Hi all, when i spec my new vRS later in the year, the Columbus is a fair chunk more doe, but does it sound better? I'm not really needing the Sat Nav as I have TomTom on my phone which I don't use much anyway. Any other reasons for having it over the Bolereo??

Cheers all,

James

I don't know about sound quality vs the Bolero, but it certainly sounds better than the Stream MP3 did. With the Columbus, the limiting factor is definitely the OEM tweaters / cross-overs. I think the mid range / bass units are really impressive for OEM. The depth of the bass from them has negated the need for a sub for me.

I think the columbus sound quality is streets ahead of both the audience and stream/stream mp3 headunits. The bolero is basically the same headunit without nav and HD, so I expect that to also have good quality sound.

If you don't need the sat-nav, and you don't want to watch DVD's when you are stationary, I can't see the point paying the extra for the Columbus.

Bolero lets you use 16Gb SD cards, whereas you can only use 2Gb on the Columbus, so you can effectively have the entire contents of an 80Gb ipod on 5 x £3 memory cards.

Even if you don't use sat nav, it is worth the extra money, not just for the improved sound, but for the LOOKS..stunning as opposed to the bog standard radio

Mines is a bolero and its got an 8gb takes it no probs

32gb cards are now supported. Cost about £12 from Amazon. Lightning fast too.

Bolero & Columbus sound quality is pretty much equal.

Edit: Should have added that the Columbus is only marginally better than the Stream MP3. A small but noticeable difference.

I have an Audience without the extra amp / speaker package and think it easily sounds as good as the Bolero / Columbus systems fitted in our works pool cars so personally I would upgrade for the sound quality, but I definately like the features and looks of the newer systems more than the Audience.

As Mike said - the biggest difference comes from upgrading to the Premium Sound System.

IMHO Bolero and Columbus are on a par - the weak point is the tweeters and passive crossover used in the standard setup.

Spend money on new speakers or order the factory Premium Sound System.