Macan EV BOSE - not as good as it was on the ICE Macan

[dgkhn]

My Macan has a rattle in passenger door panel with any level of bass (Bose system). Service unable to fix on first attempt, will have to schedule another visit. Bass turned down for now.

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[platypus]

Different ears, different music, different sources, different taste? I do agree that anything past +2 gets unpleasant.

I'm joking, definitely a personal preference!

 

[prime]

@dgkhn Thank you! I will try this.

 

[Cogs79]

Hi Folks,

My Macan 4 EV has the Bose, and I was firmly in the team "Bose not good" camp until the last couple of days (after nearly 3 weeks of ownership and average of 1 hour listening daily). As much as I believed speaker "break-in" was a myth, I honestly find the Bose sounds significantly better than when I got it (settings are bass at +6, treble at +5 since day 1). Firstly, I now have bass. I could have sworn it was like the subwoofer was disabled until 2 days ago, but now I get smooth, punchy bass without it feeling booming or exhausting. I always found that voices sounded good (front and center). I have been listening to songs from my iPhone via Carplay, SiriusXM and the radio. Initially the Bose sounded so flat, basic and almost AM-radio-like. But now it is much richer, fuller and overall more pleasant that when I first got it. I was totally discouraged and disappointed but am much happier. I don't think it's me getting used to the sound, it really is much better, as even my wife was saying that it sounded awful initially but is ok with it now. Anyway, this is only my experience, but feeling much better about the Bose.

Cogs

 

[taycanstuff]

Hi All,

So any one with any recommended settings for Bose - from reading the posts:
Select Surround and set bass at +6, treble at +5?

I'll give these settings a try.
Standard and surround sound the same to me, so maybe tweaks of the bass and treble will help.

 

[platypus]

Highly personal suggestions

Select Surround and set bass at +6, treble at +5?

I personally think the default sound in stereo with -1 bass is the closest I have found to natural reproduction. What these settings will do is reduce even more the middle part of the spectrum, which I find already lacking. But to be fair, that's kind of Bose's signature: artificially punchy bass, brittle treble, overall garbage.

Standard and surround sound the same to me

On some tracks it will give more presence (that's what the surround does, creating a fake 3D image), on some tracks I feel like it muddles the original so badly that it's hard to listen to. I defaulted to stereo.

 

[Karl]

Having had the car a month now, I can‘t get the Bose system to sound remotely acceptable. In my Taycan it sounded fantastic, in the Macan I feel it is lifeless and flat with little bass, almost as if the sub is not there. The car is due to go in for other issues and I am at the point of adding this to the list!

 

[platypus]

Oh weird, I do find the bass too present in mine? Could it be trim-dependent? I wouldn't think so.

 

[prime]

Highly personal suggestions



I personally think the default sound in stereo with -1 bass is the closest I have found to natural reproduction. What these settings will do is reduce even more the middle part of the spectrum, which I find already lacking. But to be fair, that's kind of Bose's signature: artificially punchy bass, brittle treble, overall garbage.


On some tracks it will give more presence (that's what the surround does, creating a fake 3D image), on some tracks I feel like it muddles the original so badly that it's hard to listen to. I defaulted to stereo.

Agree stereo setting is best. I’ll try bass -1. But overall happy with bass at 0

 

[Station]

Returning to this subject after another test of the BOSE this week.

The EV BOSE is simply inferior to prior Porsche BOSE systems. (not claiming BOSE is a great sound system, but historically BOSE is sufficient for music).

This week I sat in a Porsche factory demo Macan Turbo with BOSE and ~7,000 miles on it (my dealership was granted a handful of these factory demos with miles between 3k and 7k). The BOSE "break-in" thing is a myth. Any notion of break-in is simply the owner's ear adapting to how low-fidelity it is. It sounds like the system is missing its amp.

I tried to help it along my playing Lossless music through the system and very specific high quality studio recordings such and Steely Dan, Sting, Aphex Twin, Radiohead OK Computer, Kraftwerk, and assorted electronica, etc... setting the EQ to a variety of parametric scales. It's just not good. I would describe it as "cuppy" - as if the speakers were paper dixie cups.

My salesman buddy and I went back and forth between this Macan 4s and a NEW combustion Macan S with Bose that was nearby - similar to my initial comparison when I opened this thread.. The ICE Macan S BOSE was a breath of fresh air. We both agreed.

(If you are just a Podcast person, then you may not want to pay for Burmeister.)

It's not my intention to offend owners in any way. I wouldn't own this car without the Burmeister upgrade, unfortunately. If the BOSE was on par with ICE BOSE, I wouldn't upgrade to Burmeister.

The worst audio I've ever heard in a premium car is the Sonos in the Audi Q4. This is a close 2nd.

I'm not trying to be hyperbolic, but my ordered 4s configuration is $109k. The Tesla Model 3 Highland audio is superior - and thats a $44k car.

 

[strwbryfruitcake]

I feel like the imaging of the sound system in the Macan EV sucks. And weak treble/bass that is made worse when you bump the settings cuz the imaging is so bad. Kinda disappointed. I had the Burmester in my gas Macan, and also Burmester in the EV Macan, and I thought the old system was better, despite the EV being more quiet/refined, and I optioned the noise insulated glass for the EV too. Sad

 

[AlanH]

As an audiophile snob I’ve always found the Bose systems (and Bose in general) to be quite disappointing in the different cars I’ve had. In the 911 it was fighting against the engine noise in most situations, and in the ICE Macan, I found it slightly better because of the probably better soundproofing and lower engine noise.

I’ve never ticked the Burmester option because I have a feeling spending that much money on sound in a car will be disappointing anyway (with unlimited budget, I would), but I’ll always spec Bose because the standard system is scandalously bad To the point I could hardly listen to a podcast on the highway in my Boxster.

Reading all these comments I’m struck by how subjective this topic is. I’ve got the base sound and am very happy with it (and the extra trunk space).

 

[Powerdoc]

Hi All,

So any one with any recommended settings for Bose - from reading the posts:
Select Surround and set bass at +6, treble at +5?

I'll give these settings a try.
Standard and surround sound the same to me, so maybe tweaks of the bass and treble will help.

i have tried this setting at my Porsche dealer, and I founded it poor : no midrange
in audio more bass, means you mask the midrange bass (it's physiological) and more treblle, will leads to more inconfort in the long term

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