Ya I know most stock stereos do suck.. But for 25 grand you would think they could put somthing better in than a sears speacial. Its not that Iam not happy with the way it looks or how the controls work.. But if I want to turn it up, I can only go so far before it sounds like sheeet. Big down payment.. No money left for new tunes

Anyone else with this prob..

 

I find the BOSE isn't great. BASS not deep enough, and I think the 99 BOSE was better.

 

i just went in to buy my max knowing i would rip the stereo 2 days later

 

i think the stereo is quite nice (depending on what you listen to), but i don't really have anything to compare it to.

 

As we speak I just finished up installing my RF 600.4 amp, I also did a littel costom work to the doors, tomarrow my MB Quarts finsih going in. I can't wait until it's done.! The stock stereo has been driving me nuts.

 

Did you get the Bose or just the basic stereo?? I find the Bose with the 7 speakers to be pretty good for factory.

 

No the Bose was a option, but not in this SE.. I got in a different car the same day I bought mine that had Bose..had a bit more base & clarity but was not worth the $1,200 up grade.

 

Time for you to do what I did...Drop a amp and a sub in the trunk...big difference. But I think as far as factory systems go, the Bose is pretty good, EXCEPT for the "sub" POS that doesn't produce much bass and still rattles the rear deck! I disconnected it, put in a 10", and kept kickin'!
K

 

I'm curious as to what volume level is being dialed in by those who are not satisfied with the Bose system? I would never buy Bose in my home setup, but I liked the integrated controls in the steering wheel so I decided to get it in my car (actually, I think it was mandatory based on the other options I had selected), with the in dash 6 CD changer.

So far, I've been satisfied. Some of my CDs are missing some lower-midrange clarity, and depending on how the CD was recorded some don't seem to have quite the punch in the bass that I would have expected, but I have had no problems with the sub rattling or buzzing, even with the Bass setting turned to +5. However, I never turn the volume up past 20. At 20, the neighbors can hear my stereo inside their houses, and that is the highest level that I can listen to for any length of time without my ears starting to hurt.

I guess I'm just curious as to whether the people encountering problems are cranking it to 30, or whatever the max setting is, because I sure wouldn't expect a factory car system to have good performance much above that 20 level, given the demographic that typically buys the car.

My neighbors would line me up against the wall and shoot me if I ran around with the stereo pumped up past that level, assuming I survived the internal bleeding caused by the volume first.

 

Well, pretty much every OEM radio's out there suck. Except when you're buying luxury cars... even then it's all subjective. I heard the Mark Levinson set-up on Lexus' and IMHO it's not all that good compared to a custom aftermarket set-up.

I'm like Matt(attax), in that it makes no sense in paying $1000 for an OEM stereo when for the same amount of money i'll have a *significantly* better sounding system going with aftermarket units.

Here's another note. It doesn't mean that just because it's a "Branded" OEM radio (e.g. JBL for Toyota's, Mark L's for Lexus', Bose for us) that it's da bomb.

A good example would be the Honda's. OEM radio's are made my Alpine. Alpine is good if you get the systems they sell on the shelf, otherwise it's just crap.

 

Toyota's stock stereos are the best I've heard. The base model stereo in our base model '99 Camry sounded better than the Bose system in my co-worker's '02 GLE that I helped her buy last month.

I should care more about the stereo in my cars since I listen to CDs constantly during my commute, but between road noise and wind noise (esp. since I drive with the windows down and sunroof open all spring/summer/fall) I just don't see spending lots of money for something with great sound and clarity when it'll be contaminated by the other noises from outside the car. I spend my audio allowance on my home system instead.

 

The steering wheel control comes with the base stereo and it'll still work with aftermarket stereo's (using the PWI-X adapter/controller). At least i know it does with the 2k2's.

You're right about the high volumes on the OEM's though. I don't expect it to do better anywhere above 20. Mine is normally in the 7-10 range and in highways somewhere in the 12-15 range.

Just changing the stock speakers to aftermarket made a lot of difference too.

 

This credit is due...Factory radios are a lot better than those 10 years ago. However, hey will never compare to a custom install.
Bose home equipment sucks so I don't expect anything from them in the auto sector.
And to add to the naming. On my wife's Grand Caravan, it's labeled as an Infinity system. I yanked the radio and it was actually made buy Alpine, even though it had an Infinity label on it. Still sucks.

 

Actually, the Bose AM15 home theater system sounds pretty good. It all depends what kind of receiver you use it with and set the proper parameter settings for it. Anyway, back to the topic. My bro's 2k2 stock system sucks also but he's still in college and has no money to do any upgrades. My older bro's es300 has a nice stock system though. I can't complain about it.

 

I agree, Bose (home stuff at least)relies completely on reverb to produce sound at high volumes. They spend most of their resources on designing speaker enclosures rather than the speakers themselves. Take apart that Bose center channel and you'll find a maze through which sound gets resonated. Bose speakers are specifically designed to be used with Bose receivers. As for the Bose in the Max, they might as well have just left empty speaker holes, I guess the CD player is as expected.

 

I thought I read here on the boards that the rest of stuff like DTE and the like needs the stock radio plugged in for these to still work. No?

 

The Bose system in my 97 SE IMO sounded better than the Bose in my 2K2, i must admit i was disapointed when i first heard my Bose in my 2K2......do like the in dash 6 disc though. JAKE02

 

mine works with the SWI-X

 

you guys should know that on the 5th Gen Bose system there is a subwoofer caleld Nd Woofer, its a thin 8" woofer, don't expect so much out of it, it also has a small amplifer. Anyways its alright for me, i don't need to make an earthquake when i roll on the street

 

my my how wrong when done right.........
The Bose system upgrade is worth it. However; depending on the listener, a simple rock/fozgate 12" and mono channel amp will deliver excellent sound with your preferred adjustments on the deck's audio adjustments.
The Bose System has individually amped speakers that adjust to the frequency spectrem (aka 20 hertz to 20k hertz) You can add a relatively inexepensive sub/amp for $300.
I did it and love it....
rob

 

I'm interested in replacing my stock deck and want an aftermarket to work with the radio controls on the steering wheel and want to retain full use of the trip computer. Crutchfied told me they sell an adapter SWI-X that will allow both controls to function. They said, however, I must choose a non-Sony receiver that comes with a wireless remote. True?