Bose Rear speakers have no BASS

bdc492s

Member
I just got my new CX-7 and noticed that the rear subs(speakers) in the back two doors have no bass at all. Is this the norm in CX-7s or should I take it back to Mazda to have them look at it? The front two speakers in the door and in the dash sound great, however move the sound to the back, and it reminds me of Sparkomatic speakers, pure treble. Please tell me this is not the norm.
 
Well - here's the thing with BOSE.

They want to "control" the environment. If it were up to them you wouldn't HAVE bass, treble, balance, fader or much else for control over the sound. "They" would make their adjustments for the environment to sound its most optimal - but, consumers won't allow it, so they must deal with it.

I am VERY sure that Bose would respond by saying: "Don't send the audio to just the rear... it won't sound good"

The question isn't "Why isn't there more bass from the rear"... I ask of you; How does it sound when you're NOT sending more audio to the rear speakers? I am sure they KNOW that they are not sending equal weights of frequencies to all parts of the car... but in the primary listening positions, all frequencies are accurately represented.

Just my guess.
 
I must say - I'm no Bose fan-boy... but I've heard that saying before... but I don't get it. My car system sounds GREAT. My parents have a Wave radio that sounds AMAZING. I own a pair of QC3 noise cancelling headphones that are just remarkable, and my wife got a SoundDock last XMas as a gift and THAT blows me away considering its size.

All of those products perform well in the Highs & Lows... so what the heck are people talking about...?
 
in the mazda, those rear speakers are not subs by a long shot. the system is set up with 2 9 inch woofers in the front that throw basically 90% of the bass. the speakers in the rear doors are basically a mid range woofer. the bass from the front is meant to resonate throughout the vehicle, altho, most of it does not reach the back cabin. the rear doors will give a good punch, but deep bass, nope.

my house is all bose, inside and out. there is nothing that sounds better, that looks better and performs better. given its size and relative ease of installation compared to other receivers and systems, u just dont beat bose. short of going full blown cinema room installation - if your room is right for a bose system nothing compares.
 
I am a musician, I also co-own and co-run a small recording studio and do a lot of audio/video post-production at my home studio. Iam no pro... I don't have the "golden ears" of Bob Ludwig... but I can tell when something sucks or not and I just don't understand the Bose-bashing.

I hear lots of music. My home studio has nearfield reference monitors from Samson, Mackie and Event and I listen to mixes on all-sorts of systems.

I have yet to hear anything through my car, through my headphones or through my wife's SoundDock that are lacking in lows or highs. I just don't get it. I'm sure LOTS of stuff sounds better, but I'm DAMN-SURE there's a lot WORSE out there.

You may hate the "brand name"... you may not like the price or "value" of the products... but from a sonic perspective. They really do sound good. Really GOOD! Not the best... but pretty darn good. A far-cry from No Highs, No Lows...

Meh... to each, their own, I guess...
 
i mean i look at it this way, what would u rather have in your car? sony? pioneer? bose is the best of all worlds and is THE premium system across numerous cars and lux cars. the harmons in the benz and bmw suck, the els in the acura isnt all its cracked up to be not by a long shot, and i mean other than that you have lexus which i think USED to be Nakamichi. In our 7, the bose def has its shortcomings, numero uno being no mid eq, but when im in other cars im def happy to have what i have in the 7.
 
My only complaint with the Bose is that the AudioPilot can't be adjusted it's either on or off. I can definately tell that it's working when it's on, but it doesn't work enough. I still have to raise the volume when getting on the freeway.

Also, why doesn't the centerpoint work with Sirius? It's a digital signal just like a CD, isn't it?
 
"digital" is not the prerequisite. Uncompressed CD-audio is. I don't even think it works on .MP3 CD-Rs (I might be wrong).

I keep both AudioPilot & Centerpoint off. They mess with the sound too much. I know the INTENT of them, but in all practicality, they don't work as well as I'm sure they hoped.
 
I have the Bose package in my CX-7 also. Not too bad, but I dislike the "mid-subs" banging the side of my leg. I'm considering pilcking up a JL Clean Sweep so I can use my 8w7 in the back. Just wondering if the rear doors are full range so I dont have to use the add on proccessor to sum the signals.
 
Thanks for all your guys input.

Apparently all of the Mazda CX7s are setup that way. If you set the fade to just your rear speakers, the sound is horrible. I guess they are setup to have your fade at 0, and all the base be in the front. The sound quality is not that bad at these settings, however I expected more I guess. I'm not saying BOSE makes bad speakers either. I know they are one of the best, I would rather have the base in the back as well, or reversed with the base in back and no base in the front. I guess that's just my personal taste.

Thanks again to everyone who responded.
 
All car stereos that are "engineered" are designed for the fader at 0. In most sedans you have larger speakers in the rear deck so fading the rear gives you the impression of having more bass but really you are just making the frequency response even more crappy than it was to begin with. In an SUV the larger speakers are in the front or are the same size as the rears. Unless you have a subwoofer, fading the rear will only reduce the amount of sound coming from the entire system.

Oh, and bose doesn't make "one of the best" speakers. They actually make pretty mediocre speakers. Better than stock but worse than most aftermarket speakers. Bose magic is providing adequate amplifier power and EQing the system so the cheap speakers sound better than average.
 
Just replacing the speakers won't give you more bass...in fact it would do just the opposite.

Bose uses 2ohm speakers and the EQ curve of their amp is designed specifically for your car and their speakers. Most aftermarket speakers are 4ohms and the bose amp will put out half the power at 4ohms vs 2. Furthermore, the bose eq settings won't be ideal for your new speakers, for example bose probably boosts the highs a little to even them out but with your new speakers the highs will be just fine meaning the EQ will boost them beyond a comfortable range.

That is why if you want better sound it is best to remove everything (the bose head unit, amp, and speakers) and replace it with aftermarket gear including at least a single 8" or 10" subwoofer.

On the 6/MS6, the bose head unit puts out line-level outputs which means you don't have to replace the head unit if you don't want to. I do not know if the CX-7 is in the same situation. Someone else would have to confirm that.
 
i was in the middle of typing what chu just wrote and i completely agree, if ur gonna start replacing, replace the whole thing. if u start patchworking a system like bose designed to work for the 7, your sound will be off and it wont be worth it.
 
mcopare said:
So does the MS3 headunit have line-level outputs?
If it has the Bose system, chances are it does have line-level outputs between the headunit and amp (prolly under the passenger seat). If it doesn't have the Bose system it won't have line-level outputs.

The only way to confirm whether it has line-level outputs is to check them with a voltmeter. The output should be around 2v at max volume and connecting it directly to a speaker would cause it to play very quietly if it plays at all.
 
Back