Canton or no Canton ?

[SkudMissile21]

I found the stock system (no canton here) in my 2018 sportline was actually quite impressive with a decent thump but needed the bass turned right up to achieve this which I recognised was not gonna last long before speakers blew.

Adding my existing (from previous car install) 12” sub in custom built (by me) twin ported enclosure with a 500w rms amp and LC2i signal converter has filled the sound in really well and was relatively cheap (£200 on top of what I already had). It has a seriously powerful punch (I know it will be FAR more potent than the paltry 6” sub in a canton) and has enabled me to run the bass eq flat.

I do run mid and high a bit above flat but find it sounds perfectly acceptable to me now.

[bubib5]

Well, coming from an A6 with bose sound, my 2016 superb combi with canton is a bit underperforming compared to my Audi, but its not a failure, i have no need for upgrades as 99% of the time its driven is with two kids onboard so no use in blasting the stereo..
But, i do have a question, do you need to set your bass, mid, high levels, sourround sounds, subwoffer level for every input type? Meaning, if i set my sound the way i like it on radio, will it be the same on music played from the hard drive/sd cards, or when using bluetooth? I did notice a difference with bass when i plugged my phone in to use android auto, and there are no sound settings when in android auto?

 

Sorry for the long post!

[Paikesejanku]

The system will apply same EQ and SUB level for every input (this is one con of the HU). Only surround can be different. I have noticed that radio has less bass, best sound will come from SD/USB, Bluetooth is in the middle and is dependent of source sound settings.

 

Different car user profiles can have their own sound settings.

Edited 1 May, 2021 by Paikesejanku

[LukasK]

How much Bose system upgrade in Audi cost comparing Superb Canton? How much cost the sound insulation? 

Its just huge difference between Canton and no Canton in Superb, same added difference could be again comparing Canton to any other premium system from premium cars. But like it or not, for 85% people, there is even no difference between Canton and No Canton... No offense, but having good trained ears sounds like a curse in this world, you can be hardly satisfied with anything mass-produced.

[mszulc]

I have my Superb for 2weeks now. Coming from Audi with Bose. To me the standard stereo is just not good enough. Seems flat and weak. I'm not a music buff but would say if you have a choice for for canton. I may need to look at options for upgrade down the line😁

 

[Redboy]

29 minutes ago, mszulc said:

I have my Superb for 2weeks now. Coming from Audi with Bose. To me the standard stereo is just not good enough. Seems flat and weak. I'm not a music buff but would say if you have a choice for for canton. I may need to look at options for upgrade down the 

If you're not an audiophile, Canton is fine playing iTunes Spotify etc.  Canton or custom will improve it, depending on your budget or DIY skills. 

[bubib5]

2 hours ago, mszulc said:

I have my Superb for 2weeks now. Coming from Audi with Bose. To me the standard stereo is just not good enough. Seems flat and weak. I'm not a music buff but would say if you have a choice for for canton. I may need to look at options for upgrade down the line😁

 

I moved from an 2012 A6 to the superb, my Audi had Bose, my superb has canton, ill give the Bose an advantage for sure, but Canton is not trash, im not an audiophile by any means, and most of the time i just listen stuff from youtubemusic, and liste to it quietly, but there are times when i do blast it, and its not "bad", has some punch to it, and thats it! Works for me for sure!

[mszulc]

2 hours ago, Redboy said:

If you're not an audiophile, Canton is fine playing iTunes Spotify etc.  Canton or custom will improve it, depending on your budget or DIY skills. 

Not audiophile so don't need anything super special, I have no DIY skills at all and no idea what decent upgrade (for bit deaf person) costs.😂

[Roberto280]

The only way to really know if you like the sound of a system is to listen to it.

Same as test driving a car, different inputs, different genres, different levels.

 

If you want an upgrade, go to your local car audio specialist and have a chat.

Be honest with your wants and budget, they can cater for all different wants (or at least they should) just don't bother with the likes of Halfords.... 

[Bejam]

Update on my custom install, in case it's useful to anyone.

 

The system was done in two stages - firstly, the speakers were upgraded to Audison Voce bass, mid and tweeter - plus the doors were comprehensively dampened with dyna-mat.

 

The next stage was to remove the stock amp and replace with an Audison 8 channel digital amp - this includes DSP on all channels, making a fully active system with time alignment and EQ on each speaker. This is fed optically from a Zen- V 150 Module, which converts the "MOST" optical digital signal into Toslink. This module sits invisibly behind the dash, next to the sat-nav brains in the glovebox.

 

A couple of nice but subtle touches are the tweeter builds, which incorporate the original door corner mouldings and the remote control for the amp, which now sits in the little cubby to the right of the steering wheel (and still retains one pound coins for Aldi trollies ). All finished tastefully in a similar Alcantara to the OE material. Pics below, including some the techs took during installation.

Edited 11 May, 2021 by Bejam

[Bejam]

The finished articles.

[Bejam]

Cute JL sub that sits unobtrusively in the boot. Huge improvement over the Canton bloater.

 

Total cost, including kit and installation - circa £3K.

 

Audio File In Car, Bishop's Stortford.

[Roberto280]

21 hours ago, Bejam said:

Cute JL sub that sits unobtrusively in the boot. Huge improvement over the Canton bloater.

 

Total cost, including kit and installation - circa £3K.

 

Audio File In Car, Bishop's Stortford.

 

Great job Bejam, very nice install.

 

Enjoy the sounds, I'm so much happier with mine 

 

[Bejam]

18 minutes ago, Roberto280 said:

 

Great job Bejam, very nice install.

 

Enjoy the sounds, I'm so much happier with mine 

 

 

Thanks Roberto - no credit due to me, though 

 

Apparently your installer was swapping notes with Gary at Audiofile In Car who was installing mine - these were the first Skoda systems they have both done. Interesting that yours is using analogue outs from the Zen 150, going into an amp that has a DSP stage before the amp. Does your amp not have optical inputs?

 

Dunno if it has anything to do with the following:

 

VI Products, who make the Zen, are writing a firmware patch for my setup, after a phone call with Audiofile In Car. The Zen Toslink (digital) outputs default at somewhere between 6 to 10dB down because of the tone controls on the Skoda headunit. These can cause clipping if used over enthusiastically - I won't be using them at all, so they're re-writing my firmware to give a 10dB boost. This may or may not affect you with your analogue connection - but may be worth checking, as the analogue outputs on the Zen may also be lower by default to avoid clipping, in which case you might not be getting all of the potential from the system.

 

Ben.

Edited 12 May, 2021 by Bejam

[Roberto280]

16 hours ago, Bejam said:

 

Thanks Roberto - no credit due to me, though 

 

Apparently your installer was swapping notes with Gary at Audiofile In Car who was installing mine - these were the first Skoda systems they have both done. Interesting that yours is using analogue outs from the Zen 150, going into an amp that has a DSP stage before the amp. Does your amp not have optical inputs?

 

Dunno if it has anything to do with the following:

 

VI Products, who make the Zen, are writing a firmware patch for my setup, after a phone call with Audiofile In Car. The Zen Toslink (digital) outputs default at somewhere between 6 to 10dB down because of the tone controls on the Skoda headunit. These can cause clipping if used over enthusiastically - I won't be using them at all, so they're re-writing my firmware to give a 10dB boost. This may or may not affect you with your analogue connection - but may be worth checking, as the analogue outputs on the Zen may also be lower by default to avoid clipping, in which case you might not be getting all of the potential from the system.

 

Ben.

Hey Ben,

That wasn't my system under discussion, I'm using the MOST to optical interface:

https://www.audison.eu/products/bit-dmi/

 

This is the system in question:

https://www.facebook.com/170124986379280/posts/4073941862664220/

 

I'm getting a straight line clean output to the DSP.

[brandonward]

I am really interested to know how you got the Zen-V working on the Skoda. Do you have the Harman 9.2" infotainment screen without the buttons? The company behind the Zen-V don't officially support Skoda and were not helpful when I asked them to assist as they don't have these vehicles in the USA and quoted 3-4 lead time for development - annoying for a £700 device.

 

I have a 2017 67 plate Superb Sport line with the Harman MIB II head unit and 9.2" discover pro style screen.

 

I am aware you can reflash the head unit to VW firmware which likely gets it working - I just wondered what head unit you had and if your installer got it working out of the box or did any type of firmware update to the MIB in the glovebox/if the Zen is reliable in the Skoda.

 

This information would be a great help to me before I go down the rabbit hole of trying to MAKE the Zen work despite all the issues with compatibility.