In my 2000 i30t, I notice that although the system pumps , I notice that when turning up thevolume, the bass is just too much. I have turned the bass down all the way sometimes and its still way to much bass. Is this normal? I also here some kind of rattling when the system is full blast. I mean, no complaints because the system rocks, but any way to make it more clear? I am a producer who produces music, so clearity is key. I dont know if others feel the same way about the bose system, but maybe there is some hack or thing I could do to make it sound a tiny bit clear.

 

Yes, too much bass and just a tad underpowered. The power is stronger than the 1st gen I30, but still nowhere near as robust as the early 90's BOSE found on the M30 and possibly Q45. You can turn the M30 volume all the way up and it's incredibly clear and with very low distortion. I honestly believe that it was designed that way and tells me that the amp has plenty more oomph to give -- simply robust and great sound quality. Too bad BOSE didn't improve since and instead lost it's way.

Anyhow, if you get a lot of rattling in the rear deck where the (sub)woofer is, check the stickies in the 5th gen forum. Many have offered different solutions. Before I had a chance to try any of them I simply set the bass to be around -2 or -3 and rattling only occurs on bass heavy music. I then tried leisurely for an hour once to really find the rattling and I wound up simply disconnecting the (sub)woofer. It sounded better in my case since I prefer quality over bass. I'm guessing most of the improvement comes from the distorting bass no longer intruding the music and a little improvement from the ampflier having more reserve to drive the rest of the speakers.

If you are getting vibs elsewhere, you'll have to pinpoint those and probably dampen things with felt, rubber, or cork.

Good luck and keep us posted on any vibs you fixed.

 

I found a vibe. It seems to be coming from the seatbelt housing for the middle seat on the underside of the rear shelf. It looks like a white cup, and if you put pressure on it the rattling will stop.

If anyone finds a good solution to this please let me know.

 

I'll just go ahead and say I hated the BOSE system from the start. Sounded pretty muddled, and the bass was very sloppy. That and the rattles from the rear deck drove me CRAZY.

Anyways, I at first swapped out the front tweeters in the pillar with some Kicker resolution tweeters, and it improved the highs somewhat. Afterward, I wanted a solution for bass that kept my pass through in my trunk but still sounded better than the Bose.

I ended up buying a 8" Kicker Freeair Sub F8c (don't think they make these anymore) and putting it in the rear deck replacing the bose sub. I also used an aftermarket rockford fosgate amp to power it. This was much better, and had less rattles, but still nowhere near the clarity and depth I'd had in previous vehicles.

Well, enter today - I now have CDT audio components in the front doors (us acoustics amp), and a custom flush mounted box in the trunk with a JL 12w0. I did lose my pass through, but the box doesn't take up much room, and the bass is much cleaner, deeper, and amazingly enough - I have NO rattles from the rear deck anymore. I actually have no sub mounted in the rear deck, I just have the grill covering the hole - which ends up being a nice port into the cabin from the trunk. I also think this help prevents that deck from rattling now.

Needless to say, it is MUCH improved over stock. I rode in my dad's I35 the other day (box stock) and couldn't stand how bad the stereo sounded. Upgrades, IMO, are definitely in order.

 

I completely relate to your problem. I am experiencing the same downfall. I was informed to use foam strips with one side thats adhesive on the BOSE bracket in the grill. Tried that, it did not work. I looked at the seat belt cups. (Even the child safety latches.) That did not work either. The rattle has to be combined noises. It sounds like the harnesses under the rear deck, the cloth cover thats over the sub in the rear deck, the flimsy secureness of the grill attached to the rear deck, the sun shade, and the harnesses cups for the seat belts all vibrate when the sub plays. Odd as it sounds, this is happening from the bass radiating through the metal frame within the cabin. The only thing I can figure out to stop the noise is do like Meta and just completely bypass it, or have the rear sound dampened with Dynamat.