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GT Bose system?
- Thread starter jeremy44
- Start date
Hello everyone
I was just wondering how the Bose stereo sounds like on the GT with the centre point and the other fancy feature thats also on it.
Do you think it is good and how would it compare to your previous car audio system?
Thanks
I am very pleased with my Bose System! Probably the best stock audio system I have ever bought with a vehicle. Centerpoint is Awesome, however, it does not work with Bluetooth. I have to have my iPhone plugged in to the usb port to get the Centerpoint sound. I highly suggest it for the Touring (mine) or the GT!
In a past life, I engineered over 200 albums and have a couple dozen gold/platinum awards in my office. I've spent thousands of hours listening to music and evaluating speakers.
I find that the Bose is one of the best implementations of a car stereo we've had yet. The imaging is fantastic. The sound is relatively neutral, with extended, if somewhat slightly overhyped low-end. The midrange is somewhat dampened as is typical of all Bose driver systems. The CD transport in the head unit is not great, and is subject to the audible artifacts of pretty serious jitter (LINK). However, the BIGGEST point is the quality of the Speakerphone. It is AMAZING!!! I have never had a car in our household which created better sound quality on a call. It is nearly indistinguishable from a closely held handset.
Over the years, we've had OEM speaker systems from H/K (generally unlistenable), Alpine (decent), and Dynaudio (amazingly neutral and accurate, but not to everyone's tastes) in our cars. It would be hard to argue that any of them produce a more pleasing result for most people than the Bose. Now if only Mazda's Tier 1 could improve the quality of the CD drive inside the head unit!
Oh yes, Mazda, you should let us buy this in the Manual instead of making us take an A/T to get it!
I find that the Bose is one of the best implementations of a car stereo we've had yet. The imaging is fantastic. The sound is relatively neutral, with extended, if somewhat slightly overhyped low-end. The midrange is somewhat dampened as is typical of all Bose driver systems. The CD transport in the head unit is not great, and is subject to the audible artifacts of pretty serious jitter (LINK). However, the BIGGEST point is the quality of the Speakerphone. It is AMAZING!!! I have never had a car in our household which created better sound quality on a call. It is nearly indistinguishable from a closely held handset.
Over the years, we've had OEM speaker systems from H/K (generally unlistenable), Alpine (decent), and Dynaudio (amazingly neutral and accurate, but not to everyone's tastes) in our cars. It would be hard to argue that any of them produce a more pleasing result for most people than the Bose. Now if only Mazda's Tier 1 could improve the quality of the CD drive inside the head unit!
Oh yes, Mazda, you should let us buy this in the Manual instead of making us take an A/T to get it!
IMO, it's good. What's missing is the deep bass of a subwoofer, (something my previous Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer had).
I agree, I like it a lot but my wife's Mazda3 has the factory subwoofer attached to the spare tire and the difference is noticeable.
I agree, I like it a lot but my wife's Mazda3 has the factory subwoofer attached to the spare tire and the difference is noticeable.
You should hear the bose in the 3 sedan which I had. The sub is in the rear deck and is much bigger sounding than the spare tire unit of the hatch.
I'll offer a different analysis.
I didn't think the bose system was very good at all. I thought the bass was very muddy and I didn't think the midrange was good at all. I didn't like the imaging too much as it seems all the treble was coming from the dash speakers, so the sound didn't seem very "full" to me. I wish the door speakers weren't just woofers.
I didn't think the bose system was very good at all. I thought the bass was very muddy and I didn't think the midrange was good at all. I didn't like the imaging too much as it seems all the treble was coming from the dash speakers, so the sound didn't seem very "full" to me. I wish the door speakers weren't just woofers.
xwedge,
I thought it was muddy with lousy imaging as well -- until I changed the audio source to BT from my iPhone. The difference was not subtle if you have a well encoded audio file on your BT device (over 256k). The audio quality from the CD drive is crappy -- hence my comments about jitter. They really should have done a better job on this part.
Anyway, check it out and let us know your thoughts.
I thought it was muddy with lousy imaging as well -- until I changed the audio source to BT from my iPhone. The difference was not subtle if you have a well encoded audio file on your BT device (over 256k). The audio quality from the CD drive is crappy -- hence my comments about jitter. They really should have done a better job on this part.
Anyway, check it out and let us know your thoughts.
I'll offer a different analysis.
I didn't think the bose system was very good at all. I thought the bass was very muddy and I didn't think the midrange was good at all. I didn't like the imaging too much as it seems all the treble was coming from the dash speakers, so the sound didn't seem very "full" to me. I wish the door speakers weren't just woofers.
Agree with this 100%! I wouldn't say it's not very good at all, though. Generally I think it's fine and I do enjoy it, but it sure lacks in the midrange and the treble from the front speakers only can be a bit annoying as I agree, it really doesn't sound that full. I faded entirely to the rear speakers a few times just to hear how it would sound and it was woefully weak. I'm generally not a fan of Bose and I'm not sure it's just my pre-conceived notions that are driving those opinions or not.
I'll have to agree with xwedge, it's pretty poor for their "premium sound". I'm currently using an iPod Classic via USB and I get lots of static and crackle on the high end spectrum. I feel like if Mazda did a better job with the EQ it would be more manageable. Only having "Bass" and "Treble" controls make tweaking pretty tough. I'm currently looking to upgrade the system a bit since I'm in the car at least 2 hrs monday - friday.
Agree with this 100%! I wouldn't say it's not very good at all, though. Generally I think it's fine and I do enjoy it, but it sure lacks in the midrange and the treble from the front speakers only can be a bit annoying as I agree, it really doesn't sound that full. I faded entirely to the rear speakers a few times just to hear how it would sound and it was woefully weak. I'm generally not a fan of Bose and I'm not sure it's just my pre-conceived notions that are driving those opinions or not.
I have to say that it is just OK. It is very front oriented with too much treble. Apparently it must be used by Bose to 'trick' the unexperienced listener that the sound quality is high.
There are no options to adjust the system really. Front/rear/left right.
what is this centrepoint feature? i have the bose system but don't think it comes with centrepoint?
In the US market, GT with Bose has Centerpoint per owners manual:
Centerpoint offers you the experience of
5.1-channel surround sound in your
vehicle even with your conventional 2-
channel stereo CDs. Centerpoint can be
set on or off.
*5 Centerpoint is a registered trademark
of Bose Corporation.
NOTE
l Centerpoint operates optimally with a 2-
channel stereo CD. MP3 audio files can be
played, however, MP3 audio files encoded
with high compression may result in poor
sound quality.
l Centerpoint is available for 2-channel
stereo audio except for AM radio/FM radio/
AUX/Bluetooth audio.
IronMan0737
Member
- :
- 14.5 CX-5 GT AWD w/ Tech
Haven't played with it much yet, but Centerpoint kind of reminds me of one of many selectable options from the Creative Sound Blaster home audio platforms.
Centrepoint optimizes sound for drivers position, but its effect is not dramatic and only works on some inputs.
IMO, The 225W Bose system is good, but not great. I liked the stock 350W system in my old 2007 Civic better and I had to pay $1200 to get the Bose upgrade in the CX-5. That said, I wouldn't get CX-5 without Bose because the base radio sounds so bad. I got $1700 off msrp, so I figure I got the Bose for free.
IMO, the Bose center dash speaker overwhelms all other speakers. The rear speakers can not be heard unless you fade 90% to the rear. The highs and mids sound fine, but the bass is lacking.
The head unit has a number of notorious issues it shares with the base radio; USB resets to first song everytime you start car, shuffle isn't very random, USB stick reloads everytime you start car and could take minutes, selecting Shuffle on USB stick picks initial random song, but following songs are sequential, iPod nano isn't useable as worst problem is every 10 minutes a song will turn into blasting white noise. Bluetooth to my Android 2.2 phone doesn't show song titles, but otherwise works okay. The CD functionality has none of the flaws USB or Bluetooth so I listen to that most of the time. The FM digital reception is nice and not many cars have that. I haven't listened to FM in years, but digital reception makes it tolerable.
Bose is worth it on CX-5, but its not perfect, a quirk of the CX-5.
IMO, The 225W Bose system is good, but not great. I liked the stock 350W system in my old 2007 Civic better and I had to pay $1200 to get the Bose upgrade in the CX-5. That said, I wouldn't get CX-5 without Bose because the base radio sounds so bad. I got $1700 off msrp, so I figure I got the Bose for free.
IMO, the Bose center dash speaker overwhelms all other speakers. The rear speakers can not be heard unless you fade 90% to the rear. The highs and mids sound fine, but the bass is lacking.
The head unit has a number of notorious issues it shares with the base radio; USB resets to first song everytime you start car, shuffle isn't very random, USB stick reloads everytime you start car and could take minutes, selecting Shuffle on USB stick picks initial random song, but following songs are sequential, iPod nano isn't useable as worst problem is every 10 minutes a song will turn into blasting white noise. Bluetooth to my Android 2.2 phone doesn't show song titles, but otherwise works okay. The CD functionality has none of the flaws USB or Bluetooth so I listen to that most of the time. The FM digital reception is nice and not many cars have that. I haven't listened to FM in years, but digital reception makes it tolerable.
Bose is worth it on CX-5, but its not perfect, a quirk of the CX-5.
Last edited:
Centerpoint issues
Centerpoint used to be available (enabled) and now it's always disabled
Previously with centerpoint enabled, sound only came out of the center speaker
So I just disabled it, but now this option can no longer be enabled
But the sound is pretty good
Centerpoint used to be available (enabled) and now it's always disabled
Previously with centerpoint enabled, sound only came out of the center speaker
So I just disabled it, but now this option can no longer be enabled
But the sound is pretty good
You are probably on the wrong source. The Centerpoint setting is greyed out when not on a source that can use it (USB/iPod or CD.) If you switch to one of those and check settings again, you'll see you can edit the setting for Centerpoint again.Centerpoint used to be available (enabled) and now it's always disabled
Previously with centerpoint enabled, sound only came out of the center speaker
So I just disabled it, but now this option can no longer be enabled
But the sound is pretty good
I assume the GT and Touring non-Bose use the same head unit, if so, say I find a GT in a junk yard and remove the Bose speakers and replace the stock speakers with the Bose would I get the same performance as the GT with Bose? I would have the install 2 extra speakers in the back of course.
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