Hey all. Just wondering if FL owners are happy with the standard sound system in their cars? Having owned a Golf MK5 I have to admit that I wasn't too happy with the standard system. Was a little bit 'tinny'. Whether it was the speakers or the headunit I'm not sure but with my Octavia coming with a Bolero/MDI I can only presume that it will be quite a step up.

I take it that the layout is two speakers in front, two in back and a number of tweeters around the car - if I wasn't happy is it possible to put in aftermarket speakers?

SWMBO can not hear it because of tyre noise. So that may be a problem for you.

Very pleased with the sound reproduction in my 55 Reg Elegance Octy. But I'm not that worried about perfect sound reproduction in the first place. I was surprised when I plugged an ipod into it and got a constant hiss through the speakers while it played but on my much older iRiver or phone there's no hiss. Basically the quality of the sound source may play a bigger part in the quality than the setup the car comes with... CD's are crystal clear.

Mine is superb.

You wont need aftermarket speakers. Honest!! :yes:

Mine is superb.

You wont need aftermarket speakers. Honest!! :yes:

Thanks for the replies guys.

Psycholist - Did you plug in your iPod via your AUX in or the MDI in the Glove Box?

Mine is superb.

You wont need aftermarket speakers. Honest!!

Er, sorry Chris but I disagree.......then again I'm a picky bugger

The standard bass units are not too bad but the tweeters are awful - harsh and coloured. The worst thing is everything is in the wrong place - the bass / mid units fire at your thigh so you lose most of the midrange and the tweeters are in completely the wrong place. IMHO the best stop-gap is to disconnect the OEM tweeters, purchase some aftermarket ones and a pair of A-pillar trims to mount them on. Either that or surface mount onto the dash and fire at the widscreen. Whatever you do you should disconnect the rear tweeters as they are too close to your ears and completely bugger up the soundstaging. Oh and everything in the doors vibrates at anything approaching "realistic" levels so you need to apply damping everywhere, especially the tweeter grills.

This is the bit I find most annoying - surely in this day and age a car manufacturer should be able to make door trims that are solid?!!

Personally I'm fitting some 6 1/2" JM Lab Focal components and mounting the Mids in little pods which will go in the door bin bottle holders to fire up at you. Some guy has already done this but I can't remember who or where I saw it!

Edited 7 April, 201016 yr by wardth

:( Sorry if you disagree, but coming from, initially a Fabia vRs with a poorish system, then a Honda Civic Type S, which had a dreadful sound system, my vRS sounds fantastic in comparison.

So for me..Its tremendous.

Like I said Chris, I'm a picky bugger - If I could find a way of powering a nice 50W valve amp in the car and finding some way of shoehorning a pair of Martin Logan Electrostatics in I would

Seriously, the standard kit >is< actually OK for OEM fit but it does have the aformentioned issues with regard to speaker placement and rattles from the tweeter grills.

I have to say that the installation of an MFD3 sharpended things up no end - I think the amps in it are pretty good quality. Then again they bloody well should be given the cost of the unit factory fit

That's very interesting. I reckon that if I'm not happy with the sound setup I'd be getting a new system professionally installed - however keeping the Bolero headunit.

It seems to be that the door trims and speaker placement is more of an issue than the quality of the system itself. Tweeters aren't the best. I tend to listen music quite loudly so the last thing I'd want is rattling or 'screeching' from the system. I like a nice deep bass.

That said..I'm not afraid to get things upgraded. I just want to make sure that any upgrade doesn't cost the world; or ruin the interior/soundproofing of the car.

Like I said Chris, I'm a picky bugger - If I could find a way of powering a nice 50W valve amp in the car and finding some way of shoehorning a pair of Martin Logan Electrostatics in I would

Seriously, the standard kit >is< actually OK for OEM fit but it does have the aformentioned issues with regard to speaker placement and rattles from the tweeter grills.

I have to say that the installation of an MFD3 sharpended things up no end - I think the amps in it are pretty good quality. Then again they bloody well should be given the cost of the unit factory fit

That comment means I have to think even harder of a reason not to upgrade my Bolero to a Columbus.... Damn you man, couldn't you have kept quiet

I think the Bolero is a vast improvement on the Stream, which really did sound painfully bad. I'm not sure if there is any difference between the sound of a Bolero and a Columbus? Same manufacturer and many other similarities. There may be a difference in sound quality though, I don't know for sure. The bass from the standard speakers (paired with a Columbus) is phenomenal for cheap OEM speakers. It sounds like there's a small sub. Tweeters aren't perfect it's true, but I can live with them.

Wega - the bass is excellent for OEM speakers and I do wonder why people bother with subs but those tweeters are getting shot ASAP. WAY too shouty and nasty. I've heard some £20 halfords rubbish sound better than these and before anybody starts rattling on about the "fix" you can do (capacitor change), you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear etc etc

The door trims defo need some attacking with damping panels and mastic though to stop all that bass from buzzing!

The door trims defo need some attacking with damping panels and mastic though to stop all that bass from buzzing!

I've got the Audience head unit in my 55 plate L&K, and I also had the optional multi-speaker upgrade factory fitted.

The sound is gread from CD, apart from some vibration in the door panels on low bass notes - which I find quite distracting.

I probably won't bother trying to fix this in the current car, as I might not have it for much longer, but I was intrigued by your door trim comment above.

How do people go about fixing these bass vibration issues, and can you do it without compromising the appearance / resale value of the car? (ie. is is easy to get inside the panels and refix them without it showing, and once in, what do people recommend as a fix?).

Cheers

Neil

That comment means I have to think even harder of a reason not to upgrade my Bolero to a Columbus.... Damn you man, couldn't you have kept quiet

That's relatively easy - think around £1300 and no full postcode entry!!

Columbus is way too expensive for what it offers.

Seriously - I did consider a Columbus, but just too expensive.

Although it has to be an add on item, (i.e not integrated in the dash) a TomTom GO750 Live at £190 is actually a much, much better nav device.

John.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Psycholist - Did you plug in your iPod via your AUX in or the MDI in the Glove Box?

I have the non mp3 Stream, which has no Aux in pins on the back, so I had to add the aux by switching into the line the CD changer in the boot feeds the radio with. The mp3 player has to be turned up higher than you'd use it with earphones to be audible, but it works well provided your MP3 player has a decent amplifier and you start with good quality mp3's. With the MDI, which presumably is a USB interface, the sound levels should match the radio and CD levels better and the radio amplifier will be the only source of noise if the input sound is clean to begin with.

I've got the Audience head unit in my 55 plate L&K, and I also had the optional multi-speaker upgrade factory fitted.

The sound is gread from CD, apart from some vibration in the door panels on low bass notes - which I find quite distracting.

I probably won't bother trying to fix this in the current car, as I might not have it for much longer, but I was intrigued by your door trim comment above.

How do people go about fixing these bass vibration issues, and can you do it without compromising the appearance / resale value of the car? (ie. is is easy to get inside the panels and refix them without it showing, and once in, what do people recommend as a fix?).

Cheers

Neil

The door trims basically need a liberal application of damping sheet. There are numerous options out there which range from pretty reasonable to stupidly expensive. You can apply this without it being seen once the trim is back on. Also removing the tweeter grills and refix with some silicon sealant.

Removing trim is relativly easy - get some of these - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-DOOR-TRIM-CLIP-UPHOLSTERY-REMOVAL-TOOL-REMOVER_W0QQitemZ260570672678QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hand_Tools_Equipment?hash=item3cab38ee26

Remember to get some spare plastic clips because they are easy to break. Dealer can supply for minimal outlay. Trick is use caution and limit the use of crowbars and hammer