[NowaChevyGuy]

I got my 2016 RS a few weeks ago. It has the Bose system in it. The system sounds like all the sound comes from the front speakers. I can fade to rear like 2-3 clicks and get a little balance but it just sounds like the rear speakers aren't putting out any kind of volume. They are working, you can hear them but not like a normal system where you can get an even spread if that makes sense. Anyone else have this? Is this normal or is something wrong?

[Paully104]

Originally Posted by NowaChevyGuy

I got my 2016 RS a few weeks ago. It has the Bose system in it. The system sounds like all the sound comes from the front speakers. I can fade to rear like 2-3 clicks and get a little balance but it just sounds like the rear speakers aren't putting out any kind of volume. They are working, you can hear them but not like a normal system where you can get an even spread if that makes sense. Anyone else have this? Is this normal or is something wrong?

Can you go into your sound settings and set the balancing of the audio further towards the rear and see how it sounds? There's some sort of grid option and the default is dead center of the car. Sounds like you might like to have the sound bias towards the rear. Also if someone else drove your vehicle before you bought it may not be at the default level.

[Glen e]

I also think the Bose system is biased toward the front, no matter how much you fade to the back. Ok with me.

[ctrlz]

Originally Posted by NowaChevyGuy

I got my 2016 RS a few weeks ago. It has the Bose system in it. The system sounds like all the sound comes from the front speakers. Is this normal or is something wrong?

The short answer: Yes, normal. Rear speakers are used for "rear fill." The idea is to better simulate a musical performance, where the artist is in front of you.
Long answer: We ended up with 2-channel stereo in the 1950's for economic reasons-- no one could figure out (at the time) how to put more than 2 channels onto a record groove. Early ideas were that you needed many more channels for realistic sound reproduction, but they all fell to the wayside because they were not economically feasible. We got "car stereo" in the 1970's because the parcel shelf was the easiest place to add 2 speakers as an option, for those who wanted more than the single speaker in the dash center. So people got used to hearing audio with a definite rear bias whenever they were in a car (myself included, loved blasting my Pioneer head unit through rear 6x9 triaxials!). Nothing natural sounding about this. Traditional 2-channel stereo also suffers from a very small "sweet spot" which doesn't suit either the car or the home. The home and car surround sound movement is moving us away from this with much greater progress recently made on the home side, and more trickling into the car. What sounds "natural" to audio engineers still sounds "wrong" to many people!

[NowaChevyGuy]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

The short answer: Yes, normal. Rear speakers are used for "rear fill." The idea is to better simulate a musical performance, where the artist is in front of you.
Long answer: We ended up with 2-channel stereo in the 1950's for economic reasons-- no one could figure out (at the time) how to put more than 2 channels onto a record groove. Early ideas were that you needed many more channels for realistic sound reproduction, but they all fell to the wayside because they were not economically feasible. We got "car stereo" in the 1970's because the parcel shelf was the easiest place to add 2 speakers as an option, for those who wanted more than the single speaker in the dash center. So people got used to hearing audio with a definite rear bias whenever they were in a car (myself included, loved blasting my Pioneer head unit through rear 6x9 triaxials!). Nothing natural sounding about this. Traditional 2-channel stereo also suffers from a very small "sweet spot" which doesn't suit either the car or the home. The home and car surround sound movement is moving us away from this with much greater progress recently made on the home side, and more trickling into the car. What sounds "natural" to audio engineers still sounds "wrong" to many people!

Thanks for that breakdown and it makes sense. I did competition car audio back in the late 90's and my Camaro is the first car that has sounded like this. The rear 'fill' makes sense as well because if I fade rear it more dampens the sound then an equal spread. All in all it doesn't sound bad as much as different then a full 4 channel separated system that I am used to. With seeing how much it takes to mess with the rear speakers I guess I will get used to it lol.

Thanks all