Sound system underwhelming

[SpikySimonW]

Prefacing with this being my first ever 2-seat roadster, I find the sound very much coming from in front of the driver/passenger, despite the presence of a smaller speaker behind each seat and presumably a sub rear-centre.

Search through various threads it’s suggested this might be a software issue - my car showing R31 - had this been definitively confirmed, ie. can others confirm a night and day improvement once updated to a later version?

To my ear, very little is coming from the rear (and perhaps nothing from the sub). I rarely would bother to fiddle with a cars F/R nor L/R balance, and on this one there appears little such granular control, though the whole thing sounds as though it’s been slammed towards a front bias - more like it’s coming from the windscreen (or rather just under it) as opposed to sitting “in” it.

Looking back, I’ve had a selection of premium sound systems in previous and other current vehicles and which I’ve seemingly taken for granted and thought nothing of them. Along comes the Cyberster - and for the first time I’m finding myself in indulgent situations where I actually want to turn up the volume - yet I’m thoroughly underwhelmed, sadly… despite the Bose branding.

Opinions welcomed, thanks.

 

[Jackolino]

The name Bose seems to be just a label and no longer reflects what it used to mean.

I installed software version R31 and am reasonably satisfied with it – nothing special, but not bad either.

 

[Zebster]

The sound system is terrible; sub-woofer barely produces any output when listening to DAB stations, resulting in the system sounding as hollow and tinny as a modern flat screen TV! I've experimented with the tone settings and I've also taken the car to the dealer for them to investigate, but they used a bass-heavy media file which unsurprisingly produced enough sub-woofer output for them to declare there was no fault. I can see I've got the R31 software version, but the dealer tech didn't know what that meant nor whether there was an update available... told me to ask again at the first service.

We also have a Kia EV6 and the sound system on that is often criticised for the lack of bass response (nevertheless I reckon it's far better than the Cyberster). Recently a YouTube clip did suggest that the EV6 sub-woofer is wired in reverse and so provides detailed instruction on how to access and swap the relevant connections coming off the amp... many owners have since done this and EV6 forums have many happy reports of subsequent improvement (I even saw one complaint that it led to too much bass!). I've not tried this myself, but I am now wondering if I should try this on the Cyberster?

 

[skyynet]

Someone from the German Cyberster forum had his car upgraded with a DSP amp. I compared it to my Cyberster and his sound was way better. Here's a German video of it.