but i was at a Bose demonstration yesterday that was pretty incredible...they were showing their new Lifestyle systems which comprised of new, smaller cubes, one set in the front, and 2 on the sides, with 2 rears and the traditional subwoofer in front off to one side...so i got thinking, since these cubes are about 3 inches long and about 2 inches wide, what would it sound like to put in the cubes in the doors and rear, while mounting the sub against the rear seat wall in the trunk?? what if we upped the amp AND put in the speakers and sub?? i think it'd go well with the DVD/GPS

 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Another victum of a good sales pitch. Dude, I have been installing home theater for over 12 years now, and as long as I can remember, there has only been one saying that comes to mind when you mention Bose, "No Highs, No Lows, Must be Bose!!" Take a real close listen!!! Bose has always had good sales techniques. One time I saw a guy plug a bose speaker into a wall socket. He was trying to show how strong the speaker was!! LOL!!! Just cause it didnt explode doesn't mean it sounds good!!! But everyone wanted to buy a pair because they didn't. Once you have heard AWESOME sound, you will never hear Bose speakers sounding good!!! Trust me. But its your car, do what you want, I just had to throw in my two cents worth. I feel it is my duty as an "expert" to warn you of the truly detrimental sound you get with Bose speakers.

 

But the Bose really bothers me the more I hear it. It's just got NO bass. I actually think the treble is good and the voice range is very good. I like the clarity of the voice but it really suffers when bass comes out.

 

If you were THAT impressed with a lowly BOSE system I can only imagine that you would literally SHIT YOUR PANTS if you heard a REAL Home Theater system.

All the BOSE home systems are a joke.

Shawn S

 

Yeah .. What he said apply to car stereo too. Even a 49.99 5.25" Panasonic component set out performed the Bloze speakers. So much that you can hear the different right away.

 

ok, so now that i feel like a total idiot , what would u say to replacing just all the speakers and not touch the amp or anything else?? im really not that interested in improving the stereo to the nth degree, just enough that i'll b satisfied...like what about JBL's??

 

If you ask me, I took out everything that has BOSE stamped on it. Except for the tape player's flap (the HU is Pioneer). The bose amp is underpower. You cannot keep the speakers and use an aftermarket amp due to the weird impedance on the speaker (or so I heard) unless you wanna pay something closed to 200 for some sort of adapter. IMO, if you are after good quality sound, put in an entire new system. If you are just looking for a little bass, just add an amp and sub(s).

 

So where's our sub? Doesn't the TL and RSX get one? WTF? I guess its the bastard stepchild thing again.

 

Directly in front of the jack, if memory serves me right.

 

That's the amp. We do not have a sub. The sub in the TL is in the rear deck behind the third brake light. In the RSX it in the spare tire. Since our car doesn't get exported to Japan, we don't get a sub or the under body kit

 

I heard a lot of speakers and eyes closed POLK AUDIO. 5 speaker set up even with an eight inch subs, blow away most comptetitions. its soooooooooooooo f'ing good man, got that tight bass hit. plus with Bose lifestyles, if something new comes out ex:like dolby digital 2000 or something, it cant be upgradable, with components just buy another reciever.

 

Try Klipsch. I have a whole Klipsch setup in my family room, much better than Polk IMO.

 

Speaking of Klipsch -- The best home speakers I ever hear were the Klipschorn's or Klipschorn's with Altec mid ranges. Talk about rattling the walls with glorious fidelity

 

IMO – It’s too bad about some of the Bose systems; it makes me wonder how they can take good concepts and then fudge them up with crummy execution

The speakers in my 92 Maxima SE (which sounded better than the CLS in the base department) looked like they came from Radio Shack at 4 bucks a pop.

Makes me wonder what they could have done with some "hot" speakers (something with cones that didn't look like they were constructed from cardboard and papier-mâché).

 

I bought my Klipsch speakers 4 years ago... I dont think Ill ever have to upgrade.... The power and clarity are unbelievable...

 

I have a Bose Lifestyle 25, as well as my stock deck/speakers in the car. I'll vouch for the fact that Bose is not all that its cracked up to be. I bought the LS25 before I knew all that much about home audio, but I guess that's the price I pay.

I'm seriously disappointed in our car, but I can live with the LS25 at home for now.

Do we really not have a sub because its not exported to Japan??

 

Don't worry man, I have all Kenwood

 

The BOSE system sounds just fine to me.I think its just the music that you are listening to. I know many other systems are more powerful & have better base than our BOSE. I still think the BOSE has its strong points. If you listen to Live Concert, Jazz, Blues, Classical ,Country, Classic RB, Contemprary type music I think our BOSE is better. If you listen to RAP, HIP HOP, Punk, etc type music the BOSE won't do. This type of music needs to be played louder & always is. The TL, CL cars are targeted to an older age group that does not mostly listen to music that loud anymore.The system is good for what we paid for our cars. I don't think the desigers did that bad of a job. It is more than likely that any car that most of you guys on here buy you would end up taking out the stereo. Remeber this system is not the Ultra-high-end Mark Levinson audio components that LEXUS has as a costly option on some of its Luxury models. I think you can turn them up untill your ear drums pop.

 

Attention Hatemystocks: I have not heard the Klipsch speaker, but I know they are extremely efficient. Do you have tubes? I drive my Von Schweikerts (90db @ 1`meter) with push pull 6L6 tubes in a British integrated amp. You might try this if you haven't already. I cannot read or web surf when music is playing because I'm drawn to the sweet spot. Seize ya.

 

bose does suck... especially in our cars!!!

 

If you've ever been to a good high-end stereo shop they don't use rap, hiphop, punk etc to demo the capabilities of thier speakers. They use good blues, classical, comtemporary, bluegrass, etc music to show what they can do. Classical music has some of the best bass ever recorded. Blues music (I love acoustical blues) has some very good low end in it. I've listened to some of my classical cds before I upgraded my system. Compared to now?.......they sucked. The Bose didn't do anything to improve the experience at all.
And while I love Mark Levinson home equipment (I personally think it's some of the best money can buy) I think that better can be had for less. They are aligning themselves with an image in the Lexus's. They aren't going out trying to take over the car audio market, or even to become popular in it.

 

I could U say klisph is way better than polk, I heard klipsh and many more i was even desciding on B&W. those are made out of kevlar, so instant high and bottoming bass, and not to mention bullit proof, NO competition even the lowest priced polk blows bose and klipsh away, imagine the high end self powered with each speaker with powered 8inch not one but 2 off them build in sound like WOW is the word and Bam!!!!! is your house. MOMO has teamed up with polk as well, and the make some killer really expensive competition component speakers for cars. I heard them in a Polk MOMO show car which was an Audi TT, WOWAAA is the ward, i love Pounding Mids and crisp not boomy bass.

 

??? ???

 

how could you say, typo my friend

 

Dude, if you think polks are better than klipsch, then you need to come to my house....
I do have polk rear speakers but the front, center and sub is all klipsch and they lay the smack down. The Definitive Technology speakers are amazing as well but I havent found anywhere out here yet that sells em... Those are the only speakers I would consider trading in my Klipsch for....

 

Again, great minds (& silver CLS owners) think alike. I bought a full set of Klipsch speakers for my home theater/stereo 4 years ago and I still love 'em!

 

Technoid, please set this guy straight!!!

 

It's great to hear of more Klipsch fans out there. I have a Klipsch home theater set-up myself and I love it. Time after time I have people come over and they are blown away by them.

Anyway, about the bose system.....I love the one in my A4 (I'm one of the few audiworld folks who do), but I definitely feel like CL Bose system is lacking. However, it gets the job done and I'll probably never bother to replace it.

 

Many years ago, we hade quite a laugh when we found out that the guy we worked for had paid around $4000.00 for a preamp from Mark Levinson with top-secret OP-AMP modules (potted in epoxy -- sorry, we had the solvents to remove it) were some of the most overpriced superjunk that we had ever seen. The guy wanted $400.00 for replacment modules and we did a little reverse engineering. The parts consisted of POS transistors 22 cents each, and had a design ripped from an audio magazine.

OTOH -- all of the cables were made with silver braid and silver wire, the connectors gold plated. Just what folks need to impress them.

The fun started when we built an A-B switch to see if anyone could tell the difference between a very advanced Japanese preamp (that we got at a "closeout" sale), vs. the "King's ransom priced Levinson" -- the owner and four other people all chose the cheap (but very advanced Japanese preamp over the Levinson)...

We got to see more than our share of this "ultra-fi" stuff -- and we were NOT impressed with the work at that time (1980s).

So, designer labels are NOT always a guarantee of the best sound. A number of these "Designer Label" brands -- sell the "name" and put it on gear made from parts unknown.

 

All I was saying is that its a decent system in the car for the price we paid. I have listen to stock systems in GM cars that pump out more bass & have more power than our BOSE. I still don't think they sound better playing say classical music. When you go to a high-end audio shop ofcourse you are going to get somehting better. Like I said there is know option from the factory for our car other than CD-Changer.
The average buyer of the TL/CL would not take the system out.
The younger people of this forum & the TL forum would take it out.
This is what I was saying & that ACURA did not target the car to the younger buyers. How many old grey headed ladies would change the system in the cars. This is what I mainly see driving the TL. Even the Type-S model the male driver is late 40s early 50s. ACURA put a decent sound system in the car for the money we paid for it. Remeber unlike other cars & to keep cost down our cars came standard with everything. The only option is the NAV.
Even the early car mag reviews said that the system lacked BASS.
They also said that the average buyer of the car would not mind but a younger buyer would. I find this to be true because of this topic. This topic I am sure comes up here alot as it does on the TL forum.

 

Agree with FTM-1. The BOSE system is fairly good, for what it is.

Needs a sub for the lower 2 octave reinforcement. And maybe a tweeter upgrade (still up in the air on this one.) Other than that, I'm fairly happy (the 40ish type of answer you'd all expect!)

Jim

 

NOT!!! I listen to jazz, blues, classic rock (acoustic and electric), and there is no way I could bear the muffled lack of lows and highs, and distorted mids that the OEM Blowz stereo pathetically attempted to pipe out. With my upgraded car stereo rig, listening to jazz and small acoustic groups in my car is like being in a small nightclub. It rivals my Yamaha/Sony/Definitive Technologies 7.1 home theater surround system.

I'm probably one of the oldest geezerly CL-S owners on the board (just turned 53). Gee, I'm middle-aged, but I'm not TONE DEAF!!! BOSE blowz -- it's the first thing when modding a CL-S that goes!