i have been reading some of the threads about the bose system. what are the symptoms of the bose problems. what should i listen for. i have a late 2003 touring, and system sounds ok but its bose and should sound better

 

sweeeeeeeet

 

You should be able to find a ton of threads on this topic. I bought my Touring in the first half of 2003. Here's my understanding of what most appear to say:

1) Earliest Z's suffered from excessive BASS. The "fix" kills all BASS from the posts I've read. Most posts talked about erradic and excessive bass.
2) My Z must have the excesive BASS "fix" since it has very poor midrange and the bass at +5 is weak at best. I also think that this "fix" must basically eliminate the auto compensation feature too based on some of the posts. I can't detect any audio compensation on my Z. The sound is basically guttless! I rented a Pontiac Grand Prix with a no-name stereo that sounded better than the BOSE in my Z.
3) There is an amp change to fix #1 and #2.
4) Most posts I've seen of 2004 Z's seem to indicate they like the BOSE system a lot more but I've never seen anyone explain what changed on the 2004 Z's since I'm betting it will take more than an amp change to fix the poor midrange/bass complaint. Most say the 2004 BOSE system is "OK" so folks still don't get too excited over the system with "all" the fixes.

I've complained on the poor bass since I purchased my Z. The factory is now planning on changing out my amp to fix the issue. I know a few folks that have had the amp change and most say it makes it better but they still don't feel that they got what they paid for....Once the weather warms up my Z will go in for the amp change and I'll post the results.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kwadell
[B]You should be able to find a ton of threads on this topic. I bought my Touring in the first half of 2003. Here's my understanding of what most appear to say:

I also think that this "fix" must basically eliminate the auto compensation feature too based on some of the posts. I can't detect any audio compensation on my Z.

hey kwadell:
I agree with you and think that my audio pilot (or as you termed it the audio compensation) has not worked since i had the amp "fix". Used to be real noticable with the overboosted bass but now almost nothing. I went to the dealer at my last oil change and they looked at it for over an hour. finally they came back and said it was working all the time. I think they just couldnt figure anything out, even with talking to "mother nissan". My question for you is have you had your dealer look at this, have you told them about it, and when you get the new amp, how is it being warrantied for? I also think, hell I know the bass on the new amp sucks. My grand prix gtp bose system was pretty sweet and this thing sounds like a transistor in a tin can. any help would be great.

thanks.

 

The Bose is crap, sounds like crap and will always be crap. You can polish a turd all you want and you will end up with a shiny piece of crap. (just my opinion of course) I am a professional musician and recording engineer and producer so obviously my judgement can't be trusted.

 

i agree with zh
i have been working with stereo, building amps and speakers for about 35 years or so. bose 901 knockoffs could be made for about $50 a pair including the 9 itty bitty clock radio speakers...
this gives you some idea of how cheesy they were even in the halcyon days of expensive stereos. the only fix i can think of is to pull it out of the dash and run over it with the car. this will improve the sound greatly (that is, the hole in the dash will produce much better sound than what was there...)
SO- the fix is to go to a good stereo place, and get a real unit. Unfortunately, this will cost you some money. Sorry, but beyond the dark humor, there is little you can do. Even Nissan (supposedly) dropped Bose but I have not confirmed
good luck!

 

I took my Z to the dealer yesterday to make the appointment for the amp change and evidently Nissan had not contacted them yet! 3 weeks ago Factory Nissan called me, asked for who my dealer was, told me they would call the dealer and explain the situation and have the parts delivered for my amp change. Of course the service manager didn't know anything so I had to start all over and give him the phone number of the contact.

So, I'm probably another 2-3 weeks out before I get the latest amp change.

On the audio compensation...I'm sure they figured out that the gain of their set-up was too high and subtle exterior noise changes yielded huge stereo volume changes. So, rather than spend the time to fix the system...they just desensitised it to the point of having no effect. So the dealership can say its "still working" but its volume compensation is 1/10 of what it used to be. I'm ok with that as long as the basic sound quality is fixed...

From the very first complaint I knew that Nissan and Bose would never correct the situation to the customers satisfaction. My guess is that they are basically working on the lowest cost solution that they hope is enough to get the customers to stop complaining. I personally think they screwed up on the speaker match and it really would take an amp change and a speaker change to make this system perform as originally advertised. If you think of parts and labor for a complete system overhaul you are easily over $1500 per Z. They'll never do this unless they are really forced into a corner.

I'm trying to decide what to do if the system still doesn't meet expectations once the new amp is installed. Basically, how many folks will sign up to keep pushing this until it meets what they originally advertised? From what I read of those that have the "final amp" it still doesn't meet customer expectations...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kwadell
[B]On the audio compensation...I'm sure they figured out that the gain of their set-up was too high and subtle exterior noise changes yielded huge stereo volume changes. So, rather than spend the time to fix the system...they just desensitised it to the point of having no effect. So the dealership can say its "still working" but its volume compensation is 1/10 of what it used to be. I'm ok with that as long as the basic sound quality is fixed...



that is a real good way of describing the audio compensation issue. i had that exact idea of why it wasnt working but i couldnt figure out how to say it. i had a hunch it was in someway shape or form related to the fact that even the bass is narrower in range after the fix. sucks.

but whatever you are talking about with trying to get nissan to own up to this screw up with bose i would be willing to "get on board". one major hurdle here is that ultimately we are talking about something that is subjective. what one person thinks sucks and is wimpy, others might think completely adequate. for example read the other threads on the bose issue, at least 3 out of ten people are perfectly happy with their bose system. seeing this i can guess nissan will be tough to budge. in fact this is why i havent brought it up to my dealer again cause i can just hear them saying, "its working to specs, if you want better sound buy a better system". anyway, keep us informed on anything that you find out. good luck.