In-Car Bose Audio
Per Mazda’s website, my car has the premium sound package, including:
- 222W 7-Speaker Bose sound system w/ 5-channel EQ
- Four 6.5″ low/mid speakers in the doors
- Two 1.5″ front door tweeters
- 5.25″ woofer in a 4.5L tuned ported enclosure under the front passenger seat
I’ve had my car over a month now, and have put about 3K miles on it – enough time to listen to quite a few things, in different road conditions, at different volume levels.Ã For one thing, the 5-channel EQ is either hiding from me or I can only really control bass and treble.Ã I guess I’m gonna have to read more of the manual to find out ore about that.
The low/mid speakers do a fairly good job at medium+ volumes.Ã At the lower volume, the low/mids get lost from what little road noise comes into the cabin, and the tweeters.Ã When the bass is pushed on the 2-channel EQ I seem to have control over, it seems to be overdriven at lower volumes.Ã But, if I get up to a mid-volume (12-16 on the volume dial) it gets a nicer balance.Ã
Tonight on my way home, I was listening to Day of Fire’s new album “Cut and Move” and had the volume up to ~14 I think, and put the windows down, and opened the sunroof.Ã I pushed the bass to +4 (out of 6 or 8 I think), and left the treble at 0, and it’s like the system found it’s sweet spot!Ã The highs of the cymbals and snare were crisp, the vocals and guitars were clear, and the bass and kick drum were not rumbling or muffled.
I’m thinking maybe the speakers needed to be broken in a bit.Ã I’ll keep them pushed a bit for the next few trips and see if the lower volume levels with jazz or classical sound as clear as the heavier rock at a higher volume.Ã From what I’ve read about Bose gear, is that it never really does a super job on full range and dynamics, so we’ll see.
