First, I am not able to perform my own sound system upgrade, so I need to have someone do it for me. So I went to a local shop that has a good reputation, as far as I can tell, and they gave me this estimate to upgrade the system.

I know nothing about any of this equipment although I understand most of it has a good reputation. My goal in upgrading the system is to create a system that is more musical with clear high ends and a tight low end and more ambience and better sound stage. I don't want something that people will feel in the car next to me. I listen to mostly jazz and vocal less smooth jazz, movie score music and some rock.

So that being said, this is what I was quoted:

Focal FLAXPS165 $549.00
Focal ISC165 $399.00
JL Fix86 LOC $379.00
JL RD400/4 $299.00
Parts & Labor $635.00
Subtotal $2,261.00
TAX 7% $158.27
Total $2,419.27

I don't know if there are reasonable alternatives or if this is worth the $$ for what I am going after sound wise.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

No subwoofer?

 

I don't need any booming bass that will rattle cars next to me. The sales guy said these would do the job nicely. I really don't want to add the expense of building a box in the truck so if this works without a sub, I'll be happy.

 

What trim are you driving? and what do you feel isn't up to par on the current sound system?

 

$2400 with out subs hell no way too much !

 

^ Agreed. That is way to much coin with no sub included. Its a shame OP does not have the factory Bose system. It just might have satisfied them.

 

I do have a Platinum with the Bose system. It's very underwhelming to me. It's hard for me to describe what I'm not hearing. But when I listen to music that is supposed to have some ambiance, it just sounds flat to me.

For example, the song Breathe on Dark Side of the Moon. It's a great test song for me. When listen to it on the Bose, I don't hear that spacey sound stage or the clarity of the song. The instruments don't stand out.

Another great test song for me is Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs from the same album of the same name (yes, I am old!!). His guitar lick should sound like it's in a big hall with lots of ambiance. The drums and cymbals should be clear as a bell, but I am not getting that from this system.

Strunz and Farrah have a great album of Spanish jazz guitar called Americas. Again, the sound is flat and has no life to me.

But the more I listen to the system, I am starting to agree it probably needs a sub as much as I hate to through the pain of adding one.

So I am probably being too picky. And if I just listened to SiriusXM all the time, it probably would be fine.

Thanks for all the thoughts on the price. I have been out of the after market stereo market for a long time and am not familiar with these brands. I do understand that Focal is a very good speaker.

But I agree that $2500 with no sub is way too expensive. I guess I will keep looking.

And if anyone else has any other ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks.

 

I have to ask and it might sound really stupid. But did you enable the surround option for the Bose in the settings? When enabled you will also notice the surround slider. Kick that all the way up to the max. I listen to SiriusXM all the time and I think it sounds decent. Nothing crazy though. The Bose system in our last car 2015 Chevrolet Impala 2LTZ had a much better sounding Bose system with 11 speakers like the Maxima. I don't know why the system in the Maxima sounds so much weaker.

 

Yeah, I've played with all the settings....Centerpoint, Driver Sound Stage, both together, both off.....some of it helps marginally, but I am still overall disappointed with the system. I guess I have to decide if I am $2500 worth of disappointed!

 

I listened to the Bose system once in the Maxima and I was underwhelmed. There was no life or clarity to the audio, if that makes sense.

 

Music system can be pristine, but if you are playing low quality songs, music system will sound terrible. Is your music atleast 320KBPS?

 

It should (better!) be, unless I screwed it up!

 

Agree with this statement. And I am listening to CDs, streaming via Bluetooth and via a lightning cable in CarPlay. I rip CDs to iTunes using Apple Lossless Encoder. But CDs should sound better than they do in this system.

 

No highs, no lows, must be Bose.

Having said that, the Bose system sounds way better than any car system I have ever had. Would I like better? Sure, but not at sacrificing the features the stock system gives me. I really wish they would not tie a whole lot into these infotainment systems and allow more of a custom build aftermarket. But to my knowledge most auto makers have gone this route.

 

I've had systems from Acura ELS system if I remember correctly, and a C Class Mercedes (Harmon Kardon). Both similarly priced (base retail anyway) to a Maxima Platinum and both blew the Bose out of the water. The Harmon Kardon was DVD-Audio compatible and those discs sounded fantastic. There weren't a bunch of DVD-Audio disc made as it unfortunately never caught on, but a properly mastered disc was heavenly. Donald Fagen's Nightfly was especially a joy to listen to. So, I have been spoiled by the stock systems I have heard in the past.

The shop that gave me the quote told me that the Focal speakers he wants to install would cure the lack of mid bass that he says is missing from the overall sound of the system. I have no idea. I just know that I'm not thrilled with the sound system as is.

 

Here's the thing, you add a nice quality dual voice coil 12" sub, about $400-500, a quality mono 600-1000 watt at 2oham amp, $500, enclosure, about $60 ready made either sealed or ported...installed well, tuned well, you can stick with the existing system and just lower the lows on the main speakers. You put the right bass in at the bottom it will make the highs sound much better from the factory setup.

 

The Bose system in my 2017 SL simply sucks in comparison with other cars. Granted, its better than systems in cars 8-10 years old but it cant compare with "premium" systems in never cars. My Jeep Wrangler Alpine system will blow it away as will the stock system in our Ford Expedition.
But after coming from Bose systems in a previous Maxima and a couple of Corvettes I have learned that Bose means Blows.

 

Bose probably offers the lowest cost to manufacturers, which keeps the head office bean counters happy.