The standard system in my SE is less then wonderful - despite fiddling with the tone controls it still sounds tinny - the frequency spread seems to be there but the sound is quite coloured. I suspect that there might be some improvements with better speakers - any one with reasonably priced ideas???

I suppose it depends on what music you listen to, but I find the audio quality of my SE excellent.

Currently in the CD is:

Steeleye Span (x3)

Kate Rusby

On the SD card:

Kate Rusby

Fishermens Friends

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus

Paula Nutini

The standard system in my SE is less then wonderful - despite fiddling with the tone controls it still sounds tinny - the frequency spread seems to be there but the sound is quite coloured. I suspect that there might be some improvements with better speakers - any one with reasonably priced ideas???

Hi

I think it depends what you are used to. I went from a Audi A3 with a bose sound system that was excellent to a bmw with the standard professional system which was not as good but I deamed it adequate. Also the bmw high output system was another £700!

If I do purchase a Yeti I would be looking at the up-rated sound system.

Edited 12 November, 201015 yr by Micky H

Presume you have upgraded to the 12 speaker Soundsystem.

Personally I see little point in having a HI-FI setup in a car as engine noise, tyre roar and wind noise (not to mention nattering passengers) has a detrimental effect on any sound system. Spend the money on a decent set up for your home.

Not one for music in the car much myself, often prefer to listen to the car (retd. aero engine fitter; habits die hard ) However like Terfyn when I do listen to the radio or CD then I'm also quite happy with the standard set-up.

My previous Golf had a factory radio speaker upgrade, which yes when I first listened to it sounded good, however you get used to such things and therefore 'forget' it's any better than what you had before; if you know what I mean.

Therefore my Monster III order will have the standard 8 speakers again, baring any more cost cutting that is :S

Regards,

TP

If you speak to someone on here called Focus_Zetec he knows a lot about audio and could probably advise you what would be a good course of action to take it you really want to improve the stereo?

r

I personally find no problem with the standard system but if ordering one for myself I could see the value in opting for the upgrade system.

On the Seat cupra forum, a number of us changed from the stock speakers to Infinity and the difference was significant and it only cost just over a hundred at the time. Mind you, the stock speakers had paper cones as opposed to carbon fibre weave on the Infinitys. I'll have a good listen to the system in my Yeti when I get it.

Anyone know whether the stock speakers in the Yeti have paper cones?

I suppose the problem with speakers is how much do you want to pay?

From experience, I've ran the JBL power series from an amp and head unit and they are very good quality. I'm not sure what size the SM takes yet, but these are roughly the thing. http://jblcaraudio.co.uk/p6560c-2-way-16-5cm-components

Laterally I installed some focal speakers, which reproduce sound better then the JBLs (just), I had something like http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-focal-165vb_p-24094.htm

I was going to go for the speaker upgrade, but for the same price, I can install quality as opposed to quantity .......

Part of it depends on what sort of music you listen to, and there is a good argument that if you are listening to MP3s, at anything less than 320kbs, then it's wasted money.

For a mainstream unit I don't think the bolero is actually too bad to be honest. It does need some tweaking (how is personal taste though i guess) and I seem to recall the mid range was a little lacking and the overall sound could have sounded more natural and balanced. However compared to some other factory upgrades ive listened too (Audi's B&O in the A8, jag XFs amazing B&W, VW and Volvo Dynaudio systems spring straight to mind) I'd say the skoda premium system is fairly clearly in a lower league. The premium 12 speaker upgrade is not night and day better compared to the standard 8 speaker setup but it does give 'more' in many ways; the bass is more natural and there's more of it. The treble doesn't seem as shrill at standard settings and the separation on offer is definitely better IMO. Overall it is a more capable system giving a fuller, more realistic sound.

Below is a cut and paste of a previous post I made, it's sort of relevant here and as the search engine isn't amazing thought I'd put it in....

"Bearing in mind A/V is my job and home cinema/hi-fi is a strong interest of mine I spent some time researching this before ordering....

I have listened to a couple of dealer cars now with the sound system in place, a couple of standard ones and then I met up with Aerofurb to listen to a few of my 'test' tracks also. I was after ordering the Columbus with the sound system and thats what Aerofurb has.

After some fairly extensive listening in the demo cars and about 15 mins in Aerofurbs Yeti I have come to the conclusion that it offers a higher quality sound (as you'd expect!) - notably, more seperation between treble, mid and the low end. The crossovers betwwen them seem to be spot on too. However, the difference isnt night and day between the two speaker packages and in terms of head unit quality I dont think the Bolero sounded much different to the Columbus unit, each running either the standard setup or the enhanced speaker/amp setup. Again as you'd expect, the sound system upgrade has more oomph but this is also its only downfall when placed in the Yeti. When you get bassy tracks in nearly all cars Ive tried, to varying degrees, it sends vibrations through the adjoining trim panels. The first one I heard was so bad the dealer said it must be faulty, the second was better but certainly not perfect and Aerofurbs was the best of the lot; only vibrating on certain bass notes and at a higher volume.

Im wondering myself if I may end up removing the door panels and adding some dynomatting - I'll nail down exactly whats vibrating when I take delivery and go from there.

Overall all though it is a better sound and 90% of listening isnt affected by the vibrating trim issue. For me, the small additional outlay meant it was a fairly safe bet."

The above was posted before I took delivery and I don't have any issues with unwanted vibrations so I never needed to do any further work on the system.

Both the standard 8 speaker setup and the 12 speakers use paper cones btw, as mentioned above, you could spend anything on a decent aftermarket setup. My personal preference has always been for Alpine DDDrive components which I've used in two of my cars to great effect. Speaker sound is a fairly personal choice however.

Hope that helps.

Edited 11 November, 201015 yr by FocusZtec

I bought my Yeti as an ex-demonstrator and it came with the Bolero and standard 8 speaker setup.

I gather the enhanced 12 speaker setup has an amp and I presume 2 more tweeters and 2 more normal size speakers?

Could anyone tell me:

1. Where the extra speakers are within the car, and where the amp is?

2. Can you buy the amp/speakers/any required mountings etc to retrofit it?

3. If you can buy it, is the wiring likely to already be there to just plug in the extra items or is it going to be a big job (ie. not worth the hassle?)

Cheers,

Edited 12 November, 201015 yr by RallySimon

I bought my Yeti as an ex-demonstrator and it came with the Bolero and standard 8 speaker setup.

I gather the enhanced 12 speaker setup has an amp and I presume 2 more tweeters and 2 more normal size speakers?

Could anyone tell me:

1. Where the extra speakers are within the car, and where the amp is?

2. Can you buy the amp/speakers/any required mountings etc to retrofit it?

3. If you can buy it, is the wiring likely to already be there to just plug in the extra items or is it going to be a big job (ie. not worth the hassle?)

Cheers,

I can't answer all but look at the attached pictures to show you the extra speaker positions on the doors.

And a picture of the speaker in the front door.

I bought my Yeti as an ex-demonstrator and it came with the Bolero and standard 8 speaker setup.

I gather the enhanced 12 speaker setup has an amp and I presume 2 more tweeters and 2 more normal size speakers?

Could anyone tell me:

1. Where the extra speakers are within the car, and where the amp is?

2. Can you buy the amp/speakers/any required mountings etc to retrofit it?

3. If you can buy it, is the wiring likely to already be there to just plug in the extra items or is it going to be a big job (ie. not worth the hassle?)

Cheers,

Each door has a treble, mid range and 'bass' speaker.

The digital amp is located under the passenger seat of my rhd Yeti.

You must be able to buy the parts but in my opinion the cost will be massive and in terms of quality you'd be better off buying aftermarket kit.

Id say no, the wiring for the additional speakers and amp etc wont be there on all cars - im guessing the loom would be installed at factory only if the option has been specified.

Each door has a treble, mid range and 'bass' speaker.

The digital amp is located under the passenger seat of my rhd Yeti.

You must be able to buy the parts but in my opinion the cost will be massive and in terms of quality you'd be better off buying aftermarket kit.

Id say no, the wiring for the additional speakers and amp etc wont be there on all cars - im guessing the loom would be installed at factory only if the option has been specified.

There was some chat about this in the Superb II forum recently. It wa suggested that another issue is that the Bolero and Columbus head units are differently configured to interface with the additional amplifier when the premium audio is specified. It is not standard audio pre-outs and there is some control interfacing via CANBUS.

I haven't specified premium audio on my Superb due to mixed reports on how good it was. Neither of the demonstrators I had on overnight loan had the premium audio option and the standard audio was 'ok'. At the moment I am mostly in the car on my own and listen to podcasts from an RF connected iPod as I cannot be arsed mucking around with CDs; the RF connection is no good for music. However I figured that £360 cost of the premium audio should cover the cost of a reasonable after-market upgrade of speakers etc should I start listening to music again and I find that the an upgrade becomes necessary. I have specified MDI, but I don't think you Yeti folk get that option.

Best regards

David

Edited 12 November, 201015 yr by cookdn

Thanks for the quick answers!

As I suspected, not an easy retrofit, so I will look at other options. It doesn't sound that bad anyway, just the lack of any bass as soon as you get on the move leaves it sounding a bit lacking.

I've got a Blaupunkt Active Sub/Amp thingy I removed from my Fabia before changing cars - just can't work out how to connect it up in the Yeti

I suppose it depends on what music you listen to, but I find the audio quality of my SE excellent.

Currently in the CD is:

Steeleye Span (x3)

Kate Rusby

On the SD card:

Kate Rusby

Fishermens Friends

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus

Paula Nutini

Pretty much what I have apart from the new Micky Bubbles CD as requested by my 8 year old.

For a mainstream unit I don't think the bolero is actually too bad to be honest. It does need some tweaking (how is personal taste though i guess) and I seem to recall the mid range was a little lacking and the overall sound could have sounded more natural and balanced. However compared to some other factory upgrades ive listened too (Audi's B&O in the A8, jag XFs amazing B&W, VW and Volvo Dynaudio systems spring straight to mind) I'd say the skoda premium system is fairly clearly in a lower league. The premium 12 speaker upgrade is not night and day better compared to the standard 8 speaker setup but it does give 'more' in many ways; the bass is more natural and there's more of it. The treble doesn't seem as shrill at standard settings and the separation on offer is definitely better IMO. Overall it is a more capable system giving a fuller, more realistic sound.

Below is a cut and paste of a previous post I made, it's sort of relevant here and as the search engine isn't amazing thought I'd put it in....

"Bearing in mind A/V is my job and home cinema/hi-fi is a strong interest of mine I spent some time researching this before ordering....

I have listened to a couple of dealer cars now with the sound system in place, a couple of standard ones and then I met up with Aerofurb to listen to a few of my 'test' tracks also. I was after ordering the Columbus with the sound system and thats what Aerofurb has.

After some fairly extensive listening in the demo cars and about 15 mins in Aerofurbs Yeti I have come to the conclusion that it offers a higher quality sound (as you'd expect!) - notably, more seperation between treble, mid and the low end. The crossovers betwwen them seem to be spot on too. However, the difference isnt night and day between the two speaker packages and in terms of head unit quality I dont think the Bolero sounded much different to the Columbus unit, each running either the standard setup or the enhanced speaker/amp setup. Again as you'd expect, the sound system upgrade has more oomph but this is also its only downfall when placed in the Yeti. When you get bassy tracks in nearly all cars Ive tried, to varying degrees, it sends vibrations through the adjoining trim panels. The first one I heard was so bad the dealer said it must be faulty, the second was better but certainly not perfect and Aerofurbs was the best of the lot; only vibrating on certain bass notes and at a higher volume.

Im wondering myself if I may end up removing the door panels and adding some dynomatting - I'll nail down exactly whats vibrating when I take delivery and go from there.

Overall all though it is a better sound and 90% of listening isnt affected by the vibrating trim issue. For me, the small additional outlay meant it was a fairly safe bet."

The above was posted before I took delivery and I don't have any issues with unwanted vibrations so I never needed to do any further work on the system.

Both the standard 8 speaker setup and the 12 speakers use paper cones btw, as mentioned above, you could spend anything on a decent aftermarket setup. My personal preference has always been for Alpine DDDrive components which I've used in two of my cars to great effect. Speaker sound is a fairly personal choice however.

Hope that helps.

I would agree with you exactly on your comments on the sound quality. It's not bad but not great either - like there is some "presence" missing to give "body" to the music - not just bass. I have a Linn LP12 / NAIM hifi but still enjoy listening to music on cheap n cheerful stuff - but it must sound "nice". The SD card with the MP3 sounds the worst of the sources but then some new recordings are naff - both the Robert Plant "Band of Joy" and Elton's latest leave something to be desired in sound quality - especially once they have been ripped on iTunes! I was fortunate enough to listen to the B&O system in an Audi A5 with an IPOD linked into the system and it was impressive. But way to much $$$$!

If its of any use, these are what were fitted in the Seat Altea

and were replaced by these

The woofers were easy to get at and the coaxials sounded much nicer than the stock setup with separate tweeters. To replace with components in that car meant a lot of bother dismantling the door, which most, including me, didn't bother with. The original tweeters were just disconnected.

Something similar may be possible in the Yeti, if it is possible to get at the speaker easily, ie without dismantling the door.

So has anyone had the door panels off their Yeti yet?

IThe original tweeters were just disconnected.

This was a mod that several people did to their octavia's to improve the sound - the ones in the rear door.

Mike

If its of any use, these are what were fitted in the Seat Altea

and were replaced by these

The woofers were easy to get at and the coaxials sounded much nicer than the stock setup with separate tweeters. To replace with components in that car meant a lot of bother dismantling the door, which most, including me, didn't bother with. The original tweeters were just disconnected.

Something similar may be possible in the Yeti, if it is possible to get at the speaker easily, ie without dismantling the door.

Nice looking speakers - central treble unit by the look of them!

Anyone know how to remove the speakers in the front door?.

Its looking like i have to remove the entire door panel.......

I've got a Blaupunkt Active Sub/Amp thingy I removed from my Fabia before changing cars - just can't work out how to connect it up in the Yeti

I figured I could pay the local audio fitter to tap into the speaker wires to get a feed, or instead put the money towards Blaupunkt pnp amp and loom - took the latter option - really easy to fit - not a single wire cut (so easy to return to stock and maybe reuse in yeti replacement as and when).

Nice looking speakers - central treble unit by the look of them!

Yes they were fairly decent speakers and the centre tweeter unit was adjustable in terms of gain and direction, certainly a nicer soundstage than stock, in spite of not having a separate tweeter located higher up.

I did this on all four doors of the Altea, as that stock setup was the same in each door.

The key thing with that small mod, was that the woofer enclosure just popped off easily on the Altea, giving easy access. I have the distinct feeling it isn't going to be possible on the Yeti as the speaker covers are one piece with the door panel.