2013 V8 Vantage - Stereo Upgrade

[anonymous-user]

I have a 2013 v8 Vantage with standard audio system, not the 700W premium audio. I understand that there are fewer speakers and amps for the standard 160W audio versus the 700W system. Obviously I cant add more speakers to the interior, has anyone found a good upgrade path to change out the stnadrd system and speakers for something better?

[Jon39]

Remove fuse 22 (15), that should upgrade your sound system.

I am fortunate to have the Premium, so have little knowledge about upgrading. However, I think I can remember it being mentioned, that you may have all the speaker grilles, but some without speakers. See if you have a hole in the upright carpet, behind the left hand seat. The Premium sub-woofer locates behind that panel, so you probably have space there to fit a bass speaker.

[divetheworld]

Standard has a sub, just not as good. No centre channel for the Dolby either I think.
You can replace the OEM speakers with good components and the lack of amplification will have little effect at normal listening levels.
The OEM speakers, even in the premium or B&O are still crap so don't think for a minute you're missing out on something massively improved.
The B&O has better frequency response than the Premium, but Premium actually sounds marginally better than B&O because it actually has imagery and spectral balance.
One of the problems in making a car beautiful, then handing it to an engineer and asking "make it work" instead of an engineer handing the designer a car and asking "make it beautiful".....

[TrackaPhone]

The Standard kit is around 160W, The premium is somewhere near 700W, I believe the differences are as follows;

100W Sub replaced with a 200W Sub
rear speakers added (front speakers remain the same)
additional front centre speaker
original single amplifier replaced with new main amplifier and new sub amplifier
most of the wiring is already in the vehicle, some of the looms around the amplifier need changing/adding to

Config file needs to be loaded to the car. The basic system has no ability to fade or control of surround sound, so this is what the config file update does, amongst a few other things.

Hope that helps,

James

[anonymous-user]

Thanks. What does this cost and who could carry out the work?

[gibbon]

divetheworld said:

The OEM speakers, even in the premium or B&O are still crap so don't think for a minute you're missing out on something massively improved.

I understand what you are saying, and you may be technically correct, but i tried the 160w v 700w systems when buying and could really tell the difference, the 700w system in my vantage is the best car audio i've ever had, maybe that just means all my other stuff has been rubbish! This is coming from someone who is quite into hi-fi (Quad seperates at home rather than a bluetooth boom box for example).

[BigMig]

[quote=TrackaPhone

Config file needs to be loaded to the car. The basic system has no ability to fade or control of surround sound, so this is what the config file update does, amongst a few other things.


[/quote]

Does the B&O system get the same config update as well? I have B&O in mine and can do fade control and surround, but don't have control over subwoofer levels, equalizer etc as mentioned in the FAQ sticky. Seems odd Premium would give you all this extra control but B&O doesn't?

[divetheworld]

gibbon said:

I understand what you are saying, and you may be technically correct, but i tried the 160w v 700w systems when buying and could really tell the difference, the 700w system in my vantage is the best car audio i've ever had, maybe that just means all my other stuff has been rubbish! This is coming from someone who is quite into hi-fi (Quad seperates at home rather than a bluetooth boom box for example).

I agree the 700w is a world apart from the 160, no question. It has much better amplification (by Alpine) and the quality of the sub driver is improved. It has Dolby surround, but that is the work of the devil for an audiophile.
(ignoring the rear and centre channel supplied by beelzebub ) The 160 and premium has 2 way components in the front with the largest driver being 4" followed up by an 8" single reflex sub box. There's a hole in the frequency response as big as Osborne's budget. The drivers are running free air so have wide response but zero authority. The drivers are physically close to the passengers so that fubar's the imagery permanently without time alignment processing.

The B&O has larger mid bass drivers in the footwell, but they are mounted on the transmission tunnel facing out .... :/ Crazy!
The funky tweeters are cool but harsh. This is not a failing of the tweeter though, its a failing in the rest of the drivers being badly chosen (not poor, bad) and integrated. The tweeter gives great response and much improved imagery, but need balancing with complimenting drivers of equal standing. Without on-axis mid bass units, they just don't sound as smooth as they are capable of.
In summary, none of the audio supplied will ever be able to reproduce a drum to the point that you can feel the drum skin. Having so many different frequency drivers so far apart will prevent any chance of a precise image of the sound stage. And lastly, if you try to fill the holes in the frequency response using the sub, you will just end up making it boomy.
All is not lost though. Good as the drivers are in the doors, they are a very long way away from high end audio that you can fit. Some top end Morel, CDT, Clif or Xtant drivers with silk dome tweeters will make a noticeable difference to the musicality of the system. Pair a driver change with sealing the drivers so they are running infinite baffle and you can raise the output levels to concert volume and still remain tight and smooth. This is important because the sub needs to perform well, but you shouldn't be aware of it. A great sub is one you cant hear but notice the loss if its turned off. i.e. it should blend flawlessly to make the frequency response of the system smooth and from 20-20kHz. Not a great big lump below 160 and nothing to 350. Having strong vocal drivers up front will go a long way to making the sound pull together.
Going the whole hog would be to replace the sub with a nice JL in a sealed box and the system is transformed. If you (are brave enough to do door builds) can put 6" drivers in the bottom of the doors, then you now have that mid range attack that makes the difference between a great sound and an outstanding system.

I suppose I should give context because I am overly critical of audio in my car. In my miss-spent youth I did a lot of sound-offs, took a lot of trophies as "the most accurate car hifi in its class in the UK". Eventually ended up as a judge for IASCA.
Too old for that st now, but still appreciate a good sound in the car.

Edited by divetheworld on Tuesday 22 March 18:47

[bogie]

The Vantage is the only car I've owned that I've left the hi-fi alone in; I just have the standard 160W system.

I've spent many thousands in the past with custom installs, and had some great sounding car stereos, the only issue I found was that there is this thing called the engine

If you want a great sounding car (engine) like a Vantage on open pipes, then its tricky to enjoy the stereo at the same time. Often you end up driving around with the stereo at 100dB + sending yourself deaf in the process

Do they do car audio sound off events in car at 70mph at 6k revs ...or roof down at 50mph ? ...not seen any

I remember spending a weekend perfecting the stereo in one car, time alignment and eq all spot on in the drivers seat...then I started the engine, took the roof off, got to 50mph and I may as well have not bothered

Now after 20 years of car audio and driving 4hrs+ a day at high volume, I am actually going deaf. A £5k stereo is wasted on me, so I stick to listening to the engine and the OE audio is adequate

[V8 Vantage GT]

Mine came with 160W stereo too. I can't understand why dealers don't opt for the 700W stereo, just doesn't make sense on a car in this price range not to check that box. But seems virtually every dealer ordered Vantage only have the stock 160W stereo.