It's just a radio, not deadly. Not everyone agrees as to the scope of the issue. I can hear the radio with the roof down, it does what it is required to do. I have repeatedly said the Harmon Logic 7 in both my Merc and Audi were cheaper and better. But the Meridian was not much of an upgrade when I purchased and later became standard. As a standard it is acceptable. It's funny the same systems sound much better in Range Rovers, has to be packaging.

 

I'm not sure what issue you are having but the issue I'm having is that the bass frequencies are being sent to the tweeter speakers and it makes the music sound like crap. I don't know that I gave up on the issue but I took my car to the dealer and reproduced the problem for them in my car and then I asked if I could try to reproduce the problem in a brand new 2016 and it did the same thing. Obviously there probably aren't that many people that notice the issue with the bass frequencies being sent to the tweeters and so Jaguar has no incentive to fix it. What really bothers me is when the dealer created a case with Jaguar, they wanted me to bring my car in to do some testing on. Well let me tell you that I'm not about to let the dealer pull my car apart looking for the problem when it's obvious that the problem is in brand new 2016 models sitting on the lot. If Jaguar wants a car to test then they can use one of their own! I reproduced the problem in a brand new car in front of the service manager of the dealership and showed him what frequencies the problem was occurring on and what app I was using and he had the same app on his phone. He heard the problem loud and clear just like I did and it just drives me crazy that they want to use my car to experiment on when this should be an easily reproducible problem at the factory! I've thought about contacting Meridian corporate office just to see how they could build an audio system that allows bass to be sent to the tweeters when even my $30,000 Ford Escape doesn't have that damn problem. I've tested for the problem in my wife's previous Cadillac SRX, her new Porsche Macan, and my company Ford Escape all which are equipped with a premium audio system and none of them have the problem. Honestly, if I didn't like the look and sound of my car so much, I would probably have sold it already!!!

 

Sell your car because of the audio system? Since I have been buying fun cars, I find that I rarely use the audio system. I used the audio system more in family sedans.
Larry

 

Well part of the experience for me is to get in my car and turn the radio on and go cruising around. I've been testing the audio systems in my cars that I buy for the past several years now and I won't buy a car that has a crappy audio system. That may seem crazy to some people but it's just the way I am. I even tested the audio system in this car but I didn't notice the problem at the time and that's because the problem is more noticeable when listening to certain songs and at certain volumes. Honestly, I wish that I was one of the people out there driving this car that don't notice the problem and I wish I didn't care about the audio in the car as much as I do, but the simple fact is I do care and I wish that Jaguar would care as well!

 

If it bothers you that much (and it did bother me that much) there are aftermarket solutions. Yes, you shouldn't have to spend more money to have your stereo sound good to you, but it is what it is.

 

I thought about getting the problem fixed aftermarket but I don't know what I need and I don't want an audio shop convincing me that I need a whole new aftermarket system, lol. What was your solution?

 

I'm still tempted to borrow a spectrum analyzer from work, to see what frequencies are being fed to the tweeter and midrange, and then perhaps replace them with MB Quart components I have (if they fit). With or without the crossover, as appropriate.

 

Contact JLR Customer Care (hannah@Jaguar on this forum). He sent the issue to a regional JLR rep who contacted me yesterday and he is working with the service manager at my dealer to see what can be done regarding the sound system rattles/vibration issue. He said he will contact me on Monday with the status. I had sent the Service Writer the TSB, so hopefully they will order the parts per the TSB prior to me bringing in the car again.

 

I was messing around with the stereo today. I have the 770W. I got decently separated sound by panning the fade slightly to the front, using DTS mode, and dropping bass but upping subwoofer.

 

Apparently I've opened Pandora's Box with my post, but I'm glad people are responding, especially since this thread hasn't seen activity since August of last year.

I'm experiecing 2 major issues:

1.) There is a vibration/resonance that comes from the dash area; sometimes it sounds like the tweeters are the issue.
2.) The central front speaker crackles on certain songs. I had it replaced by the dealership, but it still does the same.

The balance/fade is centered, half volume (30), DTS & Dolby. Bass, tremble, and sub slightly adjusted to the right of the middle mark.

For some it's just a radio, for others music is a great deal. Rambling and crackling is not acceptable. It seems that you do not have the same issues that others are having. I can't speak for the upper LR models, but the Evoque and XF have resonance with the standard sound system.

See my issues above. In addition, all part of the car seems to vibrate on different songs. It's funny that you mention the tweeters because that's what I've been thinking all this time too. But the central speaker crackling is the worst for me. I have taken my car to my original dealership 3 times and they didn't do anything. I took my car to a different dealership and they replaced the central speaker; still didn't help. I agree that if they can replicate the issue on their car, then they shouldn't use yours as a guinea pig.

2001 Lexus GS300 (Mark Levinson), 2008 Lexus LS460L (Mark Levinson) - both cars have amazing sound systems and not a single vibration.

2014 Lexus IS250 (standard audio) - stereo sound a bit flat, but still no vibrations and solid bass.

I rented a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. Granted that it didn't have a premium sounds system, but no vibrations and fairly decent bass.

The only thing saving me is that my lease is up in a year and a half so I'll be looking into other brands.

I'm going to agree with Mjb86 on this one. I know that some peeps couldn't care less about the stereo system, but for me, music adds a whole different level to the driving experience . Living in the DMV area, speeding and cornering isn't always an option, but the stereo system can be used all the time. And as much as I love my car, if I knew about this issue beforehand, it would have been a deal breaker for me.

 

Hi everyone,
I just join this thread from France to give my feedback on the 770w Meridian system on my 16 FType R : I've never experienced such a horrible sound in any of the car I've been driven... Rattles, distortions, etc. even Bluetooth calls is horrible! What a shame for a system that costs €3,000 here in France!!
Of course my dealer is not aware of any problem of this kind from JLR (that made me laugh when I saw the number of messages on this thread...) and it seems to be no solution to fix this horrible sound system...
I also tried with several other FType at the dealer and they had exact same issue regarding distortion (but less rattles than mine.)

Does any of you have any update about this (3-year) problem ??
I really enjoy music and it just pisses me off to have to turn off the audio system while driving...

 

The amplifier was replaced in my car by the dealer, but the problems noted in this thread persist in various forms. It is apparent there is a system wide defect, maybe in the frequency crossovers. It is different when on radio, than on satellite and when using cds. Different songs impact the distortion, buzzing, etc. differently as well. The various surround sound modes sometimes are improving the sound , and sometimes make it worse. There is no one setting that works. After my very good Bowers and Wilkins XF system this is a disappoinment. Our 2015 LR4 sounds 10xs better than this although I don't care for the sound, it's not distorted in all the ways described. Not happy about it at all.

 

Hi Guys
I have a new R Type coupe on order and it should be atbmy dealer by the end of June.
My question to all of you is, do you guys think your audio problem will exist in my 2017 model year car.
Your thoughts please.

 

I hope not and that Jaguar is listening.

 

My 2017 sounds great. But so do some 2016s. Nothing anyone says in response to this will guarantee anything at this point.

 

Many 2014s and 2015s also sound great. My 14 does and always did from delivery w/ no "fixes" required. Getting a good one seems to be just luck of the draw, but I think there are many more good ones than bad ones.

 

Unfortunately I'm not sure I'd agree with that comment. A quick check of any dealers stock cars, whether used or new will tell you otherwise. Foosh, you've been extraordinarily fortunate with your car to have no issues whatsoever which is great.

I think everyone would also agree that having a few issues is path of the course. The evaluation of how we then feel is how the issue is tackled. To hear of a dealer saying they've never heard about the issue after 3+ years of the problem being extremely well known about, plus there being a TSB on the subject sums up the underlying issue with JLR, the CC and some (not all) of its dealers.

Whilst as a Brit its great to see the resurgence of JLR, especially Land Rover, with their most competitive products for years - unfortunately, I'm convinced their customer repurchase rate lacks behind that of other brands and the fact that Tesla is coming after them and the German leaders has the potential to make them the next Nokia.

 

Not sure this is statistically accurate, as much as someone saying there are probably many more bad ones than good ones. It is luck of the draw but to have a TSB reflects one fact. There are enough of them bad to warrant an action.

Of special note, JLR stopped performing the Dynomat fix, and replaced in this TSB with a less costly fix. Not sure that I could render an opinion on this one, as I had a "pre-TSB" fix which worked fine on my unit. Before I took any JLR Meridian product going forward, I would sit at the dealer and give it a listen. If it sounds *R&^%, don't take ownership until it sounds perfect. They should have caught this at the mfg. floor level, not in the destination dealership!

 

I'm not sure this is just a vibration issue fixed by foam or dynomat. The satellite radio is very poor sounding. There is some other issue with mine, with the way different frequencies are handled. I enjoy listening to music and in my car, so I need a better resolution.

 

The sound system in my 2015 S coupe has similar problems described in many of the posts. I bought the car for my wife ( an audiophile she is not) but her first comment when she got in the car was "what is wrong with the stereo?"
The sound is distorted in all modes but is the most pronounced with the Satellite radio.
I was able to reproduce the issue at the dealership. They performed the TSB fix yesterday which resulted in absolutely no improvement.
I was able to demonstrate the same crappy sound In a 2016 type R in the showroom!
Neither the sales person nor the service advisor were too interested in the fact that a car in the showroom had the same issue that my car has.
I too, have several cars (Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette) with high end sound systems, all of which sound great.
This too me, is a systemic issue that most definitely needs to be addressed in a more aggressive manner by JLR.