When I bought my 06 Cobalt three years ago the salesman was raving about how great the 7 speaker pioneer mp3 audio system was. But as someone who in the past has always put in quality aftermarket systems I didn't take this too seriously. I thought to myself, I'll probably end up changing the whole system anyway. But after I bought the car and actually listened to the system I was impressed. No it wasn't as great as an expensive aftermarket system, however for a factory system in an affordable North American car is was pretty dam good. For the record I ended up replacing the factory deck with a Pioneer D3 Navi unit but still have the factory amp and speakers.

At the same time I was looking at the Cobalt, I was also checking out the Mazda 3 which came with an available Bose audio system. I decided to go with the Cobalt because it was a little cheaper and was a bit bigger than the Mazda 3. Never got a chance to hear how the Bose system sounded. Well recently I have had the opportunity to listen to the Bose system in a 2007 Cadillac CTS which a co-worker of mine recently bought used. The system is completely factory with no aftermarket add-on. Man! I was blown away! This system sound so powerful and clear it could give allot of aftermarket systems a run for their money. Not to mention the Bass it put out. A 450 Watt amp and 10 speakers provides amazing surround sound. Now I know the Cady is about 30 more G's then the Cobalt is, but there is definitely a big big difference from one factory system to another.

So basically I am interested to know in anyone's experience, how does the factory Cobalt's Pioneer system compare with other good factory systems.

 

lol your comparing the caddy bose to the cobalt? any luxery car will have a bomb ass stereo regardless of brand. the chrysler 300 boston system is pretty sweet (not quite caddy status but still)

 

IMO I have listened to a lot of factory systems and it doesn’t matter what name they put on the radio or speaker grill they don’t sound great... some sound good/better than others like the Blows uh, I mean Bose. I've pulled out speakers from a SL 500, Civic and Cady all three look identical when you set them together.

If you took that money that you spent on the factory audio and put it towards some real audio you'd have a damn good set up.

 

I will agree with you on the caddy.They do sound bad ass.My mom has an 07 CTS and its by far the best sounding factory stereo ive ever heard

 

i agree... the 2k or whatever u would spend would make a badass aftermarket system but you have to admit they don't sound bad. **** i was pretty impressed with the pioneer system when i first got my car

 

What about the 650 watt Rockford Fosgate in the eclipse. Anyone listen to that one?

 

in the eclipse? no i heard it in the new evo tho and i was pretty impressed by the bass output from that tiny little 10" RF sub in the back i also heard the new CTS or STS i forgot which one but i listened 2 the bose sound system in the cts or sts w/e and it was pretty amazing also bass was pretty strong and loud for factory same thing with my friends 03 G35 but the bose sound system in my dads 08 escalade blows...same thing with his 02 escalade bose sound system they had NO low end bass wut so ever! but everything else is pretty damn clear but the thing that pisses me off is the shitty subs they have they cant hit lows for **** same thing with the harman/kardon speakers in those buick's no lows at all but the GTO and G8 sound system is impressive also bass isnt loud on the G8 but it does get pretty damn low for some 6x9's

 

The Bose speakers in my old mazda 6 were pretty good, I actually like the pioneer system in my cobalt more though.

The worse part about the bose system was how hard it was to drop in aftermarket stuff..

Oh and the bose system's use bose's crappiest speakers and then they eq the hell out of them... If you would raise the volume above a certain level the overall clarity would drop, and the sub would lose 1/4 of it's power.

 

Hmmm...

My dad's 7-Series sounds good for stock lol

 

I am not comparing the Caddy's system to the Cobalts, obviously I know that you get what you pay for. I was just saying how surprised I was at how good it sounded for a factory system. I was more so interested in other factory systems that people think are good.

Have you ever heard the Mark Levinson system which comes in the Lexus LS models? That is by far the best system I have ever heard, factory or not. But again, we are talking about a car which is $80,000 and up.

Well I have to disagree with you there big time. Take a listen to Mark Levinson system in the new Lexus LS 460 or 600 and tell me how bad they sound.... And you don't spend money on a factory system, it comes with the car. You spend money on the car. And as far as spending money on an aftermarket system goes, yes you can get a really amazing system, but to what extent. Try putting a 19 speakers surround sound system in the Cobalt and you will be drilling holes all over and probably still run out of space. That is the convenience of a good high end factory system, everything is put into place from scratch as the car is being built.

 

lol i think you need to hear a few more high end aftermarket systems. while i will never have 19 speakers i will eventually have surround sound (11-12 speakers) and i can pretty much bet it will sound better then said lexus system. I could be wrong it might sound awesome but factory speakers always have compromises. if your compromise someone else somewhere wont and will make something better then you

lol thats what built the bose name. their speaker quality has always sucked but eq+ a badass enclosure takes you pretty far. Imagine what they could do with some good speakers

 

You have to compare apples to apples here, and simple brand comparisons don't always cut it. The Bose system in my dad's 05' Altima 3.5SE is fairly nice, but it's certainly not as good as the one you described from the Caddy. The system doesn't have the bottom end or range of the Pioneer system in my SS/TC.

 

Sorry Guys.. Bose is overrated, frig even the system in my dad's 7 series with like 16+ speakers and 2 subs or w/e is still overrated. My $500 CDN, system sounds 10X better. Using a JVC deck, JBL speakers, inifinti sub, stock tweeters, phoenix gold amp lol...

I'm waiting for, the Cobalt to be built to find out how that is... when I went for the test drive I was to concered with this odd wooshing sound followed by massive acceleration :P To listen to the radio lol

I'm hoping.. really really hoping it's similar to what's in my civic..

 

lol when are u getting ur new TC?

 

I love the way the Cobalt sounds. Haven't even thought about changing it in the 2 years ive owned the car.

 

Placed order Feb 4 I think?

Target Build Week is April 6th , Got Bumped from April 26th

 

I have heard many different sound systems in almost every GM car (bro was a salesman for a bit at a Chevy store) and some of the Bose systems actually suck *****. The DTS is rather bad, but the CTS and Escalade are good.

My dad has an 06 Pontiac Torrent and the stock Pioneer system in that thing is really good. Much more bass to it than our cars. I would never go fiddling around with my Pioneer system in my Cobalt cause its perfectly adequate. It's not overpoweringly bass-riden like the kids with their subz in their sick civics, but its nicely balanced. I do wish it was a bit more bass-y on some songs, but overall it is better than pretty much every other offering by every other car in the same class.

 

i had a cobalt ss with pioneer and i have a trailblazer that used to have bose till i took it out. the pioneer is way better louder and just as clear. bose are crap without there amplifiers. i added a rockford p5002 amp and 2 p2 12 inch to the pioneer and it was crazy. in my trailblazer the subs were in the front door. all factor audio is crap and don't buy factory nav you will be lucky to read cdrs for they price car manufactures charge for better audio equipment you would be better off going to a car audio shop. i like the pioneer better tough

 

I wouldn't say that all factory audio is crap. Try listening to the Mark Levinson system in the Lexus LS models, or the Harmon Kardon Logic 7 systems in the Mercedes S class and tell me if that is crap. You would have to spend a hell of allot of money on aftermarket stuff to match that type of quality sound. Not to mention you'd never have that type of clean install look. For the price of the cobalt, I think that the Pioneer system is pretty good.

 

Bose is overpriced for what is basically great enclosure engineering (Sorry... but their speakers are on par with Visonik)

 

FACTORY EQUIPMENT = paper cone........suxs *****!

 

lol i would talk **** but nah. generally yes when it comes to door speakers.

actually i was just thinking there are several high end door speakers with paper cone.

 

you know what i meant by paper cone , like the shitty GM cone from like a pickup truck, everytime i do door speakers i can see straight through the surround, im more comparing those shitty speakers to like a shitty sony setup, the sony speakers would sound better than the shitty GM ones. I think the worst speakers setup ive seen is from the newer KIAs and hyundai! those speakers get alittle WET and they are DONE! sounds like flaping paper in the wind!

 

lol ya i know

 

have an 08 eclipse gt, the fosgate system blows the pioneer away, but the radio is sooo shitty, you never know what channel your on or playing on xm....but with a 6 disc cd changer who needs serious.