Car and Driver 2019 CX5 article.

I did a very brief stint in Home Theatre sales and everyone at the store I worked at swore by this acronym: "Buy Other Sound Equipment"

They had a pretty high markup and were comparable to equipment priced 20-30% less. I did everything I could to steer people away from the Bose HTIB (home theatre in box) setups.

All that said, the Bose system in the CX-9 is ok, but bass is definitely a weak point. I have the car's audio set up so the Bose "extras" are off, treble turned up 3-4 points, bass at 0, front at 1 or 2. The rest of the audio tuning is done through the music app on my phone. Sounds good enough, but the factory system could definitely use a subwoofer upgrade.
 
Call me crazy but to my ears the factory system in my 14 Mazda 6 (Tom Tom system) sounds better than the Bose in my wifes 18 CX5. Shes got more bass cuz of the sub but for some reason it doesnt sound.... great to me.
Youre not alone. I tested the Bose on gen-2 CX-5 with same songs on a USB and felt the same. Although the bass is a bit stronger than my gen-1 CX-5 with additional sub-woofer, and the treble is a little obvious with added tweeters, but the whole sound quality is not better than my gen-1 Bose. Definitely disappointed about the change on gen-2 Bose.
 
Call me crazy but to my ears the factory system in my 14 Mazda 6 (Tom Tom system) sounds better than the Bose in my wife*s 18 CX5. She*s got more bass cuz of the sub but for some reason it doesn*t sound.... great to me.

Not crazy at all, another one who agrees...
 
You*re not alone. I tested the Bose on gen-2 CX-5 with same songs on a USB and felt the same. Although the bass is a bit stronger than my gen-1 CX-5 with additional sub-woofer, and the treble is a little obvious with added tweeters, but the whole sound quality is not better than my gen-1 Bose. Definitely disappointed about the change on gen-2 Bose.

Ensure that Bose centerpoint is turned on in the settings. It sounds terrible without it and for some reason Mazda ships the cars with it off by default.
 
Ensure that Bose centerpoint is turned on in the settings. It sounds terrible without it and for some reason Mazda ships the cars with it off by default.
To me, and many others, Bose Centerpoint surround sound system is making the music artificial. I turn it off all the time on purpose. My CX-5 came with Centerpoint on from factory.
 
Call me crazy but to my ears the factory system in my 14 Mazda 6 (Tom Tom system) sounds better than the Bose in my wife*s 18 CX5. She*s got more bass cuz of the sub but for some reason it doesn*t sound.... great to me.

Noone likes Bose, really. I know when the C6 Corvette was in my sights, the Bose sound system was reputed to be worse than the "base" sound system.
 
Ensure that Bose centerpoint is turned on in the settings. It sounds terrible without it and for some reason Mazda ships the cars with it off by default.


Actually, on the CX-9, I find turning the Bose Centerpoint and Audio-pilot off makes the whole thing sound much better!
 
Actually, on the CX-9, I find turning the Bose Centerpoint and Audio-pilot off makes the whole thing sound much better!

I agree. Bose is a nice system and centerpoint makes a big difference. I find that a lot of people seem to rag on Bose just because its popular - kinda like Apple haters. But to each their own.
 
I agree. Bose is a nice system and centerpoint makes a big difference. I find that a lot of people seem to rag on Bose just because it*s popular - kinda like Apple haters. But to each their own.

No, we rag on it because it is average at best, but will always have that name as something superb, no matter what. It's cheap components that should cost pennies on the dollar to what it really does, but like most, it's the best they've ever had, so it works. Hey, not hating on it, it satisfies the ole lady, so I let it ride, like most...
 
No, we rag on it because it is average at best, but will always have that name as something superb, no matter what. It's cheap components that should cost pennies on the dollar to what it really does, but like most, it's the best they've ever had, so it works. Hey, not hating on it, it satisfies the ole lady, so I let it ride, like most...

+1 Personally BOSE's time has l o n g since pasted IMO. My Toyoto truck's JBL system sounded better. The Acura sounded better and the Audi's B&O (Bang & Olfosen?) sound system was the best I've ever heard in a non-after market system (again IMO). I also find the speakers to be highly inefficient (i.e., they require too much power before they start to shine).

Again, I don't hate BOSE either but there are many other systems out there now that have surpassed it as true premium sound systems. However your mileage may vary. ;-)

P.S. Plus for the price difference of the above mentioned vehicles (Acura/Audi) I can purchase an after market system if I so choose but the BOSE works well enough for now (just don't call it premium).
 
No, we rag on it because it is average at best, but will always have that name as something superb, no matter what. It's cheap components that should cost pennies on the dollar to what it really does, but like most, it's the best they've ever had, so it works. Hey, not hating on it, it satisfies the ole lady, so I let it ride, like most...

Exactly I bet those speakers are just paper. Not the type of material you would find in a higher quality premium system or after market upgrade. They just use EQ to try and compensate for the average at best frequency response of the components theyre using. If youre not that discerning or never experienced anything better I guess it might sound good. To me its just good enough and the wife is happy with it so there you go.
 
The installed at the factory JBL systems always seemed to sound better, to me, than the factory Bose systems. That said, the Bose in the 2017 CX 5 sounded far better than the Bose system in a 2014 Mazda 6 (which was pretty bad) and better than the Bose system in my 2006 Mazda 6 (also pretty lame).

So the Bose system may not be as good as other "premium" sound systems but the Mazda implementation of Bose seems to be improving over time.
 
The installed at the factory JBL systems always seemed to sound better, to me, than the factory Bose systems. That said, the Bose in the 2017 CX 5 sounded far better than the Bose system in a 2014 Mazda 6 (which was pretty bad) and better than the Bose system in my 2006 Mazda 6 (also pretty lame).

So the Bose system may not be as good as other "premium" sound systems but the Mazda implementation of Bose seems to be improving over time.

Fair enough. (thumb)
 
Exactly I bet those speakers are just paper. Not the type of material you would find in a higher quality premium system or after market upgrade. They just use EQ to try and compensate for the average at best frequency response of the components theyre using. If youre not that discerning or never experienced anything better I guess it might sound good. To me its just good enough and the wife is happy with it so there you go.
Well, all Bose speakers in current Mazda lineups indeed are cheap paper-cone speakers except those new A-pillar 1 silk dome tweeters found on gen-2 CX-5.
 
I do think the tweeters help and to me it does sound better than a lot of the other Bose systems Ive experienced.
 
I rented a new Ford Explorer and the sound system in that vehicle was WAY better than the Bose in my 2017 CX5. The Explorer radio system was so crisp and balanced, it blew me away. One of the best stereos I have ever listened to inside a vehicle. When I went back to drive my CX5, it was a downgrade for sure. Not sure what system Ford uses, in house or Nsync or something like that.
 
The Sony system in my previous Ford was definitely better than the Bose. Current VW Fender blows them both away.
 
The best in-car sound system I*ve experienced is the Burmester in my *15 Porsche Cayman.
Clear highs and powerful lows with smooth transitions at any volume ... but then that was an expensive option that*s way out of Mazda*s price range.
The Bose is adequate and little more.
 
Well, all Bose speakers in current Mazda lineups indeed are cheap paper-cone speakers except those new A-pillar 1* silk dome tweeters found on gen-2 CX-5.

To their credit, Bose makes paper cones sound pretty good. Its their sound signature which is more catered to say Orchestra music of news talk radio.
 
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