Well... I just got my 2002 silver/silver premium, cold, bose. I have 700 or so miles on it and I have been using the "recommended settings" for the hidden EQ. I tend to think of myself as one of those audiophiles, and if I would have not bought some serious stereo stuff for my last few cars, I could have bought an S4 with that money. Anyway, I was disappointed with the sound and told myself I'd spend some time this weekend wit hmy Audiosource 1/3 octave analyzer and find out what the deal is.

Results:

At 55555555, and all tone controls centered, the response is not all that bad for a stock radio. In general, when you tune a car you do not look for a flat curve (it sounds like hell), you look for a SMOOTH curve that is elevated at the lowest frequencies, and slowly slopes down from there. There are problems at 55555555 though. The bass is set up for a stationary car, and there is a mid bass rise at 160hz that could be an anomally of the mic's relationship to the seat etc. but I heard a lot of bid bass crud, so I tend to think it exists. The mid range is slightly elevated, but the treble is actually pretty good.

So through some experimentation, I got a pretty smooth IASCA type curve out of the EQ with the tone controls set a 0. The settings are 82358235. This is just the begining, as I ran out of time and had to stop.

Some final thoughts:
-The midrange control in hinged at 1-2k and narrow, bad design.

-Haven't looked at the effect of different eq settings for front and rear.

-So-far sounds great on a lot of music.

REMEMBER THIS JUST SETS THE FIELD LEVEL TO ADD WHATEVER BASS, MID, TREBLE YOU WANT.

BOTTOM LINE-- I'LL LET YOU KNOW NEXT WEEK...

82358235--try it hold down 5 and turn the radio on. Volume changes the # up or down, P-Scan changes to next number.