JamesN

I have a '17 Cayenne S and am looking for something a bit smaller. I see a '23 Macan S highly optioned with PASM, adaptive cruise, 18 way seats but the standard stereo! I've had the Bose in my last 2 cayennes. Is there a big sound difference? I'm no perfectionist audiophile but do like a good sounding stereo. Is it easy and practical to upgrade aftermarket?

Thansk

Jim

chassis

Yes Bose.

Not easy or practical to upgrade.

WillinEvergreen

The front tweeters and center speaker, along with the rear door tweeters, are easy to access. Not sure if the connections themselves match the Bose or Burmester fittings. Then there is the amp and sub. You're getting into a lot of work here. I'd hold out for the Bose.

Zeus993

I've had them all - base, BOSE, Burmester.
And... sorry, no BOSE (Buy Other Stereo Entertainment) for me. I have always been less than impressed with the quality of sound. (thus the acronym).

In my Carrera T, I ordered the basic and liked it.

My Macan GTS - I lucked out with the Burmester but even with that, with all the road and engine noise its tough to appreciate. It's great but it's one of those down the list options.

For me? Air Suspension, nice 21" wheels, a great colour, leather...

If the 2023 has the options you like, I say go for it!

WillinEvergreen

Someone will surely say it but I'll beat 'em to it: Go actually drive a Bose and a non-Bose back-to-back. See if you can tell the difference. There you go.

DR_DFW

Macan GTS and road and engine noise???
Unless you drive it at 5k RPM around the town, the car is extremely quiet and comfortable daily and very minimal road noise.

rasetsu

I've driven a base loaner without Bose. Compared to my Bose equipped GTS, the sound was extremely weak and hollow to me. And I'm not saying Bose is excellent either. But of course perception of sound quality is subjective.

Snowytrail

The 18 way seats and Air-PASM were much higher up the list for me, and the price you are paying! PASM and ACC are standard and, as mentioned above, you can upgrade some of the speakers w/o too much trouble.

Zeus993

Yes, I'm mainly using it as a DD around town.

JCtx

The Bose on the Macans is WAY better than I expected. On the sports cars, it's absolute crap by comparison. I wouldn't buy one without Bose, but that's just me. Plus if you want to do any modifications, you also need at least Bose, for the amp, and connections. And finally, resale would suffer without it IMO too. That's the reason I also got Bose on the Cayman, but on that car is barely acceptable. And that car is noisy; the Macan is a vault by comparison, but I do drive in sport mode, with exhaust valve open all the time, so a little noisier than it could be. Ha ha.

DR_DFW

And what kind of roads you have on your daily commute??
Again, I find the GTS (2023) to be way too quiet below 4500 rpm (rarely ever in DD environment) and almost no tire noise with the Michelin PSS.

DR_DFW

Agreed!
After many years of BMW HK "premium" sound, the Bose system sounds excellent.
Then I get to my wife's Acura MDX with premium sound and realize...it is not superb, but definitely beats M3's HK junk.