B&O Quality

[audunfr]

Hello again.
I was wondering if someone has listen to the A4's Bang & Olufsen audio system.
How is the quality? as expected to that price? and how is B&O vs Audi Sound System?

Thanks for any answers :-)

- Audun

[mluton]

Not sure on the B&O system, but the BOSE system is a massive gain in sound system over the standard setup in the older Audi's

[audunfr]

ok.

I was in a 2003 Audi A6 some days ago and it was god sound in that car. Just wondering if i can expect a wonderful sound for that amount of money.

Thanks for replying :-)

- Audun

[vizik8]

I've tried it in a S5. Not the best sound quality for that sort of money, but it is impossible to upgrade the exisiting system. It actually sounds better on the road(when you are driving very very fast!) as it has a special system to cancel the road noises.

[audunfr]

Thanks.

I think I will go for a B&O if i buy a A4.
Its not that big a different from the Audi Sound System when it comes to pricing :-)

Any other reply is more than welcome.

- Audun

[HighwayTG]

I've ordered my A4 with the B&O sound system.

14 speakers, 10 amplifiers, 505w and tuned especially for the A4 interior acoustics ... it's got to sound good.

and as a bonus, it also improves the interior looks of the a4 with the high quality chrome ringed speakers.

http://www.bang-olufsen.com/page.asp?id=380

[audunfr]

Nice.
Audi knows what they are doing :-).

My current Toyota Avensis has big problem every-time i turn on the radio.
But in the cars defense i like it medium loud with a good feeling of bass.
But the Toyota always lets me down.

- Audun

[AndyH123]

I can only compare it to the Bose in my previous Mazda and the Bose that goes in modern Porsche Boxsters, but lets see what I can add.

Overall it is VERY good. If my reasonably high end home audio setup is 10/10, the Mazda Bose is 7/10, Porsche Bose (with adaptive noise cancelling) 8/10, I'd give this 8.75/10.

You get stacks of bass (although not sure how flat a response it is based on a couple of tracks I've heard) and it goes very loud. The top end is crystal clear. The adaptive volume stuff seems very subtle though. On the Mazda you could almost determine your speed based on it, in the Boxster there were clear changes depending on whether you had the roof down or not, in the Audi I'm not actually sure what it is doing. Is it noise cancellation?

The fake surround effect works very well for the most part, exceptionally well at times. Make sure you play with the setting which changes where the sound focus is. Mine was set to "driver" by default, and to my ears it sounds weird. I have it set to "all passengers" until either a traffic report, Sat Nav or phone call interupts. Nice feature.

My only negatives are that it sounds very good when quiet and extremely good when loud but loses a little something in between :) The door pockets are prone to resonance if you've got the usual collection of sunglasses, work pass and pay & display tickets in there!


Overall I'm very happy, definately best in car audio I've heard - and I think all my passengers will agree :)

[audunfr]

Thanks AndyH123 for that.

I think i need to look around to see if any of the Audi's in my town has B&O.
Maybe i'm lucky and could get a test :-)

[volmmer]

Before I bought my A4, me and a friend tested the A5 which has the B&O as standard. The sound was very good, also at high volumes. Then we tested an A4 with the vanilla stereo and that sound was crap in comparison. So much actually, that I ordered my A4 with the B&O. (Also being Danish I have to support the factory :biglaugh:)

regards
/Bob

[vizik8]

I've asked the Audi engineers who are responsible for the new A4 interiors, and they have told me that it's very difficult to upgrade the sound system. Having seen the 14 speakers layout( in compare to the standard 11 units) and it's DSP 505W amp., I have no second thought before I ticked on the option. This B&O system may sound a little bit artificial, but it does give a good surround atmosphere. The only thing that I don't like is the vocal part which sounded too shaded. If anyone has bought this B&O package, I would highly recommend to do a full soundproofing on the doors and underlayer. The new Audi are cutting too much weight, in comparison to Merc and BMW, and hence their road noises are worst than the competitors. The other thing that we can consider is a high capacity battery.

[dc1743]

The fake surround effect works very well for the most part, exceptionally well at times. Make sure you play with the setting which changes where the sound focus is. Mine was set to "driver" by default, and to my ears it sounds weird. I have it set to "all passengers" until either a traffic report, Sat Nav or phone call interupts.

Hi

I read the above yesterday and looked in vane for these settings whilst on the drive home. How do you set the sound focus to "driver" or "passengers"?

Regards

[AndyH123]

Have a look in "Sound" (bottom right quadrant when listening to an audio source). Should be a menu called DSP Bang & Olufsen. In there, from memory, there is a "sound focus" setting with 4 options - "all", "driver", and I think front and rear.

Hope that helps!

[dc1743]

Have a look in "Sound" (bottom right quadrant when listening to an audio source). Should be a menu called DSP Bang & Olufsen. In there, from memory, there is a "sound focus" setting with 4 options - "all", "driver", and I think front and rear.

Hope that helps!

Hi,

I had another look in the Sound menu and can see a DSP option (but not a DSP Bang and Olufsen option). I can select this and turn DSP on or off, however I can not fid any other menu items :confused:

Any clues?

Regards

[AndyH123]

Have to ask the obvious.. you've got the B&O option right?

[dc1743]

Have to ask the obvious.. you've got the B&O option right?

Yes - with silver B&O trim with logo around each speaker.

The car is a B8 2.0 TDI SE - basic spec in other respects - the B&O kit was part of the Audi loyalty deal. :confused:

Regards

[AndyH123]

Have you got Concert or Symphony (single or 6 CD)? Maybe that makes a difference?

[kelvinbishop]

Has one of you got Satnav and the other not. I vaguely remember that some features are only available with the advanced MMI i.e. the one by the gearstick that comes with the Satnav package not the one on the radio when Satnav is not fitted.

[AndyH123]

SatNav here.

[dc1743]

Have you got Concert or Symphony (single or 6 CD)? Maybe that makes a difference?

Concert but no satnav :(:(:(

Regards

[AndyH123]

Well this isn't looking good.. we're concluding that some features of the B&O option are dependent on full blown MMI?

I'd have thought this would be mentioned in the manual. I'll have a look later between the driveway and my Friday evening beverage.

[kelvinbishop]

Looks like I might be right then. That's dissapointing because the A4 I have on order has B&O but no Satnav.

Ah well!!

[AndyH123]

Hi,

Had a quick look in the book - there's definately two DSP menus, one for B&O the other without.

But no mention of this being dependent on flavour of MMI / SatNav or whatever, just says for cars equipped with B&O.

Odd.

[dc1743]

Hi,

Had a quick look in the book - there's definately two DSP menus, one for B&O the other without.

But no mention of this being dependent on flavour of MMI / SatNav or whatever, just says for cars equipped with B&O.

Odd.
Which book? My book is entitled Audi concert Sound System and I can see no mention of separate menus. DSP is mentioned on page 15 - I don't think B&O is mentioned in the book at all.

Regards