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

[Station]

After several EV test drives at my Porsche dealer I've used for decades, we (the dealer, my buddy, and I) all agreed that the new BOSE sound system on the Macan EV is nowhere near as good as the BOSE on my 2023 Macan GTS. I placed an order for a 4s Macan EV and was forced to bump to Burmeister.

..we had my GTS sitting next to the demo Macan EV, doors open, going back and forth - and played the same tracks at various volumes (a high fidelity song by Depeche Mode, and then Steely Dan, just to get the best wide fidelity track from different genres going, so we could mess with the sound settings in the EV. Couldn't touch the BOSE in the '23 Macan GTS. This is a bummer because I always found the BOSE to be respectable in the past, and Burmester to be unnecessary.

Anyone else come to this conclusion?

(I also drove a 2nd Macan 4 on a different day and while I didn't dig around in the sound as much, it exhibited the same sonic limitations as the first EV)

 

[PanameraFrank]

To be honest, I think it's in your head. I dont mean that disrespectfully, it's just easy to sit at a dealership and get critical, especially with other people feeding into it. It's the Porsche option effect.

I believe the system in the electric Macan is actually more powerful. It's 710 watts vs 665 in the ICE.

I think once you tweak the settings around it'll be excellent. I found it great on my test drives.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

I saw a post on a review YT video that it takes over 100 hours of use for the Bose to get up to itstandard capabilities. Not sure if that is correct or not…

 

[Station]

To be honest, I think it's in your head. I dont mean that disrespectfully, it's just easy to sit at a dealership and get critical, especially with other people feeding into it. It's the Porsche option effect.

I believe the system in the electric Macan is actually more powerful. It's 710 watts vs 665 in the ICE.

I think once you tweak the settings around it'll be excellent. I found it great on my test drives.

I don't know if you read my entire post but we spent probably half an hour trying to get the EV to even remotely resemble the sound quality of the ice GTS. We went through all available settings. All parties present including my friend who is also my sales guy as well as my buddy who I brought along, agreed. It's not even close. I also saw a reviewer bring this up on YouTube.

It's not "in my head". I would love to not spend an extra $4700 on Burmester. I've owned multiple Porsches with both Bose and Burmester and it can vary depending on cabin size such as 911 versus Cayenne.

I will go as far as to say the BOSE in the EV is inferior to my daughter's 7-year old Q3 with whatever factory system they are putting in that Audi.

 

[PanameraFrank]

It'll certainly sound different. Different model, not broken in.

I found it quite nice. Can't agree at all that it's a bad system. It takes 30 hours+ for audio systems to break in, so it makes sense your ICE would sound better right now as they are very, very similar systems. You've also had a lot more than 30 minutes to get it set up the way you like it and get used to it.

But it sounds like you will always be concerned about it, so speccing Burmeister for peace of mind is probably a good call.

I would highly recommend 20" wheels and insulated glass with Burmeister, or you're going to lose a lot of the improvement to road noise.

 

[RicO'Grampian]

I test drove a Macan 4 with the Bose...did not sound very impressive. Yet the Bose in my 2012 981S Boxster sounds fine.
Drove home in my RR Evoque with its Meridian Surround system which sounded 1000% better than the Macan 4 Bose. I came to same conclusion as the OP...have to probably shell out for the Burmester (after a trial..)

 

[dgkhn]

I test drove a Macan 4 with the Bose...did not sound very impressive. Yet the Bose in my 2012 981S Boxster sounds fine.
Drove home in my RR Evoque with its Meridian Surround system which sounded 1000% better than the Macan 4 Bose. I came to same conclusion as the OP...have to probably shell out for the Burmester (after a trial..)

I simply offer this as a single data point for people trying to decide whether to upgrade from Bose to Burmester (and I've not heard the Burmester system). Clearly what I say below is completely subjective.

Keeping in mind that my music sources tend to be moderate-bit-rate compressed streaming, that I generally don't listen at especially high volume levels, that my music taste tends toward classic rock and acoustic rock, and that this is not a side-by-side comparison, I prefer the way my Macan 4's Bose sounds to the way the Bose in my 2014 and 2019 Boxsters and 2018 Macan GTS sounded, and I would say I am satisfied if not thrilled with it.

None of those Bose systems compares to the Bowers & Wilkins system in my wife's Volvo, though, and I can hear the difference in spite of the limitations above.

In fact, I was enough dissatisfied with the Bose in my Macan GTS that I swore if I ever bought another Macan I would spring for Burmester--but in the reality the cost in the Macan 4 was just more than my inner scold could bear. So far I am happier with the new Bose. (I always felt the sound systems in the Boxsters were crap, which shows I have some standards, but does that really matter in a Boxster?)

 

[quaxon]

I was dissatisfied with the Bose system as well, I've had the car for a little over a month now and about a week ago it really came to life and sounds amazing now. I agree that it needs some break-in time.

 

[platypus]

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.

 

[Alex103]

I had the Bose system in my 2015 Macan ICE and was disappointed, and hoped that it would be improved in my new Macan 4 (I can't justify the expense of the Burmeister system).

The Bose midrange and treble frequencies are better in the Macan 4, but the bass is far worse (and it was pretty weak in the ICE Macan). Even with the bass setting turned up it is barely present. With the amount of room the woofer takes up in the back it's a real letdown.

I wonder if the positioning of the woofer relative to all the other EV stuff happening under and behind the rear seat is muffling whatever the woofer is doing

I wish Porsche would use someone other that Bose in their cars - other models I've owned (Mercedes, Infiniti) had far superior non-Bose systems.

 

[SergeyIndy]

I drove Macan 4 for a day and also thought that Bose sounded dull and flat that you have to stop and think that something is not right. Not expecting a wow sound but immediate impression is that it sounds bad no matter the setting.

I respect the fact that it may need to be broken in over many hours, so maybe that's the issue. However, Bose in a 2024 and 2025 Taycan brand new examples on the lot I tried immediately after sounded amazing. Our 2024 Macan GTS Bose never sounded this bad when new and sounds good after a year.

 

[krissrock]

my understanding is that american car mfr's do sound, or at least bass, a lot better than foreign cars

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