I start this post because on this forum a lot of people want to change the original sound system with a new one or better.
I found that in real life what is new is not always better.

Another hobby that i have is High End audio sound systems and good quality music listening, so my expertise in this area is not zero. I work in IT and Home Audio business.

First time when i listen in my car after i buy it using my good recording CD i was very impressed, i have the regular sound system on my XJR so i start to make some digging about the speakers, the head unit and the CD changer.

Until now i found that the regular audio system has Paper cone and Rubber Surround, the Alpine mid woofers that are in Premium sound system are also Paper cone but Foam Surround so those speakers after 10 year of use in an humidity environment the foam Surround must replace .
I do not know the sound quality differences between the normal and Alpine speakers but the construction of the regular speaker has an advantage.

To play a good quality music in the Jag is not so difficult. You must use all correction to middle (i call zero) and to have good recordings on your CD changer.
All mp3 player are bullshit, mp3 files has only one advantage are small so why to change the old system with player that can not play lossless files? only because we can store a lot of mp3 music files on small devices?
I must say that in my opinion the best music suitable for this system is Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Disco in this order.

On this days if you want a good Navigation system, buy a smart phone, is cheaper and you can upgrade the maps more easy at low cost.

I like the way he looks the central console, no offense to those people who already change the design of the interior by replacing the head unit with an after-market one.
In my opinion the only good an important upgrade on this car is to change the original phone system with a blue-tooth equipment. This conversion i will make my self soon.

Those are my opinion about the Jaguar X308 sound system.
Maybe one day i will found a car with a Premium sound and i can make a difference between them. I know that the Premium sound has an amplifier and a subwoofer.
If some one else has other feeling about the sound system on the X308 i would like to hear it.
Best regards

 

There are lots of discussions about the stereo's in these cars. A quick search through the last few pages of threads should find a few of them.

IMHO, the factory stereo is old and not very good. I haven't experienced the premium stereo, but the amp in it is no better than a modern headunit, so other than slightly better speakers and the DSP, it doesn't really offer any real advantage.

I have gone overboard with my stereo upgrade, but you could achieve similar results with a much simpler approach. I believe the best upgrade you can do is to replace the front speakers with something good, build some pods to mount them to the door, rather than the door card, and then run them off a small amp.

The other problem is the CD changers wear out and skip, and there aren't many options for replacing or repairing them.

As for MP3's... this is a car. By the time you take road noise into account, I highly doubt anyone could tell the difference between a loss-less format and a 320k MP3. I wouldn't ever recommend going smaller than this, no matter where you're listening to music.


Glens XJR Photos by vonMako | Photobucket

 

The factory speakers all turn to junk after about 10 years. Just the nature of the beast with paper cones and foam surrounds. And they aren't all that great to start with. The $60 a pair Infinity replacements I put in are a huge improvement.

The factory amp in the premium system is really pretty good. Unless you really need it to hit hard, this is the one part of the factory system I feel is completely adequate.

The factory head unit isn't horrible, and it looks okay, but the biggest problem is I need something with a USB input. I have thousands of loss-less FLAC and 320 mp3 files in my phone, I just need a way to play them over the cars stereo. It feels so ridiculous in this day and age to have to burn a regular CD to use in my car. I would say this is the main reason most of us want to upgrade the head unit, to be able to move into the modern era and have access to the thousands of songs we already carry in our smart phones instead of burning a regular old CD, technology that was outdated almost 10 years ago.

 

Hi Cabezagrande
Only the Alpine speakers have problem after 10 year of use not the regular, because they use rubber surround.
With Blue tooth V3.0 you can transfer from your smart phone lossless files to your stereo. The V3.0 is capable to trasfer data at high speed (24Mbit/s).

All speakers have some parameters named thiele small (T/S) from this T/S parameter you can calculate an EBP (efficiency bandwidth product) This EBP tells you if the speakers is suitable for vented or closed box, so you can not take any speakers to fit in a existing volume. I think that the jaguar sound engineer chose the right speakers for the car. If you want to chose the right speakers to fit in the existing volume you must measure the original speakers save the T/S parameter and find another speaker very closed to the original. Another parameter very important is the BL and SPL.

If the speakers have a bigger BL the driver will be more dynamic. If the SPL is bigger the speakers will be loud at the same power. Ex: if the regular speaker have 91dB at 1W and the upgrade speakers have 96dB at 1W, the regular speakers achieves 96dB at 4W so a 96db at 4W produce 102dB which speakers will be loud at 4W?
We listen SPL not W the speaker is the most important in the system.
Another important thing is the matching the speakers with the amplifier.
I think grandell knows those things because he made himself the box for the subwoofer.
I am an old fashion guy i like the sound of the original head unit i think he has grate DAC. I like to burn CD and 6 hous of music it is ok. When i play music i like to listen an entire album I listen compilation but only disco.

Best regards

 

My 2003 X308 has the Premium Alpine speakers and is now experiencing some problems. Driving down the highway, the radio was playing great and all of a sudden with no warning at all, it started sounding terrible. All the bass was distorted and even trying to isolate the subwoofer by turning it down to -7 (the lowest setting) did not seem to help much. After much tinkering, and isolating the different speakers by the fade and balance settings, I have determined that even the door speakers do not sound that great. I have no idea what to do next to try to fix the problem.


You sound as though you might have experience with these systems so you might have a course of action.


RandyS
2003 XJ8 Vanden Plas
1982 BMW 320i
1977 Chevrolet Silverado Stepside
1983 Porsche 944
1987 Mitsubishi Van

 

Hi Randy
First you must check visual if the surround speaker are broke, i will attach two photos to identify quickly what type of surround you have on those speakers.

You have two choices: to replace the speakers with the normal one from a broken XJ or to repair the existing speakers in a special repair shops. They can order for you the right surround an replace it. In Romania is cheap about 10 usd for one speakers but this process take a lot of time an laborious work so i do not know how much you will pay for this job.
I this video you will see how this surround must be replace.


I prefer speakers with rubber surround.
Best regards

 

A broken XJ8 might be very close to the same issue, so the repaire option looks like the best choice..


Minunat informaţii astfel încât vă mulţumesc prietenul meu!


RandyS
2003 XJ8 Vanden Plas
1982 BMW 320i
1977 Chevrolet Silverado Stepside
1983 Porsche 944
1987 Mitsubishi Van

 

Cu placere.
Randy if the speakers has rubber surround will be for life. The problem have only the speakers with foam surround.
Best regards