Hi everyone, I am picking up a 2012 XJL Portfolio soon and have concerns about it having Bowers and Wilkins audio. The dealer claims that it does and posted the same as an add, however the speakers on the doors do not have Bowers and Wilkins logo next to them. I wonder if that is normal or is the dealer lying or just being negligent and assumes that all XJL's come with Bowers and Wilkins?

 

Also how much of a difference is there between a standard and a Bowers and Wilkins audio if it so happens that it does not have the Bowers and Wilkins audio?

 

The B&W sound system in jaguar has yellow speakers

 

I have in my brochure collection the 2012 XJ brochure. According to the specs the base audio system has 14 speakers and 600watts. I know that the optional system is 1200 watts and is labeled Bowers and Wilkins. From what I have read all the speakers are made by a third party and that the B&W speakers are made to their specs. Also, I seem tor recollect that the head units were built by either Harmon Kardon or Alpine, since both have had a history with Jaguar and Land Rover. My 2013 SuperSport has the 850watt Meridian and find it the best audio system I have ever had in a car.

 

I would suggest that you listen to the sound system in the car in which you are interested and determine if you are satisfied with it; after all, that is what really matters. I do know that the extra-cost Bose sound system in the C6 Corvette was clearly inferior to the standard sound system; as many have said: "Bose, no highs, no lows" (although their home audio products represented technological brake throughs). So don't be overly influenced by brand name audio systems, especially when applied to automotive interior environments; mostly they are a simple way to inflate prices and profits for no discernible performance gains.

 

14? are you sure? All I counted was 12, 6 at the front 4 at the back and 2 subs in the trunk where are the other 2?

 

Also Since i bought the car i have decided to go with JL setup for the speakers, amp and sub, i just don't like the clarity of the standard sound.

 

Bowers & Wilkins manufactured all their own drivers. Yellow Kevlar was used until halfway through the 2012 model year, the rest of that model year black Kevlar was used with identical performance. The 2013 and later Meridian systems can be considered roughly comparable in sound reproduction quality. Unfortunately, the same is absolutely NOT true of the base and intermediate systems in years in which 3 levels were offered. The B & W system is widely considered by experts to be the finest sound system ever available from any auto manufacturer, and in fact superior to virtually all aftermarket setups.

Those who quote amplifier output power as if it has any meaningful measure of sound quality simply don't know very much about the subject. Linearity of frequency response and detailed imaging are what matter, and even with frequency response curves published specifications can be terribly misleading. The proof is all in the listening, using a good quality source. Unfortunately I believe your suspicians about your dealer are justified. As far as I know, all B & W and Meridian systems carry brand badging on the front door midrange grilles. If you don't see that you likely don't have the good stuff.

My B & W system has 14 drivers for 7.1 Dolby Pro Logic II surround (6 front side, 4 rear side, 2 surround package shelf, 1 trunk subwoofer, 1 center front), some models and model years have more or less. Again, the number of drivers is not a reliable predicter of sound quality.

 

Counting the actual number of individual drivers can be tricky on these system too as many of the speakers are of a coaxial design (tweeter + mid range) or (mid + woofer) but look like one.

The Bowers & Wilkins system in the 2011 XJL consists of 20 speakers powered by 1,200 watts fed into 15 separate channels. Jaguar includes in this count each speaker in a two-way coaxial configuration. So the individual speakers include a coaxial in the center of the dash with a 4-inch midrange and 1-inch tweeter; a 6.5-inch midbass, 4-inch midrange and 1-inch tweeter in each front door; another coaxial with a 4-inch mid and 1-inch tweet in each rear door along with a 6.5-inch midbass; two more 4-inch mid/1-inch tweet coaxes in the rear deck; and two 8-inch dual voice coil subwoofers in the rear deck.

 

the way i figure is that i have 6 in the front 4 in the back doors, 2 on back shelf and 2 (subs) under that same shelf pointed down the trunk.

 

The audio system in my 2012 XJ-L is the "standard" system, but has yellow coned speakers....

 

how did you go about adding the JL speakers?
I just got a 2012 XJL and it has the base system. I wish I could add the B & W or better
Meridian system.

 

The B&W system has brand badging on the speakers mounted into the door wood (but not the speakers in the door bases) as well as on the speakers in the rear parcel shelf.

1d3-27471 by Giles Guthrie, on Flickr

The branding is sufficiently obvious that my wife who is electronics-blind noticed it when viewing the car in the showroom. I'm a total B&W fanboy (all of our speakers and headphones are made by them) and she felt that this was a definite "win" for the car in its comparison.