Can anyone comment on the quality of their audio system as mine constantly sounds very poor. Iv even tried streaming FLAC audio via USB through my Dice Mediabridge and still cant get a decent sound out of it.

Iv tried an array of different audio settings on the system I only have Treble, Mid and Bass adjustment along with numerous DSP settings but ALL of the DSP settings seem to add a strange echo to the sound so iv had no other option but to leave this off.

I did read somewhere that the speakers are made by Bose, But I had a similar aged Audi S4 Cabrio many years ago with Bose speakers which sounded much better than the system in the Bentley.

Are there any audiophiles here that can help me out with settings etc??...

I surely must be missing something some where as iv seen a PDF file on here before with a list of audio settings but my car doesnt have any EQ options available as listed???...

Iv recently bought the other half a 2016 Audi SQ5 with the basic/standard DSP audio system and it totally blows the Bentley system away!

Any help appreciated as iv been living with it for 18 months now and really hope to get it sorted.

PS Vagcom scan doesnt report any speaker/audio related problems.

 

This is what I found in the PDF guide, Is this for the later 2012 models with Naim?

 

Audio system Adjustments

Surround: Dolby Pro Logic ON
Auto Vol.: Low
Equaliser
60: 0
200: -2
1k: +1
3k: +1
12k +2
Set Up
Bass: +2
Treble: +1
Fader: +1 to rear
Balance: 0
Sub +2 or +3 ( choose to your taste)
Centre:-3
Surround: +6

WHERE OH WHERE are these setting to be found ? I have a 2015 with Naim and cant find them anywhere. Yes i can find treble and bass and mid,

 

Hello Rico,
Mike's question is from 3 years ago, the question at hand that brought the thread to the top, is by AJ1, and the question is, "Where oh where are these settings to be found", such as equalization settings, I know Mike shows that these settings are possibly from a 2012 NAIM PDF, as he had an 06 and was asking basically which unit these setting are for, I just want to add that I do not see any such settings on the 2010 NAIM unit, so, have you ever seen those on any NAIM unit, if so, how do you get to them?

JJJ

 

Just adding to this .......They all can’t be that bad .I realise sound quality is subjective to each person here it’s compared ( same person ) with a pretty standard car .Mines a standard set up and truly superb ......as expected.

So let’s assume the Bentley left the factory with above average sound quality .
lets assume this particular car it indeed poor , or below what it should be hence the posts .Its been compared back to back with lesser cars .
Then is it not unreasonable to arrive at a conclusion something is not right ? Perhaps sophisticated electronic components like the power amps kinda decay .In other words unlike a light bulb they don’t just stop working .
In which case my first port of call would be simply swop the amp with a known good sounding one and go from there ,


This guys early on mentions “ they go bad “ and are a “ common problem in those cars “ @ 0.45

 

Agreed 100%,
My 05 with stock 06 speakers, 2010 NAIM head unit, 2010 NAIM amp installed, along with the the center channel and subs sounds way better then the stock amp and head unit, and the stock system sounded great.

 

I have a 2005 Continental and a 2005 Phaeton with upgraded sound option. Same basic system (supposedly) although the Bentley amp is 300W and the Phaeton amp is 200W. Same DSP settings and ZAB cockpit unit. My Bentley sound sucks and my Phaeton sound is awesome.

So no clue. But my Bentley's sound is also crappy but given the basic components it should be good like my Phaeton....

 

Rico and Johnny are experts. I can add my two cents; having perused this board before buying my GT, I knew the radio was going to be terrible, especially as we have been leasing Cadillacs, which have surprisingly awesome stereos.

So I budgeted a replacement. If I remember, I'll take a picture of the junk that came out, but the speakers are particularly unimpressive and junky-looking. i didn't know that, I just knew it was really tinny with no bass.

Ends up, the main power amp is fine. I didn't go through what some of the guys have, replacing everything, I took the chance and actually found the main power amp to be loud enough.

You're going to get as many opinions as there are choices, so I can only tell you my choice, without arguing for it. I replaced all speakers with French Focals, bought off UK Ebay for 50% of the price you can get them here. No real reason, my stereo shop tried to sell me just a couple because they like them, I decided to go with all of them. Two boxes will have exactly the replacement speakers.

I also put in a separate sub speaker and amp, it is mounted in the ski pass-through. Works fine. Don't underspend on this.

Of course, I did the Ben Hur conversion (works fine, looks fine) and the top-of-the-line Alpine, because why not? Probably should have shopped more, but it's fine.

The Ben Hur keeps the car's EQ, I don't really use it, I did have to bias the speakers to the rear/sub because the tweeters in the A-pillars are too loud, but with it biased about 60% rear, the sound is good and strong.

This whole thing is crazy expensive, but honestly, I smile when I get in my car when before I simply winced.

You should do your own thing, just because I bought Focals and Alpine doesn't mean there aren't much better choices out there, but for certain, there are much WORSE choices, and at these price points, a lot of differences are taste, not quality.

Two things I would do differently
- Not use the Focal front tweeters. Too loud, that should have taken some shopping and listening, but it's hard, there are a million choices.
- Over-spend on the sub and amp. I told them not to go crazy, but I can make the speaker pop under certain full-volume songs with the right bass. Obviously, I can turn the sub down and make it stop, but it's not perfect and I wanted perfect.

Lastly, even if you spend a fortune, the stereo is not going to have the best sound in the world. You just have to look at speaker placement to realize that lots of sound energy is being pointed at seats and thighs and torsos, my Cadillac SUV has balanced speakers higher up, and the sound is much clearer. I think that's why I don't like the tweeters, those are the only speakers at ear-level and it makes a difference.

If you're not changing out the power amp, it's a weekend project to do it yourself. You can even start small, do the sub and a couple of 6" speakers and the tweeters. Then change out more speakers if you want to.

I haven't heard anyone on here who has just changed speakers but not the radio, might be worth trying. The radio change is going to be $3,500 or so.

 

Rico,

You're right, it really does need to be "set up" properly. But I have messed with it a whole bunch, I think the main problem, as it were, is that the only speakers at ear-level are the A-pillar tweeters, which simply create too much sonic energy compared with all the other speakers at thigh-level. I had read reviews that said the Focals were to "bright" and to go with a cloth dome or whatever the term is, don't know if that is common or if I stuck on it.

The Ben Hur retained all the stock Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and I can choose "spoken voice", "Concert hall" and such, most of them simply add delay to the sound, I leave it off generally.

The Alpine has a lot of controls, but none that seem to make the difference I want, I've found that biasing the sound about 60% to the rear takes away from the too-loud tweeters and adds the bass punch I like.

I realize now that this thread is a necro-old one, I probably shouldn't have gone on to write an essay, Johnny was right, it was about sound settings on the factory, which I don't have any more.