I have had this car two months. I am dissatisfied with the bass coming out of the rear deck. The front driver/passenger produce way more bass. I took it to the dealer and they said this is normal. This is with the fade in the center.

Can anyone help with after market options? I am considering replacing the two 8"inch subs, adding a line-out converter and a dedicated amp for those speakers.

Or could I just replace the stock amp with an aftermarket and adjust the gain.

Also, where is the amplifier located?

Thanks for you help.

 

Im on my third XJ... had an Ftype before this one... the upgraded system definitely hits harder than most, but IMO the subs could use updating. Mines been in the shop for three months waiting on one part after an accident but I intend on doing something to thrbaudio. Maybe add one JL 10w-6 and bypass the subs. Install the Cleansweep module which plugs into the low gain outputs of the system. Had it in another car and it makes a huge difference. I don't have much rattling in this one like I did the others., But I agree with you that the subs could use a little updating.

 

I've checked mine today. I also have a poor sound coming from them.I don't know if this is normal. It's like 10% compared to the other car speakers. Maybe anyone with a similar sound system can check to see if this is normal or ours are broken. Cheers

 

I actually decided to put in a subwoofer. It is a 10 inch with an Audison mono block amplifier. It does not have the sound I want so I may upgrade the two 8 inch speakers in the rear deck and use the Audison amplifier.

 

In mine, if you swing the fader all the way to the rear, it does indeed sound poo. However, with it central there is loads of bass. The rear bass speakers are working fine if the fader is in the middle though. For some reason, fading it all the way rear seems to turn off all of the bass speakers. I guessed it was just an idiosyncrasy of the system.
It's one of the best systems I've heard in a car and that includes the B&O system I had in my A8, and the Mark Levinson I had in my Lexus.

 

I, too, have a love/hate relationship with my B&W system. Besides the fact that my sub cones in the doors are separating, the rear sound quality is awful. It's so quiet! Even in the back seat, the sound appears to be coming mostly from the front. So much for a surround sound feel! Does anyone know what the speakers are able to handle? It may make sense to put in a new amplifier and boost the signal to the rears. My kids love listening to music when we are driving and the volume even out of the rear door speakers is super weak.

 

jschimmels, try this. Go out to your car and start it. Get to the main screen of your radio (ensure the radio is on). Now, in the upper left corner of the screen is the "valet" button. Touch that button and hold your finger on it for around 15 seconds. You should see the screen change around the 10-12 second point (once it changes, you can release your finger, but it may take up to 20 seconds). At this point, you can get into the settings for the treble and bass and make adjustments that will put the sound where you want it.

To exit, you simply turn the radio off and it will take it out of the maintenance mode. Just a warning, there is a button in this mode that you can update the program for the radio. It takes a few buttons to get to the point of no return, but you do have access. It is clearly labeled and you will know if you hit the button as it will ask you to insert a USB stick. You can back out still at this point even. Just don't hit the OK button on that screen.

If you have more questions, let me know.

 

Thanks guys for checking. So as rilot says probably is a glitch with the system. I can confirm that in the front the sound seems different from the back. I don't understand why is that. I have read on a different thread that a guy with a similar issue went to the main dealer and they changed the amplifier with a newer model and the sound quality was improved massively.His car was still under warranty and they fixed it for free.In my case will probably cost thousand for a genuine amplifier.

 

Thermo,

I suffer from the same complaints that these have about the rear sound, and was hopeful when I saw your post about a service menu that could fix it. Mine does not show any Valet button in the upper left. It is normally in the lower right, and on the RADIO screen, does not show at all. Am I missing something? I have a 12 XJ.

 

Enosgl, go to the main screen where it shows the 3 main buttons (Radio, Nav, climate). if you look in the upper left corner, it should say Valet (atleast mine does and I have a 12 also). You will hold that button down. Worst case, select "Radio" and in the upper left corner you should have the return button, depress that for the necessary time.

 

Thanks for the response. Funny, mine is located in the lower right. XJ Supercharged 5.0. Different software version? Manufacture date? I am surprised at how little information on this seems available compared to the X350 I replaced.

 

Thermo,

This is what I have. I wonder if there was a model year break? Mine was mfg 11/11. I figure there HAS to be service menus in there somewhere.

 

Enosgl, if your valet button is in the lower right, then well, press and hold that down like I mention above. That should get you into the service menus and allow you to make the changes to the bass.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but that was the first thing I tried. Then I tried holning in the upper left of the screen (where it says "HD Radio"). I also tried weird combos of holding valet and pressing other buttons.

 

Enosgl, here is a sample of what you can find.


Maybe this will give you an idea or two on what to try. I wonder if you may need to change the view of the screen to get the valet button to show up. I seem to remember on mine that I have the option of a few different layouts. I guess I need to go out and look again. I found the one that I liked and left it at that.

 

Long pressing the Valet button on mine (lower right) does nothing. I held it pressed for maybe 30 seconds.