hsp

"They would document my complaint" translates into filing into the trash can. In my opinion sort of silly to lodge a complaint to AoA after the fact when you had every opportunity to purchase the upgraded system and/or not purchase the vehicle if you feel sound system was the priority.

alj130_au

I have noticed a changed in the series of base systems used lately on the newer cars. Almost all the loaners I get come with base sound system and to echo what you said was true.

I had a base sound system on my 09 A3 which sounded satisfactory compared to the ones today. Lately I've always opted to get the B and O for my cars since 2013. This is how I was able to tell the difference.

The 2017 A3/A4 loaners I've driven lately with base sound systems all have a disturbing sound at the rear speaker when the volume is turned up to at least 50 percent. Something as you said one would not expect from Audi.

I know this is not much of a help, but I hope you'll find some resolution to this problem.

The car drives really well and performs quite amazing...

Best of Luck.

rsilvers129

I was not impressed with the BOSE, but didn't want to pay $5000 for the B&O. The BOSE was ok - usable, but not impressive in any way.

But then today, when going through all the settings, I turned off surround, and 3D. Wow - now it is a decent-sounding system. News flash - if an audio engineer mixed vocals to be center-front, you do not want to diffuse that and make the mono vocals diffuse all around you. With those settings off, the system is acceptable, though still lacking in bass. While you can turn up the bass, you really can't as that just adds distortion. If there is a known-good bass driver to replace the existing one, I am interested in knowing which one to use.

OneOfOne

you lose significant fidelity with sirius/xm. highly compressed

bytebuster

I echo your sentiments. I was dead set on the B&O (that is what I have in my Q5) until I played with the surround and fader settings on the Bose. Now I find myself relatively satisfied and cannot justify plunking down the additional 5k for the B&O

DB22

Base is for talk radio, Bose is for compressed XM and B&O is for listening to music. Unfortunately, the B&O is $5000 for the name and $900 for the equipment but the price would be very little if Audi put it in all of their cars, which is what all Audi's should come with.

Brimstone

Every time I read this thread this post bothers me, so with the disclaimer being the right mix is the mix you like I want to point out:

1. since sometime in the 1960s 99.99% (and that is conservatively low) music is mixed in stereo. Since the 1990s using more than 2 speakers in home or car setups is very common. Sometimes they're just replicated channels but often there's some 'surround' processing involved.
2. the sound engineer did however mix the bass to a specific level.
3. Most recordings are done in mono, 1 instrument at a time. (exceptions may generally be a drum kit or something that is technically multiple instruments but 1 performer).

High fidelity earphones with a flat mix is probably the most true way to listen to music as the sound engineer likely heard it or desired it to be heard.

You can take the exact same speakers/hardware and put it in 2 different rooms and it will probably sound different.

If you listen to a variety of music recorded over different eras, flat EQ is probably going to serve you best. Otherwise certainly tweaking it to your tastes is fine. I think surround effects are just personal choice, I actually thing it sounds best on music which is not very dense (I've found a lot of late '60s/early '70s music to be fairly cool with it, newer music less so).

rsilvers129

Yes, surround effects are personal preference and having the setting available is good, and will help some music. Personal taste, and the type of music, will determine what percentage of music it is best to leave it on for.

The system comes tuned to sound expansive and impressive to most people. They probably did focus groups and asked random people which sounded better - A or B, and people picked B.

This is done with TVs - in the store, the color is cranked up to look vivid and attract people over another brand that will look bland at first. The sharpness is turned up. The motion effects are on. Most people are going to leave those settings on because they came on by default, but it doesn't mean they are best.

I am not sure why you highlighted my comment on bass though. I was only saying that the single 8" subwoofer can't move enough air for the volume of a large vehicle and so it was compromised. I wasn't commenting on how the stock system was adjusted for bass as regarding personal tastes. It was a comment on a physical limitation.

Brimstone

I just found it ironic in the first part of your post you effectively complain about altering the sound and the 2nd part describe a good way to modify the sound. Don't worry about it, enjoy your car and your music.

I think answering how to set the EQ on a car is about as easy as answering when I woman asks if a dress makes her look fat. There are no good answers...run.

rsilvers129

Two different things. The first was BOSE over-riding the intent of the music producer to try to enhance it, but in reality, making it worse in nearly all cases. The second part was making the car physically capable of recreating the intent of the music producer.

I was not suggesting to artificially boost bass above flat for "personal taste." I was saying that the single eight-inch driver didn't seem physically capable of enough output to be neutral for the large chamber of the Q7 at higher output levels and without significant distortion.