I’m on the market for an NC3 and I’m trying to decide between the BOSE system and the Nav system. From what I’ve read, the BOSE sound quality is not that great and they are more difficult to upgrade. Is that correct and if so, would it be much easier to upgrade the speakers and head unit if I get one of the later ones with a Nav head unit instead?
Sound quality is important to me, so I’d like to upgrade the speakers and head unit, then depending on the results, I might consider adding a small amp and an active sub.
The Bose system in my NC3 is good quality along with the speakers.
Having been in various cars with different systems and also been involved with music recording, the Bose system is good.
It will change when you have the roof and windows down, but that is to be expected with any audio system.
My 2014 NC3 (PRHT) is non-BOSE. I did upgrade the HU to a Pioneer Android Auto with the original speakers remaining. The sound quality is excellent - the cabin in so small the speakers are all practically on top of you anyway.
Definitely a better sound quality with a Bose set up.
I’ve fitted in the past an aftermarket head unit in an NC without Bose then I removed that and fitted it in a Bose equipped NC. The sound was much richer, definitely more base, I was surprised at the difference from the same head unit.
Factory Bose system sounds terrible. Bose is terrible.
The only Bose bit I have left is the amp. Pioneer head unit made a big improvement. Sound deadening the doors made a bigger improvement. Changing the door woofers for Focals made it a great system
I have the Bose setup in my MX5, with a bit of tonal tweaking it sounds good enough for me, once you get above 60mph, or roof down, it is irrelevant, background music only.
I have a Pioneer Android unit that I have still not fitted, I tend to get on with the 6 disc Bose setup as I just enjoy the car for what it is.
I can’t compare the Bose head unit with the amps and speakers etc together as the head unit had already been swapped out.
I compared the aftermarket HU (Pioneer and a JVC previously) fitted in a non Bose car then swapped to a Bose equipped car. The difference in sound was very noticeable.
Both me and my son have MK3’s. He had the standard audio while I had the Bose. Mine sounded better and louder but both of us were not content with the quality. My son changed the head unit for an Android Auto/Apple car play Pioneer. That made the sound clearer and louder. He later upgraded the speakers for Focal isu200’s and added sound deadening in the doors. This gave a marked improvement in overall audio quality and clarity - definitely worth doing and he is very pleased with it.
I have also upgraded the Bose system. I went the whole hog and changed everything. New Pioneer head unit, Audison AP8 mid bass speaker and AP 1P tweeters, an Audison DSP amplifier mounted where the Bose amp once was, new speaker wires, and a small Audison APBX 8 DS subwoofer in the boot. I have been tuning (crossover choices, equalisation and time alignment) the DSP amp myself and I am now very happy with the sound. You can’t just change the Bose speakers and connect them up to the Bose amp as the impedance is much lower than aftermarket speakers. You would end up with very little volume.
My headunit that I have not yet installed is a Pioneer / Focal setup, maybe I should install it after all even though I am happy enough with the old fashioned cd based Bose system at the moment.
It should sound better quality but you wouldn’t have a 7 speaker setup any more. You would need to ditch the Bose amp if changing to Focal speakers and run speaker wires from your headunit to the doors. I just have doors and small sub in the boot (so 5 speakers) and very happy with it. I can remove the sub easily if I need the space.
