Placed my order today

[Richf]

2.0 TDI 170 Elegance

Black Magic pearl

Onyx Leather

Park Assist

Luna Alloys

Heated washers

Auto dim mirror

10 speaker upgrade

CD changer

Heated rear seats

Mats

Mudflaps (F.O.C)

Ordered from Ashmore Green in Newbury , dealer gave great price better than i could find anywhere including "Drivethedeal.com" , never asked him to price match anything just asked for his best price, probably helps that i'm a cash buyer and dont have a p/x.

Have to wait until April though , but at least the weather should be a bit better by then:):)

[kprm77]

Excellent Has that dealer sold many Superb II's?

Is that a manual or DSG?

[Richf]

I dunno , i didnt ask , I've gone for the manual i really like the gearbox.

[Richf]

A month on tomorrow and i havent got a date yet just been told middle to end of April

[Richf]

Got my date today , should be getting the car the week after easter so not long now

[mikejay]

post some pics

[jcblincs]

why a CD changer ?

[Richf]

Better quality than the ipod

[jcblincs]

Better quality than the ipod

I challenge anyone to tell the difference between a CD and an MP3 track (ripped at a decent bit rate) in a moving car. The sound system is good and I tried to tell the difference and I cant. I am not an audiophile to the point of being anal but I do like good sound and spent a decent amount on the home hifi but I simply coudl not tell.

on a similar note did you see the blind listening test on the gadget show where they put vinyl vs CD vs MP3 and MP3 came out best ?

ipod / hard drive is a dam site more convenient than having CDs as well !!

[xmy]

I did some tests a few years ago comparing the original CD with the same music encoded as a mp3, converted back to a wav and then cut to a CD. Using a good quality hi-fi system I could not tell the difference provided the mp3 was encoded using >= 160kbps. Googling suggests the same... Do Higher MP3 Bit Rates Pay Off? - Page 4 | Maximum PC

In a car I'm sure even lower bitrates would be ok.

[Richf]

I challenge anyone to tell the difference between a CD and an MP3 track (ripped at a decent bit rate) in a moving car. The sound system is good and I tried to tell the difference and I cant. I am not an audiophile to the point of being anal but I do like good sound and spent a decent amount on the home hifi but I simply coudl not tell.

on a similar note did you see the blind listening test on the gadget show where they put vinyl vs CD vs MP3 and MP3 came out best ?

ipod / hard drive is a dam site more convenient than having CDs as well !!

I have ipod compatible units in my other cars and if all you listen to is ipod or mp3 then the head unit can be adjusted to suit , i certainly find mp3 or ipod tracks more bassy and flat than either the Radio or a CD source if you use the ipod a lot it can be annoying to keep altering the head unit to suit the source something i dont find i need to do with the CD to radio

Like most things its a personal preference and whilst i am no audiophile i know what i like and i can certainly tell the difference between a CD and an ipod connected to the head unit via a 3.5mm jack i'm sure most people could

[jcblincs]

I have ipod compatible units in my other cars and if all you listen to is ipod or mp3 then the head unit can be adjusted to suit , i certainly find mp3 or ipod tracks more bassy and flat than either the Radio or a CD source if you use the ipod a lot it can be annoying to keep altering the head unit to suit the source something i dont find i need to do with the CD to radio

Like most things its a personal preference and whilst i am no audiophile i know what i like and i can certainly tell the difference between a CD and an ipod connected to the head unit via a 3.5mm jack i'm sure most people could

thats down to the sound characteristics of the ipod. if you burn an mp3 track to a cd and play it vs the original CD the difference will be undetectable.

The problem, in my opinion, with the ipod is that whilst it might be an iconic design and a nice piece of equipment the sound quality is inferior to many other mp3 players on the market.

[bunglebear32]

i had my octavia serviced at ashmore about 3-4 weeks ago. I phoned around to get the best price and they were happy to go really low. However when i asked them to do some warranty work with the service, they refused saying that they are closing down soon and therefore arent allowed to. So if this is true i hope you dont have any problems with your new car

[Richf]

thats down to the sound characteristics of the ipod. if you burn an mp3 track to a cd and play it vs the original CD the difference will be undetectable.

I dont agree i'm afraid i have some mp3's burned to disc in my Mercedes at the moment and the difference is very noticable to my ears

[Richf]

i had my octavia serviced at ashmore about 3-4 weeks ago. I phoned around to get the best price and they were happy to go really low. However when i asked them to do some warranty work with the service, they refused saying that they are closing down soon and therefore arent allowed to. So if this is true i hope you dont have any problems with your new car

Lets hope not !!!

I will phone them tomorrow

[Richf]

No worries about Ashmore green closing , mustve been some confusion

[bunglebear32]

oh bugger, im such a prat. I meant meritt in ayelsbury. Asmore was one i tried. sorry mate, can't believe i said that...

[rmc70]

hi, sounds really nice mate

ENJOY!!!!!

[mannyo]

I dont agree i'm afraid i have some mp3's burned to disc in my Mercedes at the moment and the difference is very noticable to my ears

I agree with you as well, I prefer the sound of shop bought CDs over MP3 and can tell the difference. I wonder if this is why some have issues with the quality of the oem stereo, feed it from a good quality source and I find the sound from the oem speakers and columbus in my octy perfect. No need for any extra amping or processing to try and hide the artifacts introduced by lossy mp3 compression. Its the same with DAB radio, I used to like listening to it until they dropped the bit rates so far that to me it sounded as bad as streamed interet music.

For the columbus I am using MP3s encoded at 320kbps, and they sound ok. At 160kbps to my ears just sounds wrong, the high notes at this bit rate are so shrill compared to 320kbps you cant listen to the music at high volumes. Its the same with the bass, it lacks depth at 160kbps. I have all the columbus audio settings on flat, and people that have listened to my setup which is completely factory are amazed by the quality.

Edited 18 April, 2009 by mannyo

[Richf]

Have to wait another week , my car has arrived at the dealers at least , scheduled for collection next Sat (25th)

Saw my first one on the road yesterday ,a black one operated by a local taxi firm, cant say i liked the look of it on the road , lets hope i havent done the wrong thing

[Richf]

Big day tomorrow , already had a peek and it looks nice

[Richf]

Collected this morning done around 100miles already

SWMBO must like it she fell asleep in the passenger seat !!

[darrenm2001]

Looks lovely, I'm sure you'll be very pleased with it - after three weeks I'm still loving mine.

I really like those wheels, very nice indeed.

As for 100 miles already, I've done over 1,300 - it does eat up the miles with ease.

[WaveyDavid]

I bet you're smitten with it. It looks a beauty. Mine is showing next week as build week. I am told I may get it mid May but think it could be later what with importing etc.:confused:

[Richf]

They didnt update me at all but did say around 10 weeks from order to delivery which is about what it has been