Don't buy Bose (in general)
Overpriced, poor Material and build quality.
The standard system is good, sounds better than the speakers in my old Audi. And for the Bose money, you can get much better speakers from the after market.
For example, he changed the Bose to Alpines:
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...rum/alfa-giulietta/280385-whats-the-standard-audio-system-like.html#post4162279

Kling

 

The BOSE is good if you simply just want a tiny bit more boom for your money, and you dont have to worry about re-wiring etc, however as the obove states, it is not worth £820, the speakers actually distort with any real bass going through them! My example, my BOSE could not handle +5 bass at volume 10! yes 10! and that is incredibly quiet!

 

...while BOSE would tell you not to set any Bass or Treble at all, other than stock. They often try to convince the car manufacturers to remove the controls with a BOSE system fitted as their settings are as they should, but "the buyers" (you) wouldn't accept that, so most of the time the stereo/car keeps the Bass & Treble settings.
What they are more successful at is having the separate EQ removed.*

The BOSE system is much more than new speakers. It's a separate pre-def EQ for the car (specifically tuned by BOSE), band filters, and new amp, and a woofer. Many times it also adds speakers.

Point made: With any "hi def" stereo, don't touch the Bass/Treble (unless maybe if your recording is really crap)

I've had BOSE in my 4 last cars (156, 156, Saab 9-3 and G QV) and I'm very pleased.

 

I strongly disagree (maybe my age) if the system has the options it should be able to cope with them and produce good results, why allow a +5 options if it sounds hurrendous?!

Facts are, £500 could by you a MUCH better sounding system, stock BOSE there is no thump or mid range, even high end vocals use to sound naff.

But like i said, people will find it more than acceptable

 

Thanks a lot for your answers

 

Here my experience.Sorry for english i am italian.
Dealer and audio specialists suggest me not to go for bose.
Reasons:
1.poor quality,forse the same money you can have better.
2.if you want to change it in the future,you will meet problems since the bose interacts with the electronic of the original sound system.example,replacing the amplifier not easy,wheel controls,bose is a close system.
3.sub is placed in not a natural position to perform correctly
I personally decided to keep the original sound and in the future maybe will install amplifier from aftermarket

 

Guys, this is starting to sound like a "you shouldn't get an iPhone coz it's closed. Get an Android instead"-kind of argument.

BOSE is good (just like the iPhone) because it's closed and "preconfigured" for your needs. If you like to tinker and have the time to invest - and can accept the risk of failing miserably - an "open" system will be better for you.

The question asked was what our experiences were with BOSE. Answering that you can get better by rebuilding the car and getting an after market system - that doesn't integrate with the wheel and the default stereo and Blue & me - to that is like telling someone to get his own pilot's license when he asks for our experience flying with Lufthansa.

 

fine simple answer - it's rubbish, better?
p.s. android > iPhone

 

Got Bose in my GCL factory fitted and its mega

 

Bose system in my QV seems quite Drum and Bass compliant to me.

I don't listen to DnB at levels approaching what I used to 10 years ago through the $7k worth of gear I had installed in my Civic, but quite happy with the amount of volume/bass and clarity the stock Bose system provides.

They got the bass to a desired level where it's not going to do silly things like resonate your rego plate or slowly but surely loosen every screw and bolt in your car

 

I'm quite fussy about sound but reckon the standard audio system is pretty good. The Bose is marginally better, imho.
Is it worth £800? No Way. If it was £100 upgrade, I might have gone for it. Might.

£800 spent at a professional audio place will give a far superior system to the Bose.

As they've always said: "All the highs, none of the lows: must be Bose"

 

It's standard on the Australian QV's so the added price doesn't really come into the equation for us.

 

Horses for courses. Had it in my GT and now in my QV. Always liked to crank up the bass before I had the GT but found the Bose had an underlying bass which meant if I turned up the bass on the system it sounded terrible. Ended up not using the system bass or treble settings at all - left it stock and it sounded much better. Ditto in the QV. you need a track or album that you can use as a sampler, then you'll know what works.

 

Hi, I've got a BOSE system in my 156. It's junk. The amplifier has completely given up the ghost and prior to that needed to be turned up to about 45 to be audible. It was boomy when it worked and generally quite disappointing. £800 spent in a decent car audio place will knock spots of a BOSE system.
Buy
Other
Sound
Equipment

 

Have BOSE in my G and I think it is very good. I do 40 - 45k miles per year so spend a lot of time in the car and good system to me is a must. Have always gone for audio upgrades in my company cars and to me this is the best one yet - my 2p worth anyway.

 

Sorry all you Bose fans but any of their products wouldn't get a "look in" at home or in the car.
Far superior products out there although I have to say that throwing serious money at ICE is rather pointless unless the car acoustics warrant it - Roller anyone?

Style over substance IMHO.

 

Hi all

I've read enough Bose bashing .. I'm a DJ and I use a Bose L1 system for my main sound rig so forgive me if I'm a little biased.

That said my 156 had NOT got the Bose upgrade

When I was buying my 156 a couple of weeks ago I looked at a car with a Bose upgrade and it sounded wonderful ... Kenwood head unit upgrade too ... Crystal clear right up to 50 volume.

The only reason I didn't buy the car is that it had a long list on MOT Advisories and a short time to run on the ticket and didn't want to have what I feared would have been a very expensive MOT passing bill

The car I bought has a stock non upgraded sound system and the sound is poor compared to the Bose, much quieter more fuzzy less punchy at both the top and bottom end.

Having read everything I've read on her and had the conversations I've had with other drivers, I nw realise that the fixes required wouldn't have been so expensive and I wish I'd gone for the other car!

I'm actually looking to aftermarket fit Bose if I can find one!

 

The owner of that car had obviously got their priorities wrong; mechanical condition/roadworthyness first
then sound system etc.I personally find the standard Giulietta sound system quite acceptable and my only experience of Bose was on an Audi loan car while mine was in for service.The Bose reminded me of the experience of going into Dixons where the Bass and Treble were turned right up to create a synthetic reality.

 

[The Bose reminded me of the experience of going into Dixons where the Bass and Treble were turned right up to create a synthetic reality.]

Bang on the money :thumbs:

 

Always going to be contentious debate, there will always be fans and haters but here is 2p from me

I speak as a recording engineer who spent many years popping out to the carpark to test a mix on whatever vehicles the clients had brought with them from nice factory fits and aftermarkets to mono in dash speakers.
No point in assuming a mix sounds good on half a million quid of kit if it sounds lacking in the real world. My perspective may be rather different than my readers.

I sat in a stationary GQV and played with the Bose and was not greatly impressed £/£ the bottom is a bit woolly dynamic range across all bands is a bit on the flat side so CD's sound have a note of the radio ie. compressed for transmission.
stereo separation was pretty poor (ok who cares when your driving) Initially I thought it could be the internal acoustic of the vehicle and wondered what chance it would have once road noise was added slim to none unless loud.
Quite right - Bose sounds at its best flat as Bose intended but recordings come in many shapes and sizes (like personal taste) and a little tweak never hurts "ish" .

Sitting in the standard car I thought all of the above points were better serviced and from a purist point of view
It's not so full or fat sounding but its more accurate and pleasing to the (MY) ears
I prefer the sound field and dynamic qualities of the standard system. So I saved myself £800 which is likely to go towards a speaker upgrade in the future.
I might get shot down here but when we are talking about HiFi in these circumstances then the quality of the electronics is completely drowned by the quality of the speakers room acoustic and positioning

I would really like to have both cars parked next to each other and do a serious A/B comparison I'm convinced the standard system will win out on clarity and accuracy but that may not be what you are looking for.

After speaking to people with more Alfa knowledge than I the common theme was The Mito Bose is good and they dropped the ball a bit on the Giulietta, for me at least that opinion bears out.
Go listen to both with some CD's and a USB stick with lots of bit rates on it,
USE MUSIC YOU KNOW VERY WELL
include the radio and get a good feel for it. its your £800

Please excuse the Wall Of Text (WOT!) hope it adds some perspective to the debate.

 

had stock system on JTD and now have BOSE in a G QV
impressions of stock were greater dynamics, more mid range attack
BOSE has deeper bass, better overall balance, nice clean top end

not £800 worth, IMO, but really quite a good audio system

not sure about alternatives as £800 spent after market does not really buy that much if you list out price to fit and cable up for head amp, sub, 4 new door speakers and 2 tweeters plus labour and time off road

 

not sure about alternatives as £800 spent after market does not really buy that much if you list out price to fit and cable up for head amp, sub, 4 new door speakers and 2 tweeters plus labour and time off road

I take your point but I couldn't justify any upgrade in a car due to the poor acoustics/separation etc.....

I have spent as much on my home cinema system as I have on the Giulietta so it's not as if I don't appreciate aural delights!

 

Very nice

 

I'm an Alfa newbie, just started my own thread about how tinny and awful the sound system is in my 147 - should have read all these threads first, instead of diving in!. It says BOSE on the door tweeter, so I'm guessing the system is Bose...which probably explains why it sounds so bad! AlfaAlan hit it on the nose with "style over substance" In Hi-Fi circles, it's always been known that Bose is more about image and marketing than sound quality, yet many, many people are brainwashed into believing Bose is beautiful. You pays your money, you make your choice. Branding is King when it comes to consumer electronics, and Bose are brilliant at branding...

 

Had a state of the art Alpine on my old Giuletta and I was very pleased with the experience. One of the reasons that made me to postpone the prospect of buying of the New Giuletta 2017 is that the dealer told me that is not recommended to change the mulltimedia system cause is deeply integrated with some functions of the Ecu.
Finally i got the new one, with standard sound system and to my surprise and enjoyment it's sounds better than the Alpine!. And the Uconnect is easier to navigate , more intuitive. The phone functions are very much better.. So I am happy .
Even though I have noticed that the front speakers are very much better that rear ones.
So If I feel like wasting money I would change the rear speakers form something of more quality.
So stick with the standard.

 

I don't know about the facelift with Uconnect, but the pre-facelift had 3 different speaker configurations:

- seperate tweeters/mids up front and full rangeat the back (6 total)
- seperate tweeters/mids front + aft (8 total
- Bose with seperate tweeters/mids front + aft, centre speaker in the dash and subwoofer in the spare wheel well (10 total). The tweeters and midrange speakers are different from the standard item, Eper shows they all weigh about double what the standard speakers weigh. Extra amp aswell.

I the rears sound worse than the fronts, I would think you have the entry level system?

 

Standard radio is very good.

 

The new one is even better, but the original head unit is deserving of better speakers for some tastes. I found them fine but there's an extensive thread on replacing them and I'm sure they end up as good if not better than the Bose. The standard "commodity" speaker is a quid or twos worth and I recall its the same as an Astra speaker of the same age.

 

I have had 3 Alfas, each with the Bose sound system and I really like it. Whether it's worth £800 or not is a matter of opinion I guess but I like the fact that it's already fitted. I also like the spare wheel mounted sub!