Why does it say BOSE and they SUCK so much?

[yrwei52]

Why does it say BLOSE and Suck So Much, Here's Why!

I finally got around to curving my 2015 Blose audio system. I used an HP 204C signal generator into the AUX in port. The curve is of the right channel with the volume set to 25, max bass CUT, treble at +4 tics and fader 4 tics to the rear. The meter was a Rat Shack Analog meter, aimed at the right most A/C vent and the readings were corrected using the published correction curve for the analog meter. The engine was off and all the windows and doors were all shut. The left channel did not change the response curve much, other than adding ~10 dB.

I have fooled with this thing from the day I got it trying to get a nearly flat curve and this is the best I can do, with just fader, bass and treble. More treble raises the 3k screech without improving the response above 7k. It appears the tone controls are shelving types and there is no way to kill the 14 dB (Dayum!!!!!) hump at 40 Hz. Remember, 10 dB is twice/half as loud, 14 dB is getting close to 3x different. Realistically, +/- 5 dB is good, especially in a car, and you might listen through the +/- 8dB swings in the midrange, but this system is supposedly custom designed for this vehicle and EQ'd just for it. Blose(/Mazda?) utterly FAILED. There is little point in trying for response above 15k in a car because of wind noise and most people can't hear that high (I can't).

I'd say there is no solution other than to replace the Blose Amp, front door woofers and dash tweeters.

View attachment 213374

Boy, this is one of the worst frequency response curve out of speakers I've ever seen! Of course Mazda's penny-saving decision to eliminate Bose recommended dash tweeters makes it even worse! Thanks for doing the test and this should silent those who keep defending Bose "premium" audio system on CX-5s! And I always thought my hearing is degrading but now apparently it's not (yet).

 

[ColtX-5]

Yeah. Rolling off the dash squawkers at 1k and rolling in some smooth tweeters would help a lot. The 3-6k hump might let you build a simple tweeter filter at 9k-ish with the squawker low pass at 1k and have a 6 to 7k acoustic crossover to the tweeter.

Then, you'd only have to tolerate the horrendous 40 Hz peak. I'm sure Blose thought it would out shout the road noise, but all it really does is make music sound like a cheap Wurlitzer.

 

[CX-5um]

Actually new Mazda6, Mazda3, and CX-5 are having similar Bose system setup with different number and size of speakers. Mazda6 has 11 speakers, but Mazda3 and CX-5 have 9 speakers with a pair of 1" dash tweeters missing. Mazda6 and Mazda3 have newer version of Bose Centerpoint 2 Surround Sound and AudioPilot 2, but CX-5 has older Centerpoint and AudioPilot.

CX-3 has totally different Bose 7-speaker audio sound system with tweeters and spare-tire subwoofer but without Centerpoint and AudioPilot,

How about this. The amp located under the seat...could that be swapped for a better one or is that too "intertwined" with the head unit? The other idea I had was to install a shallow mount 2 or 3 ohm 8 inch or even 10 inch sub into the door speakers- powered by the stock amp. Like many of us we aren't seeking block thumping bass....merely adding seamingly deficient bass.

 

[yrwei52]

How about this. The amp located under the seat...could that be swapped for a better one or is that too "intertwined" with the head unit? The other idea I had was to install a shallow mount 2 or 3 ohm 8 inch or even 10 inch sub into the door speakers- powered by the stock amp. Like many of us we aren't seeking block thumping bass....merely adding seamingly deficient bass.

ColtX-5 has shown us how lousy our Bose system is. And sillyxone has also shown us even the non-Bose 6-speaker Touring audio system has better frequency response in Non-Bose frequency response! No highs, no lows, it must be Bose. So we basically got screwed with the Bose system on our CX-5. I compensate lack of highs and lows with +6 treble and bass setup. I'm also waiting for speaker harness adapter available and replacing the dash speakers so that I can have tweeters for better high notes. But for better bass, our option is limited and will need more effort.

Your idea of replacing the Bose amp under front passenger seat is not feasible as it's integrated with the whole car system and GPS. Replacing Bose 9" Nd "woofers" with subwoofers? There is not enough space for any subs. Besides, we only need one sub for non-directional bass. See, the design of two 9" Nd "woofers" on the front doors makes whole sound system speakers contradict to each other for their purpose. Two front door "woofers" have to serve as midrange speakers for front sound source like they used to be, but they can't totally get faded out by fader control as Bose doesn't want to lose too much bass.

So the best way to enhance bass sound still is adding a subwoofer somewhere like many people had already done, This makes me envy RG_Flyer and awpgti who can use better aftermarket headunit such as Pioneer AVH-X5800BHS and better aftermarket speakers for much better sound!

 

[CX-5um]

ColtX-5 has shown us how lousy our Bose system is. And sillyxone has also shown us even the non-Bose 6-speaker Touring audio system has better frequency response in Non-Bose frequency response! No highs, no lows, it must be Bose. So we basically got screwed with the Bose system on our CX-5. I compensate lack of highs and lows with +6 treble and bass setup. I'm also waiting for speaker harness adapter available and replacing the dash speakers so that I can have tweeters for better high notes. But for better bass, our option is limited and will need more effort.

Your idea of replacing the Bose amp under front passenger seat is not feasible as it's integrated with the whole car system and GPS. Replacing Bose 9" Nd "woofers" with subwoofers? There is not enough space for any subs. Besides, we only need one sub for non-directional bass. See, the design of two 9" Nd "woofers" on the front doors makes whole sound system speakers contradict to each other for their purpose. Two front door "woofers" have to serve as midrange speakers for front sound source like they used to be, but they can't totally get faded out by fader control as Bose doesn't want to lose too much bass.

So the best way to enhance bass sound still is adding a subwoofer somewhere like many people had already done, This makes me envy RG_Flyer and awpgti who can use better aftermarket headunit such as Pioneer AVH-X5800BHS and better aftermarket speakers for much better sound!

Although not the super low frequencies ideally found on 12 inch woofers with dedicated amp, the BOSE speakers in the front doors do have bass. At least in the Mazda6 Bose. Test this with a song with umm say Eazy-E's song 8-ball.

In the settings fade to the rear...that's right the rear, anywhere in this range in red [..........|..........]

Now select treble and select the middle or negative [.........|..........]

Now select Bass and turn it all the way up [..........|.........]

Set volume to 50.

What you should notice: The front speakers produce bass.

Being that those stock woofers likely have tiny drivers and paper cone material, I was thinking of adding a component 6 1/2 - 6 3/4 woofer with larger drivers and better cone materials to produce tighter quality bass.

Another idea are shallow mount woofers like these to name a few:


8-inch woofer @ 2ohms with Top-mount depth: 2-11/16"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

8-inch woofer @ 4ohms Top-mount depth: 2-5/8"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

6 3/4-inch woofer @ 2ohms mounting depth 2 3/4"
http://www.kicker.com/6-75-comprt-subwoofer-2-ohm

There's a couple out there. Only issue I'm not sure these are slim enough to fit?

 

[Pototoy]

I wanna add too, BOSE f$cking sucks.

 

[erhayes]

I disliked that Mazda dumbed down the BOSE system from the CX7 to my CX5. The sound leveling has one ineffective level instead of 3? and the CD player was changed from 3? to one. My fault as I should have read the fine print.
REMEMBER; This is not BOSE fault but, MAZDA had the ultimate responsibility for what goes in their vehicles.

 

[sillyxone]

Was at the dealer for the recall fix, asked to test out a 9-speaker Bose system, not sure if it's 2016 or 2016.5. Anyway, folder with audio files and charts:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1wdJ3PpKsLGUU1Kb3NSSVZ0TWs

I also updated the other thread with Bose data and more details.

 

[ColtX-5]

......................................


8-inch woofer @ 2ohms with Top-mount depth: 2-11/16"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

8-inch woofer @ 4ohms Top-mount depth: 2-5/8"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

6 3/4-inch woofer @ 2ohms mounting depth 2 3/4"
http://www.kicker.com/6-75-comprt-subwoofer-2-ohm

There's a couple out there. Only issue I'm not sure these are slim enough to fit?

Be sure to look up the Qts for each of those. Since the door is not sealed, you need "infinite baffle woofers" The ideal Qts is .707 for an infinite baffle woofer, but just about anywhere between .6 and .8 will be fine. A Qts below .5 needs a box.

 

[CX-5um]

Be sure to look up the Qts for each of those. Since the door is not sealed, you need "infinite baffle woofers" The ideal Qts is .707 for an infinite baffle woofer, but just about anywhere between .6 and .8 will be fine. A Qts below .5 needs a box.

Thanks for the tip for those going down the oem sub woofer upgrade route. I have to read up on what "qts" is. Found these specs for the previous subs I mentioned:

Rockford Fosgate P3SD2-8 Punch Stage 3 shallow 8" subwoofer with dual 2-ohm voice coils: Qts-0.72 per Crutchfield.

Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 Shallow-mount 8" subwoofer with dual 2-ohm voice coils: Qts 0.98 per Crutchfield.

Kicker 6.75" CompRT 2 Ohm: qts 0.677 per Crutchfield.

It appears that the the Fosgates and the Kickers are within those specs. Sealing the doors with sound deadening material and finishing tape plus these woofers may provide a cost effective not to mention DIY friendly option to simply adding a little more bass to compliment the Bose system. I also notice the smaller Kickers are in the 35 - 500 Hz range while the 8 inch Fosgates are in the 38-250 Hz range.