It would not surprise me. I don't think your average consumer understands sine-wave propagation, and it wouldn't surprise me that Bose doesn't really give a flip about it either--and just spewed speakers everywhere they could fit some. The more speakers, the harder it is to balance them properly. But what would I know, I'm only related to theater sound professionals--not acoustic engineers.

Ask yourself why you are so offended. I haven't done anything to you personally. I stated my case. I've done my homework. Therefore I'm not afraid to state plainly what it is I take umbrage with about the "quality through quantity" approach. If that offends you, then I suggest next time try experiencing different quality setups (not the OEM garbage slapped with a name-brand logo)--before sounding off about how everyone who notices deficiencies that you do not...is somehow snooty.

Well it seems odd to draw a dollars comparison between various sports cars...via counting the speakers they have. But that was the gist of your post.

P.S.
Again, this is like comparing the bowel movements of someone who ate filet mignon yesterday, with someone who had taco bell; they're all various degrees of crap. "Premium" is a label bandied about that means nothing. Brand-Names such as Bose, Infinity, B&O, etc--are all tossed in for good measure. But what is inside is usually the most pedestrian, low-cost, low-quality crap that the company would dare to ever put its moniker on--without diluting their brand. That is why you can find "premium Infinity" sound systems that are complete garbage--merely compared to Infinity's own Reference Series.

Comparing one OEM sound system to another OEM sound system, and therefore ruling that system A is "the best one I've ever heard" is not a representative sample size--and in no way is sufficient to withstand scientific examination (take it from someone who got A's in statistics).

 

Love would be audiophiles saying what great sound they can get in a C8 Corvette with the top of the line sound system! When? If parked in an insulated garage with the engine off??

Toured our relatively new Performing Arts Center in town with the local ASME Section. It was designed with a top acoustics firm. Don't care if you install the best sound system available. When driving a C8, tire and road noise will not allow concert hall sound!
Those are carefully placed holes in the walls and ceiling. If a Rapper is performing (yep we occasionally have those) they pull a heavy curtain behind the walls. The back and side walls of the stage moves on essentially RR Car wheels and adjusts for different performances!

 

Nobody is comparing car audio to home audio, let alone concert-hall audio. And if they are, they need their head examined.

All I have been saying--from the get go--is that for car audio the C8's system is "Above average" for OEM, and sorely lacking overall. Which only goes to underscore how atrocious OEM audio is--not how good the C8 is.

 

3LT stereo is fine to my ears, and I have an audiophile system at home. It's perfectly adequate for the intent and purpose of the car. Buy a Lexus if that's your top priority.

 

I'm not offended at all, but I do read you as offensive. You essentially implied in your post's that anyone who thinks the Bose in their Vette or use other Bose product is ignorant to what a good sounding system is like. If some one say's they like the sound, that is their opinion, they don't need you to school them.

 

Well that's my opinion. I also dislike Apple products, Jeep, BMW's, and a host of other brands that are about image over quality and tend to have rabid followings.

If I come off abrasive, it's because I'm equally tired--on the opposite side of the aisle from you. Tired of the white-knights who immediately come to the rescue of GM and Bose with "it's perfectly fine" and "it sounds great to me". Imho, this sentiment would do away with the aftermarket audio segment entirely--if it could. And I don't play that game.

 

The stock Bose 14 speaker systems is, imo, the best sounding stock system i have ever heard, and some customs too.

I had a focal/JL system in my C5 Z and i like the C8 better. It was more pure, and not overstated. It didn't thump like a high powered 10W6, but that gets very old and doesn't blend most of time.

Show me a C8 that has distorted sound playing out of the speakers. I haven't seen it.

 

I am satisfied with the stereo system in my 2021 2LT.

 

I've installed car stereos in every car I've owned up until recent. Not because the sound stage is great, but because the car is too small for my big ex-bodybuilder *** to maneuver around like I could when I was in my 20's and 30's. I've had much better self installed systems in much lesser vehicles but the OEM 10 speaker Bose is fine. It's not good, it's not bad, but I sure as **** will not be replacing it. Rather I prefer replacing the catback and let my car sing a much more desirable note.

 

Audio systems in cars depends on the cabin size and it's variables. You can't create audiophile systems within the constraint of such a small space, and a HTC. A Range Rover or Escalade is a better platform if that's what you're looking for. The RR Meridian system is the best I've heard, after several Bermester systems in Porsche and MB. Different systems for classes of cars. The current Bose more than respectable in the 3LT.

 

You're way over thinking this, you're carrying a lot of negativity.

 

Hey, can I force the 2024 10 speaker Bose system in the 1LT to use Android auto over the usb cable instead of bluetooth? When I first set it up I didn't see an option, it just did it wirelessly. Want to see if the wired connection gives a better audio experience...

Is this possible, or is Android Auto only done via Bluetooth now?

 

I don't think the issue has ever been distortion. The issue is range.

At the risk of repeating myself from topic to topic, it goes back to Equal-Loudness Contours. You need a much more capable driver for low-end frequencies, than you do for mid-range or high-end ones; because of how sound is perceived by the human ear. When this is understood, it is clear to see how Bose (and most stock audio systems) taper off quite rapidly on the low end. Sure, they may be capable of replicating a 30hz sound (claimed for the C8) but there is zero chance of balancing the perceived loudness of that with the remainder of frequencies the system is putting out--because there simply isn't enough driver to push it. That's a pure physics limit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Adding more drivers, stating frequency ranges for the overall system, etc--only disguises the ugly facts about how much more dB of SPL you need to "balance" the perceived volume/loudness across the spectrum. You need FAR more driver pushing low end below 100hz--than any other part of the spectrum. Yet the C8 has far less drivers (and far less capability in the ones suited to it). That's why I don't poo-poo a 6.1 setup; because odds are that you are getting good presentation across mids and highs (without excessive speakers and the sine-wave cancellation that can happen from it). There are only 6 speakers in the C8 that are 4" drivers or larger!

That's not to say that you cannot push bass with a smaller driver (many headphones can do this quite well). But the further away your ears are from it--or the louder the sound has to be--the more physical limitations come into play. And traditionally, 4" drivers cannot even come close to low end (in applications of this kind), and 5.25" are barely scraping it. So that leaves the 2x, 10" drivers that we can clearly see do not have much cone depth or magnet on the driver. Physics.

 

I feel ya. Opposing Apple would be fatiguing. "It's NOT BETTER, it's just all your senses LYING TO YOU and SAYING it is better!!! OPEN is better, and if you can't understand why, I can't explain, SHEEP!!!".

Take a break!!!

 

Going back to my ‘62, my first corvettes had a single speaker mounted on the top of the dash so the system in my C8 is a great improvement for my old ears. I really don’t pay too much attention to it, but if you crank it up it does reproduce tunes quire well.

 

So you're saying you like paying a premium to be in a walled garden, hate the right to repair, and prefer poor quality engineering by default.

 

Pretty much. Apple: Yesterdays technology, today.

Its become a status symbol, which is odd, as several Android phone now cost much more than iPhones... My Google Pixel Fold was $1800, but you constantly see someone with an $800 iPhone talking about how premium it is, and how Android phones are for poor people... lol

 

No argument from me. Six months ago I took a 5,000+ mile trip, radio wasn't on a single time..... been like that for me - traveling sans radio - since 1965 when I bought a 356C Porsche....

 

Ok, so after reading this thread and some others, I experimented a bit today and got the stock 10 speaker Bose setup sounding MUCH better. Thanks to the various people who made different comments and shared bits of info... but the settings that really seem to let you crank up the volume more and get better quality and less bass distortion:

• Connect Android Auto via the USB cable, a high quality one like Anker, rather than bluetooth. Now on Android you can go into the developer settings and change the bluetooth audio codecs so perhaps you could achieve the same quality wirelessly, but I will have to experiment with that.
• Set sound mode to Counterpoint with fade and balance in the dead center.
• Set your EQ to have bass flat at 0dB, no boost... Midrange, put it halfway DOWN between 0dB(flat) and the lowest setting, and Treble 1 click UP from level.

All of those combined made a much improved audio experience.

Video of the settings used:

 

Back in the eighties, there were very very few even passable-sounding car stereo systems. Porsches came with four crappy speakers and a "radio prep" so the dealer could toss in an absolutely horrible Blaupunkt cassette player. One of the fist truly good factory systems for its era was the Delco/Bose in the C4. My dad back in 1983 had one of the very first C4s, and we were pretty shocked at how great that thing was. They even included a Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs GM mix tape to show off its capabilities with songs like "Heart of Glass" by Blondie. Even more impressive was the sound effect parts, where they had fireworks recorded. We were out in the car on the first night he had it, with the top off, and he cranked that fireworks section. The attack was sharp, the decay was natural. The magic was that the stereo was designed with the car...kind of primitive, mechanical DSP. Anyway, I digress...

I'm definitely a stereo person, and have always appreciated good sound in my home and in my car. My home system is pretty special, and can recreate a symphony hall just as easily as it can put you back into the studio with Neil Young. I critically listen with my home system, but I don't think that way in a car - any car. I like to hear all the sounds, I like to have a sense of space, and I like having enough grunt to overcome road noise, and when the top is off, wind noise. Honestly, I think the Bose setup in this car is spot on (the 14 speaker setup). Feed this system the right music on the right platform (I stream Qobuz), and it performs just about as well as I've heard a system perform in a car setting. Yeah, the Alpine 7902 feeding three a/d/s amps and a whole hose of Boston Acoustics separates and subs in our old 750iL was more dramatic, and the overall quality of some sounds was better, owing to superior, more bespoke electronics. But the C8 system, like the Delco/Bose in that C4, is made for the car. The imagining is correct, and its fulling integrated, No having to deal with aftermarket nonsense.

Anyone with a C8 and an iPhone, I would say to have either Qobuz or Apple Music (not Spotify, which is lossy digital) loaded up, and play these songs:

If you want to hear some serious demo material, try this one first, and turn it up loud. Listen for the separation and space of the two vocalists, the solid foundation of the bass, the hand claps, and the strange percussive instruments and effects throughout.

Birds - Dominique Fils Aime

Here are some others from my demo playlist I keep on Qobuz:

The Only Living Boy in New York - Everything But the Girl (S&G cover)
Happy Birthday - The Innocence Mission
Tinseltown in the Rain - The Blue Nile (Linn actually helped make this recording to use as a demo for their equipment)
Molino Moreno - Snarky Puppy
Goodbye (with Soap & Skin) - Apparat
Keith Don't Go - Nils Lofgren (the version on his Acoustic Live album)
In Your Mind - Johnny Cash
The Fall of Troy - Tom Waitts
Dat Dere - Rickie Lee Jones

I challenge anyone to play these tracks and then come back and say this system sucks, If that's the case, check your ears first! LOL