2006c6keller

First thing I would do is to move the FADE one or two notches to the rear, really improves the sound, may have to readjust for seat seat position. Also move ALL the tone adjustments to MAX.

07 Z51

You obviously have never attended an IASCA competition. As a competitor (1991 - 2002) that placed at the world finals several times, I beg to differ with your first statement because of your second statement. If you are/were willing to make the modifications necessary to the vehicle to cure its inherent difficulties to reproducing sound, anything is possible. My system was set up for SQ and rivaled any home system that cost as much if not more.

My good friend still has his competition vehicle sitting in the garage. If you want to hear something that will blow you away (SQ, not just volume or boom boom boom), let me know. I'll set it up.

That being said, I am considering doing the Corvette over but for me to do it in a way that I could appreciate, it means spending tens of thousands of dollars.

Anyone looking for that "one man" shop, Jeffrey Smith in Atlanta Georgia is your man. That is where my car is going from here (NJ) if I choose to do it.

tomzarbo

I've owned a pair of older bookshelf Bose speakers, (20 years ago) and they sounded comparable to more expensive, better quality speakers of that time... even with their 3" tweeters. My former church uses a pair of their semi-line aray PA speakers with bandpass bass modules (large church) and they perform fantastically.

The problem I see with Bose of late is their use of cheaper, paper-coned full range drivers.

Bose uses electronic equalization in their products to compensate for the drivers lack of quality. Similar to using a multi-band equalizer to adjust for user preferences -- but to a much finer degree. This is how they can get a 2" or 3" cube pair to match up with a bass module without their being a huge 'hole' or gap in frequencies where the two intersect. You can only go so far with that without causing extreme distortion, and the harshness that exists in a paper-coned full range speaker such as Bose uses in the upper door areas of our beloved Corvette suffers from this problem.

I'm not bashing Bose, but they do tend to use very cheaply made speakers in their units. That fact makes it harder to get them to sound right. But, since the amp/equilization is already in place as the system is designed for each specific car, then additional adjustments to compensate for the lack of using a quality speaker are fairly easy... it just doesn't work as good as it could... My opinion.

Personally, I turn down the mid range a bit to remove some of that 'shouty' -ness to the vocals. It helps, but not completely. I guess I should disconnect the center speaker and give that a try. I'm sure it would improve the stereo imaging quite a bit.

TomZ

gilbybarr

Heck I must really be bad then, I have the very base base system with just the one slot for the CD and I think it sounds great! Stuff in a little Van Halen or ACDC with the top down and you can take on the world! Must be I ruined my hearing and music taste with those old 8 tracks in my '71 Bug!

bigterpsfan

My base stero sounds decent to me. I am wondering if the base might sound better than the Bose?

blazeone

Ding ding - we have winner.

SanDiegoBert

I was prepared to start replacing components, but I found the base radio to be quite adequate. It's not a replacement for any home system, but it's fine for the C6.

StanNH

To my ears the bass is too muddy and the higher frequencies lack punch. It doesn't matter if you have a base C6 or a Z06, the stereo is the same.

On my car, I max out the treble and back off the bass. This at least makes it sound a bit more clear than with the controls at mid levels. It does sound much better with CD's and even with FM. XM is the worst for sound quality due to the compression of the downloaded signal.

2006c6keller

[QUOTE=Vette Suspension;1571563833]No such thing as a car audiophile. You can improve any sound with some money....

QUOTE]Just thinking and joking, what do you do about the noisy exhaust, I GUESS YOU JUST TURN THE ENGINE OFF? As you know, a catch 22, can't win for losing. Please do not take this seriously, can't have your cake and eat it to in a Vette. I prefer the driving to the radio, but I also like the radio, MAYBE THE ILEGAL HEADPHONES!

dkal70

Did you retain the bose amp speakers? Does the Pioneer Avic z110bt enhance the bose amp speakers?

07 Z51

The bass is muddy in the C6 and the hi's are flat - "No Highs, no Lows, it must be Bose" (Blows).....

Only thing that will work is changing the system to have a good clean signal, premium drivers and possibly an upgrade as to speaker location. In car audio, it is location, location, location for staging and imaging; the rest is good signal and driver choice for your application. GM did the least it could do to get marginal sound in the car which is good for 90%+ of its target market. The rest of us want to stab our ear drums and/or the speaker cones.

Altc

I hear you but if you take a few hours with a good reference CD you can beat this. The equalizer can be adjusted stay away from the default settings.

bass mechanic

ok i posted in this thread early on before i actually had the car.
let me tell you that the whole problem with the factory system is the head unit. bose has also adjusted EQ inside the amp that makes it sound like crap.

here is what i did. installed a Kenwood DNX-9140 Head unit and set the EQ curve to boost the highs above 10k and cut the midrange a good deal. gave it about 1/2 gain on all the bass frequencies and presto!

you would not believe the sound using the stock bose speakers and stock bose amp.
im running 5 volt preamp signal right into the factory amplifier and there is no engine noise and it sounds great!
the only complaint is i would like to turn it up about 2 notches louder like when there is a good song on otherwise it sounds good enough not to waste any money messing with it.

Vette Suspension

And a quick trip to the store for some Q-Tips wont hurt at all.

XSQUID

Again, this is another of those "too each his own". After 22 years in the Navy around Steam Turbine machinery, I am probably lucky that I can hear at all. My Bose 6-CD system sounds great too me, but then again the base radio probably would too.

blackmachdown

Just to back up kevin, I heard his set up and it sounds fabulous, If he hadn't told me he was using stock speakers i would have never guessed it!

Grzldvt1

Never liked the stock Bose system from the day I drove the car off the lot. Futzed with every control until I was blue in the face. I think I had the car 12 hours when I pulled the center dash speaker and that was in Oct 04. Helped but not what I wanted.
I replaced the Bose speaker system, and kept the HU, and found a VAST improvement. The HU still does not deliver what I am looking for, but close enough to not replace it just yet.
My neighbor(has a 2006) always gave me grief over what I did and said the Bose was great for him. About three weeks ago he heard my system, and is now pulling his Bose and duplicating what I have, in his car. He was simply blown away by the difference.
Another neighbor got in my car after they talked and said "Let's hear this sound system you have. After listening to it for a few minutes I got a "Holy Crap!!!!! I am in a rolling concert hall, this thing is amazing!!!"So for around $650 bux, I have a vastly improved stealth sound system.
Took me several tries/weeks to get everything lined up(gains, crossovers, etc) the way I wanted it. But worth every penny spent!!!!

lh4x4

I have an 02,05 and an 08. Not a single complaint with the sound system. I don't use them. I bought them to drive not as a music studio.

Listening to the stereo and fussing with the ***** is just as distracting as using a cell phone.

2006c6keller

Please complete profile and we can help you more. Look at my post #101 on FADE, this could help you.

WMark

No offense, bud, but some of us also "bought them to drive..." However, sometimes a little cruising, with some great tunes, might be appropriate.

Drop the macho cr*p and focus on the real complaint. GM charges top dollar for a "premium" sound system. Many paid for that option, and it doesn't deliver. That is the complaint.

Ain't got cr*p to do with your version of performance driving. Matter of dollar spent vs. value delivered.

Again, no offense!