When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Johnny keeps himself busy. I like that in him. But his expertise is well sort out here along with others. If I could buy you guys a beer, Pepsi, Coke or a bottle of Johnny Walker I would!!!
Johnny keeps himself busy. I like that in him. But his expertise is well sort out here along with others. If I could buy you guys a beer, Pepsi, Coke or a bottle of Johnny Walker I would!!!
Lol ... throw a bottle in the sea with my name on it Im sure it al get to me soon ...
Fitted the Amp Box and the Sub Box, needs wiring up, did all the prep work in the amp box, once the RCA cables from the rear of the amp box are sorted the box will go 100 mm further in. Wired the blue led's to the boot light with a detachable connector if the amp box needs to come out, the fan runs on a thermostat in the amp box ...
Now for the fun part got to wire up the hole thing disconnect the stock amp and fit the speakers ...
And I had a math error in the previous post, the speaker set replaces the tweeters, >both< big door speakers and the small door speaker and the small speakers in the rear. You'll need two more tweeters to replace everything.
The Ben Hur guy, my installer and one of the posters on here all said that the original Bentley radios were not good. Someone on here also said that you really need to change all of the speakers.
My only worry is the power amp. Is my original Bentley power amp junk, or not powerful enough to power these big speakers? If so, I need a 12 channel amp and that is crazy complicated and rare. A second installer admitted to me that most Bentley owners just change the Ben Hur and radio and leave everything else the same because of the complexity. Although when he said, "most", I sort of read it to be, "The only other Bentley I've worked on did this", so it would be technically true.
Hello Everyone
Going off the subject of the upgrade on the audio system.
Has anyone replaced all the bulbs to led's if so have you encountered any problems, Ive replaced all of the bulbs in and out of the car to led's and they all work fine except the ones in the headliner, but one, the drivers side map light works, Ive done all the tests I know of but can't figure out why the ones in the front and rear won't work, not even when the doors are opened or on the switch in the consol in the headliner, Ive replaced the original bulbs and they work, replaced the led's and nothing, except the rear courtesy light dose flash for a second when the doors are opened, any ideas ...
All of the speakers and the Ben Hur unit showed up from the U.K. right on time. I bought the Focal boxes (2) which have 10 speakers. I'm in the process of deciding the last two tweeters to purchase, the only criticism I've heard about the Focal speakers is that the aluminum-dome tweeters can sound "harsh" (I doubt I'd know the difference) and the recommendation is for a silk-domed tweeter. Alpine has a set, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet, so I'm open to any suggestions.
My installer is busy as all get-out, so I'm not scheduled in until the 13th, I'll have all the speakers in boxes in the trunk.
In the end, by buying the Focals from the UK, I saved about $1,500 over U.S. full-retail (which is what my installer charges) and by buying the Ben-Hur without VAT I saved about $400.
So far, I've spent $3,100 on the Ben Hur and 10 speakers. To go is still the radio head (Alpine), backup camera, phone mount, one HDMI and one USB port in the center console, a subwoofer and amp in the trunk and install, I'm looking at another $3,100 or so. I imagine this whole thing will be done for about $7,000 which seems very expensive, but is a hell of a lot less than the $18k I was quoted in one place, or the $12k in another or even the $9k for only two new speakers in a third.
I also went way overboard with the speakers, but once my installer recommended two 6.5" Focals and I started researching, I went, "Huh. These speakers are loved by everyone!" so instead of spending $700 for two 6.5", I spent $1,000 for 10 speakers, including four 6.5" ones.
I'm keeping the original power amp, I think the secondary sub amp will make up for any power I need.
Again, I'm not an audiophile, but I committed to the Ben Hur replacement before I even bought the car and once you're in for $2,500, it makes no sense to buy cheap components. I don't really spend a lot of money on my own stuff, this car is the first real splurge I've done in quite a long time, maybe a decade...maybe two decades, when I bought the Lotus Esprit.
And I'll tell you what...one of the very real pleasures in my life is a good car stereo. Luxury car manufacturers have learned that, my wife leases a new Cadillac every three years and her stereos have gotten so damn good that I need to match or better it. Her XT5 stereo will thump you out of your seat if you turn it up, no distortion, lots of speakers, great sound, great bluetooth, I need that for my car.
My car's currently in the shop getting a new thermostat, new plugs, a new exhaust sensor, third brake light and new exhaust flapper valve. It comes out of the shop and goes right into the stereo shop.
I feel like a divorced dad with limited visitation rights.
All of the speakers and the Ben Hur unit showed up from the U.K. right on time. I bought the Focal boxes (2) which have 10 speakers. I'm in the process of deciding the last two tweeters to purchase, the only criticism I've heard about the Focal speakers is that the aluminum-dome tweeters can sound "harsh" (I doubt I'd know the difference) and the recommendation is for a silk-domed tweeter. Alpine has a set, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet, so I'm open to any suggestions.
My installer is busy as all get-out, so I'm not scheduled in until the 13th, I'll have all the speakers in boxes in the trunk.
In the end, by buying the Focals from the UK, I saved about $1,500 over U.S. full-retail (which is what my installer charges) and by buying the Ben-Hur without VAT I saved about $400.
So far, I've spent $3,100 on the Ben Hur and 10 speakers. To go is still the radio head (Alpine), backup camera, phone mount, one HDMI and one USB port in the center console, a subwoofer and amp in the trunk and install, I'm looking at another $3,100 or so. I imagine this whole thing will be done for about $7,000 which seems very expensive, but is a hell of a lot less than the $18k I was quoted in one place, or the $12k in another or even the $9k for only two new speakers in a third.
I also went way overboard with the speakers, but once my installer recommended two 6.5" Focals and I started researching, I went, "Huh. These speakers are loved by everyone!" so instead of spending $700 for two 6.5", I spent $1,000 for 10 speakers, including four 6.5" ones.
I'm keeping the original power amp, I think the secondary sub amp will make up for any power I need.
Again, I'm not an audiophile, but I committed to the Ben Hur replacement before I even bought the car and once you're in for $2,500, it makes no sense to buy cheap components. I don't really spend a lot of money on my own stuff, this car is the first real splurge I've done in quite a long time, maybe a decade...maybe two decades, when I bought the Lotus Esprit.
And I'll tell you what...one of the very real pleasures in my life is a good car stereo. Luxury car manufacturers have learned that, my wife leases a new Cadillac every three years and her stereos have gotten so damn good that I need to match or better it. Her XT5 stereo will thump you out of your seat if you turn it up, no distortion, lots of speakers, great sound, great bluetooth, I need that for my car.
My car's currently in the shop getting a new thermostat, new plugs, a new exhaust sensor, third brake light and new exhaust flapper valve. It comes out of the shop and goes right into the stereo shop.
I feel like a divorced dad with limited visitation rights.
Great news you have the equipment, get busy and install, can't wait for more info, best of luck mate ...
Ok I got busy today and installed the rear speakers, removed the stock mids and replaced them with 5.0 (130mm) coaxial speakers, Ive used coaxial due to the PDC Beeps, using the tweeters on the speakers for the PDC Beeps and the main speaker will run off a crossover with external tweeters, the O.S.R was simple but the N.S.R is a mission due to 2 modules right behind the speaker, had to relocate them. Theres a bit of modification involved but its done ...
Ive used the pic re the modules from Johnny's post, I forgot to take a pic ...
British, what area are you in? I’m going back and forth on using the factory amp or to run all new speaker wire to the trunk and add 2 six channel amps and a sub amp if I do a sub. Like you I just like good quality sounds and want to have someplace once I finish in the studio making music I can see how it would sound in the car vs a home system.
Chicago. I think it's sort of crazy to re-wire when all of the speakers are already wired, the problem is that there are so many of them. At least 20 wires for the speakers themselves, then the inputs from the head unit and warning units, seems like a waste of time to pull them out and start from scratch. One of the install guys said that there are really too many speakers to be useful, so I guess that's one way to go, with high-end amps and high-end speakers, you can reduce the complexity.
Before you make your decision, let me get my install done, if it is too weak (it very well may be, the Focals are supposed to require a lot of amp) then we'll know you need to do something different. But another installer I spoke with said that most Bentley owners kept the original amp. However, his "most" might very well mean, "the only one I've done so far".
You need such a big set of channels to power all 12 speakers that the best solution might be the easiest, unplug the old speakers, plug in the new ones, add a subwoofer, add a subwoofer amp, unplug the old infotainment, plug in the new Ben Hur and run a cable for the backup camera.
We also have the wiring diagram, plus the battery-plonk test to test the wire pairs so it might just be time-consuming but not difficult to change out power amps.
Interesting trivia: the Ben Hur engineer guy told me that the whole reason Ben Hur exists is because the manufacturer of the first car stereos for the post VAG Bentleys stopped making the radio, so when a radio would quit under warranty (which I could see happening with that junk) the dealer would have to cannibalize cars in inventory to replace the bad radio. So Bentley called TV AG or whatever their called and Ben Hur was born.
I still think it's a bit too plasticy, but whatevs.
