Bolero sound system on Octavia RS III

[darkpuh]

I'm thinking of getting new speakers for at least the front doors. I have this http://www.focal.com/en/expert/280-ps-165-3544052750119.html in mind, but I still need to get the verification from the dealer regarding the size and specs of the door speakers.

[neiln]

I would think they would be very nice. Please let us know how you get on

[neiln]

I just stumbled across this which might offer some ideas

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sound-off-show-off/127485-where-no-one-has-gone-before-ice-my-skoda-laura-l-k.html

[andymurray83]

I have just ordered my new Octavia VRS yesterday which I will have in July, Glad I have gone with the Canton, bit annoyed there was no car in the show room with it fitted to get a DEMO!!! but i'm sure its going to be good

[Matty70]

When i Order my next VRS in a couple of months Time i will be having the Canton as the Standard Set up is a let down and as i get my cars tax free the Cost of having the Canton Makes it a Must have, i have also told a Few People over Here that have ordered a VRS to have the Canton, be nice if it Came Standard on the VRS:-).

[darkpuh]

I'll keep you posted of my findings. My friend who owns a hifi store here in Turku said he believes the door to hold 6" speakers like other VW cars, but I need to get a verification before I go on and order any replacements.

 

The car dealership said it'll be about 150 euros to replace the speakers. I'm not sure if it's enough to replace the front door speakers or should I change the back door ones as well.

[andyvee]

I have just ordered my new Octavia VRS yesterday which I will have in July, Glad I have gone with the Canton, bit annoyed there was no car in the show room with it fitted to get a DEMO!!! but i'm sure its going to be good

It is, you wontvbe disappointed

Sent from my phone so please excuse brevity and spelling

[SteveWCombivRS]

I don't think that the Bolero in mine sounds particularly bad at all, it holds a reasonable amount of Bass, I use DAB or SD card for my music...

[andyvee]

The Canton really shows up low bitrate or poorly converted mp3s. With the Columbus you can rip from CD to the internal HDD.

Sent from my phone so please excuse brevity and spelling

[av207]

I'll keep you posted of my findings. My friend who owns a hifi store here in Turku said he believes the door to hold 6" speakers like other VW cars, but I need to get a verification before I go on and order any replacements.

 

The car dealership said it'll be about 150 euros to replace the speakers. I'm not sure if it's enough to replace the front door speakers or should I change the back door ones as well.

 

I am also unhappy with the sound quality of the standard Bolero setup and have been considering replacing the speakers so I would be curious to know how you fare.

[baz555]

I am also unhappy with the sound quality of the standard Bolero setup and have been considering replacing the speakers so I would be curious to know how you fare.

As i have stated on another topic i am also unhappy with Bolero ...so I am having a sub fitted next week  to the car...

As sub's now much slimmer,  they can be hidden under front seat

Save changing the speakers.. and sounds fab

Sub plus fitting £300

[av207]

@baz555 Good to hear that your new setup sounds great, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

I’ve been hoping that after a few months of 'running in' the speakers, there would be a noticeable improvement in sound quality, but so far after 3 months of use there’s no change whatsoever. As has been pointed out by @SNR, there’s also a tendency for the bass to be masked by road noise (especially on studded winter tyres) at higher speeds, making the Bolero sound even more like an old transistor radio.

 

Anyway, I am still undecided which route to take, so I'd be happy to hear @darkpuh about your experience with upgrading the speakers, or what you’ve found so far.

[Orville]

Before I received my VRS I was under the impression that both the Bolero and tha Canton upgrade were sub-standard audio systems. Before test driving a TSI with Canton and a TDI with Bolero I was used to a very decent BMW sound system. Both the Skoda options seemed poor in comparison, but during the 5 month gap in between ordering my VRS and receiving it, I had to hand my BMW lease car back and make do with my wife's Megane. After months of driving the Megane the Bolero within my new VRS now sounds very good indeed.

Moral of the story is that perception of sound quality largely depends upon what you are used to. The Bolero is certainly not the best quality in the world, but it is good enough for most people.

[pipsyp]

Standard sound system with some settings tweaks and a bit of running in does sound good; its just not particularly loud.

It definitely has some artificial volume compression on it; either to prevent rattling door trims or blown woofers, i dont think the componentry is bad at all its just been done on the Octavia by design more likely.....it does actually work....at no point do the woofers distort and door trim rattles are minimal to none.

The 20w per channel headunit (Amundsen +) I had in my MK2 was louder and bassier but honestly wouldnt describe it as better. The rear speakers rattled the ass out of the door trims when turned up a reasonable amount.

Edited 10 March, 2014 by pipsyp

[baz555]

 

@baz555 Good to hear that your new setup sounds great, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

I’ve been hoping that after a few months of 'running in' the speakers, there would be a noticeable improvement in sound quality, but so far after 3 months of use there’s no change whatsoever. As has been pointed out by @SNR, there’s also a tendency for the bass to be masked by road noise (especially on studded winter tyres) at higher speeds, making the Bolero sound even more like an old transistor radio.

 

Anyway, I am still undecided which route to take, so I'd be happy to hear @darkpuh about your experience with upgrading the speakers, or what you’ve found so far.

 

Chatting to a audio guys when I had my sub fitted, he told me it only takes a week to run in a set of car speakers...!!

and if i wanted to change the speakers to.. you need to sound proof the door as well.. to give a better sound..

I won't be changing my one.. as this sub makes it sound so much better

[alancha]

I wasn't sure whether to open a new thread or re-open this dormant one but it seemed logical to continue this...

 

I've had my VRS TDI estate for about 10 days now and I have to say it has exceeded my expectations in almost all respects - even the performance and driver experience compared with my previous car, a Mk5 Golf GTi, so I'm a happy customer.

 

The one nagging disappointment is the sound system - the standard Bolero setup.  When i first listened to some music I couldn't believe how bad it sounded.  It reminded me of a 70s transistor radio as someone said here - thin and jangly, no stereo separation and no bass audible at all (I really mean no bass - not just not enough).  I didn't mention it to my wife but the first time she put on some music, she almost immediately commented on the poor sound too.  We really thought no sound at all was coming from the door speakers until I stopped and put my ear to them. I experimented with the bass/middle/treble controls and ended up with the bass on maximum, treble on minimum and the middle below centre, which seemed to be the least unpleasant sound I could achieve.

 

I don't expect hi-fi in the car and I know better sound is available for a higher price but I've never had a car in which I found the standard sound setup so unsatisfactory.  To be fair, I would say that the sound in the higher registers has an undistorted clarity that is better than I'd expect - this is noticeable particularly with some female singers.

 

That was our first impression...

 

We then started experimenting and found that contrary to our first impression some music actually sounded quite good.  We listen to a wide variety of genres, including rock, pop, new country and all kinds of classical.  So, for example, The Eagles "Long Road Out of Eden" (bought as an mp3 download) sounded good, as did Lee Ann Womack "I Hope you Dance" (home-ripped at 128kbps) and Art Garfunkel's "Fate for Breakfast" (home ripped at 192kpbs).   These all sound good (with the bass up and the treble down as described).  On the other hand Bruce Springsteen's "The River" (home-ripped at 128kbps) sounds terrible - and unfortunately this happens to have been the first thing I tried.  A lot of the classical music I've tried sounds poor too - especially the large ensembles in symphonies, concertos and operas, where the sound lacks richness and depth so is all rather muddled and flat.

 

I hoped that poor quality mp3s might have been the answer so I tried re-ripping "The River" at 256kbps and then, taking the first track, compared the 128kbps and 256kpbs mp3s and the CD. However, in the car - even stationary with no engine noise - I couldn't tell the difference and I believe I have a good ear for music.

 

The River is an interesting example though as I tried listening critically to it through Bose headphones and realised that in fact the recorded sound quality on the album is not very good anyway.  I therefore think that what's happening is that the car has an inherent tendency to make things sound a bit thin and harsh, so unless the recording has a rich enough sound to counteract that, it makes a poor recording like The River sound horrible, rather than just about OK as it would on other equipment.

 

So, where am I? 

 

I have all my music and my wife's on a 64GB SD card in the car, but some of it is so unpleasant to listen to I think we'll always have to pick and choose what sounds OK and what doesn't. This really seems such a pity.  There doesn't seem to be anything else for me to do or try, other than to install after-market replacement or add-on speakers with unpredictable results.  I really don't want a boomy over-heavy bass - I just want a clean balanced sound across all frequencies and a sense of space that should come from proper stereo balance.

 

It's not really a question but I'd of course be glad of any further thoughts or experiences from others that might help.

[neiln]

Think what you have experienced matches my thoughts so far.  I finally got my vrs at the start of june and have now covered 600 miles. I've found the bolero to be much better then I remembered from my get drive. Overall it's been okay. The sound isn't hifi but okay, but some tracks so sound bad.  I've everything ripped at high bit rate and some tracks still sound poor.

I was (before i'd got the car) seriously considering getting a moderate amp, 4 half decent speakers and possibly a small under seat sub. Now I've had the car.... Hmm....I might just get one of those small powered sub's, or may just live with standard, it's quite enjoyable most of the time.

[pipsyp]

You have to jack the bass, mid and treble settings right up to get a half decent sound out of the standard system, even then its bordering on being a bit flat.

My biggest complaint isnt so much sound quality as utter lack of volume on any music that contains alot of low end bass. On some songs its really noticeable, an advantage is it never really distorts (as it cant generally output enough sound to upset the drivers) but its horrible.

I think VAG have done something to protect against blown speakers but its massively overkill. I think the standard system has potential to sound rather good but is held back by this artificial restriction.

Shame as the system in my very late model Mk2 vRS sounded way better and its annoying to buy a 23k family car nowadays and have to live with a weak sound system, particularly if you like music.

[neiln]

All you are doing there is increasing the volume, not altering the mix of frequencies and hence the nature of the sound.  However, if it works for you then carry on.

[alancha]

Shame as the system in my very late model Mk2 vRS sounded way better and its annoying to buy a 23k family car nowadays and have to live with a weak sound system, particularly if you like music.

 

 

I agree - it is annoying.  Also, if I'd known this I'd have considered upgrading the sound at the time of ordering, so I'm slightly disappointed that the salesman didn't suggest it.  It didn't even occur to me to listen to music on the test drive - a mistake I won't make again in future.

Edited 8 July, 2014 by alancha

[London Les]

As a slight tangent - I was a bit surprised to read in the manual that changing the speakers is a 'specialist' job because the doors are sealed with pressure sensors for the side airbags. Don't know how serious it is.

[harrysprout]

I have Canton and to be honest it ain't that much. I wouldn't beat yersen up over not speccing. I had the Stream unit in my MK II vRS and that sounded like a much more composed set up. Hardly any distortion even when played at insane volume. OK the treble may have been a bit 'quacky' but it was a very solid, together sound.

 

I get the impression that the speakers in the front of the MK III's are cheap and start to go woolly, completely losing it when the sound is cranked up. That then leaves you with the Sub, which is fifty billion miles away in the back trying to compensate. giving a very disjointed sound.

[Farsider]

I had 'kick ass' Genesis audio in my V6 motion Golf with a 12" B&W sub - thundering bass. The Sound Gallery in High Wycombe hooked me up with it and did a custom install for £2200. Yes, I was a bit of chav when it came to ICE back then.

 

So the Canton isn't anywhere near as good as that but with the exception of the thundering bass, I'd say its 75% as good. Much better than the stock audio I listen to on my test drive. I think the Canton is well worth the upgrade. The Canton sub isn't anywhere near a powerful as I was hoping but I've quite pleased the 'downgrade' from my Golf. 

[666djb]

The Bolero in my vRS is at least as good as the standard system in my old Mk5 GTi. I only ever use Spotify via Bluetooth.

[pipsyp]

Sound system in the Mk5 Golf was horrendous though so wouldnt be hard