The only think made by Rockford is the amp...

 

The best way to upgrade from Bose is to replace their speakers. Since the Bose speakers in the 8 are 2 ohm rear and .6 ohm front I would suggest using the newest Infinity Kapa which are 2 ohm the lowest ohm I know of in aftermarket speakers. They should work pretty well with the bose amps. I think Bose should be ashamed of the sound system in the 8 mostly do to poor speakers, partly due to low amplification, like 12.5 amps each to the rear 6X9's at 2 ohm could be 1/2 of that 6 1/4 amps with 4 ohm speakers. The front 9" speakers are 100 watts each at .5 ohms if you put 4 ohm speakers in it will be about 12.5 watts each so I would use the 2 ohm Infinity Kapa's and get about 25 watts per channel unless you want to put some real amplifiers in to replace the Bose.

 

OK what about the lowly 6 speaker base system??? Is there hope that Dream Theatre will Kick AZZ in my 8??? Nothing I have seen yet on replacement systems makes me happy. Just want a clean sound, don't need to blow out the windows.

 

I had the base system and replaced it with all Boston Acoustics speakers. I'll admit, it sounded good with an aftermarket Alpine amp but when I took out the stock head unit and put in the Pioneer AVIC-Z1, it definitely opened up some new sound!