Bose Sound Pack - Opinions

[TS23]

The BOSE system is crap. People say that Harman Kardon in a BMW is not that good, but BOSE in the Macan is way more worse. Burmeister is better, but not great for pop / EDM. For classic music and concerts it's great.

I’d say the opposite (though it’s fluctuates by model), but the HK systems in BMW have gotten worse over the last 15 years I’ve been buying them (8/9 in total) and the handful of cars from the Porsche stable with Bose seem to be better.

Sponsored

 

[CHP]

I would like to know what do you mean with "base EQ" ?
I have the Macan Electric Turbo since march 2025 with the Bose System and I have only the possibility to change the bass and treble.

Basic EQ: Sliders for Bass and Treble. You are not missing out.

 

[actuario]

Hello all
I was testing the Macan Ev before I ordered one and it had Bose. I used to drive a AUDI Q3 with Bose and I might recognize that Bose sounds better in Audi.
In anyway I was a quite frustrated hearding the BOSE in MeV...... until I changed the parametrics of the system. ( only bass and treble I think )

 

[JohnnyRoaster]

Keep in mind the speakers need about 100 hours to break in. They will sound a lot better after a few months.

 

[jwatte]

the speakers need about 100 hours to break in

This is a myth. No modern speakers change measurably with "break in." In fact, there's probably more difference between cars built on different days, than there is between the same car when new, and the car after 500 hours of listening.

Of course, this is a human perception thing, so if you *believe* they need break-in, your brain will tell you they're better after break-in. And if your brain tells you they're better, who am I to harsh your mellow?
Should probably go with the acid-free silver speaker cables, too!

 

[CHP]

This is a myth. No modern speakers change measurably with "break in." In fact, there's probably more difference between cars built on different days, than there is between the same car when new, and the car after 500 hours of listening.

Of course, this is a human perception thing, so if you *believe* they need break-in, your brain will tell you they're better after break-in. And if your brain tells you they're better, who am I to harsh your mellow?
Should probably go with the acid-free silver speaker cables, too!

For sure there is a lot of snake oil in HIFI. Breaking in high end speaker however makes kind of sense as moving parts are not as flexible as they need to be for optimum results to be realised. The higher the quality of any driver system, the more demanding the loudspeaker will be regarding time for running-in the system. That being said, not sure if this applies to BOSE at all. I choose BOSE over baseline for volume and bass. I don't think there is too much difference in highs and mids until mid volumes.

 

[jwatte]

Breaking in high end speaker however makes kind of sense

Right, but when it's been measured, it hasn't actually proven out, for the normal speaker designs measured.

For what it's worth, I used to be vehemently against "snake oil" because I was on the pro side of audio. Until I realized that the consumer is buying an experience, and it's what the consumer ultimately believes they experience that matters. If someone feels really good about paying $2,000 for 8-gauge purple power cords for their HiFi equipment, it would be right mean of me to try to remove that good feeling they paid so much to get!

It's only when someone says "I can see on this oscilloscope that the mid-range dynamics delivery changed" that I'm inclined to call them out
If the argument is "you'll feel better about these after 100 hours of loud listening," I'm inclined to agree with the recommendation. Just not for any physically measurable sound response change reasons!
Brains are funny like that.

Sponsored