B7 Bose system upgrades?

[rhfosu]

I recently picked up a 2008 a4 with symphony 2+ and bose. I was excited to get a car that had bose, until I listened to it. I drove this car 800 miles from Alabama to DC, and it was torture listening to this system. For reference, I am not a super-picky audiophile. I was very happy with the stock system in my mk5 GTI. That system blows this bose system out of the water. The sound is muddy, there are no highs, and no lows. I can't believe how bad it is. It is so bad, I honestly wonder if there is some problem with my system...like maybe ALL the tweeters are broken. But the mids that come out of the drivers in the door are also flat and ambiguous. The bass is anemic, and appears in some songs in unequal measure. It is mind mindbogglingly terrible.

I am planning on getting a new head unit, and I wonder if that will sort some of this out. I am curious what any of you have done (on the cheap) to brighten up this system. I'm not going to keep this car long enough to justify gutting and replacing the entire system, but any suggestion that improves it would be GREATLY appreciated.

[loki1080]

I had the same issue in my b7 with bose... installed an after market head unit... same issue. Installed new front door speakers, same issue. I'm just going to accept that the sound from this car is shit unless I gut and replace everything.

[rhfosu]

I had the same issue in my b7 with bose... installed an after market head unit... same issue. Installed new front door speakers, same issue. I'm just going to accept that the sound from this car is shit unless I gut and replace everything.

I don't get it. How did Audi green light this shit system?

[torrque]

Funny stuff; my B7 A4 2007 sounds great, and it's no Bose... It's the one with a center sub in the parcel shelf.

Edit: actually, this is the only thing it was ok in this car, everything else needed work. There cars are POS.

[rhfosu]

I've been in cars with the standard system. It is light-years better.

[Charles.waite]

The bose in my b6 was definitely better than the Non-Bose in my b7.

Only way to fix it is rip out the bose garbage. Given that you have bose you already have the wiring in place (lucky you). Just need a new amp in the rear and new door speakers. The headunit already sends line-level signal for all speakers to the rear amp when its coded to Bose so that makes the swap relatively easy.

Lots of people are fans of the Polk DB6502 series component sets for the doors.

[DC242]

I've got a 2008 with Symphony 2+ and Bose system, and I've got to say mine doesn't sound that bad at all. It's actually decent enough that when I get in friends' newer Toyota's and Kia's, their sound systems make me cringe. Conversely, my friends are quite impressed with the almost 10 year old factory stereo system in my car.

[rhfosu]

I've got a 2008 with Symphony 2+ and Bose system, and I've got to say mine doesn't sound that bad at all. It's actually decent enough that when I get in friends' newer Toyota's and Kia's, their sound systems make me cringe. Conversely, my friends are quite impressed with the almost 10 year old factory stereo system in my car.

I don't know what's wrong with mine, but it sounds objectively terrible.