My son has a 97 GLE with the factory Bose. Sounds excellent!

I ended up buying a 99 GLE recently with the same (looks the same anyway!) Bose system. The problem is that his sounds 10 times as good! (well maybe only 4-5 times as good). Anyway, wondering if there was a "high performance" and a "low performance" Bose factory system or maybe there's just something wrong with mine??

Both units appear to be the factory units. Both are GLE. His is a 97. Mine a 99.

Sounds comes out of all my speakers and it works fine. Just the quality sucks compared to my sons.

Think there's an amp problem or is it possible that I just didn't get the same quality system? His system sounds very good for a factory radio. Mine sounds about what you would expect from a factory radio. Big difference.

 

I know of 3 different *face designs* for the bose.

95-96/97-98/99 other variations in them I am not sure about.

 

I have 4 close long time friends one with a 3rd gen (and bose), and myself and the other 3 having bose 4th gen. the 3rd is the only one that hasnt had problems with it. Mine started to lose sound quility right before one of my back amps went out. Then it would say "ERR" when I put a cd in, so I (and my friends) scraped the bose. but the 3rd gen (94) still sounds great, so... Who knows, could easily be an amp.

 

I had a 95 system but it crapped out on me. So i bought a 97 (which is a different face design but essentially the same) and it works the same as the 95. All the bose speakers are self amplified. How does your's sound different than your sons?

 

Interesting......... but to answer your question, there is no such thing as a "high performance " Bose system vs. a "low performance" Bose system.

Not to insult you... but are you listening to the same CD in both cars, with the EXACT settings, base treble, loudness, balance, fade......?

 

...easy to overlook sometimes . .

 

Sure, we've put both cars side and side and compared sound but honestly, you don't have to do that. The difference in sound quality is easy to hear. I used to have a 7 series BMW with the premium sound package. That was the best factory radio I've ever heard. Of course it had 13 speakers and all that. But the Bose in my sons car sounds really good too. Just my 99 sounds like a "normal" car radio. No treble or bass to speak of. Really sounds like the difference between an amplified and non-amplified system which is the reason I was wondering if there was more than one level of stereo used in these cars.

I'm guessing I have an amp problem.

And yes, his just started giving the CD err reading while playing a CD. But we took someone else's advice (on this forum) and checked out http://www.carstereohelp.com

I talked to them on the phone this morning and it sounds like this CD err problem can be fixed for less than $200. So we're going to go that route.

The guy I spoke with also told me to check the numbers on the cassette flap so I'm going to call him back tomorrow with those numbers. He said he can crossreference them to see if we have the same system in each car. I'll let everyone know what I find out.

I mainly wanted to find out if I just had a low end system and that was the problem. But right now, it starting to look like an amp problem to me.

 

When you say system, you mean the deck, amps, and speakers? Because I know the decks are different.

97 and 99's decks look very different, but you say they look the same???

Personally, I wouldn't spend $200 to fix the Bose deck. Go aftermarket, or buy a used, perfectly working unit from a fellow orger for around $75.

 

Ok, the units look SIMILAR. They appear to be factory units. That's my point.

I'm not sure exactly what info he'll be providing me. I think he basically was going to be able to determine if the deck (head, unit, etc) was the correct one for that year model car. Basically, we're trying to rule out someone changing out the deck thereby causing the problem. He told me sometimes people change out decks and put one in that is not 100% compatible.

I'm not an expert on this (or any other stereo system for that matter) but everything I read and hear says that you're asking for trouble if try changing out just one component of these systems without changing out the entire system.

If that is true, then I'm certain we couldn't replace the entire system for $200 and have a system that sounds as good as this one does.

I don't really want to buy a used one. I've already got one of those! lol

I want one that I know is going to work. It's worth a little more to me to get that peace of mind. These guys look like they fix things right. Not only do they fix the problem you're bringing it in for but they also replace other components that are commonly known to fail even if they haven't failed yet.

We used to do the same thing in a repair center I used to work for. We worked on terminals that had chronic video problems. We figured out one day that by replacing a transisitor and one resisitor with different values than the factory installed, the units stayed out and did not come back with a video problem. So we started doing that mod on every unit that came through even if the video was currently working because otherwise, we knew that somewhere down the road, it would stop working.

It's really the right way to do repairs but virtually no one does it

Thanks for the suggestions. Now all I have to do is find someone local that is reputable to deal with on my 99.

 

quick question, was there ever a Mid-level system available? I have a 99 SE with a factory double height cd/cassette/AMFM deck and 6 speakers but it doesnt say BOSE in any place on it at all, do i have the bose or not?

 

Look up in this post earlier and someone commented that there was basically one version of the Bose system for Maximas. I had the same question.

Bose is fairly proud of their stuff so if you don't see bose on the cassette flap, look in the trunk at the bottom of the speakers. They put the Bose name there if it's a bose system (or at least they did in my car).

I would think it would be possible to get a non-bose system in a Maxima especially if it's not a GLE.

 

i figured it out i looked at pictures and the HU was identical except for the BOSE lettering, like 100% indentical then i looked back at mine and i realized the BOSE was simply worn off the cassette flap, then i recalled the first time i test drove the car the formidable collection of cassettes that was in the center console and realized it was simply worn off from use

my bad

 

Look...in 1995-1996 there was a different head unit than in 1997-1999. But they are both bose and operate on the exact same principle. Yes it is possible to have a non bose stereo in your vehicle but it would be extremely obvious in the sense that you would probably have Logic deck or whatever come in stock altimas and maximas, without self amplified speakers ect. And to answer your question, there is one version of bose with the 2 tweeters, 2 door speakers and 2 rear speakers. but there are 2 different head units on 4th gens. In non GLE's the bose was an option.

 

Wrong. There are 3 versions of Bose like the other guy said... 95-96, 97-98, and 99.

 

im reserecting this...

i dont get it, i want to install an AUXNISS adaptor. problem is that Soundgate says it will only work on a 98+ maxima.

but if the 97-98 HU are the same, why wont it work on my 97??

it would make since if soundgate said it would work on a 99+

can anyone make since of this??

I guess i dont understand because i thought that the 95-96 HUs all have the same 12 pin CD changer plug that the AUXNISS plugs into. Ive got a friend with a 96 I30 that wants to do this aswell....does he have to get a different HU to do this??

 

Not sure if this helps. But, since you have a 97, you can compare the backs of the radios to the pics I provided. Maybe this will answer your question.