OK, I have spent about a month and a half with the B&W system on a 2010 XF S/C. These are my impressions...

First, a disclaimer... I had pretty high expectations of the system and I am not unfamiliar with B&W's HiFi equipment. I had at one point (about 15 years ago) used their amplifier -- They used to make amplifiers which were sold under the Aura label -- I had the Aura VA100 Evolution II. However, after auditioning their speakers, I opted to pair it with Mission 751 (pre-"Freedom" model) speakers. I had also, moved away from this combo since in favor of a Naim system. So, while I am familiar with B&W I am not a diehard fan boy of theirs.

The Specs -- Jaguar B&W 440W audio System

Front (door) Speakers: 2 x titanium dome tweeters, 2 x 4" Kevlar woven Mids, 2 x 6" Kevlar woven Mid-Bass
Center (Dash) Speaker: 1 x 4" Kevlar Woven Mid
Rear (door) Speakers: 2 x 4" Kevlar Woven Mids, 2 x 6" Kevlar Woven Mid-Bass
Rear (deck) Speakers: 2 x 6" Kevlar Woven Mid-Bass
Trunk (Spare Tire Well) Sub-woofer: 1 x Sub (unknown driver size)

Pluses

This is certainly one of the more transparent vehicular systems. The treble is clear but does not suffer from much sibilance which is good because metal dome tweeters and unlike silk dome emitters tend to have such issues. The upper-mids are clear and accurate. Bass does not over hang which is really rare for vehicular systems.

Minuses

Vocals are not sufficiently forward and sounds rather distant and cold. Vocals, the lower-mids and upper bass tones also have unequal sensitivity and gain compared to the rest of the frequencies, making vocals and lower-mids more recessed at lower volumes than at higher volumes. You need to go pretty loud (about ~70%) volume before levels reaches a good balance with trebles and the lower bass -- that's louder than I like to listen to music while driving.

The Bass itself sounds a little "hollow" and insufficiently solid. If you are familiar with in room systems, it is like having lousy speaker stands or speakers with lousy cabinets. Lower bass (still well above sub frequencies) sound more like a "thonk" than a "thump". I don't think it is a driver issue -- there is plenty of power and plenty of power handling capacity. However, the installation is probably sub-par. I seriously doubt that the drivers are enclosed on the back or even have acoustic sheathing, it's probably open to the thin walled door sheet metal and ever other nook and cranny in the door. This allows the sound to escape from the back and resonantly distort the accuracy of the reproduction. Certain recordings -- like Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" will distort and sound slightly hollow and deflated with slight buzzing from the door speakers, rather than "heavy" and "thumpy". I am sure this is not a power handling issue but an enclosure resonance issue because turning down the volume does not make the problem go away just less audible.

The sub is weak compared to the 6" bass drivers. This wouldn't be much of an issue if the 6" bass drivers are rock solid and sufficiently punchy, but they are not for the aforementioned reasons. Going from minimum to maximum settings do not change sub fill by a huge amount -- yes, the sub is working, I checked by paying the music loudly while lifting the trunk floor and putting my hand on the sub woofer enclosure under the spare tire. The sub is also significantly affected by whether you have an empty trunk and/or have rear passengers in on the rear bench. Honestly, this system would have been better served without the sub and with sealed long excursion 6-inch drivers (sub drivers) on the rear parcel shelf.

Overall Impression

B+ Decent, but not what it was made out to be and below my expectations. Great transparency, no bass overhang and clear highs with no sibilance annoyances. Recessed vocals / lower-mids and slightly hollow lower frequencies and disproportionately weak sub-channel. Some resonance from poorly insulated door installations. Honestly, I think they could have done a better job with less drivers and better installations (enclosures) -- 2-way door drivers without the separate 4" and 6" drivers, just one mid-bass driver and a pair of long excursion sub-channel emitters on the parcel shelf with solid enclosures (properly volumed & sealed) could probably have done a better job with 11 speakers rather than 14. If not anything because it is easier to make 2-way + sub systems coherent and less susceptible to uneven gain than with 3-way + sub designs.

If anyone feel like ripping open their doors, they may want to try some Dynamat cladding on the inner surface of the doors. This may help, but I don't feel like doing it.

 

Thanks for your review, but the problem for me is that I don't see mention of the various sound modes, such as 3-speaker, Dolby Pro-logic surround, etc. These modes dramatically change the sound of the audio - what were the differences that you noted from each audio mode?

 

I did not listen to it in Stereo Mode for any worthy duration. If not anything because I don't fancy the idea of essentially disconnecting some of the 14-speakers.

Between 3-Channel and ProLogic II, ProLogic sounds better although not in every way. 3-Channel sounds denser and it seems that the recessed mids issue is worse in 3-channel (especially at low volumes). Prologic II does have the habit of muddying the staging, but then that is what happens when you create a center and rear channels out of thin air by comparing the two sides of a simple stereo signal! I appreciate the center channel, but not really the pseudo-surround effect it attempts to create. Still, Prologic sounds more spacious and balanced overall and that is what I use most of the time.

Still, I think that neither is the achilles heel of the system. The weakest link is that dreadful installation -- the hollow ring and occasionally buzzy resonance it colors the lower frequency drivers in the doors with. The system can also use a sub with a 2 to 3 times the driven air mass and a less contorted placement... but I am not a bass head and I am somewhat forgiving of weak subs.

 

Thanks for your repsponse Dwight, good to know. I pretty much agree! I've also noticed that I like the overall sound and presence of Dolby surround but like you said, some sound seems to be muddled. I've been trying the 3-channel for a while and the sound is clearer but just doesn't seem to impact as much.

I'll probably go back to Dolby mode for a while.

 

BTW, one thing I should add...

The AM Radio reception quality is horrendous and basically unlistenable. This is absolutely the worst I have experienced on any car. There is a background hum and buzz noise that is as loud as the broadcast, and it is that way for every channel in every location. Essentially, it's like not having a proper AM Antenna.

Why is this important? Because the audio system is not all about music and hi fidelity. People do listen to talk radio you know!