Bose Speakers - Chinese made

[back2thefuture]

There has been a lot of talk on various Audi forums regarding the average SQ in the A7, especially with the Bose. I previously had a Jaguar XF-S with Meridian surround system and it blows the Bose out of the water in every way.
In addition the speakers in the A7 are all made in China, which is farcical for a German car.

My question is, is it possible to replace all the speakers in the car with higher quality variants? What about amps etc?

I have seen people just replacing the sub, how about going a step further and replacing all the speakers?

[janthony6]

The Bose amp is the weakest link. I wonder if you can buy the B&O amp from Audi directly?

[back2thefuture]

I think its a travesty that we are having to fix Audi's bodge on the sound system!

[subterFUSE]

I replaced everything except the MMI.

[back2thefuture]

I replaced everything except the MMI.

Do you have a high res version of that jpeg please? Also is that applicable to the A7?

[kage65]

Does this alter any of the warranties?

[RAF_S7]

Does this alter any of the warranties?

Yes it does, it basically invalidates your MMI warranty.

I replaced the Bose subwoofer with an external sub/amp combination, using the Bose sub wires as a line input for my JL mini-sub. (About as plug and play as you can get, and a significant improvement over stock)

My S7 was in the dealers for an interim maintenance yesterday and l had asked them to check an issue where, when listening to the system my volume controls basically stopped working intermittently - could turn the volume down but not up, and had to turn off MMI to reset. It's been happening since way before the sub was changed.

Anyway, bottom line they used VCDS (or their Audi equivalent) to check for any fault codes, and came back to me saying non-standard speaker system connected to the MMI, and refused to diagnose the fault.

So, all you guys spending big bucks on swapping out your woofers and whatnot, better be prepared to return it to stock when you go for a service/scan/MMI issue or risk invalidating some element of your MMI warranty.

Of course, this may not happen to everyone or with every dealer. But to quote an often used ECU tuning expression - if your going to play, be prepared to pay. TD1 (MMI) seems to be alive and kicking.....

[SlickMachine]

I bought my car knowing what Bose is: Asian rebranded junk, so I can't complain too much as I didn't want to spend extra on B&O having driven several different Audis with B&O sound and left slightly to mostly unimpressed depending on model of car. Everything else about the car that is positive outweighs the garbage sound system for me though. I've always hated Bose. They over-market their products to push consumers past the fact that the sound actually sucks. Seems like whenever I go to someone's house for the first time and I see those stupid cubes mounted in the corners, it is a safe bet that the big 'demonstration' is forthcoming and is likely a repeat of the same demonstration that person received in the mall at the Bose store where he was trick-fcuked into buying them. I just shake my head. I had a GMC Sierra a few years back with Bose sound as well....also complete garbage. I miss my MB Quart mids and highs and Precision Power amps from my earlier days. Everything after that from OEM has been a huge letdown. Rant over.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[subterFUSE]

Yes it does, it basically invalidates your MMI warranty.

I replaced the Bose subwoofer with an external sub/amp combination, using the Bose sub wires as a line input for my JL mini-sub. (About as plug and play as you can get, and a significant improvement over stock)

My S7 was in the dealers for an interim maintenance yesterday and l had asked them to check an issue where, when listening to the system my volume controls basically stopped working intermittently - could turn the volume down but not up, and had to turn off MMI to reset. It's been happening since way before the sub was changed.

Anyway, bottom line they used VCDS (or their Audi equivalent) to check for any fault codes, and came back to me saying non-standard speaker system connected to the MMI, and refused to diagnose the fault.

So, all you guys spending big bucks on swapping out your woofers and whatnot, better be prepared to return it to stock when you go for a service/scan/MMI issue or risk invalidating some element of your MMI warranty.

Of course, this may not happen to everyone or with every dealer. But to quote an often used ECU tuning expression - if your going to play, be prepared to pay. TD1 (MMI) seems to be alive and kicking.....

Well in my case I can simply plug the MOST cable back into the Bose amplifier and there are no faults. I have confirmed on VCDS.
The mObridge actually comes with a quick deactivation switch for servicing. Flip the switch off, then unplug the MOST harness and clip it into the Bose amp. All set.
Takes 5 seconds. When finished, just reverse the process. Couldn't be more simple.

I did not have to disconnect or cut any of the factory wires for my install.

It also helps to have a good dealership, with a service advisor who know you and your car. I watched this happen first hand with my previous BMW with an aftermarket stereo.
If I got my regular service advisor, Richard.... he always took care of me. One time Richard was not available and I asked to have an issue checked and the new advisor said "Not covered under warranty due to stereo."
I simply called Richard on his cell phone, he talked to the other advisor and suddenly everything was fine.

I think the #1 most important factor is WHO you are dealing with.


It also helps that I'm in the USA, where we have better laws protecting consumers when it comes to companies invalidating a factory warranty due to non OEM parts, unless the modded part can be directly attributed to the failure.

[subterFUSE]

Do you have a high res version of that jpeg please? Also is that applicable to the A7?

Yes, the mObridge DA1 also works on the A7 with Bose or B&O systems.



Better pic below.


System Map - 2015 Finals.jpg

[SunDevil]

Even the B&O in the Audi R8 wasn't that great.

I have the Bose system. It's okay for my needs.