997.1 Bose System - No Bass?
 

I have a 997.1 with the Bose surround sound system, and when the bass is turned all the way to +9, I still barely feel any bass... is this normal?

Would it be covered under warranty if there is a problem?

O yeah, there is a problem. I can feel my bass, and I have it set at -2. One time I made the comment, "geeze, someone has some subs around here," to a friend in the car with me. She was like, "umm... i think thats us," as she turned down my music. Yeah, It was us.

the subwoofer is behind the rear seatbacks (coupes), you can see it with the seats folded down. Not sure where it is on cabs.

i always thought the system was too base heavy, so your sub is probably out.

would be covered under factory warranty.

d

I have the stock Bose sub in the passenger footwell, I don't recall seeing subs behind the passenger seatbacks. Does it make a difference if the car's a cabrio?

Yes - yours is in the right place. Coupes are in the back.

Even when working properly, the system is lacking any QUALITY bass, but as others have posted, even set on -2 or -3 you should have some pretty dramatic, boomy bass. If you are lacking that, its more likely indicative of a problem with you amp or sub.

good seeing you on here, i'm in BFCot. how's the 997S treating you so far?

I thought your SN looked familiar :)

As the saying goes...no highs no lows must be Bose! Seriosuly Bose has the weirdist EQ curve I've ever seen. I took my RTA out of my PA system put in a pink noise CD and positioned the mic where my head would be. I ran the test with bass and treble flat and loudness off. Then I tried to adjust for a flat curve and to fix what I thought sounded odd. It was impossible with just bass and treble and loudness control. Also as you turn up the Bose system it compresses what little bass this system might produce. And when I say bass I'm talking about the punch in the 60-100hz frequency spectrum....this is where the punch of the bass drum is.

This was in my 2007 Carrera S. The curve in the low end had a bump at around 40hz but a dip from 60-100hz and this is where your systems punch comes from. Also the mid bass around 250 was weak.

I did not order Bose in my 2009 and I don't miss it. The Carrera and Bose are just not for great sound. Bose in my opinion is a complete over priced waste of money.

thanks for your input.. yeah i'm just not sure. i popped in some heavy-bass music and there was bass.. just not a lot. there was some thumps coming from the sub in the passenger footwell but it wasn't a lot compared to my z4 which has standard hi-fi non-carver speakers (keep in mind the bass was turned up to +9 in the porsche). i think my bose amp is dying... is this covered under warranty!?

If you're at +9, something is wrong. Yes it's under warranty, take it in.

I think I'm at -4 bass, but you can't really set the stereo up right, it's just not a good system.

Take it to the dealer...but good luck. Maybe go listen to another Carrera with Bose with the same CD to compare. Bose just does not have a lot of tight bass/thump. Bose is very loose bass and odd sounding to me.

I put a little system in my Mini....used the stock head unit but hooked up a Alpine processor, JL Audio digital amp and 10" sub and replaced the speakers in front with Hertz Audio speaker. Now this thing has some natural solid punchy bass, smooth mids and clear highs.

+1 !

There must be something wrong. My 997.1 with Bose had base like a 1980's GM car. I had to set it way down to get it at a reasonable level.

Bose has improved somewhat over the years with Porsche applications. Something must be wrong if you have no bass at all. Bose isn't really the best product in the world, they just have good marketing. If you're not under warranty and it's turns out to be something expensive, don't waste your money fixing it. Dump the whole system (head unit, amp, speakers etc) and start over. It will sound better, have more features, and be much more ergonomic.