RichieR Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Just wanted to comment on the Cadillac Bose Sound Systems. Unfortunately, my current Cadillac does not have the Bose sound system, however, my previous '90 Eldorado had it with the cassette player. Personally, I have never heard a better quality sound system and the one on the '90 was a very simple system with 4 speakers/amplifiers. The clarity of sound, tight bass, great treble was the best I've ever heard. I loved the Bose radio so much that I bought a portable compact disk player with the car adapter (a "fake" cassette installed right into the cassette player) so I had the use of both cassettes and CD's (in '90, the Bose radio only had a cassette, or CD player, but not both). My '95 Eldo and my father's '97 Deville do not have the Bose radios which is disappointing (although the dealer installed trunk mounted CD players for both of us). The standard Cadillac radios are good, but not nearly as good as the Bose radio. For those who have the '96 or later Deville with Active Audio and Digital Signal Processing - how is that radio? It looks like a great radio with 11 speakers, etc. It looks very interesting to be able to play different audio effects (i.e. Live, Auditorium, Driver's Seat, etc.). I wish my father's '97 Deville had that radio. Also, for those of you who have the Bose radio on the '92 and later Eldorado and Seville, how is that radio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I have the Bose (first one since my '85 Biarritz). My '02 SLS had 10 speakers and sounded great. This one (Bose) has 8 and sounds even better. The audio effects (Live, Auditorium, Driver's Seat, etc.) is awsome. Also love the ALC (Auto Level Control) feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieR Posted August 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I have the Bose (first one since my '85 Biarritz). My '02 SLS had 10 speakers and sounded great. This one (Bose) has 8 and sounds even better. The audio effects (Live, Auditorium, Driver's Seat, etc.) is awsome. Also love the ALC (Auto Level Control) feature. How was the Bose Radio on your '85 Biarritz? It was probably similar to the one on my '90 Eldo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Very nice sound as I recall, but no where near the speakers or features that this one has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I remember you saying how great the sound system was in your SLS, Larry. The latest Bose systems are simply fantastic! I love the system in my STS. I rented a '06 STS and it had the Bose surround sound system with the 15 speakers and DTS processing....UNREAL!!! It amazes me when I read on the forums about the younger kids taking the Bose system out and "upgrading" their systems... Charles Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Yeah I never understood that either. I think it is the theory that if it came from the facrtory, it can't be any good. Now that I am thinking about it, I'll have to put the Carlene Carter CD in on the ride home tonight and put the Bose through it's paces like I did with the SLS radio. I have yet to do that since I have had it. I usually keep the music rather low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMachine Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Bose gives crisp, clear, pure sound and doesn't offer the "bass drone" or window shaking performance that aftermarkets get you....honestly alot of those aftermarkets sound terrible but when you crank them up to the point where all you hear is the bass thud you really don't know how terrible it is, and those systems nearly forget about treble all together where as even the standard cadillac audio does a fine job at giveing a decently crisp sound with just enough base flair, the bose can make you feel like its live on the otherhand Honestly to me thats not really a big deal since I listen to more of a rock sound and don't really care for rap or hip/hop. The Bose system gives a nice base feel but w/o the ability to nearly blow out the windows. Thats fine by me. The Green's Machines 1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust 2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness! 2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc 1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thu Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I have the eight-speaker Bose system in my '03 STS. I tell you, it is incredible. At 425 watts, it has plenty of power. I also love the DSP effects and the Auto Level Control. If the car hits a rough stretch of road, the volume turns up. Going back to smooth road, the volume turns down, automatically. I leave the DSP in the "Ambiance" setting. I, too, have noticed that every time I get into a car with an aftermarket sound system, I've noticed that the interface and sound just sucks. One of my biggest beefs with aftermarket units is that they look so Ghetto. Nothing beats the factory Bose and Navigation touchscreen installation - it looks like it belongs in the car. The aftermarket units look like what they are - afterthoughts. No offense, just an observation. 2003 Seville STS 43k miles with the Bose Sound, Navigation System, HID Headlamps, and MagneRide 1993 DeVille. Looks great inside and out! 298k miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 The Auto Volume Control is a nice feature. Cadillac (Bose) actually takes this concept even further than the other auto makers. I owned a '99 Ford Expedition that had the "Mach Audio System" in it...it was designed and built by Alpine. The AVC in that car raised and lowered the volume based on vehicle speed. Cadillac uses a microphone in the overhead console that actually listens for frequencies that are too low, and raises only those frequecies that are needing to be boosted. Very impressive! Read the link below for a great article from Popular Mechanics in 1998. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology...io/1279566.html Charles Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Well, I ran her to the limits last night. WOW! Now after reading the PM article, I am even more impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 It is amazing to me that you can literally turn the power up as loud as it can go and the system shows no distortion whatsoever. What a great design! Charles Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boricua3131 Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 Wow, I am missing more than I thought. I have the BOSE-less system which sounds ok, but what would have to be done to convert over to BOSE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 I believe to convert from no Bose to Bose would be very expensive. You would need to buy the head unit, all 7 cabin speakers plus a Bose subwoofer, a Bose amplifier, a new overhead console (with the Bose microphone), and all the associated wiring harnesses. Since your car is a 2003 model, the radio communicates over the digital data bus, and that may even mean different computers, but I'm not sure. Charles Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieR Posted August 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 Wow, I am missing more than I thought. I have the BOSE-less system which sounds ok, but what would have to be done to convert over to BOSE? Until you have the Bose system, you really don't know what you're missing. The standard Cadillac radios are good, but the Bose systems really blow you away. I never special ordered a car, so I had to be lucky that the Bose system was included with the car that I picked. I was lucky that my '90 Eldo came with the Bose stereo. My '95 Eldo does not have it although it is a well equipped base Eldo with many other options. I really miss not having it. I'm not sure about converting to a Bose radio, but it sounds like a tough proposition. Even the earlier Bose sound systems (such as on my '90) were custom equalized to match the interior - although there were only 4 speakers/amplifiers. To convert to the Bose system in the '98 Seville (and later models) sounds like it would really be a challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieR Posted August 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 It is amazing to me that you can literally turn the power up as loud as it can go and the system shows no distortion whatsoever. What a great design! Charles What's even more amazing is you can turn the volume way down and you will still get great sound. That's probably an even more distinguishing feature to the Bose radios - you don't have to blast the heck out of them to get great sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazglenn3 Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 An excellent point, Richie! It does sound very crisp and clean down low. Charles Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thu Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 The only thing I wish the Bose system would do is read MP3 CDs. 2003 Seville STS 43k miles with the Bose Sound, Navigation System, HID Headlamps, and MagneRide 1993 DeVille. Looks great inside and out! 298k miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAB Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 I'm surprised of the excellent reviews of the Bose System. I have a 2001 STS with the Bose system and am very impressed with this unit when playing cd's. Very crisp and excellent base from the rear sub-woofer. But the radio in FM mode is terrible, virtually no highs? It is very muffled, even with the treble turned to the max. I went to the dealer and complained the FM tuner was bad, but he walked me over to other STS's that had the Bose radio and they sounded the same when playing FM. I give listening to cd's a A+, but the FM is just a mediocre C at best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hall Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 I'm surprised of the excellent reviews of the Bose System. I have a 2001 STS with the Bose system and am very impressed with this unit when playing cd's. Very crisp and excellent base from the rear sub-woofer. But the radio in FM mode is terrible, virtually no highs? It is very muffled, even with the treble turned to the max. I went to the dealer and complained the FM tuner was bad, but he walked me over to other STS's that had the Bose radio and they sounded the same when playing FM. I give listening to cd's a A+, but the FM is just a mediocre C at best! Frequency response: FM - 50 Hz to 15 kHz CD - 20 Hz to 20 kHz No matter what tuner you have, FM is not going to have the low's nor the high's of CD's. And also, AM is not going to have the sound quality of FM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thu Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 Yah know, Ed, I think you may have hit on something.....we've been spoiled by CD audio, MP3s and XM/Sirius, that we now think that FM audio quality sucks. Interesting. 2003 Seville STS 43k miles with the Bose Sound, Navigation System, HID Headlamps, and MagneRide 1993 DeVille. Looks great inside and out! 298k miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boricua3131 Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 If you want CD quality sound from the FM freq.... HD radio is the cure. It makes AM sound like todays FM. Unfortunetly, that would mean ditching your BOSE........something I would not do if I had a BOSE system in my Caddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thu Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 Nah, I don't think I'd want to do that. However, there exists a sufficient number of aftermarket accessories that tap into the Bose system to add an extra channel of some sort to select an HDRadio device. 2003 Seville STS 43k miles with the Bose Sound, Navigation System, HID Headlamps, and MagneRide 1993 DeVille. Looks great inside and out! 298k miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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