VF SV6 Bose speaker upgrade

[OldBomb]

Sound systems are subjective IMHO. A lot of people in the US get rid of their factory Bose speakers, which sound just fine. I have bog standard Chinese ones in the Mazda & they actually sound better than the aftermarket speakers I used to run in the Berlina (kenwoods & clarion, I think they were). A lot depends on the actual head unit & (speaker) drivers. The more bass, the better (perceptively) they'll sound. It's why you go for 2 way in the doors, 3 way at the rear & a big ass sub that never gets past 4 (unless you're an idiot).
Anyway, preserve your ears.

 

[RevNev]

I'm also someone who's not into car audio

Years ago, a mate of mine asked where's the stereo in my HQ Monaro, just had the stock radio and speaker in the dash. I told him the stereo was under the rear bumper with chrome tips on it!

After about 14 exhaust re-works, no stereo sounded better than this!

It was a 308 with HM Headers, tri-y with long secondaries, twin 2" with Lukey 1681's and no H-pipe and sounded like a 350 Chev. The 350's had a different note with more thump than a 308 and by pure luck, I cracked the combo that a gave a 308 the Chevy like thump!

 

[Forg]

Up to a point of accuracy & clarity, I don't think it's entirely accurate to say the systems are subjective, as much as to say different people have different tolerance-levels for distortion.
That is, the standard system's pretty awful & it's not just a personal taste thing.
But if you were to replace just the standard speakers in a non-BOSE VF with, say, some Klipsch or Polk or MB-Quart speakers with an appropriate power-handling capability, I doubt anyone would argue that the result didn't sound better than standard.

If it were me, I'd do exactly what I just said ... if it was simple enough to add a sub later.
However I suspect it won't be, and the effort or cost involved in getting Stuff installed means it probably isn't worth pulling everything apart twice.

Years ago, a mate of mine asked where's the stereo in my HQ Monaro, just had the stock radio and speaker in the dash. I told him the stereo was under the rear bumper with chrome tips on it!

After about 14 exhaust re-works, no stereo sounded better than this!

And let's face it, putting anything fancy into something as old as an HQ isn't something you'd ever appreciate, even if you were a car-sound enthusiast, unless you were stopped.

 

[lmoengnr]

The speakers can only reproduce what they're fed from the source.
The MyLink tuner section is pretty average, but I love the media player when fed with WMA lossless files.
Similar on the VE2 IQ, the tuner section is below average, FM reception drops out just past the end of the tram tracks...
CD output is very good, you can load 6 CD's into the headunit, or you can rip a number of CD's to internal storage (if you wish to waste a few weeks of your life). Feed the media player high bit rate MP3's, it sounds above average as well.

 

[MaxCommie689]

But if you were to replace just the standard speakers in a non-BOSE VF with, say, some Klipsch or Polk or MB-Quart speakers with an appropriate power-handling capability, I doubt anyone would argue that the result didn't sound better than standard.

I agree. In my experience, a carefully selected set of aftermarket speakers + sound deadening can usually improve the perceived sound quality quite a bit. It will never match a full blown audio upgrade, but it will be better overall - especially if you don't wan't to spend serious amounts of money. I haven't tried that on my Calais yet since I was told that it is a pain in the backside to mess around the Bose system.

 

[Forg]

Similar on the VE2 IQ, the tuner section is below average, FM reception drops out just past the end of the tram tracks...
CD output is very good, you can load 6 CD's into the headunit

Wait, wait … you don’t mean the VF for this do you?
The VF unit’s not a 6-disc stacker is it?!

 

[lmoengnr]

Wait, wait … you don’t mean the VF for this do you?
The VF unit’s not a 6-disc stacker is it?!

No.. I think the VF1 MyLink had a single optical drive, VF2 MyLink deleted that.
I was referring to the VE2 IQ.

 

[panhead]

Years ago, a mate of mine asked where's the stereo in my HQ Monaro, just had the stock radio and speaker in the dash. I told him the stereo was under the rear bumper with chrome tips on it!

After about 14 exhaust re-works, no stereo sounded better than this!

It was a 308 with HM Headers, tri-y with long secondaries, twin 2" with Lukey 1681's and no H-pipe and sounded like a 350 Chev. The 350's had a different note with more thump than a 308 and by pure luck, I cracked the combo that a gave a 308 the Chevy like thump!

I have to agree with you.

I am into audio but in the home where I can listen to it without exhaust and road noise.

I did a setup for my HZ in the 90's and I was happy with it and thought it looked cool but I never really used it, I then bought all the gear for one of my Toranas, 4 Amps and a shitload of cables, plugs, speakers, a cd changer for the boot, a capacitor and stuff including an extra battery which all sat in their boxes in the shed for five years and by then they had started to date.

I looked at the Torana one day and looked over at all the audio gear for it and thought to myself, a car with a cage doesn't need audio, so I gave it to my nephew who put it in his Centura.





.

 

[Jeda]

Use sound deadener in the doors, boot floor and under the parcel tray. This wil dampen vibrations and clean up the sound significantly.

The butyl with aluminium backing stuff like dynamat is best. But don't pay for the brand. Buy some 2-3mm no name Chinese stuff from ebay or Amazon and it's just as good. Amazon have their own branded sound deadener and it's relatively cheap when compared to dynamat.

https://www.amazon.com.au/AmazonBasics-Sound-Deadener-25-5-10-Piece/dp/B07XMF2V77

If you're going to upgrade your speakers and keep your factory head unit, make sure you run the same ohms rating as your stock speakers.

Can't remember exactly as its been a while since i did mine, but the factory speakers in the doors might be 2 ohm units, where after market stuff for cars is usually 4 ohm.

 

[Skylarking]

I‘d like a better unit in my VF, one that offers more stuff (digital radio. ACP & AA, better audio processing, local storage, etc) than Mylink offers. But I don’t want to loose any of the existing integrated Mylink functionality. AIUI such a beast doesn’t exist (maybe some cheap built android box but not a well supported top tier product).

So given the the highly integrated nature of the infotainment systems in todays modern cars, are full audio system upgrades even a thing these days? Or are they added as a second non integrated accessory? Are we stuck with simple dynamite Dynamat and speaker upgrades?

PS: don’t much listen to music in the car but I’d like a bit more quality in the sound for the few cases I do like to have a listen (previous car was dumb so had an exi Nakamichi sound system in it and was far better than what the Mylink Bose system pumps out).