I agree DJS, seems like a lot of variation, but post TSB it seems to have been universally better, no?

 

I had the TSB applied. The difference in sound quality was like night and day.

 

I never did, and now it's out of warranty. I think the TSB for reprogramming the amp only applied to the coupe, as I recall.

 

That was my recollection as well.

 

It's speaker upgrades for you then?

 

Yup, I'll probably follow your example.

 

Well, I was following others. I may attempt the rear sets at some point.

 

It's worth taking the car to a dealer and getting them to make software updates on the amplifier (AAM) and the head unit (ACM), and if you have Sirius get them to update the software in that module too (DACMC).

There have been a number of software updates to these modules since your car was built, and in my experience the newer software versions sound better.

Yeah you'll have to pay, but it takes not more than an hour or two to update all three modules.

 

Interesting - they've applied a number of updates over the years, but none of these. Thanks!

 

Acousticians will tell you the location of subwoofers (the two behind-seat speakers) should be irrelevant. But I agree the bass response from the 770w system is ordinary at best, at least in my convertible (which could be part of the problem).

 

They aren’t subwoo

fers

 

Your reply prompted me to study the speaker placement diagram. Apparently, the two behind-seat speakers are midrange and the subwoofers are in the boot somewhere, or in the ragtop bay?

 

Agree with VR46—the 770w Surround system sounds excellent. I've owned seven 2 seaters with the F-type taking top honors for its audio system.

 

All the speakers in the f type are cheap crap
the rear speakers are not sub woofers they are just woofers and are rubbish
dale melton has done a fantastic upgrade in his svr and I was lucky enough to steal a lot of his knowledge and adapt it to my ragtop
if you want real bass you won’t get it from the meridian and the cheap **** speakers

the speaker locations are all the same in both soft and hard tops

 

If you want real bass you won't get it in the confines of an F-Type cabin - the notes need room to breathe.

 

You can get real bass it’s just more expensive than other cars
i I have hertz legend everywhere
audison m12 bridged to run fronts and pre out to audison m4d to 2 jbl 6.5 inch subs I had specifically fabricated
and a m8 bridged for rear woofers and and remaining 4 channels run the rear mids and tweeters

 

Audio quality can be very subjective, but I appreciate the ideas and perspectives shared so far - and from back so many years!

I happen to have a '15 F-Type S coupe and a '19 I-Pace HSE, both with the upgraded Meridian sound system. The sound in the F-Type is good - but not the chest-thumping, super clear and spacious at volume sound I get in the I-Pace. It's safe to assume the F-Type's small cabin, loud engine, and fewer number of speakers have a ton to do with that. It doesn't upset me too much, though, since the F-Type compensates with grin-inducing engine & exhaust sounds.

I mostly listen to my iPhone plugged in via the USB port. Curious if folks have tried putting a DAC or anything between the source and the amp? Perhaps a better signal would sound better?

 

Yeah, audio quality sure is very subjective. I have the non-surround 380W Meridian system with stock speakers and think it sounds really good after properly sound insulating the doors and fading out the rear woofers. I just don't expect more given the car's cabin and the amount of road noise. I had the same system in an XF before the F-Type and there it obviously sounded better thanks to the much quieter cabin and because it had a dedicated sub under the trunk floor.

There are no speakers under the trunk floor, only behind the seats and they are the part of the system that puzzle me most. Any use of them just makes the interior around them buzz so they're totally useless and just need to be faded out in the settings.

That said, interiors that can't handle the built in sound systems seems to be very common in Jags. The F-Type is my third modern Jag where stuff in the doors would buzz and rattle from the bass frequencies. Fortunately that was easy to solve in all cars by adding some insulation in the right places but it's a bit ridiculous that you have to do that.

 

Did you do the sound insulation yourself? I've been reluctant to remove door panels in the past, lest I end up with loose / squeaky stuff.

I've also avoided changing out stock equipment - although a more modern infotainment system would be nice. Has anyone found mods that have made their system sound and/or operate better? I've considered the GTA Car Kit, which gives you Apple CarPlay capabilities...but haven't pulled that trigger.

 

Yep, I've removed the door panels in my F-Type many times now and it's really easy. Poke out a couple of plastic covers, unscrew six screws and just pull them off. There's not really anything that can end up loose and squeaky afterwards and by adding sound proofing you pretty much eliminate the risk of that anyway. Check out this thread on how to remove the door panels. There's also at least one youtube video showing how to do it.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...-noise-204241/

The sound deadening is real easy too if you just buy the right stuff - something like Dynamat for the inside of the door skins and then some thick sound deadening stuff for the inside of the door cards. Don't know if their products are available in the US but the German company Reckhorn has some brilliant products that some say are even better than Dynamat and I bought everything from them. This is how I insulated mine.







The best you can do with the infotainment is to pop in a CarPlay/Android Auto kit. There's loads of options out there now, like that GTA kit. I went for the British UAD kit which probably is the most solid one out there - tried and tested, plug and play without messing around with missing or incorrect parts, clear instructions and brilliant support. I'm really happy with mine but compared to most other kits it's overpriced so if you want to take the risk of some additional work to get things to work 100% there are definitely cheaper options out there.

Installing the UAD kit actually also contributed to improving the sound because it includes an equalizer that lets you fine tune the sound much more than the original system's sound settings.