B9 Audi Sound System vs B&O

Was a 2011 LCI 'edition' E91. Pretty sure it was the standard set up. Never sounded flat in the middle like this even when new.

Mini cooper D also has always sounded better as does Tiguan.

I have all 3 cars on the drive (mini, Tiguan, and A4) - just spent half hour again fiddling with the bass and treble whilst playing the 'attack of the grey lantern' remaster/reissue. If you know the album you'll understand why this is an excellent test card.


Let me assure you, I am not wrong. If you need to justify your purchase option by convincing yourself that all you read was accurate then fine. Knock yourself out. I have no such desire and would advise anyone who is likely to be bothered by substandard sound to consider upgrading.

Sadly my car allowance would not stretch any further than a sline/tecpack/20k and a Tiguan/SE/8k.

Peace out
Sorry to bring this up again but just been in a 67 Plate Tiguan. SEL Nav model with std stereo. Both the owner of the Tiguan and I agreed the Audi system is vastly superior to the Tiguan. Night and day was his comment. Subjective I know but I think yours must be faulty. Some speakers or an amp? Take it back!
 
I can’t comment on the standard set up, I’ve actuallly never heard it. However I can strongly say the b&O is outstanding. The clarity is superb, bass is excellent without ever becoming too dominant and taking over the track too much.

I’m currently on my 3rd audi (2 s3’s peeked oreviously, the dirt with Bose and the second with b&O) and my current set up is superb for a range of genres. The only part I the b&O that I’m not convinced by is the 3D effect, whilst you can feel the sound becoming more around you I don’t feel it particularly enhances the sound, in many respects it just appears to get louder. However, the clarity is absolutely brilliant.

I have converted all my cd tracks to lossless format however and I do notice a small difference to listening to Apple Music, however it’s not significant enough to spoil the experience.
 
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I am on my second B9 S5 with the first having the standard set up and this one the B&O. The B&O is better but certainly not £750 better and I wouldnt spec it personally. The HK system in my dads new 540 is notably better and the Burmeister system in Mercs is in another league. IF anything I am slightly disappointed with the B&O.
The standard system kicks out a reasonable amount of bass and you could spend your £750 on another option
 
Having hopped straight from my car into one without the B&O, the difference is very noticeable. I would say that the mid and low end is better on the B&O but not a million miles better.

Out of curiosity, what is the price increase for the HK system in the BMW and the Burmeister in the Merc? I seem to recall that they're significantly more expensive than the B&O upgrade in the Audi, so make sure you take that into account if so. :)
 
Having hopped straight from my car into one without the B&O, the difference is very noticeable. I would say that the mid and low end is better on the B&O but not a million miles better.

Out of curiosity, what is the price increase for the HK system in the BMW and the Burmeister in the Merc? I seem to recall that they're significantly more expensive than the B&O upgrade in the Audi, so make sure you take that into account if so. :)

HK is 895 in the BMW not sure on the Burmeister - its definitely into three figures though. Its also a bit cheap of Audi to keep the plastic speaker covers
when for a small amount of extra cash BMW HK system not only sounds a definite step up you get upgraded speaker grilles too that look much nicer.
 
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Fair enough, I actually thought that the BMW system was much more than that for some reason!
 
Burmester is part of the premium plus package along with stuff like panoramic sunroof, memory seats and upgraded sat nav. Prices of this depend on the model ra he but you're looking at 3k plus.
 
Im trying to find a dealer with the £2500 B&W system in the Volvo. I have B&W in the house and love them, probably going to end up in a low spec engine Volvo but certain to get the B&W system if only I could listen first.
 
There is a lot of people here who obviously haven't tried the two for a period of time. Personally I would say people saying they would rather spend the money on other options haven't used the B&O long enough. I have it in my A4 Avant, I got an identical car the other day with the Audi Sound System, had it for 4 days and when I got back in mine I was honestly blown away again at just how good the B&O is. (You don't really know until you get in another car that doesn't have it) There is a lack of the low rumbly bass with the Audi Sound System and it sounds very 'thumpy' i'm not an "audiophile" but there is a quite obvious difference between the two systems and it is well worth the money. Even the adjustability of it is enough for the extra cost.
 
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I think a lot of folk, entirely understandably have been irritated by the various rattles coming from certain speaker grills which would annoy the life out of me. I'm sure i've detected one or two when particular tracks are being played but as soon as I detect what sounds wrong it disappears. A frequency response thing I guess. I just go round pressing down on the grills to make sure they're properly seated and that seems to do the trick.
On the whole I'm pleased with my purchase of the B&O option. It's not often these days I get to travel out alone but the other day was one. Oh joy! A bit of volume to exercise sub woofer and feel the punch of the tune and the damn traffic queues around mine at the moment wasn't any sort of problem at all.
 
There is a lot of people here who obviously haven't tried the two for a period of time. Personally I would say people saying they would rather spend the money on other options haven't used the B&O long enough. I have it in my A4 Avant, I got an identical car the other day with the Audi Sound System, had it for 4 days and when I got back in mine I was honestly blown away again at just how good the B&O is. (You don't really know until you get in another car that doesn't have it) There is a lack of the low rumbly bass with the Audi Sound System and it sounds very 'thumpy' i'm not an "audiophile" but there is a quite obvious difference between the two systems and it is well worth the money. Even the adjustability of it is enough for the extra cost.

I completely agree with you. I got my S4 in April, but prior to that I had an A3 that I purchased last July. The A3 had B&O, and my S4 has ***.

The difference is night and day. Even ignoring the lacking bass, the *** just sounds so flat compared to the B&O. I've fitted subs in my S4 as that was the biggest annoyance of going to ***, but I really want to retrofit the B&O door speakers. It really is a shame the S4 didn't have B&O specced, because I cannot stand the *** after coming from the B&O.
 
There is a lot of people here who obviously haven't tried the two for a period of time. Personally I would say people saying they would rather spend the money on other options haven't used the B&O long enough. I have it in my A4 Avant, I got an identical car the other day with the Audi Sound System, had it for 4 days and when I got back in mine I was honestly blown away again at just how good the B&O is. (You don't really know until you get in another car that doesn't have it) There is a lack of the low rumbly bass with the Audi Sound System and it sounds very 'thumpy' i'm not an "audiophile" but there is a quite obvious difference between the two systems and it is well worth the money. Even the adjustability of it is enough for the extra cost.
Possibly the decision between the two is based upon what music you listen too, and in which form, and, as you state, preference on what your money is spend on. I listen to radio 6, which is on all the time in the background, thus spending more on a B&O setup, to me, is a waste of money. However if I had the B&O, who knows, my music preferences might change...
 
its a night and day difference to me as well. When i had a courtesy A3 last month the difference getting back into my S4 was night and day. I often drive my wifes Peugeot and often think that the speakers must be broken on it.
 
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