csmeance

Hi,
As you guys may know, my brother is considering an RL. We had an 07 TL Loaner and it had a Dolby Pro logic feature in which the front speakers played the main parts, the rears played only the high and the lows at a lower volume and the center piped out the vocals. Is this the same with the RL's center-point system? Also the TL had no delay between the channels, so there was no echo effect.

gdevine

Centerpoint will take a regular CD and mix it so that it sounds as if it has been recorded in Dolby pro logic. Much greater separation of the channels front to rear side to side. However it is of course artificial but it sounds pretty down good. Certainly not like a DVD-A that is recorded in several channels but pretty good for a two channel CD.

I have not heard the TL's Dolby Pro Logic but if it is a feature that is capable of mixing a regular 2 channel CD then it probably is the same as Center-point in the RL.

TampaRLX-SH

Agreeing with the above explanation I think you also need also to consider ambient sound in both vehicles. Having owned both there are attributes to each that affect the overall sound or the ELS or Bose.

At face value, the TLs ELS system seems to have more oomph, and perhaps more deep in the bass.

At face value the RL's Bose seems more refined in the mid range and highs. It does not perform with bass thumping that so many feel defines high quality audio.

But key in comparison is how each systems performs in the vehicles. And not just when stopped or idling. The TL has more exhaust note, more road & wind noise and different internal acoustics. I think this requires more of the bass / oomph in the system to accomodate road and tire noise.

The RL is much quieter and also has the Bose Active Noise Cancellation. To me it appears the RL system delivers better midrange and highs than the TL without requiring the volume level to overcome the ambient road and tire noise. It also does not have the deep bass the TL systems exibits. Some consider this refined, some consider it lacking the bass thumping rolling boom box so popular on the roads.

I think it is relative to personal taste, but understanding the noise attributes of the two cars explains (to me anyway) the different tuning of the sound systems. Of course it boils down to personal choice. Without having owned both vehicles and become familiar with them longer than a side by side test drive, I would not decipher too much form either system beyond initial impressions.