hi teamjones1962
ok so you think the price is to high i have the day free i'll go ask again
does anyone know where rico has disappeared to want to go through the list
yes me to as soon as they see or we mention bentley there face changes colour and offer you tea instead of coffee

 

To me yes but as I said, I can’t place a value on someone else’s time and experience. Case in point. I went to get a quote from a shop a member on here used and he was straight up on his views on the install. This place is on a smaller scale of West Coast Customs. They do high end cars and have done some celebrities also. So now I know the name factor comes into play. They wanted to charge me $1200 to install the front and rear components (so that’s $100 per speaker), $900 to install 2 amps (finding a spot and putting 4 screws in), $780 for a box and a beauty board (a little high but it’s custom so it’s volume would be specific to whatever subs you choose), $300 for 2 4ga power kits (I hope it’s OFC and not CCA wire) and $100 for RCA’s(I had already ran 3sets to the trunk). After taxes it came out to be over $3300. It all comes down to how comfortable are you with doing it on your own or how comfortable are you with pulling out your card. My problem was time. Out of all of that, the only thing I don’t have the tools for is to build the box. With all the DYI’s on here to swap out the speakers I decided to do it myself. Plus being an ex-installer I know it do not cost $1200 to install speakers.

Read over some of the post here and on other forums to see if you think you can pull this off. There are some videos on how to take the body panels off to make it even easier. You would need some speaker adapters made for the front (6x9 to whatever size your going with) and maybe some for the rear bottom door. But if you don’t think you can, shop around and look at shop reviews. Sometimes depending on where your located you have to chalk it up and just pay.

One question, does that quote include the Ben HUR and radio along with the speaker install?

For what it’s worth, I seen a video on a install on our cars and emailed the installer. The install was niiiiiiiice, but told me it was over $30,000! But he did do ALOT of custom work.

 

Presumably, you've already read the thread https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...por-favor.html which is about my experience upgrading. Later I offered an update.

Short answers:

1. It's not difficult to install the Ben Hur yourself, but it will take a while since the whole center console has to come out and there is a lot of associated wiring. All plug-and-play, but a lot of wiring. I decided not to do it myself, mostly because I don't have a shop space, I live in a high-rise
2. You want to change out the speakers, the ones that came with the car are trash. I found Focals from European Ebay for 50% the price of here. Problem is, they'll need inserts, since the Bentley cutouts are 6x9 and the focals are 6". Two boxes were all I needed to change out all the speakers.
3. I don't like the Focal tweeters much and I'm not an audiophile. Given the choice, I would change them for a different brand, but the other speakers are amazing.
4. Only good place to put a sub is in the ski pass-through, this requires a separate cabinet and amp.
5. The wires you have to run are to the sub and to the back-up camera (you're buying one of those, right? Mine's in my license plate holder).
6. I bought the Ben Hur right from them and avoided VAT, kind of a P.I.T.A. but it saved $400. Others have said you can get it for $1,900, I've never seen this offered. In the States, it's $2,500
7. The center console is so slippery, I put in a permanent mount for the iPhone, this was a great decision, I recommend it.
8. I paid $7,000 for everything, professionally installed by a high-rated installer who I am very happy with, they stand behind their work, plus they've done six or ten of these before.

That's crazy expensive and I'm not defending it, but before I bought the car, I knew there was NO WAY I was going to put up with the junk radio and speakers it came with from the factory, so I just bit the bullet and budgeted for it. I could have gone with a cheaper shop, but I'm sure I would have "paid" in other ways.

My second choice car was a Maserati Quattroporte but upgrading that radio is even worse choice-wise and there is no equivalent to the Ben Hur, which although over-priced, at least exists as a choice.

Oddly, the car seems to have too many speakers, I don't know that having ten in such a small space adds much.

Even with the best speakers and best radio you can buy and a professional installation, I still think my stock Cadillac has a better-sounding radio, it's more balanced if that makes sense, probably a lot of engineering went into it, with my Bentley, I just put in expensive components and I got what I got.

 

I can agree with you on that. My Escalade has a center channel and the sub-woofer is in the counsel under the radio so staging is towards the front with speakers in the rear door and by the lift gate just for fill in my opinion. Sounds damn good. They took their time to put that together.

British, is your audio all squared away now?

 

Yes: mystery solved. Check your messages

 

hello rico, it saddens me to hear such sad news i hope and pray that you find peace

ive read all the blogs from teamjones and british and ive read all the blogs on british's and rico's installs i have to say british you have had a few problems with your upgrade i also take into consideration the equipment used
ive looked at the focal speakers and to be honest they not all that when it comes to in-car entertainment in fact one of the audio shops said they were cheap rubbish

when it comes down to install ive noticed everyone has ignored what rico has to say about the 2 sets off rca's and the setup, use of the ben-hur controls with the new head unit
i made a few enquiries about the 2 sets of rca's and made contact with the ben-hur people in the uk with rico's help the feedback i received was what rico has mentained all along is 1 set of rca's out of 2 are not used therefore not receiving full quod sound this means all controls are done via the ben-hur not the new head unit

to me thats a total waste of time and money the way rico has designed my system it will use both sets of rca's making all controls possible and setup of the system through the new head unit

im looking into audison or hertz speakers once ive made my mind up on these then i can move on to the 5 channel amp which is perfect for the setup i need
looking at all the prices im going to see a installer who may able to help with the intall if i buy all the equipment

 

ok wow that look amazing yes youre correct i wasnt looking to install a sub well not now but looking at this you may have changed my mind

 

Thank you W12 ... for you wishes.

Have a look it may suit your install.
One more thing the max volume on the Ben-Hur isn't that loud I've got a firmware update I can pass on you'll need a windows based laptop to install it via the USB lead on the Ben-Hur...

 

British might be able to benefit from that also. What's the boost percentage of volume if you know Rico?

 

yes rico if you think i'll need the firmware then send it to me please

ive had a look at the subwoofer and it look and sounds great how do i get one do you have a link

going to a audio shop tomorrow the installer knows a place said the prices would be much cheaper i'll blog the prices

do i really need to change all the speakers as it stands im only replacing the front 2 and the rear 2 the rest are staying as they are

let me know guys if i really need to replace all the speakers

 

W12 ... PM me your email address.

Google this link or just click on it "connects2.com" it will take you to their website for the subwoofer.

My recommendation is not to replace all the speakers, the rear door bass are good quilaty unless they blown which I doubt, no one in a Bentley is going to play deep bass music loud. the door mids are also ok as are the tweeters again unless you think they damaged, I'm sure the installer will know if there is any defects with the speakers. The door cards are coming off so its a good time to check the other speaker for damage.

My choice for front speakers would be the Audison Prima APX 6.5 for the doors & for the rear panels Audison Voce AV 3.0, this way you won't need to cut into the rear panel these 3.0 will go straight in. If you want the full spec let me know or again just google them.

Let us know how you get on ...

 

ive got everything i need to start the upgrade i think you are right rico im not going to replace all the speakers as i intended
my installer will start the work in the morning take the car to his garage
thanks for the file rico he will load that once the benhur is up and running

hes saying 2 to 3 days should have the system up and running im excited

 

Hi W12 ... Ok so your all ready to rip that car apart ... Lol ...

Don't upload the firmware until you test the Ben-Hur for volume it may be ok for you as it is, if not then yah load it up you'll find it much louder.

Let us know how you get on & upload a video once finished would be great to listern to them sounds ...

One peace of advice, your guy may know, when he snaps back the panel with the head unit in place the top grill which looks like a speaker grill tell him before he snaps that one into place to line up the 2 pins then push the grill back towards the windshield while doing so then snap it into place, if not the grill sometimes crack a peace off the edge if pushed to hard ...

 

hi everyone

finally got the system up and running last night and what a diffrence the sound is a million times sharper i can hear everything in a track so clear
all thanks to a genius mr rico how can i thank you sir you were right there was no need to replace all the speakers and the setup is perfect the way you designed the system
i'll upload a video so you guys can hear the sounds and the see the install not much to see but still its information
thank you everyone who blogged me there advice

 

I gathered you'd finished as you took the car into the garage for a scan.

Im glad you're pleased with it maybe in a few days you may need to tweak it a little to balance out the sound, as when you first setup the system the excitement takes over once you settle down you may want to setup again.

Yah do upload a video would love to hear what it sounds like. I'm going away tomorrow but will be on my laptop here & there maybe even on the plane.

I'm flying into New York on the 27th for 4 nights Christmas shopping Lol, staying at The Whitby Hotel don't know if your near if so lets meet up for a drink or 2. PM me your email address if your up for a meet.

Got to get back to the UK been invited by Ferrari to test drive the new F8 Spider fancy a new one ...