Billy346

I took the Vette out for a ride this afternoon. I left it in "Tour" to keep the exhaust noise down and cranked up the Bose audio system. I usually listen to Pandora from my iPhone, or various music that I purchased from iTunes. I listen to all kinds of music, from classic rock, country, classical, EDM, hip hop.....you name it.

On this forum, I read many complaints about the Bose Audio system in these cars, and when I first took delivery of my Corvette back in October, I could see what they were talking about. The stereo sounded "boomy", almost like I was listening to music from a speaker that was behind a cardboard wall. The highs were there, but the midrange and bass were so muffled and overpowering that you could hardly hear the music. So, I searched through the various menus in the audio controls and found the graphic equilizer. From the factory, the treble, mid-range, and bass were all set in the "neutral" position. So, I adjusted each equalizer until I had the sound quality that I wanted, and left it there.

I must say that after adjusting the sound system from the factory settings, it is a very nice sound system. I had the soundtrack to "Master and Commander" playing, which is a combination of symphony and old British folk music. The drums came through with deep bass and good mid range, the violins were sharp, and the flutes and pipes were almost ear piercing when I had the volume cranked up. You could probably hear my car from 50 feet away, even though I had the windows up! I also played Imagine Dragons, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Bryan Adams, and a few other artists. The stereo performed excellently with each different band and sound with no distortion on the highs and *almost* no rattling on the lows. (The door panels do shake a bit with bigger bass hits.) . I can honestly say that if you don't think the stereo in these cars is at least "good", you either do not have the equalizer set properly, or your source music (like XM or mp3's) are of poor quality. I know that there are better sound systems out there, specifically in the aftermarket. I think you would be hard pressed to find a factory sound system that is significantly better. I enjoy mine thoroughly, and I do not plan to change it at all. *GM, I hope you read this post!*

KCV

Steve Garrett

I have no complaints about the stereo.

Jaylars

I agree. One of the issues many run into is the quality of the recorded music. Spotify and Pandora are streaming music at low resolution (about 160kbps) and MP3s and ACC files are commonly sourced from crappy recording before being downloaded. I ripped a re-mastered Black Sabbath catalog and created MP3s in 320kbps. Example; The Wizard is only 10MBs at that bitrate the sound is ridiculously good for a 1970 song @ 90mph in 2018.
I recommend those that are really into quality sound consider creating cleaner higher bitrate MP3s or ACC files from your existing CD or even tape collection. Find a well reviewed Audio Converter and have fun. Buy a 128GB thumb drive to store your high resolution music files on. Also, I'm in the same boat as the senior crew, 25 years in the Infantry caused hearing damage for me personally, but I can still hear the differences between crummy digital content and good music.

Also understand the differences between analog radio and HD radio. Each transmits at different levels/bitrate conversion and setting your integrated EQ to one or the other will impact each differently. This goes for setting your EQ for your portable tunes as well. I personally set mine to the ripped music I have on my thumb drive since that is what I enjoy most.

Gearhead Jim

OP-
Sure, everyone has different ears.
But please tell us what settings worked best for you.
Thanks.

sTz

It’s OK... “good” might be pushing it, and most probably have already figured out how to adjust the pedestrian EQ. I doubt many will be replacing it regardless of their dislike due to its integration. Good news is, GM is progressing, so the C8’s sound stage should be better. Hopefully they’ll look beyond Bose, or at least offer a stand alone upgrade option... and I hope GM reads this post.

GOC

I agree, the Bose system is more than adequate. My concentration is to enjoy driving this amazing car every time.

R8Z51

I love the Bose system in my car. In my opinion, it sounds better than the B&O system in my R8 and the Harmon/Kardon system in my E-class Mercedes. Only compliant I have is it sounds like crap from the outside due to the subwoofers being in the doors.

Kevin A Jones

I'm pleased with the base (1LT) Bose system in my '17 GS Vert and if I weren't it wouldn't be the end of the world as I didn't purchase my C7 to enjoy listening to music.

Jaylars

Although I like my music when I drive, I find myself mostly running 5th out in track exhaust mode just to listen to that fine rumble burble when coming to a halt.

4thC4at60

Home Bose - now, I'm going back to the 1970s - but Bose 901, Series I were spectacular....

I've been involved in high-end audio since 1960 and ended up with nose-bleed expensive stereo gear of the best reviews and quality over a 50+ year period.... no speaker system - at any price - compared to the 901s, Series I, in my experience. I truly regret the day I sold them.

Foosh

I agree the C7 Bose Premium sound systems in both my C7s both sound(ed) pretty good once adjusted to one's ear preferences, and they are much better than certain forum bashers try to portray. Once the volume is cranked up a bit, they seem to shine much brighter. They are a little dull at lower volumes.

It's also Car Forum 101 for a fair number of posters to flame every sound system ever installed in any vehicle. I've been on many forums over the years, and it doesn't matter if it's Alpine, Bang & Olufsen, Baumester, Bose, Harmann-Kardon, Meridian, or whomever, someone is going to say it sucks. Moving vehicles are not great listening rooms.

Billy346

For those of you who asked, here is a picture of my graphic equilizer:



Someone mentioned that GM should offer an upgrade from the Bose system for those that want it. Interestingly enough, they offer an upgraded "Kicker" system for the Silverado that includes huge subwoofers and a few other upgraded doo-dads. On the Silverado forum, people who buy it seem to like it. I'm surprised that they don't offer a similar option for the Corvette. I mean, you can get a leather trimmed dash and diamond stitch patterned headliner, but no aftermarket audio system option?

mcoomer

May just be me, because I'm on a VPN in Germany, but the picture isn't there. I'm assuming you've done what I did though is move treble up the scale, mids down near the bottom and the bass just a hair or two up the scale. It's not great but definitely better than a ton of OE solutions out there. I do feel like the factory sub can be pretty muddy. I've seen a few threads on here where folks have swapped those and I've been thinking about doing something similar.

Mike

Corgidog1

Ah, the advantages of having a tin ear-everything sounds good.

NSC5

There is nothing that is going to make the inside of a C7, or any car, sound like a properly setup home audio system in a room designed for that purpose nor is there any way you are going to be able to do 90 MPH 1G + turn with your home audio room

If you want really good audio reproduction in a vehicle, park it and listen to good quality source material through a set of studio monitor headphones ("real" professional phones and not pop culture junk like "Beats").

Properly adjusted the Bose sound system in the C7 can do a pretty decent job of reproducing the source material. For those who think proper reproduction involves bass that tests the structural integrity of the car's glass components then what you are looking for isn't accurate reproduction unless you regularly listen to the close in sounds of a military jet running on full afterburner.

JerryU

I have my sound system playing > 1000 songs in shuffle mode from a flush mounted thumb drive as soon as the car starts. IMO, it's needed to drown out the tire and road noise! It is seldom off. Bought the car for performance and did not expect concert hall sound!

Compared to my C6, which I always felt lacked base, IMO the added rear subwoofer in the C7 is significantly better, if as you say it's adjusted properly. Depends what you listen to but for 95% of what I play it's fine for me. There are some songs that are a bit boomy, like a more current Josh Stone with her "Joplin sound" but Janis Joplin originals sound fine for me!

In my modified S10 I added a subwoofer and amp with a remote control adjustment **** mounted on the console. Then you could adjust the bass on the fly, useful for certain songs. With the C7, as with most cars, you have to pick an average balance.

CocoVette

I think this system sounds great, although I'm no audiophile. It's way better then my z4 convertible... maybe that's why the corvette sounds so good in comparison lol. I was getting a radar installed, and the tech was nicely surprised and impressed at how well the bose sounded

Patman

I just got a pair of $400 PSB headphones and not many car audio systems out there are going to rival the crystal clear and well balanced sound reproduction that these have. That being said, I'm still impressed that my 1LT Bose sounds better than the Bose in my C6.

cheapthrills

2 important things, 1 turn off the bose audio pilot and connect with a cord or thumb drive, there is a big loss going through Bluetooth, which is also the case in my truck with a great alpine system.