[djhafertepe]

I've had my Nissan Kicks for three days now and have a question for other owners of the SR with the Premium Package (Bose Personal Audio). Or perhaps, another member has test driven a car with this package can answer this question?

The speakers mounted in the headrest do not project music towards the front of the car. So, as I sit in the driver's seat, all adjustments to the Personal Plus settings (wide to narrow) are not readily audible to my ears. Of course, you can feel the sound dynamics change from the other six speakers, but the two in the headrest seem to shape the sound to the rear of the car.

To test this, I sat in the back seat of my Kicks with the stereo operating. I pressed my ear to the Bose speaker on the back of the headrest and reached to the dashboard to change the Bose Personal Plus audio settings (it's not that far). I moved the setting from left to right (narrow to wide) and back. With my ear pressed to the headrest speaker, I could hear the volume increase, but it sounded "tinny" and did not respond to the volume change as much as the other six speakers.

So, my question is: Is this headrest speaker performing as designed? Is it not supposed to wrap sound around the driver's ears in the immediate area? Or is it supposed to project audio forward and into the driver's ears (akin to wearing headphones, but the can about five inches off the actual ears)?

Here's what I think ... if I could shut down the other six speakers mounted in the doors/dash, and could just listen to the headrest speakers, then the sound would be no better than a transistor radio tuned to an FM station 20 miles away. I'm guessing Bose engineers use the headrest mounted speakers in concert with (pardon the pun) the other six speakers to adapt the whole sound either around the driver's ears or the ears in the rest of the cars.

Any thoughts or ideas?

DanH

 

[Justforkicks]

All of the marketing around the UltraNearfield headset speakers seem to suggest 360 degrees of sound, but that might be a bit difficult to deliver on. To me it would make more sense for these speakers to project sounds forwards in the cabin rather than backwards. Even this video indicates front facing priority.

 

[djhafertepe]

Thanks for your response and research. I think Nissan's marketing might have graphically suggested the headrest speakers project sound directly into the ears of the driver when the design is to shape the headrest sound to the wide or narrow setting in concert with the other six speakers. I have opened a query to Bose customer support to determine if that is so. I also intend to visit a dealership and ask them if I can sit in an SR with the premium package and test their headrest speakers. Last resort is to drop the car off at my dealer to troubleshoot. Thanks again for your research and response.

 

[Handyandy]

The Bose system works for me , first thing I noticed when driving it was how much the music is right there just in front of your head.
Gives me the sense the speakers are in the dash.
Love it so far.

 

[djhafertepe]

I went to another dealer to sit in an SR with the Premium Package. I wanted to listen to the Bose headrest speakers. After explaining the dynamics in my first post above (not much sound from the headrest speakers), a floor salesman said that the headrest speakers are not supposed to be as amplified as the remaining six speakers in the car. He has an Infiniti with similar Bose sound system. "They are there to cancel noise from other sources." He said if I sat in the SR on their lot that I would hear the same level of sound as what I am experiencing in the SR I purchased.

Please note that I am not unhappy with the sound in my car. I just want to make sure the headrest speakers are installed properly. Plus Nissan and Bose marketing material suggest those headrest speakers are louder than what I've experienced.

My customer support request with Bose is still in play. I am looking forward to an explanation from their car audio engineers.

 

[Handyandy]

Now you say that you might be onto something, did notice yesterday as wife was driving car me sat in passenger seat that it was noisy bit more road noise, before I had always been in drivers seat.
So maybe it's a noise cancelling system.
Lets hope Bose give a reply soon.

 

[djhafertepe]

Bose has not responded yet, but I did go to the dealer and sit in another SR with the Bose system. Same as mine. I'm certain that the Bose headrest speakers are installed as designed. Just note that these speakers project to the rear of the vehicle and do not project sound into the driver's ears. They are not like headphones. These headrest speakers are designed to shape sound with the other six speakers in the car.

 

[ontherun]

I wish brands like sennheiser would make car audio because already they're well known for quality audio products, Bose too, but there's no doubt competition means better products overall for us.

 

[sado1287]

Does anyone ALSO have the Rockford Fosgate Audio package in addition to the Bose? Is it worth it to purchase/have installed? is it just additional speakers or is it a woofer?

 

[thekingofspain]

I mostly listen to talk radio, but when testing the Bose speakers, about 50% of the songs sounded incredible and the 50% sounded average. I could not pin point what the difference between average and incredible was, but I suspect it was how the music was recorded/produced. My testing including various sources, fm stations, streaming, mp3s of same bit rate, etc. For each source the 50/50 incredible/average ratio was consistent. The songs really did not matter, some songs I did not like sounded incredible, some songs i really like sounded average.

 

[Just1Jack]

Has anyone tried to install a sub-woofer in the kicks?? I'm trying to locate somewhere where I can tap in the front L and R speakers.

 

[jegc70]

I just got an SR with Bose. It took me a week to understand it. First thing I did, (which I found later it was a mistake), was set the personal sound to the maximum (wide). I found the sound in general disappointing as the stereo doesn't have equilizer or balance controls and it sounded too "flat"for me. I didnt understand why a "premium sound" was so bad. I decided to experience combining a source of audio with more control on the sound to feed the car sound system. I used my phone to play music with the app poweramp to have equilizer and balance controls. The sound was much, much better. I would say great, but there was still something flat in my spectrum when sitting in the driver seat. I investigated now the headrest speakers. I found the headrest bose speakers were the source of the "flat sound". Their purpose is not to cancel noise or give you more bass around you. Thise small speakers make mid range sound more noticeable close to your ears to give you a "wide" sound, but remember, they are "mid range" (In old school home speakers you had 3 types, the tiny one tweeters for crisp sound, the big ones for bass and the middle one for mid sounds) unfortunately, too much of mids create a "flat" sound around you. The solution I found was to decrease the personal sound not to be "wide", I just applied one or two points after the middle. No more than that and use my phone as a source of improved sound. Unfortunately, the app poweramp doesn't work with other apps and Pandora interacts directly with the car stereo and the sound can't be improved.

The use of head speakers is a simple concept, no need if Bose technology for this (additional $1,000!!!). This concept gets mid sounds closer to you. For example, some songs with some background keyboards or rythm guitars, you may notice them now with the personal sound on, as most modern speakers only deliver Highs and lows. But it is not necessary to have bose or pioneer to do it. It's not rocket science.
Now, I was expecting to have the Bose logo on the front or side speakers but they are not. Are the other six speakers Bose? Can anyone at Nissan confirm? Please?
I get a rattling noise from the door speakers and I find they don't support much low sound. I had a 2010 Sentra SR an it supported very low sound with no rattling.
I got good technology for a good price, but I believe I will sell it in three years for a real premium sound in the stereo and not only on the speakers.