Kraziken

When I had my '93 black touring, I really enjoyed the Bose stereo system. My only gripe was I wanted more volume level.

I've collected quite a few articles on the RX-7, and one is a small thread from the Jan/Feb '93 Car Stereo Review.
I don't know how I'd post this article, so I figure I'd just type a few quote a few paragraphs below.

"A good friend of mine recently related a tory about a stock system he'd heard. The one in Mazda's new RX-7. Now, my friend is a certified IASCA judge as well as an audiophile, so I was particularly interested when he used termms like staging and imaging in his description. I was so interested, in fact, I decided to drive down to the local Mazda dealer's showroom and ask for a test "listen."

The RX-7 is a very high performance two seater with a price tag exceeding $30,000-no room for kids or a big subwoofer boxes here, and not my first choice for an ideal listening environment. But its Mazda/Bose system was very friendly ergonomically, so I didn't need any help from the salesman. After making a few simple adjustments to suit my own tatsts (treble maxed, bass docked to about 10'o'clock), I was presently surprised by the sound.

The system exhibited a good front stage as well as a staable image that made the speakers seem acoustically invisible. Overall, the staging was very coherent, and there was just the right amount of ambient fil. One thing is certain: If this car had come through one of my judging lines at an IASCA event, I would have given both its staging and imaging a 30 or better (40 is the maximum for each). To put this in perspective, less than hal of the custom systems I judge at an average IASCA contest achieve such a high rating."

It seems to me there are quite a few people that are quick to rip out the stock Bose system, but I think a lot of money would need to be invested to improve the sound over stock. A few of the custom installs I've seen basically remove any storage possible in the trunk as well.

The Bose wave system is one piece I think is a really nice part of the FD.

bee

until the amp in your door goes out wile driving and starts making the highist pitch of noise youve ever herd in your life..

Till that happend though.. they sounded great!

DavidDeco

Wow, I thought it sucked big time. I had to deal with it for a few years before I ripped it out. At first I put the best I could reasonably get at my local circuit city (which isn't saying much) and it sounded MUCH better not tomention I got much of my trunk space back.

Now my bro's M3 has a kick *** stock system...

Flybye

My touring was only 4 years old when I got her, and the Bose system sounded good but it wasn't very loud. I then installed an aftermarket radio in it and kept the stock speakers, and everyone told me it was one of the best stock systems they had ever heard. Well, stock speakers, anyways. 4 years later, I can tell how degraded the speakers have become, and will someday rip all of the Bose speakers and amps out and send them to be repaired. When the speakers were working good, it sounded REALLY nice. I certainly have nothing bad to say about them.

My only gripe with the system was the headunit which just didn't raise the volume to levels that I wanted. Maybe the OEM headunit was semi-fried. Who knows, but I'm glad I got rid of it. It gave me more space for gauges.

RX-8

iTrader: (6)

a great system...in it's time. advances in audio technology have since surpassed the fd's Bose system. what makes the system so great is it's sound stage. because of the center speaker the sound stage sounds as if its coming from the hood instead of the doors. if my cd player played cdr's consistantly I would at least keep the head unit (speakers are blown ). but i agree, well thought out sound system,excellent speaker placement. it's just showing its age

luneytune

This noise, does it happen all the time? With CD and FM? I am trying to diagnose a noise that is high pitched and only occurs on FM - sounds kind of like max distortion and squealing. Thanks.

spyfish007

no highs, no lows, it must be BOSE

Opinions are just that ... one person's opinion. Also the main point seems to be staging and imaging. There are plenty of additional aspects to audio beyond those. Actually those are the two most overlooked items! What about detail? Can you hear the Dave Matthews plucking guitar strings? Can you feel the impact of a good bass drum? What about tamber? Do the cymbols actually sound like they should? Do voices sound like they should?

JConn2299

One of may favorite RX-7 stories of all time concerns the Bose system.

When I was shopping to buy my car I test drove a Touring model at a dealership in eastern Massachusetts. The salesman who was riding along told me a woman, who was a violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, came in and bought a 93 RX-7, sight unseen, just to get the stereo. She didn't care about the car, she just wanted the Bose system. At the time, it was one of the most advanced, factory installed systems you could buy in a car. I often wondered what happened to her and her car?

Kraziken

For a stock system, I thought it was real nice.

With the space problems in an RX-7, I just don't see how you can improve the sound, and power, without sacrificing trunk space.

I mean, I liked being able to go to the grocery store and buy at least $80 worth of groceries.

jeff48

If your idea of a good system is one which makes your ears bleed, Bose systems are seriously lacking. This is true in automotive, radio, stereo and home theatre settings. Personally I prefer nuance to nusiance. My auto and home theatre units both carry the Bose badge.

BTW Spyfish, you are right about opinion----Yours included. Pay your money and take your choice.

In my opinion (which is equally questionable) If you can't hear Dave Matthews (or John Petrucchi's or Julian Bream's) guitar work distinctly on a stock Bose, or feel the drum, or clearly identify whether the cymbal is a zildjen high hat or york sizzler... you have probably already blown out your sense of feel and hearing by standing to close to the Klipsch's at last week's rock concert.

The bottom line (and one that is objective in its analysis of subjective reporting) is that by every measure, except pure volume and heart stopping bass, the Bose systems are always among the highest rated audiophile systems in the world.

DavidDeco

I wouldn't dispute the quality of Bose in general.
Bose makes excellent products.

I just thought the Acoustic Wave system in the FD sucked. Maybe there was something wrong with mine but i cdealt with it for years and was far happier when I replaced it with a Circuit City system (and I don't consider CC high end ).

I had also had a '79 280zx in college which is very similar to the RX-7 in terms of space and seating/hatch arrangement. I had 2 Alpine 6 x 9's in the rear compartment boxes , a $110 amp, 2 front speakers (Infinity?) and an Pioneer deck, NO subwoofer, and that system sounded infinitely better than my stock FD with the Bose did . I don't think it's unreasanble to expect great sound out of an FD without killing trunk space.

grampa

The Bose is OK where good reproduction is a waste in the high background noise of a moving car (even with stock exhaust).

I would not consider it audiophile grade. Mark Levinson/Krell/Martin-Logan it is not.

Buy
Other
Stereo
Equipment

Wemmick

Does anyone know what the theory is behind the acoustic wave tube? Is it supposed to aplify or channel the sound or something? I can't imagine how it would do either considering how bass sound waves usually just go through objects in their way, especially ones that are thinner than their own wavelength. It just seems like a gimmick... does anyone know?

grampa

It's just a variation of a tuned length waveguide. Common in things audio frequency up to radio frequency.

A search yields:
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...threadid=93244

Scroll down to the reply by "rotarygod".

- grampa
Intended to be an acoustics engineer but the math was formidable. I wish computers where common then...

SterlingFD

It might have a been a decent system 10 years ago....

redhat778

I work at circuit city as an installer. I have in my 93 R1 an alpine cva1003 flip out mobile video screen, 6 disc mp3 changer and ps2 in the passenger cubbie bin, and xm satelite radio tuner for the 1003 under the passengers seat, i have also an infinity basslink and infinity 6.25 component set for up front and i custom built a panel to do a set of 5.25 components in the back. I myself hate factory amplified systems. this is probebly because they are just a pain in the *** and for the most part sound like dick. I just have become addicted to sound. awesome sound. anyway the rx7 is one of the easier systems to pull or bypass the amps.

Flybye

Once I installed an aftermarket headunit, that all changed

The BIGGEST change was the headunit. I gotta admit, before then, it DID sound like the system had a head cold.

matwey

I fried my right door speaker one night, started dumping out smoke! Also made that horrible screeching noise whenever power was on. Just got in a used center amp and a right amp. Guess we'll see what happens. Gonna install this weekend. Not sure what happened, guess it was just age.

spooledUP7

I think it's worth a pretty high cool factor. You can almost bet money that someone is going to yawn when first exposed to a new "typical" cargo box and plexiglass, but when they see the snake.... they light up like a stop light... Huh? Wow... and suddenly worries of ***** size rush in.

DavidDeco

Or they might say "what's all this ****? Your stereo ain't all that" like I heard countless times or its equivalent.

grinn253

haha same thing happened to my BOSE drivers speaker amp! sucks...so i bought a used one from online somewhere and they sent me a bammer one as well. However this bammer one doesnt make the high pitch noise all the time...this one sort of needs time to 'warm' up then starts working properly.
oh well, just contributing about the BOSE system, i think it sounds good too (when working)
Laters!
Edgardo

jagjack

Pop in a good jazz cd and the bose doesn't sound too bad.
Listen to the latest r&b or rap or
whatever the hell it's called and
all you need is to appriciate those
(artists?) are a subwoofer or even
better, a portable boom box.

spyfish007

I've used Boston Acoustic speakers with McIntosh amps at one point and JL amps at another point and that alone eats the BOSE system for lunch. When I have a sub in the system it really rocks and is on a completely different level.

grampa

Where you pleased with the McIntosh amps? I regret selling my older A/D/S amps.

MaxRX7

BOSE is ok for stock, but I'll rather a quality aftermarket system.

I had it in a Maxima and now a G35, not bad overall though.