+1 on this question.

 

I don't know what it does from a technical standpoint, so I'm the wrong person to ask about that. but I feel the music is more vibrant when you have Centerpoint ON.

But also, this is for my Mp3s that have decent quality. Steaming music, and FM radio don't seem to have too much effect with it in my opinion though. XM is in the middle.

Also, I only notice it if I have it cranked up loud

 

Usually "on" is subjectively better, but there's an adjustment period where you get used to it. Since there are no meaningful audio controls, that's pretty much what you need to mess with first.

Note that the audio "stage" is very dependent on where your head is. The speakers are definitely aiming at you.

 

I think it's much improved over my 2010. Never used it on that car, always use it on my new 3.

 

What exactly does it do?

 

Think it's some kind of surround sound processing. Read about it in the user manual but forgot what it said exactly...

 

Different strokes. I had it on for about a month and can't get used to the processed fake surround effect on my music, turned it off for good. :sad:

 

The owners manual says that Centerpoint only works with Cds, MP3s, and satellite radio.

 

I consider myself smonewhat of an audiophile but mostly in the home sector. For the bose system you are not going to get anywhere near an audiophile experience but thats not to say that the system is bad...just putting things in perspective. For my settings I use Counterpoint on with the rear fade to +3. I set the bass to +3 and the Highs to +4. The car has now mids unfortunately but Bose sucks at their mids anyways. Overall the system suffices for a car system. Hope this helps.

 

....waiting for rvoll to comment. :whistling 1:

 

To oversimplify it, Bose carves up a bit of the right channel and a bit of the left channel and routs it through the center channel. The theory is that if you are at home, you will be sitting BEHIND your speakers and your ears will be able to hear a bit of sound coming from the opposite speaker—as the musicians intended. But in a car you are less behind the speakers—especially with door speakers. In theory, centerpoint will put you in center stage.

HOWEVER, great musicians/bands work with the most talented musicians in the world to get the sound and stereo imaging to a very unique and specific level on each individual song. The Bose centerpoint uses the same algorithm to create the center channel every time. But even different songs on an album are engineered with significantly different amounts of stereo imaging. You will lose a significant amount of the integrity of the sound that the band worked so hard for you to hear AND the individuality of certain songs. For example, Whole Lotta Love by Zeppelin starts with that wicked guitar from the left channel. With centerpoint turned on, you would hear the guitar from the center as well.
Bottom line—it will vary from song to song.

I feel like it improves sound quality. After all the front dash speakers are 2.5 inch speakers and the center speaker is a 3 inch. So when centerpoint is turned on, you now have 3 speakers producing that midrange (which is where the vocals, guitar, and piano lives). I feel like the midrange is slightly less anemic and drowned out by that low end coming from the large door speakers when the centerpoint is turned on. So something like Adele would sound nicer and more forward/intimate with center point.

Again it will vary from song to song.

Ironically, The Bose “premium” system has very little use for centerpoint because those large door speakers only put out low end-which is less directional(you can’t tell where it is coming from). The midrange is coming from the right & left dash speakers—which are indeed infront of you!!

So my own advice is to play with it from song to song. Luckily it is easy to turn it on and off during a song!

After I got tired of playing with it, I kept it off. I adjusted the balance a click to the right and was done with it.

I hope this gives you a better idea of the centerpoint.

 

I generally agree with your assessment but not totally. The mids are actually very good if you balance the system properly. I did add a powered sub for the bass falll off that Bose puts into this system, but that was relatively cheap. I listen to mostly classical and jazz and find that the response is relatively flat. Before I added the sub, I also got fall-off on the highs. Many people compensate by pushing up bass and treble levels significantly, but that is a mistake as you will dull the mids. The woofers in the doors do put out some mid-range but their location is not good for sound staging those mids. The problem with Zeppelin and other early rock bands is that they were experimenting with electronic music and playing with left and right channels because all we had in those days was stereo and not surround sound. Orchestral, jazz, and pop and most other music play to center stage. Since I don't listen much to older rock, it certainly doesn't bother me.

Balancing the system is important. To get adequate sound staging of the mids you'll have to set the fader partly to the rear. That works really well on the hatch given the location of the rear speakers but I don't know how it works on sedans.

Sound staging is extremely important on this car. You hear separation mostly on the high frequencies and if your system is not balanced properly you'll lose some of the stereo effect. That was my problem before adding the sub. Even though the LOC manufacturers will tell you that they don't pull much from the line, putting in the LOC (and I used a high quality AudioControl LOC) will slightly reduce the output to the woofers and bring the soundstage higher so you hear more highs and thus more separation.

I'm particularly sensitive to clarity and flat response, and what I get now is almost as good as the $3,000 system I had in my last car. While the clarity was good prior to the sub addition, I was not happy with the sound staging, highs, and bass falloff. The AudioControl LOC has very good compensation for bass falloff which is why I chose it.

It cost me $200 and several hours of my time to upgrade this system, both for installation and balancing, but it's really great right now.

 

I prefer it with Centerpoint on. There are some songs that truly sound 'surround' and it's a really cool effect! I just can't decide on my sound settings though as far as fade, bass and treble go so I keep messing around with them

Anyone have their preferences for those settings?

 

I added a sub so it changed. But before the sub I put bass +1, treble +2, fader to rear +2. That reduces mids in front but increases them in the rear and gives a bit more separation. Before the sub, I was never able to get the high frequencies where they staged properly because tweeters need to be pointed directly at your head. After the sub that changed since it reduced the output of the door woofers and put more power into the dash speakers. Also after the sub the system volume needed to be higher. But sound is personal preference. I prefer a flat response throughout the range and without tweeters and a sub in our system, that's hard to achieve as Bose programs for bass falloff on the very low frequencies. Good luck and let us know what you decide.