Hi,

I wondering if it is worth upgrading the stock 2004 sound system. I'm a noob when it comes to audio system so maybe someone who is more experienced can share some thoughts.

 

It's actually pretty good and as i recall the speakers are by Bose. IMHO it could use a bit more EQ choices than the Treble/Midrange/Bass adjustment. DSP is pretty good for a unit of that time period. If you truly love music, then you may want to remove the stock CD changer and use a PIE interface to then use an external high quality portable media player such as those offered by Astell&Kern, Sony, FiiO, etc., which then gives you a Hi-Res Audio player and equalizer. This way you can of course listen to MP3, yet for true high fidelity am sure you may be aware that FLAC CD rips, 24-bit/96kHz, streaming TIDAL or better is the way to go.

 

Thanks Steven. I have a GromAudio and DICE box. Are these similar to the media players you described or they produce inferior sound?

 

Have never used the GromAudio and the Dice was good, yet decided it got to be a bit of a PIA at times so felt using an interface that was a simple 'pure' analog input to the stock system was best. The portable media players, with my current fave being the Sony ZX2, has provided the best sound quality for the Bentley system. Astell&Kern is very good, and have the AK240 and reviewed the 380 at shows, yet the Sony has a very complimentary sound and beneficial features that have great synergy with the stock Bentley audio system.

Bluetooth audio is ok, yet it is lower quality than the better 24-bit/96kHz or better music that's now available. Even low-if MP3 sounds at least acceptable as the Sony portable media player uses some trick DSP to fill in the gaps as it were.

JMHO of course and another item is that I wear a Samsung Galaxy Gear watch (latest version with built-in 4Glte) so that works as speakerphone. I miss Andoid's support for RSAP, which did work well with the Bentley system for phone calls via SIM card address book. The old Windows CE based phones also supported RSAP. I know Bentley offers a $700 plug n play hardware solution to modernize the stock system, yet at this point I felt it wasn't worth the trouble as have other solution I feel better fit my lifestyle and high fidelity desires.