2020--->2023 Stereo

[Rob Mugs]

Edit: Going from 2020 Bose to 2023 Bose

 

Curious if anyone has gone from a 19/20 to "refresh" and can speak about the sound quality differences.  Less bass/more?  Is it any clearer?  I see some people saying the Bose is garbage but is there a significant change between the non-refresh and the refresh?  While not a "great" sound in my 2020, it suffices my needs

 

Bass is pretty easy to "fix" but if there's a ton of distortion etc, that starts getting pricy..... adding amps, speakers, etc etc

 

Thanks!

Edited May 12, 2023 by Rob Mugs

[2016 Sierra Owner]

21 hours ago, Rob Mugs said:

Curious if anyone has gone from a 19/20 to "refresh" and can speak about the sound quality differences.  Less bass/more?  Is it any clearer?  I see some people saying the Bose is garbage but is there a significant change between the non-refresh and the refresh?  While not a "great" sound in my 2020, it suffices my needs

 

Bass is pretty easy to "fix" but if there's a ton of distortion etc, that starts getting pricy..... adding amps, speakers, etc etc

 

Thanks!

I seriously doubt they changed anything with the speakers other than upgraded the infotainment software/hardware. You won't see the kind of change you're talking about till the next major change if then.

 

[mrfarb]

Well, I had a 21 RST with Bose, got a 23 LT Trail Boss with non-Bose, its a huge disappointment with that downgrade. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by mrfarb

[newdude]

I've driven plenty of 19-22 at work and I myself own a 2022 refresh LT non-Bose.

 

The non-Bose refresh LT has better sound than the 19-22 non Bose LT by a good margin IMO.  19-22 non-Bose has a garbage base range to it.  I don't like full on thumping bass, but you set it to +12 and its like listening to a 14-18 non-Bose with default bass settings.  

Edited May 8, 2023 by newdude

[eppieguy]

My 2023 Sierra Denali Ultimate Bose system is night and day better than my 2019 High Country, I see a speaker in the windshield pillars and upper rear doors and center channel all of which I didn't have on my 19 HC and it's sounds much better to me.

[David Sherill]

Went from 21 AT4 to 23 AT4 both with Bose and neither sound great but the 21 was definitely better.  Will probably add Kicker sub in the future.

[Rob Mugs]

On 5/9/2023 at 7:53 AM, David Sherill said:

Went from 21 AT4 to 23 AT4 both with Bose and neither sound great but the 21 was definitely better.  Will probably add Kicker sub in the future.

Interesting...... they're both the "refresh", right?  Is it just less bass on the 23?  I pick mine up Monday

[omegafiler]

23 Silverado HC bose stereo was one of the least impressive systems I've ever heard... from any vehicle. It was somehow even worse than the 2020 Sierra Denali. Just very flat, under powered, no base, etc.

 

Now the upgraded Bose in the Denali Ultimate is on a whole different level. Much fuller sound, nice sound stage, and actually has descent base and treble. Although at this price point, it's basically mandatory. Then again, the Denali and HC aren't exactly cheap trucks either. They deserve better.

[redwngr]

Interesting how some say the refresh is much better and some say it is much worse.

 

I've gone from '21 to '23 - both Denali. (not Denali Ultimate, which has a 12 speaker Bose vs the 7 speaker Bose in 'regular' denali

I've only run a 100 miles or so in the new one, but first impressions were that it was better. Not 'night and day' different, but improved.

So far just listening to my usual FM 'classic rock' station, and a little bit of SiriusXM.

Perhaps it is just the eq settings?  Maybe just placebo effect?

Haven't bothered to investigate settings too much yet. 

 

UQA    Bose Sound System, premium 7-speaker system with Richbass woofer 

UQS    Bose Premium Series with 12-speaker system with CenterPoint, Richbass woofer and AudioPilot

 

[omegafiler]

Audio source is a good point. Compressed and relatively lower quality source like FM or SiriusXM aren't going to sound great regardless of the stereo. In fact, they tend to sound worse on higher end systems. You might have one that gets a bit more base with some basic EQ adjustment and be perfectly happy with it. Even though it may or may not be the "lesser" system.

 

I stream with Google Play Music at the highest quality setting. Although whenever I do get a vehicle with a good stereo, I'll usually jump over to Tidal or something similar. If you can't tell the difference, the stereo is either not good enough, you just don't have an ear for it.

[MrMagloo]

Fwiw, it was much easier to judge the sound quality with these factory systems when they included CD players where you could run a solid known reference quality CD.  Now, it's much harder to figure out what the real capabilities are.  Although I haven't had the truck long enough to get to the audio, I've found so far that running the highest quality Spotify that is saved to my phone makes a noticeable improvement. 

 

Also, I pulled a number of albums and playlists that I had ripped from CD to 320kpbs which sounds pretty good as well.  I find that fading 2 notches to the back, and bumping the treble a couple of notches makes the system sound fairly decent.  If I find that the system can handle lossless like FLAC, I'll do another round of rips.

 

I had pretty good luck with my Vette replacing the Bose speakers with JL C2-******  series speakers, and will probably try that too, once I get some of the other more important mods done.

Edited June 5, 2023 by MrMagloo

[Okievision]

2019 SLT w Bose sounded much richer than our new 2023 AT4 w Bose

Until I added the GM Kicker subwoofer part #19417164