Oldsmobile Aurora's Bose System

Just as the Aurora doesn't represent business as usual for Oldsmobile, this car's premium audio system outperforms what we've come to expect from many factory stereos. Building on a longstanding relationship, GM once again turned to Bose to create a worthy upgrade system, this time for the Aurora. For the commendably low total of $1131 you can get the upgrade, complete with a 12-disc trunk-mounted changer, plus Bose amps and speakers.

Bose strived to create what it calls a "natural panorama of sound" in the Aurora. Due to tight cost constraints set by General Motors, the Olds doesn't enjoy the luxury of A-pillar tweeters or great thumping subwoofers in the back deck. Instead, the Bose system consists of seven speakers: One 6.5-inch woofer and one tweeter are mounted low and forward in each front door, the rear doors have one 3.5-inch midrange driver each, and a 6.5-inch woofer resides in an Acoustimass enclosure built into the rear deck.

As is standard practice for Bose, most of the drivers are individually amplified. A total of six amplifiers are mounted in the rear package tray. Each of the linear amplifiers incorporates active and dynamic equalization along with compression circuitry. The built-in compression circuitry ensures that no matter what chimp gets hold of the volume control, no rampant distortion or system damage will occur.

Given the low placement of the two tweeters, the Aurora doesn't present a conventional sound stage. It's easy to localize on the mids and highs, and both front-seat riders will want to shift the balance slightly away from their prominent-sounding near-side speakers. Leg placement also can become a factor by masking those drivers. Interestingly, the base-level Delco system features a high-mounted tweeter in each front door near the handle. Bose chose to leave these locations vacant (although the molded-in grilles are still there), deciding that localization problems were too great with this positioning.

Out back, the Acoustimass module (the only other vehicles to use it are the Mercedes-Benz SL roadsters) busies itself with the brunt of the low-frequency work. Its sound production falls off on the really deep bass, but it does a decent job with the midbass material. It gets some help from 6.5-inch drivers in the front doors. The system is arranged so that all of the bass stays put among the three big drivers, regardless of how you set the fader.

From a livability standpoint the simple Delco head unit is easy to like. Its oversize format is graced with gloriously large knobs for volume and tuning. Even bass/treble and balance/fade have their own devoted knobs, so you can fiddle effectively without taking your eyes from the road. If you're really lazy, you can take advantage of the satellite controls that bracket the airbag in the steering wheel; they not only work the radio and tape but the 12-disc CD changer as well.

Overall system performance in the Aurora is very good when judged with the modest cost in mind. Colored somewhat with strong mids and a dearth of ultradeep bass, some critical listeners will wish for flatter response. But there's plenty of power for most tastes, and the clean reproduction is easy to listen to. - Jeff Karr