[buttons129]

Hi all
After a long wait since last September, my S finally arrived last week (Ammonite, Privacy glass, 22 black alloys and Black pack for those interested).

Love the car and the drive, but something that has really disappointed me is the sound quality of the Meridian 825w upgrade. Having come from an Audi A5 Cab with the B&O upgrade, I was expecting something at least as good. Wife and I have owned 4 Audi models with the B&O and they have all sounded fantastic. Admittedly a different system, but for the money the Meridian cost… it's not doing it for me!

Where the B&O system always had me cracking up the volume, the Meridian sounds flat and uninvolving, with the `surround sound' feeling like it's all coming from the front centre of the car. I've tried all the settings (very limited) and checked for sound coming from all speakers (the rear door speakers in particular sound pretty cheap!) but I can't seem to get that big surround sound that I enjoyed with the B&O.

Has anyone got the same and feels a little let down?

 

[AshleyR]

I hear what you're saying 'buttons129' - I'm a big fan of Bose and B&O premium systems, had these in previous cars. I've cranked up the Treble 25%, the Base 15% and the Sub Woofer 60%. Moved the 'centre stage' a little towards the rear seats and selected the 'Meridian' option. 'Burmester' (Mercedes S class) it is certainly not, but I personally think it is up there with the aforementioned!

 

[buttons129]

Mine seems to be the opposite. Even with all settings at the standard it's a bit treblie (if that's a word?) and bass and sub at normal settings Just doesn't have that clarity you would excpect. Iv also had great Hifi (a fan of Arcam) and meridian was always superior to that

 

[SonicPace]

+1 the 825w is *not* as good as my 2012 Evoque. Not even close.

At low volume with the bass up things are 'boomy'. I also swear there are ranges are bass it can't handle.

it's ok at full volume, but poor elsewhere. I must admit I'm dissapointed.

 

[luminated]

What you are hearing with the Meridian system has a natural sound... not one artificially enhances as you get with the B&O and Bose, another thing the Meridian needs run in and based on my RRS with the same setup than means about 40-50 hrs play.

Many years ago a owned a luxury car audio shop dealing in Kef, Polk, Volt etc though we also dipped into the home gear from time to time, in my opinion the Meridian is one of the most natural sounding systems out there, it takes time to retune your ears to this but once you have the next time you hear a B&O in an Audi you'll realise what I mean.

 

[buttons129]

Luminated, I know what you mean about the natural sound, something I always liked about my home Arcam kit. One of the negatives of easily accessible music services like Spotify etc is the 'digitally enhanced' sound you end up getting. Think I will pack a few good CD's in the car that I used to listen to at home and hopefully it will grow on me. Maybe we should start a thread? Tunes for the 825! Lol

 

[JLRnumber5]

+1 the 825w is *not* as good as my 2012 Evoque. Not even close.

At low volume with the bass up things are 'boomy'. I also swear there are ranges are bass it can't handle.

it's ok at full volume, but poor elsewhere. I must admit I'm dissapointed.

Oh dear. I love the 825w in my 2012 Evoque. I heard the 380w in the demo FP I drove and thought "oooo that's not up to much" and hence ticked the box.

Now thinking I might be disappointed.

 

[luminated]

Luminated, I know what you mean about the natural sound, something I always liked about my home Arcam kit. One of the negatives of easily accessible music services like Spotify etc is the 'digitally enhanced' sound you end up getting. Think I will pack a few good CD's in the car that I used to listen to at home and hopefully it will grow on me. Maybe we should start a thread? Tunes for the 825! Lol

The biggest problem with a quality sound system is it highlights poor quality source material. Bare minimum is iTunes quality.

 

[Mbadger77]

The 2 mins I got with the 380w I thought it was poor. I opted for the 825W and hope it's better and has more depth.

I have the upgraded Bowers Wilkins in my nearly 5 year old XF and I don't think much of that either to be honest. When going 3 Ch it does seem to be centre heavy and I often find myself switching from 3ch

Was hoping a few years down the line that the Meridian may be better, I hope so.

 

[luminated]

When you close your eyes and listen the vocals should be either straight in front of you or ever so slightly to your left if sitting on the right seat, if you feel these are about your head rather than in front moved the balance forward. Regardless of the brand of sound system used you shouldn't adjust the tonal settings much away from the neutral position because you introduce distortikn.

 

[YVR_Pacer]

Luminated, I know what you mean about the natural sound, something I always liked about my home Arcam kit. One of the negatives of easily accessible music services like Spotify etc is the 'digitally enhanced' sound you end up getting. Think I will pack a few good CD's in the car that I used to listen to at home and hopefully it will grow on me. Maybe we should start a thread? Tunes for the 825! Lol

I second said thread! Also any tunes that show off the speaker isolation/surround sound well. And where to find bloody uncompress audio files these days. Since you can't just buy a CD anymore, how do we get some good lossless audio files for audiophiles?

 

[luminated]

Luminated, I know what you mean about the natural sound, something I always liked about my home Arcam kit. One of the negatives of easily accessible music services like Spotify etc is the 'digitally enhanced' sound you end up getting. Think I will pack a few good CD's in the car that I used to listen to at home and hopefully it will grow on me. Maybe we should start a thread? Tunes for the 825! Lol

I second said thread! Also any tunes that show off the speaker isolation/surround sound well. And where to find bloody uncompress audio files these days. Since you can't just buy a CD anymore, how do we get some good lossless audio files for audiophiles?

Ideally you would want Apple's ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) files but not sure if iTunes offers these yet, but I find even the regular iTunes format works fine in my RRS with its meridian system.

That said I have a super high quality reference cd from my car audio days which really shows this system true potential, shame such disc are so expensive and offer limited variety.

 

[SonicPace]

Aha, I just noticed my Spotify was set to 'normal' rather than 'extreme' quality - I'll try it out tomorrow and see if it makes a difference..

 

[YVR_Pacer]

Guys please don't judge an audio system via streamed media.... seriously. Unless you are listening with a CD in, there is no way you can accurately assess how it sounds.

 

[ChrisPace]

Tidal is one of the few streaming media sources that will give you "CD" quality playback (you need to select 'hi-rez' option. Sat radio, and many other streaming services use lossy, compressed files that sound like music being played inside a culvert. It's dumbed-down crap, to fit the bandwidth or memory constraints of the hardware. Not all CD's or 'Redbook' quality (16 bit 44 or 48 Khz sample rate) are created equal. Find good recordings, and judge sound quality based on those.

That said, my current upgraded Meridian in my 2013 XF is not good. My wife's upgraded Harman Kardon system in her 2016 Subaru Outback sounds better. I came from a 2010 Prem Luxury XF with B&W system, and on a scale of 1-10, I'd give that one an 8. It was quite good. The 2013 Meridian system I'd give no better than a 4 or 5. I am hopeful that the 825W system in the F-Pace will be much better than my XF. I also took out a new XF, and it didn't sound good either- but I don't recall if that was the upgraded system in that one. If a base system, I still say it was weak for a car in this price range.

The upgraded Bose in the Q7 was actually pretty decent as well, when I took it out. Meridian is a great company, and I've owned quite a bit of their high-end home audio gear, so I know the company is quite capable. Fingers crossed that the 825W system is a worthy contender to the 2010 XF/B&W system I had.

 

[Shaunyt]

There is a lot of debate on here about the 825w system im with the Pros on this ive had an early Meridian in my last car (Freelander HSE LUX) which was very good. It had a lot more adjustment settings than th new Meridian, but not the sound processing of the new system. I think people who are playing low quality compressed audio files from Iphones or Androids or Mp3 players will not get the desired artificial sound they were probably used to. Ive played a few good quality CDs through the system and they sound pretty good. The other thing to bear in mind is the three processing settings ie the Meridian, the Dolby or the DTS only bring up extra settings when you highlight them when they detect a correctly encoded track, they wont do much for a bog standard 512mb/s itune track.

I personally have a bose system at home and THX certified Yamaha amplifier and the Bose is an artificially enhanced system using its own derivative sound processing systems, and is no match for an amplifier with a certified sound processing system. I also agree the speakers in the car are a little like the engine and definitely need running in before the best will be herd from them, as some people commenting on here have mentioned that at high volume they sound great, which they will as the higher driving power over comes the initial stiffness of the speakers.

In summary guys and girls give your system some decent quality audio to play and give it some time to loosen up.

 

[SonicPace]

I'm just comparing it to streaming in my 2012 Evoque.

I'm curious if they are still using the identical speakers etc or have they lowered the quality over the years...

 

[Guest]

Hello

you need to use a lossless codec for your usb mem stick

Flac .. Wav or wma lossless .... it depends what the F Pace can handle, all my old BMW cars will handle full wav and wma lossless files

you then need the correct ripper (this is my expert area of knowledge) all us audiophile geeks use the program below (please see link)

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/cd-ripper.htm

this is a accurate ripper from the CD ... I have all my Cd collection ripped with the program securely, and WAV files can be tagged with this program with album art .. I have done it.

Or you can wma lossless which is bit perfect to the orginal, I make amplifiers for a living so I know ! Then for home you can use JRiver audio for playback

again link .... https://www.jriver.com/

forget MP3 its compressed. and depending on what level it has been compressed to will always sound crap !!

regards

 

[pb1695]

As has been said by others, the Bose and B&O systems add a layer of processing to "enhance" the sound - this is not making the sound the same as it was intended by the artist / recording studio!

There are a few things to consider - music is ideally played in Stereo - surround sound is for movies. If you go to a concert or listen to a band live, they dont sing in surround!

The input source will influence the output source - a dedicated storage device is a start rather than using a phone. Using a physical connection rather than bluetooth will alos help. Hi Res adio - Tidal is good, there are also several download sites.

Once a decent source is set up, a good 30 - 50 hours of playback is required for the (new) speakers to be run in. The brittleness that is often heard initially will reduce as the speaker cones loosen up.

In terms of setting, I have no adjustment to Bass or treble, or any other enhancements - the subwoofer I have increased to about 75%. I prefer the Meridian setting, although I find some tracks sound better in good old fashioned unadulterated stereo. I stay away from Dolby Pro and Neo DTS.

Clearly, music and sound are a personal thing, I note however that many have come to the Jaguar from Audi's with B&O systems - it may well be that as you have been driving an Audi, your senses have been dulled from the lifeless steering and dull suspension - once you come to understand the nuances of steering and suspension that work in harmony, you will also learn to appreciate clarity, subtlety and authentic dynamics.

You will also find that after a thousand or so miles, you can enhance your music with the cacaphony of creaks from the rear suspension - but that is a whole other issue!

 

[SonicPace]

I might leave the engine running and the stereo on for 8 hours a day, just to get the speakers bed in :lol: