Bang & Olufsen Sound System - Questions / Opinions / Experience

[ejholt]

I opted for the Bang & Olufsen Sound System in my 2017 X6M.

I went for the upgrade as I've been pleased with their other products and the quality of the brand.

I love my music loud and must say I am disappointed with the output / sound quality of the 16 Speaker System.

I just installed the aftermarket BavSound Ghost Subwoofer hoping to gain some more bottom end, as they claim 2x the Bass. Quite honestly I haven't seen any gains and disappointed with the end result.

Does anyone know what the total output of the system is and are all the speakers B&O?

I'm thinking of upgrading my amps, assuming the speakers can handle some more power. Is there just 1 amp powering the entire system and where is it located in the car?

[ejholt]

This Article says that B&O in the BMW is the goto system for any high end sound system. They claim engineers spend over 400 hours fine tuning the system: http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/08/09/ba...for-x5-and-x6/

[ejholt]

Here are some specs I found: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/solut...omotive/bmw/x6

No way this system is pushing 1200 watts or even close to 500 watts on the subs.

SPECIFICATIONS

Speakers

16 fully active loudspeakers:

7 tweeters

7 midranges

2 subwoofers

Design

Unique, solid aluminium speaker grilles (superbly crafted, precisely drilled and with laser engraved Bang & Olufsen logo)
Amplifier

Fully active 16-channel amplification 1200 watts maximum output – 500 watts dedicated to subwoofers

[ejholt]

This is what I would consider to be a LOUD System: https://www.facebook.com/ejholt/posts/10158704507650347

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by ejholt

I love my music loud and must say I am disappointed with the output / sound quality of the 16 Speaker System.

I have found this to be the case with B&O in almost every vehicle I have had it in. It is clear at any level but it lacks bass no matter how you configure the EQ.

[gizmo958]

id say stick with harmon kardon

[ejholt]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

I have found this to be the case with B&O in almost every vehicle I have had it in. It is clear at any level but it lacks bass no matter how you configure the EQ.

Do you think changing out the amp would help? The mids and bass aren't curling it for me. For a $4000 upgrade, I expected so much more.

What EQ Settings have you found to produce the best results for your needs? Do you play it in the Studio setting?

I plan to adjust those next to see if I can get anything else out of the system. All I have done thus far is adjust the tone and moved the treble and bass to max.

[ejholt]

Originally Posted by gizmo958

id say stick with harmon kardon

Too late now as it was already part of the package. There was only 2 Reds in the States when I purchased it a couple of months ago and both came with every option.

Might have been better to build a custom system and used that upgrade cash toward it, but I would have had to order the vehicle at that stage and I got a great deal buying it from the dealer.

[audiom6]

I agree that the B&O is lacking in the bass department. I have in my M6 and am planning to add a separate amp and couple of subwoofers to help with that issue when my X5M arrives. I don't think you can swap the amp for another as the wiring and or impedences are different from what you would find in an aftermarket amplifier. I know that is true for Bose systems in other vehicles but not sure about the B&O but I am betting it is similar.

[tastelid]

i find it's a pretty well balanced system, certainly isn't going to rattle any windows...but i don't want that.

i wouldn't mind if it had the bass response of my home stereo, which is really defined and fast

[foldpages]

I'm also very disappointed with the B&O system. Sure they maybe spend thousands of hours developing the sound but at the end of the day it doesn't deliver. I don't think it's worth it to upgrade from the regular Harman/Kardon.

Also comparing it to the Burmester system in the S Class .... the Burmester is a whole different league. There is no comparison.

[Luca42]

Originally Posted by foldpages

I'm also very disappointed with the B&O system. Sure they maybe spend thousands of hours developing the sound but at the end of the day it doesn't deliver. I don't think it's worth it to upgrade from the regular Harman/Kardon.

Also comparing it to the Burmester system in the S Class .... the Burmester is a whole different league. There is no comparison.

Agreed. Either in the S Class or the Panamera, the Burmester is far superior to the B&O in every metric.

[foldpages]

Originally Posted by Luca42

Agreed. Either in the S Class or the Panamera, the Burmester is far superior to the B&O in every metric.

I'm curious how the new Bowers & Wilkins in the 7/5 series compares to both the B&O and Burmester. I have not had a chance to listen to it in person.

[mcvaughan]

Had the B&O in my M5 and now my X6M. I'd say it does sound good, and looks REALLY good, but the sound quality IMO is not much better than the HK in my M4. Maybe my ears are starting to go, or perhaps my EQ isn't setup properly.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by ejholt

Do you think changing out the amp would help? The mids and bass aren't curling it for me. For a $4000 upgrade, I expected so much more.

What EQ Settings have you found to produce the best results for your needs? Do you play it in the Studio setting?

I plan to adjust those next to see if I can get anything else out of the system. All I have done thus far is adjust the tone and moved the treble and bass to max.

It is in my 50i and I had to set it to broadest setting in the B&O for the most spacial sound and the low ends about 3/4 of the way up and then the mids and highs progressively lower ending at about 1/2 way up for the lows.

Others have swapped out to the BSW system (iirc) and I have not heard complaints but I also have not heard their set up yet. It never bothered me enough that I wanted to change out anything but it was something I noticed on premium system option. At these prices you should be able to customize the audio to almost any setting where it suits the listener without compromising quality. Especially in the Q7. For $6300 I expected a little more punch than what it offered.

Originally Posted by foldpages

I'm curious how the new Bowers & Wilkins in the 7/5 series compares to both the B&O and Burmester. I have not had a chance to listen to it in person.

The best factory system I have heard yet is the 1700w Meridian system found in the RRSC/AB. I am not sure if it is because the interior is so solid or if the system is just that good but it is impressive. Second place is in the XC90 Inscription. For the price and the sound quality you get (when the panels are not rattling) is amazing. I could not tell the difference between the Burmester upgrade in the MB over the B&O upgrade in the MB. They both sounded very good without issue.

[andrewx]

I got my 16 in stock, it came with B&O. As much as I love the brand and all that, I must admit, I would prefer it didn't come with it, rather HK.
Depends on your music source, really. I listen to bluetooth audio all the time, so B&O doesn't make that much of differences.
When I first got the car, I was excited to be like:I gonna put a CD in or I gonna download high bit audio, but in the end, oh well, bluetooth it is.

[Ehloo]

agreed with comments below. I didnt have a choice as the only car on the lot. Way overpriced and was expecting a lot more. It does sound much better with ASD coded off and or unplugged. This is a must

Your source is even more important. I stream with Tidal connected with the apple usb. Tidal streams with CD quality. sound is dramatically different and improved with the right source. This is with all hi-fi audio

With the right source and connection the BO is good. My wife just bought a audi a3 etron with BO system upgrade. the upgrade cost was 800 bucks. system sounds just as good and only difference is probably cabin design and not system

Originally Posted by andrewx

I got my 16 in stock, it came with B&O. As much as I love the brand and all that, I must admit, I would prefer it didn't come with it, rather HK.
Depends on your music source, really. I listen to bluetooth audio all the time, so B&O doesn't make that much of differences.
When I first got the car, I was excited to be like:I gonna put a CD in or I gonna download high bit audio, but in the end, oh well, bluetooth it is.

[m32]

Originally Posted by Ehloo

agreed with comments below. I didnt have a choice as the only car on the lot. Way overpriced and was expecting a lot more. It does sound much better with ASD coded off and or unplugged. This is a must

Your source is even more important. I stream with Tidal connected with the apple usb. Tidal streams with CD quality. sound is dramatically different and improved with the right source. This is with all hi-fi audio

With the right source and connection the BO is good. My wife just bought a audi a3 etron with BO system upgrade. the upgrade cost was 800 bucks. system sounds just as good and only difference is probably cabin design and not system

can you give more detail on how you streamed Tidal through the USB? I have the B&O as well and it doesn't sound that great when I'm streaming Spotify through BT but when I switched to XM radio, the sound was dramatically better. I'm assuming streaming Tital through USB would yield similar results?


Edwin

[foldpages]

Originally Posted by m32

can you give more detail on how you streamed Tidal through the USB? I have the B&O as well and it doesn't sound that great when I'm streaming Spotify through BT but when I switched to XM radio, the sound was dramatically better. I'm assuming streaming Tital through USB would yield similar results?


Edwin

You just plug your phone into the USB port with a regular USB cable. Turn off Bluetooth on your phone and select your phone with the USB icon as the media source.

Then open TIDAL and play as you would through Bluetooth.

USB is always going to sound better than Bluetooth, even with Spotify or Apple Music. Bluetooth does compress the audio so you will always have a quality loss.

Also, streaming from XM is probably the worst quality of the comparison. I always cringe when I switch to XM and the B&O system really shows the poor quality.

[m32]

Originally Posted by foldpages

You just plug your phone into the USB port with a regular USB cable. Turn off Bluetooth on your phone and select your phone with the USB icon as the media source.

Then open TIDAL and play as you would through Bluetooth.

USB is always going to sound better than Bluetooth, even with Spotify or Apple Music. Bluetooth does compress the audio so you will always have a quality loss.

Also, streaming from XM is probably the worst quality of the comparison. I always cringe when I switch to XM and the B&O system really shows the poor quality.

Got it...I will try that tonight.

I'm surprised you say streaming from XM has worse quality... it sounded much better on mine for some reason

Edwin

[foldpages]

Originally Posted by m32

Got it...I will try that tonight.

I'm surprised you say streaming from XM has worse quality... it sounded much better on mine for some reason

Edwin

Oh yes, XM has the equivalent of anywhere between 24-96 kbps. Compare that to Spotify premium at 320kbps or Tidal HIFI at 1411 kbps.

Also a good idea to check your Spotify and Tidal settings to make sure you have them set to the highest quality possible. Spotify defaults to a lower quality even with a paid subscription.

[mcvaughan]

Sirius XM music quality is the worst!