Bose Radio in 08 Altima 3.5 SL

[Deke40]

Got the wife's new Altima home and was checking it out. Looking in the trunk at the room and noticed all the electronics between the two speakers. Looks like an amp and there are also two metal enclousures. Just wondering what all that was.

Also does anybody know the wattage of the Boise and the actual equipment that comes with it?

Modified by Deke40 at 6:42 PM 12/13/2007
Modified by Deke40 at 5:00 AM 12/15/2007

[LegendRacer]

i have a question too...

Does the factory Amp (if it has one) support subwoofers? and to what power?

i am a newbie with electronics, speakers etc.

but i like bass and would like a pair of 10's in my car. Anyone got an after market amp or did you just hook it up directly to the cars stock amp?

*i have the bose system by the way*

[Plastics]

I read on a car website that the stock amp on the Bose system is 264 watts, but please beware, these are "advertised" watts. They bear no relationship to the "watts" from high quality home power amps.

The easiest way to add a power amp and subwoofer is to wire the power amp to the speaker output of the factory amp. Turn the poweramp switch to "from speaker" position and hook up the subwoofer to that, and you should get some good bass.

The stock Bose 9 speaker system is average at best. The center speaker on the dash distracts from the stereo imaging and makes the system sounds like mono. I have been thinking about disconnecting it or covering it up to get more stereo effect.

Plastics

[rjdmmfl1]

Found this, this is Bose's answer to your questions...

"c. Can I add a subwoofer? No. As noted above, each Bose automotive sound system is completely integrated, with the elements custom-engineered to work together as a whole. If you add a subwoofer to the system, its output is unlikely to be proportionate with that of speakers already in place. In most cases, adding a subwoofer will detract from—not enhance—the sound quality."

3. Can I get a list of technical specifications? "No, because our custom-engineered, complete system solutions largely supersede conventional audio measurements. Even some basic building blocks have been redefined—including amplifiers, speakers and equalizers. But most importantly, our integrated systems deliver results significantly different from those of conventional systems with individual, unmatched components. With a Bose automotive sound system, the location and design of the speakers can be much more important factors in determining output than a wattage power rating. The bottom line? The best way to test a Bose system's sound quality is to use your ears, not a list of specifications. "

This is some bull****, the bose system, as stated earlier, is average at best. If someone stated that the stock amp was 264 watts, it's probably 132 watts rms, averaging about 33watts rms per channel. Even less if they have a five channel setup for the center speaker!

In reality, if you want to add a subwoofer to your system, your best bet is to run seperate power, grounds to the sub. Then, you can get avolume level adjuster like the one I have posted in my Avic D3 write up. http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=294580They only cost about $20 and in addition to the normal speaker outs, they also have rear RCA outputs for a subwoofer. Good luck!

[Seraph321]

@rjdmmfl1 - While I agree that Bose is spouting some bull there, as they often like to do, they are at least correct in saying that the quality of the sound doesn't have much to wattage. This goes as much for card audio as home audio, if not more in car audio since there is so little air to move than any decently efficient speakers shouldn't need much power to get good volume.

That being said, I'm normally not that impressed with Bose car systems (and I HATE their home theater crap). The altima system is alright, and I doubt I'll do much to upgrade it, but it's nothing to write home about.

[rjdmmfl1]

@rjdmmfl1 - While I agree that Bose is spouting some bull there, as they often like to do, they are at least correct in saying that the quality of the sound doesn't have much to wattage. This goes as much for card audio as home audio, if not more in car audio since there is so little air to move than any decently efficient speakers shouldn't need much power to get good volume.

That being said, I'm normally not that impressed with Bose car systems (and I HATE their home theater crap). The altima system is alright, and I doubt I'll do much to upgrade it, but it's nothing to write home about.

yeah, i totally agree with you.. sound quality is definately not equivalent to wattage ... very common misconception

I just think their justification for not giving specs is weak at best.

[generic808]

I just find it quite amusing that the mass majority of people tend to think Bose is absolutely wonderful Little do they know, Bose really doesn't sound that great in car or home theater. I believe Bose is simply a product of great marketing. They have/had a niche in the industry with their old home Lifestyle set-ups and the size/convenience of them. I believe that's what made Bose so popular, and still popular til this day. What I would suggest anyone to do if considering a Bose home stereo, is to do a comparison at a local audio store and hear for yourself how Bose can't compare to even the mid-level stuff available out on the market. If you put them up against a brand like Definitive Technology, they don't even have a fighting chance. In fact, I'd go out on the limb and say that even a mid-range speaker like Klipsch sounds better than Bose.

Anyways, sorry for digressing from this thread It's just that I really don't like the Bose sound; very overated in my opinion, and it bothers me when people say otherwise. Sorry.

[Deke40]

From all the above posts I guess I will trade my 3 day old Altima in and get a car with a better audio system in it. Just joking.

I appreciate all the input.

When you are my age what you are hearing with tired old ears is probably not a good representation of what is coming out of the speakers.

[LinkNuc]

So true, the nice thing is the size but I have an Onkyo Home Theatre system that costs about 1500 bucks less than the bose and while the sattelite speakers aren't teeny-tiny, the aren't huge and the sound is phenominal, as far as our Better Off with Something Else system in our car's it is as you say average at best

[mcheddadi]

Bose sound is the best for high and mids. it surpasses everything. most of you guys don't like the sound because you want more bass. I do too. their bass is on the muddy side when you crank the bass to the max. but if you don't, the sound is spot on. it's just not what most people want. people nowadays want to be shaken with RICH deep bass while keeping the sound integrity. lol

the bose with the treeble and base at normal, is perfect. get a sound analysing tool to check it for yourself. the specs are spot on.

but can't argue with anyone that doesn't like the sound without the added RICH deep bass feel, since I'm accustomed to that too lol

[rjdmmfl1]

Yes, I agree that it may be tuned to perfection, but it still falls short of surpassing everything out there. Any aftermarket system with an add on signal processor will blow the bose system out of the water, and allow for truely customized sound. For example, with my D3 plus signal processor, you can adjust the sound to center on the driver, passenger, middle of the car, etc. It has a timing function that delats frequencies by milliseconds to allow for a true stero sound.

In addition, a great limiting factor in the Bose setup is that stupid center channel speaker. It's supposed to give a 5.1 type surround sound, but falls short and the system sounds like its in mono (as mentioned earlier). It's not just about the bass, for true audiophiles, the BOSE system is just run of the mill!

[Deke40]

Got the wife's new Altima home and was checking it out. Looking in the trunk at the room and noticed all the electronics between the two speakers. Looks like an amp and there are also two metal enclousures. Just wondering what all that was.

Also does anybody know the wattage of the Boise and the actual equipment that comes with it?

Modified by Deke40 at 6:42 PM 12/13/2007

Modified by Deke40 at 5:00 AM 12/15/2007

Finally go around to reading the entire owners manual and found out the metal enclousures are the bluetooth system.

[Rmuth25]

Well for whats its worth, I consider myself a minor audiophile and the bose system blows what I had on my old car out of the water, and the system was pretty good. I had a 10 inch audiobaun sub with a 400 watt cadence amp and a pretty sick ported box. The port was on the side and sucked in air in through the back of of the subwoofer so the little 10 inch sub sounded like there were 2 12 inch subs in my trunk. Only pitfall is that this box was HUGE. Anyway, every so often I hear sounds that i never heard before in songs I have heard hundreds of times. I simply dont agree with anyone who calls this system "average at best" Thats a pretty gross understatement.

[Seraph321]

Bose sound is the best for high and mids. it surpasses everything. most of you guys don't like the sound because you want more bass.

I have to disagree with you there. Bose is known for inflating their midrange at the expense of detailed highs and lows. Problem is, most people don't know what to listen for and a 5 minute demo of inflated mids can sound really good if you don't understand how much it's messing with the source. You'd get really sick of it another 10 minutes in though.

As I said before, their car systems do a better job than their home theater stuff, so I actually think they do OK at highs, but still fall short in the low-end. The highs I've heard from my car while sitting still and doing critical listening are about on par with a mid-upper range home theater, but nothing even approaching proper audiophile sound. But since you'd likely never hear that last 15% of detail while driving, it hardly matters much.

And while I agree with you that many people want unnaturally high bass in their car, I'm not one of those people. I just want to be able to hear down past 30hz or so, and I don't think the bose system even gets past 40hz @ -3db.

Here's a link to my audio system at home btw. http://www.flickr.com/photos/s...9350/

[audtatious]

Has anyone pulled the Bose tweeter yet? I know in my Maxi it was a little Clariion 4ohm speaker. This being the case, a number of people pulled it and swapped in a better tweeter with good results. While this may help with high-end I am afraid there is nothing shy of a JL cleansweep to fix the internal EQ curves used by Bose to keep speakers from blowing at high output (turn up the volume and it lowers midbass and lower output).