BigKutta

Oh, I know its extreme. But swapping an entire system for another (not adding stuff like you suggest), will cost money, and more importantly time and possible headache.

JT4

I respect your opinion, but IMO I feel $1,100 for the Bose upgrade over the base system is a good deal. I had a Q7 loaner for a day with the base system, and even after I tried to dial it in to my liking I thought it sounded terrible.. And while the B&O may sound great, I'm not too sure it sounds $5,000 greater than the Bose to my ears.

hayde_bre

I should rephrase, it's not $1100 great, it might be a good deal if the stock system was that bad that you have to get $1100 to have a decent sound, but at $1100, i feel like car makers (especially the luxury brands) throw the worst possible audio system as stock system, then charge a small premium like $800 (BMW's Harman Kardon) to $1100 to get an acceptable sound and then $5000 for "premium ultra fancy" sound system which I wound't pay for when I can get nice set of rims, or other goodies.

Let me put it this way, and I know it may not be a fair comparison, for $1100 in bose system at your home, even with those tiny speakers they are selling, you can get a much much better sound, even though we don't get 20 some speakers at home. It's detailed, filling and crisp. I do not get that with the $1100 (mind you, on top of whatever it costs to install stock system, $1100 is an upgrade) upgrade of Bose 3D. The mids are way too high, we don't get equalizer, there is no fine tune adjustments and a bunch of redundant settings like 3D, Surround, Focus, etc.. The biggest missing part from stock system would be the subwoofer that actually works like it should without taking up space. I had dedicated subwoofer sound less pleasing than the bose 3d subwoofer. At first I wasn't a fan but after adjusting subwoofer and bass and with right track, it does rumble a good amount.

JT4

^^ I get what you're saying, and like you I could never see myself dropping $5,000 on a sound system in a vehicle, but to each his own.. I tend to agree with you in that the Bose system should have more adjustments, an EQ would be great and now that you mention it that's what's missing.

But with that being said, (yes, everyone's ears are different) I find it provides a much better sound quality than the base system.. IMO $1,100 greater. As far as the stock system goes, yeah the biggest missing part may be the sub. However, as much as it lacked in bass response, my issue was with it's lack of clarity in the day I drove it around, it sounded somewhat "muffled" to me and my wife.

ngeorgieff

BOSE 3D Surround is now part of the 2018 Premium Plus package and to be honest, I'm not impressed at all.

Turning the 3D on makes the sound very flat.