Show Us Your Motors!
- Thread starter Lopéz
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I'm a big b&w fan. My house is kitted out with a couple b&w 5.1 systems, and have 2.0 b&w in both my garage and office, lol. I would also sacrifice infotainment interface for sound quality. So I am well jealous.
That said, the HK in my BMW is pretty decent, as was the B&O in my old A4, or the HK in both my Range Rovers considering they were both 16 years old now. Would love to hear the B&W though.
That said, the HK in my BMW is pretty decent, as was the B&O in my old A4, or the HK in both my Range Rovers considering they were both 16 years old now. Would love to hear the B&W though.
Soldato
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Am I the only one that's going to comment on the analogue clock on the XJ? ........Nice proper clock.
Obviously influenced by the mk3 Mondeo, that.
Jez. My Rangie has the HK system and my A8 had the Bose. Also had Mark Levinson in the Lexus.
The B&W system is significantly better than all of them to my ears but it might depend on what you listen to. The frequency response of the B&W system is very flat and accurate so if you listen to lots of dubstep it will probably feel a little light in the sub bass area. The Mark Levinson had awesome bass and the Bose was good there too. Sayin that though, I had Open Up by Leftfield on loud enough to not be able to have a conversation and the bass was always tight and controlled.
Where the B&W shines is in clarity and THD. You always know you are listening to a really good hifi when you can have it so loud that you can't hear your own voice but it doesn't 'feel' loud. People perceive distortion as volume. The B&W never feels loud even when it is.
Of the top end hifi I've had in cars I would rank them thus:
XJ B&W
A8 D3 Bose
Lexus GS Mark Levinson
Range Rover HK L7
BMW E65 HK L7
My music taste extends far and wide. Everything from Jazz to Dubstep, ambient to hard house, thrash metal to folk.
The B&W system is significantly better than all of them to my ears but it might depend on what you listen to. The frequency response of the B&W system is very flat and accurate so if you listen to lots of dubstep it will probably feel a little light in the sub bass area. The Mark Levinson had awesome bass and the Bose was good there too. Sayin that though, I had Open Up by Leftfield on loud enough to not be able to have a conversation and the bass was always tight and controlled.
Where the B&W shines is in clarity and THD. You always know you are listening to a really good hifi when you can have it so loud that you can't hear your own voice but it doesn't 'feel' loud. People perceive distortion as volume. The B&W never feels loud even when it is.
Of the top end hifi I've had in cars I would rank them thus:
XJ B&W
A8 D3 Bose
Lexus GS Mark Levinson
Range Rover HK L7
BMW E65 HK L7
My music taste extends far and wide. Everything from Jazz to Dubstep, ambient to hard house, thrash metal to folk.
(that shows the hifi geek in me - car doesn't need to be driven, I'll happily just sit in it for half an hour playing with the audio system All my cars have had crap audio quality (unsurprisingly) The Skoda is pretty terrible (worse even than the Polo). The Toyotas were worse still though! 
Best car audio I've heard is the Bose system in the old mans A6, but even that is quite bad. So would also be up for listening to the Jags speakers at a meet...
Best car audio I've heard is the Bose system in the old mans A6, but even that is quite bad. So would also be up for listening to the Jags speakers at a meet...
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I always thought the Bose in the Mazda was very good but then it was my first decent car audio system. The 12 speaker Alpine one in my XJ is quite a lot better, but I'm not sure how much of that's due to it being a bigger car.
The Alpine stuff in the S-Type R was appalling. The parcel-shelf subs rattled and distorted and the rest of the speakers were muddy and confused.
The Bose in the RX8 was bad too. It epitomised 'no highs, no lows; must be Bose'.
The worst 'supposedly decent' hifi I've had in a car was the Hifi professional DSP I had in a 540i back in the late 90s.
The Bose in the RX8 was bad too. It epitomised 'no highs, no lows; must be Bose'.
The worst 'supposedly decent' hifi I've had in a car was the Hifi professional DSP I had in a 540i back in the late 90s.
Caporegime
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Dynaudio in the CC is very good, great clarity for its price. Bose in the TT is shocking by comparison, but then again i've never been a big Bose fan i think they sell overpriced very average audio gear.
Would love to listen to the B&W in the Jag.
Would love to listen to the B&W in the Jag.
Soldato
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Yes Bose in the mk2 TT wasn't anything special though far better than standard. The Bang & Olufsen in the mk3 is outstanding...the best I've heard in a car.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
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Best audio I've had in a car is my Z4, 10 Speakers in it, not bad for something that was released in 2003.
Miles ahead of my first car, which was a clio, 6 standard speakers and to unbalance it all off, a silly powerful 1600w Sub in the boot xD I miss those days.
Miles ahead of my first car, which was a clio, 6 standard speakers and to unbalance it all off, a silly powerful 1600w Sub in the boot xD I miss those days.
Yep, typical 'commercial' sound.
Caporegime
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I would hate to hear the standard audio!
TBH the shape of the interior won't help, the best thing i can say about it is the sound is totally non-directional which must be due to the speaker in the center of the dash.
Always liked B&O, will keep that in mind for the future.