I've been considering the whole sport + touring vs. sport base. I am also an audiophile and for this reason I think I have decided against the touring just because of the Bose stereo. My plan is to get a 2010 sport model and then get some Cover King leather seats covers (I love the ones in my Xterra) and then go aftermarket for the whole stereo. I figure I'll save a lot of money vs. getting the touring and still having to upgrade the speakers/amps.

Get a copy of Azzido da Bass' "Doom's Night" -- any random mp3 is probably fine, as long as it's coded 160kit/s or better. (320k if you care.) Listen to it elsewhere. Then pop it in your Bose drawer, or put your CF card in if you use nav, etc.

See?

The tune is only moderately bass-heavy. But what the BOSE system is doing is flattopping all the lower notes. As hatchet jobs go ... this is a pretty gruesome spectacle.

Your audio controls allow you to "boost" the bass. but they don't give you back that whole bottom octave. Instead of do-re-mi, it's do-do-do-do...

Incidentally, on "specs", good luck finding Bose puttting out comparative data like Klipsch, Paradigm, etc...

When I said (in another thread) my PC speakers were better, I was referring to Logitech Z-680s. That's the forerunner to the current Z-5500s (about the same).

But after listening to my Bose system in Pearlie for a while, I'll go further and say the Harman/kardon built-ins in my Toshiba Qosmio LAPTOP are probably just as good as the car Bose thing... and it's incredibly easier to hook the laptop up to ext speakers, too.

I'm not sure what you mean by flattopping - are you refering to clipping or roll off? If you are trying to tell me your built in laptop speakers are better than the 8 speaker system in the car that is actaully driven by amps I'm not sure why we are having this conversation.... clarity maybe but if you want more than 20dB of audio out....

Here in Kalifornia, that's illegal and will get you a ticket...

It's just a matter of time before you'll get a ticket for farting in Kalifornia. Methane contributes to global warming, after all. ;)

I thought earbuds while driving is illegal in every states?

It definitely ought to be if it isn't.

cows are producing quite a bit...lol...stop eating beef......

even though i just bought a BBQ....ha

You laugh, but the EPA has just proposed taxing farmers $175.00 per cow do to the fact that the EPA believes cow farts contribute to global warming.

Next thing you know we will need a fart czar.

Hmm ... laptop with 4 speakers plus an actual, separate subwoofer? The Qosmio line was designed for gamers. If I need personal +loudness+ I put on a set of Sennheiser 'phones without bothering neighbors. But here on the Jersey shore, where everyone thinks they're supposed to like (or be like) the Boss, I'd rather have accurate than Pontiac blow-it-out-yer-paper-cones NOISE.

As to the comments about driving with ear buds, etc. -- well, I don't do that. But most of the time driving I don't even listen to the radio, because it's (b)anal and because I'd rather hear traffic around me. There are parked times, when one really wants to hear music, and the Bose shortcomings are just too much in the way of it to make for an enjoyable experience.