Bose Premium vs Base Audio

There was some discussion elsewhere in the forum about this. People are a little disappointed with the rear speaker volume on the Bose.

I have the Bose and it isn’t as good as other premium audios I’ve had in other vehicles - looking at your VW Fender and the Volvo HK.

Stealthboost said:

There was some discussion elsewhere in the forum about this. People are a little disappointed with the rear speaker volume on the Bose.

I have the Bose and it isn’t as good as other premium audios I’ve had in other vehicles - looking at your VW Fender and the Volvo HK.

Click to expand...

I probably should have searched the topic. I didn’t want to offer an opinion until at least one other person replied, but I think the Bose system is good… on a scale of 1-10 I couldn’t pick a number. Compared to a Lexus (NOT Mark Levinson, but base) several notches down. I owned a platinum rogue, and it’s a little under that one too.

What strikes me funny though, is going from the Limted to the SEL, I think the standard stereo sounds pretty darn good. Maybe only a couple clicks down from the Bose… IMO definitely lower-tier, but not by too much.

I had a Highlander with base audio, and it was garbage. Hyundai (and Kia) are wise to be sure their sound is at minimum “acceptable or better”.

I haven’t listened to anything other than my Bose system, but comparing the tweeters from the Bose to the standard tweeter in physical size and weight, the Bose feels like a speaker unlike the plastic tiny speaker in the standard tweeter housing. I purchased standard tweeter assemblies to use the housings for a tweeter upgrade which was not successful.

Turbofan said:

I haven’t listened to anything other than my Bose system, but comparing the tweeters from the Bose to the standard tweeter in physical size and weight, the Bose feels like a speaker unlike the plastic tiny speaker in the standard tweeter housing. I purchased standard tweeter assemblies to use the housings for a tweeter upgrade which was not successful.

Click to expand...

How were you able to compare? Funny I was thinking about this all day, wondering how different the actual speaker drivers are between the two systems.

I think the Ultimate (or Limited, in the states) has considerably more sound damping (dynamat or similar)… My Limited is a bit quieter than the SEL-C. I’m gonna dynamat the SEL later this summer… I might also upgrade the speakers at that time, but… I may also chalk it up to “good enough”. I went through a bunch of settings today and I’m a bit surprised how similar I have it to the Bose. I’ve actually pondered the idea that they could almost be the very same speakers, which is why I wondered if you’ve actually seen them on a site somewhere(?)

Tucsoff said:

Does anyone own two Tucsons, or have you compared the premium Bose to the standard audio package?

I realize audio quality is subjective, but I’m wondering if we have a few critical listeners in here.

IMO the best responses would be from anyone who owns both, because that (potentially) takes away confirmation bias.

I’m jumping between two cars, and IMO the standard audio is surprisingly good. The Bose is better, more detail… but by how much? I’m still deciding.

Click to expand...

I have both the bose in my limited and standard in my wifes SEL. Unfortunately I only have one ear and I am 69 years old hearing is not up to standards but I have compared bose to other radios in the past and like the others better. The only Boss speaker I ever liked was the 901's second edition.

Tucsoff said:

How were you able to compare? Funny I was thinking about this all day, wondering how different the actual speaker drivers are between the two systems.

I think the Ultimate (or Limited, in the states) has considerably more sound damping (dynamat or similar)… My Limited is a bit quieter than the SEL-C. I’m gonna dynamat the SEL later this summer… I might also upgrade the speakers at that time, but… I may also chalk it up to “good enough”. I went through a bunch of settings today and I’m a bit surprised how similar I have it to the Bose. I’ve actually pondered the idea that they could almost be the very same speakers, which is why I wondered if you’ve actually seen them on a site somewhere(?)

Click to expand...

I purchased the standard NX4 tweeter assemblies from AliExpress which shipped from Singapore and compared them to the Bose and even though the Bose look cheap, these standard Tucson speakers look much cheaper than the Bose.
All Bose speakers are labeled “Bose” so they are not the same as the speakers in the non Bose Tucsons.

Test drove a standard radio car, bought the Bose. I wouldn't spend extra money to get the Bose alone. Leaving the rear seats down helps the bass, and the Bose does sound pretty good, but it doesn't blow me away.

The one thing that really disappoints me with the Bose that I never tested on the standard audio is the rear seats. We put audio books on the rear speakers for our daughter often, but when you move the slider to the rear speakers the sound drops off so much you can't even hear them. It's so weird, like the rear speakers barely work and sound absolutely awful. If you're only listening in the front seats you don't notice, but from the back seats they're really really bad.

Yeah I noticed this when pushing the fader back just to find the best balance of surround.

Something else I didn’t think about with the rollers on the base system… “knobs, rollers, who cares?”

Well, if you accidentally have something on your finger…pizza sauce, hand lotion, etc… a roller makes it possible to get that substance INSIDE of the radio! 😂

As for fidelity, I’m glad I can happily live with the base audio.

Yikes, hadn't considered that. I usually just use the steering wheel controls because they're easier than the roller, but I'll have to warn my family not to roll pizza into my radio now haha

phalkon30 said:

Yikes, hadn't considered that. I usually just use the steering wheel controls because they're easier than the roller, but I'll have to warn my family not to roll pizza into my radio now haha

Click to expand...

Agree, on the wheel. I don’t expect to use rollers THAT much, but after having the 10.25 and this one, overall I actually prefer this one. The roller is directly responsive, if you roll it fast each “click” counts.

The other thing about the 10.25 infotainment is you need to turn off the park assist, or else it activates at stop-lights. I also find the front-end protection to be heavy-handed. Hyundai needs a software update IMO.

I have base audio system. I play high quality music from IPHONE and it still good except your ear is too good.

My SEL has the Bose Premium Audio. Though I heard the base one in a different Tucson it was far too short do a comparison.

My opinion is first, not as good as some other systems that come in some cars. HOWEVER ----- At higher volumes it comes alive. Highs are good, bass decent for many who don't want ear banging bass. Using the equalizer, you can get the mid range set to help accentuate voice quite well.

In addition I like putting the sound location setting a little to the rear on the graph, it makes it more "surround" sounding. In many cars all that does is put more sound to the rear or front but with the Bose it does more.

I have the Bose and if you are in the front seats, the sound is decent. A little disappointing for a "premium" sound system but not bad. However, where it completely fails is for passengers in the rear seats where the speakers are so badly tuned (or cheap) that they sound like they are coming out of a 1 watt $3 speaker. It's so bad that my kids force me to turn them off so what I have had to permanently do is fade the sound only to the front speakers. I cannot believe Hyundai was okay with this for their top of the line sound system in this vehicle.

At first I thought mine were broken but I was able to check another one and it's identical. So Disappointed there. Of course I missed this in the test drive because I was in the front seat. :-(

Ron_Sea said:

At first I thought mine were broken but I was able to check another one and it's identical. So Disappointed there. Of course I missed this in the test drive because I was in the front seat. :-(

Click to expand...

Would you have not bought the Tucson because the rear speakers volume seem weak though?

Tampa8 said:

Would you have not bought the Tucson because the rear speakers volume seem weak though?

Click to expand...

Honestly that's a great question. I probably would have but it still bothers me because you assume when you get the top trim, you get the best sound system too. It's the only real disappointment I have with the vehicle to date and since I am always in the front, it is easier to ignore. On the test drive, I spent more time with the volume low so I could listen to noise levels, wind levels, etc. Next time I will be sure to sit in the back to test the sound system. While that in itself is not likely to stop me from purchasing, it could be if other things I don't like are discovered during the test.

If it wasn't a lease, I'd simply fix the back speakers. Will have to live with it for a few more years. Could be worse I suppose.

Ron_Sea said:

If it wasn't a lease, I'd simply fix the back speakers. Will have to live with it for a few more years. Could be worse I suppose.

Click to expand...

That does make it a little more frustrating.

Hi All. I am new to this forum. I picked up a '22 Tucson SEL Premium today 6/16/22. I am coming from a '20 Sonata SEL with Convenience package and it had the base stereo system. When I first go into the Tucson the music sounded very low so imagine my surprise when I wen to turn up the volume and it was already up to 26. In my Sonata I had the base system and that was loud on level 10. I haven't had time to dig into the setting but I know everything is on centered settings. I wish they had used Harmon Kardon system instead of Bose. I've been in many vehicles with Harmon Kardon and they sound amazing. I just knew I was going to get a much better sounding system from the base system in the Sonata.

SmiLeoGeo1013 said:

Hi All. I am new to this forum. I picked up a '22 Tucson SEL Premium today 6/16/22. I am coming from a '20 Sonata SEL with Convenience package and it had the base stereo system. When I first go into the Tucson the music sounded very low so imagine my surprise when I wen to turn up the volume and it was already up to 26. In my Sonata I had the base system and that was loud on level 10. I haven't had time to dig into the setting but I know everything is on centered settings. I wish they had used Harmon Kardon system instead of Bose. I've been in many vehicles with Harmon Kardon and they sound amazing. I just knew I was going to get a much better sounding system from the base system in the Sonata.

Click to expand...

That isn't the complaint others have certainly not in my Tucson. If the volume is too low in the front all the way up either you have a setting doing that or you have a faulty system. I could never drive around and have the volume up that high. The complaint is the rear door speakers being too low. Not the whole system.

Tucsoff said:

Does anyone own two Tucsons, or have you compared the premium Bose to the standard audio package?

I realize audio quality is subjective, but I’m wondering if we have a few critical listeners in here.

IMO the best responses would be from anyone who owns both, because that (potentially) takes away confirmation bias.

I’m jumping between two cars, and IMO the standard audio is surprisingly good. The Bose is better, more detail… but by how much? I’m still deciding.

Click to expand...

well to be honest in my opinion, bose audio while it is cheaper for car companies to use instead of let's say Alpine or other high-end systems, in the past 3 vehicles, I have owned came with bose high-end systems due to the vehicle trim lvl. that being said no matter who says what I have found with in a 12 month period the overall volume level of bose diminishes over time (as in my last ride the offer basically stopped pumping after 9 months) I ended up adding my own aftermarket amp and subwoofer. mind you. my audio is always set to 2 bars before max volume. so in my opinion get the basic audio, this way you can add your own must better upgraded audio as you want.