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Anybody upgraded their vehicles sound systems such as Harmon/Bamg/Bose etc ?If so was the extra outlay worth it and opinions of system they chose.
Cheers
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Seat ateca 2021 FR Sport and no option to upgrade. The system is average and anyone who likes a good sound should not get the Ateca lol. In my opinion it’s poor for a 30k car.
Thanks John
2019 Xcellence Lux Ateca here, we didn’t have an option either. Which is stupid, considering the rest of europe gets an optional beats sound system for it. Though.. For what it is, it doesn’t sound horrible. Certainly nothing for an audiophile, but serviceable.
Whether or not we go for an optional sound system will depend on availability (as mentioned, none on the Ateca), on the stock sound system of the car (Mercedes everything above and including Premium trim has a 225W sound system) and price (Tiguan Elegance, £1000 for the sound system).
I can say that if we had the £600 option for a beats sound system in the Ateca, we would’ve taken it.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.Upgraded sound systems are a good earner. They cost very little in terms of hardware and putting a not so good standard sound in the car encourages people to choose them. Oh and more watts does not mean better quality. Just saying…
Oh and more watts does not mean better quality. Just saying…
9 Speakers, 1 Subwoofer, 1 external booster amplifier. As far as “base” sound goes, it’s probably the best you can get on the scheme without paying extra. Yes, more watts don’t mean better quality, obviously, shown by the fact that owners rate that 225W system higher than the Burmester system (590w) in the AMG versions.
I never implied that either. Just saying.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.I upgraded my current car, the S-Max, to the Sony system. 13 speakers, sounds awesome and well worth it to me. I do a lot of miles so spend 2+ hours a day in the car, so its not too hard to justify the spend, especially after coming from the std sound in the Grand Picasso which was really pants.
Replacement Kia Soul EV has Harman Kardon as std, it was excellent during the test drive.
In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out.
Cheers for replys.
My son has the B&O system in his Audi which is an expensive add on. Personally I don’t think it’s worth the money and for the same price he could have got a much better system from an independent installer.
x2 SPORT upgraded to Harmon K. I find it OK. I am 100% deaf in my left ear and the right ear is at 50% I wear hearing aids.
Joss
Current car: BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In metallic Portimão Blue. 04:10:2025
Previous car:Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.Elliot, you are right about independents. I had a really quite poor Alfa system transformed a few years ago by having the speakers replaced and some insulation added… Motability would not allow it, of course.
My DAB radio is fine in my new CHR listening to radio 2 in ev mode is so nice and relaxing ! I’ve always loved hifi music etc at home I have a Nad 310 amp with Nad CD player 4220 with pure DAb tuner with Tannoy Mercury V1 speakers on Atacama nexus stands with QED speaker wire with gold banana plugs each end the sound is amazing and yes 40 years old !
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Interesting point on sound systems in electric mode ,yet to drive one and yes makes sense the sound and acoustics would be different and in theory better.</p>
My Merc B200 came with the better stereo I wish I knew the brand it’s a good system
I suspect, John that unless it’s branded, it will be a generic system designed in house and supplied by the likes of Panasonic. I’ve see their name on OEM stuff from Honda and Renault.
If you can find the conformity declaration, often in the back of the handbook, you can usually find which company’s licence is being used.
I loved my last Motability car, it was an Audi Q3 S Line Plus but one thing I really grew to dislike very quickly was the standard stereo system!
I’d never even considered that on a car like that the stereo would be a bit duff, but atleast for my ears it was
So when I ordered my Tiguan R Line Tech over 2 years ago now I made sure I added the upgraded system , I think it was around £560 which I could live with
A friend has the exact same car and she didn’t go for the upgraded sound system and there is ( again for me ) a noticeable difference , a big enough difference worth paying for
I’m always in my car alone and I always listen to a playlist on Spotify so it was important that I got this option
it’s certainly not the best sound system I’ve ever heard , but compared to the standard one on this particular model the answer is Yes, I feel it’s worth the extra layout ??
When life hands you melons...,
Make melonade!I’ve never paid to upgrade but have regretted not doing so a couple of times. Current Tiguan standard sound system not great, as Winston says. My last private car (BMW 5 Series) was the closest to perfection (as a car) than any that I’ve had, but I regretted not opting for Harmon/Kardon as the quality of the standard sound system was probably the only thing I could fault with the car.
Based on that experience I added Harmon/Kardon to the new X1 order (Motability) but BMW are unable to provide the system as an option at present on any cars, so the option was cancelled by them ?
I so, so wish I could have a Mark Levinson system as are available with Lexus. I have had two Lexi in the past, and as well as being brilliant cars, the sound system is by far the best in-car system I’ve ever heard.
The system in my current XC40 isn’t bad, but is just above average as far as I’m concerned.
I currently have a Peugeot hybrid. As it’s the GT Premium model it has a Focal sound system as standard which is well regarded on the continent but little known in the UK I expect.
Prior to that I had a BMW which I added a Harman Kardon system at a cost of £600 approx.
The HK was an excellent all round sound system delivering some real booming rock as well as other quieter genres capably, which gave me four years of driving pleasure. The Focal (after three months listening) is slightly more hifi and has a crystal clear tone with more high end clarity, but it can also dish out a loaded bass and loads of undistorted volume when called upon. Both are very good sound systems, but the HK was probably more enjoyable to interact with purely down to the idrive controllability.
( The BMW is hugely superior with its ‘iDrive controller’ media delivery than the rather pedestrian and frustrating ‘touch screen’ control found in the Peugeot.)
Focal are a French company who make high end audio. I’ve listened to some of their speakers and indeed are excellent, but not experienced the in-car system in a Peugeot.
You’re right with what you say (in my opinion). I have the Premium Plus Merc and the package comes with the upgraded sound system. I previously had a C Class with Burmester and an E Class with Harman Kardon – both of which were cost upgrades. The included system with this new car is every bit as good. Didn’t rate the Burmester at all.
Thanks for the info @Pops. I’m on the cusp of ordering a Pug 3008 Hybrid GT Premium. Was hoping the Focal would be good. I currently have the Canton in a Skoda Octavia and I love the bass the sub gives you. Really looking forward to the Pug now.
What’s it like to live with? the care I mean 🙂
Not Motability related, but a funny story. Many years ago my wife and I were looking at buying a 2nd hand golf. Now, we’d just got married, went to see the doctor about having kids (we both have substantial health problems) who told us the odds of conception were about 5,000,000 : 1, so we thought, blow the budget, we’ll get a Toyota Celica.
We went for a test drive in a Style +Premium model, loved it, and the dealer found a nearly new example in Scotland for about 13K and arranged to have it bought down to Nottingham.
A day before delivery he called us and said he couldn’t sell it us, it turned out to be a grey import, did we want to look at stock again?
So we returned to the dealer and he found us a nearly new T-Sport and said as we’d been messed around so much we wouldn’t need to pay the difference of about £3-4k, they’d write it off (I know!!)
On (nearly) new car day we arrived at the dealer and the salesman hadn’t seen the car yet himself. It was parked outside and seemed more aggressive than I imagined, hard to explain, but it was there and very subtle.
He unlocked and opened the drivers door, then exclaimed “f••• me!!”, before running around to the boot and popping that open…. The previous owner had gutted the existing stereo and replaced it with something like 6kw of subs, the door pockets removed and replaced with custom (real) carbon fibre tuned speaker inlays, a total of 15 speakers, but all kinda hidden and done to the highest finish. The power amps were under s fake floor in the boot, on red silk cushioned inlay and lit with neon.
The reason it looked so subtly aggressive was that it had about £8k of factory performance mods – slightly lowered springs, massive brakes, engine balanced and tuned so it revved to a shade over 9000 (normally about 8500 in a t sport). None of this was mentioned in the paperwork, someone dropped a big one somewhere.
The whole shebang was about 4 months old and had about 3000 miles on the clock, and must have cost well North of £45k, we got it for just £13k, bargain of a lifetime.
We absolutely loved that car, I must have exceeded 100mph every day just to hear the engine noise, and my wife kept pumping out the tunes. Our neighbours must have hated our guts.
Oh, and the missus woke up feeling really sick one morning a few weeks after we got the Celica….
I’ve the mk4 Leon estate which doesn’t have options for pretty much anything. The sound system with a 7 speaker layout should be OK considering the Ibiza has Beats setup but Seat must think the Ibiza is for the younger generation and the Leon is for older generation. The surprise isn’t surprising the sound system for me doesn’t work, I’ve upgraded the ICE in my cars until getting motability would love to rip out the stock and replace it with something better but it’s not an option. If manufacturers aren’t giving you the option to upgrade then give us a system that impresses.
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