[MarkZ]

Playing with my radio a bit this morning and I realized the rear speakers in my car are terrible. And yes, I have the Bose system.

Treble 100%, Mid-range 50%, bass about 75%.

If I change the fade all the way to the rear, it sounds completely horrible. Zero highs, zero lows, all mid-range (basically like a mono speaker). If I bump it up just one notch to the front, the subs in the doors turn on (and pretty much full power) but nothing else? Does everyone's do this?

Just trying to figure out if I have an issue and need to bring it in, or whether its just really that bad.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.

[Glen e]

The rear speakers are certainly for Fill, Yeah they're not great. But try this.

Treble -one notch more than middle
mid range one notch more than middle
base one notch less middle.
Fade one notch to the front.

That was what a guy did to my system that is a Bose specialist. And it sounds pretty good. Bose system doesn't like extreme tone.

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Glen e

The rear speakers are certainly for Fill, Yeah they're not great. But try this.

Treble -one notch more than middle
mid range one notch more than middle
base one notch less middle.
Fade one notch to the front.

That was what a guy did to my system that is a Bose specialist. And it sounds pretty good. Bose system doesn't like extreme tone.

I will also try this. I find that the Bose system lacks clarity in the lower frequencies.

[ajp]

My speakers vibrate like crazy, will try the settings above.

[Tankman]

Hi there,
Any success with the above suggested settings? Or any more ideas to get the BEST out of BOSE??

[laynlo15]

I bought a 1ss with no rear speakers. That really sucked but we installed Memphis 6x9 and 300 watt Memphis amp just to drive those and its the cats meow. I didn't want the bose that would have been in the 2ss. The quality is just not there from the factory systems.

[Evil-Bee-NH]

I got the 1LT no rear speakers put a 10" RF Punch Sub in the trunk I think it sounds 10x better without the rear speakers.

[JoeAyalaM]

Bose is good only at low mid volume levels. If you ever get mooved by music, you will need to upgrade.

[Tankman]

Reading lots about the Bose system in our Camaro's and the general disappointment across the board. I wonder how much quality control did the Chevrolet "sound" engineers do? It would appear very little.
Or are we missing something with this set up?

[2006Moy]

Its just factory radio in cars imo. They all just toss crap in last minute and don't put R@D into it. Unless you start going Harmon Kardin and up on quality none of the big 4 have good systems imo.

[AndyUK]

Originally Posted by 2006Moy

Its just factory radio in cars imo. They all just toss crap in last minute and don't put R@D into it. Unless you start going Harmon Kardin and up on quality none of the big 4 have good systems imo.

all factory systems seem to use really cheap drivers and cones in their speakers, you can somewhat mitigate this by installing a subwoofer and frequency cutoffs for all the 6x9's so that they don't see anything below 200hz

the problem with that being in the Camaro you have the active noise cancellation - a few people seem to be saying you can cut the mic cables but I've not actually seen someone say they have done exactly that

removing the X3 connector cuts the active noise cancellation, but it also cuts stuff like the cross traffic warning etc.

[Sub]

Has anyone done an afermarket build thread?

[bybcous]

Originally Posted by AndyUK

all factory systems seem to use really cheap drivers and cones in their speakers, you can somewhat mitigate this by installing a subwoofer and frequency cutoffs for all the 6x9's so that they don't see anything below 200hz

the problem with that being in the Camaro you have the active noise cancellation - a few people seem to be saying you can cut the mic cables but I've not actually seen someone say they have done exactly that

removing the X3 connector cuts the active noise cancellation, but it also cuts stuff like the cross traffic warning etc.

The mics in my door are cut, the only problem I have is people have a harder time hearing me through speakers, especially if windows are down.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by Tankman

Reading lots about the Bose system in our Camaro's and the general disappointment across the board. I wonder how much quality control did the Chevrolet "sound" engineers do? It would appear very little.
Or are we missing something with this set up?

Took delivery of my 2ss with Bose yesterday. Over bluetooth songs sounded pretty good. Really I was expecting disaster based on what I read here, but I realize audio can be very subjective. I will post a review once I have lived with the stock system for a while.
True that sub bass comes from the doors and the rear 6x9's are for rear-fill only. I think the rear side speaker are probably the mids and highs for rear fill, and the rear 6x9 maybe extend down to mid bass. Most of the amp power is routed to the front 5 speakers. This front soundstage approach is a big turnoff for many, particularity if you like booming 12" subs coming from the rear to fill the cabin. The other aspect of this philosophy that I like is the inclusion of a front center driver. Usually this is like front center fill. The amp combines left and right audio and routes a subset of mids and highs to the center speaker at reduced volume compared to the left and right drivers. I think this enhances the soundstage. But many like that more defined separation of hearing left and right channels coming from the corners.
My knee-jerk evaluation tells me I will not be considering upgrading this system unless a MOST adapter becomes available. Not worth it (to me) to spend hundreds on a DSP just to get a signal worth amping and sending out to new speakers. This is coming from someone who never buys Bose home equipment and has installed aftermarket audio on his last 6 cars (that would be all the cars I have owned).
Also, since I have the V8 with NPP, it is not exactly Symphony Hall type conditions in the cabin. So I would be more reluctant to go super high-end with an upgrade.
I have some audio test files I can play through this system. I should be able to estimate an overall frequency response. I think the results may prove surprising, as I suspect the bass extends down to at least 40 Hz. Based on what I've read here, I was not expecting that.
My initial rating for a car audio stock system: 8/10.
To answer your question about sound engineering, I do have some idea how this is done. It is basically outsourced. Once the cabin design is finalized the builder will let Bose tailor a system within a certain price range. There will be final tuning and EQ once prototypes are available for real world testing. The parties involved take pride in their work, but there is a budget and the realization that a sports car sets a lower priority to quieting the cabin compared to a Mercedes S-class.