I think this is a part of it.

Measuring speaker impedance with a multimeter is not very accurate though.

The leads on my Fluke show 0.6 ohm when shorted out.

The B&W XF bass speakers display around 2.4 ohm on the meter so that would be about 1.8 ohm, and the rule of thumb is that this measurement is one step lower than the actual impedance. I guess it's a 2ohm speaker.

The Alpine bass speaker from the LR2 is the same as the XF B&W one.

Centre dash speaker from the XK displays steady 4.3 ohms, which would be 3.7 ohm, I think this might be a 4ohm speaker. The Alpine tweeters measure the same if I bypass the capacitor.

I have some Harman Kardon midrange speakers here from a Range Rover Sport, they display 2.7 ohm, which would be 2.1 ohm, that makes them a 3ohm speaker???

The sub in the XK displays 4.4 ohms, so that's 3.8ohm, so a 4 ohm speaker I imagine.

If the bass speakers are 2ohm from the factory, and we replace them with 4ohm ones, that'll be a mismatch.

But I don't think the impedance is the only reason for the "don't mix OEM and aftermarket" there is probably more to it, which I don't fully understand.

 

To clear things up.

This is cluster fck, no wonder it sounds inadequate.

As even pedestrians have noted, their Subaru sounds better.

1. Clearly we dont even have B&W midrange or tweeter, its all just a facade.

2. The crossover is built into the head, aka DSP, to these fake drivers parameters.

To get your arms around this, think of a car that is built on a suspension intended for another car and the transmission has been tuned to limit power to an impossible situation.

I will let everyone know if I was able to bypass the transmission detuning, so to speak.

 

Q&C - IIRC, in an earlier thread you said you were working on something to improve the sound of our car's audio system. Whatever became of that?

 

YOU are going to love this.....

Discovered the problem to be widespread throughout the chain. Where each link blamed weakness in the other link, as the reason for not improving.
In the discovery process, I was asked to head a committee that bought the entire industry/chain together. We are picking your hometown to hold the global conference, and hope to grow it to where even you/ general consumers would want to attend. In talks with Schaumburg economic dev right now.

On the solution, have it in hand right now and testing. Will let you all know this week.

 

So this is my revised concept. The 70mm ones were too big in the end, these are 60mm.







Found a few companies in China who reckon they can make them, but I'll look at local options, CNC from aluminum, polish or maybe chrome plate, use the mesh from some donor non-branded grills.

Not gonna be cheap I imagine...

 

Man, I would look at something for the mirror cover or plumbed into the defroster duct vs. cut up the panel.

By any chance could you measure the mounting pattern of the stock stuff? Doors in particular but the rest would be a handy addition to this thread.

 

I know it isn't Jag but maybe this is workable?

https://avinusa.com/most-fiber-optic...reelander.html

https://avinusa.com/accessories/most...ace-boxes.html

 

I've seen those Avin units before, bit disappointing that they only give a single stereo output, just two channels. So what to do with the centre speaker? What happens to the subwoofer? What about the centre/surround speaker? Front/rear fader?

The other thing that stopped me from buying one to try is the model coverage that they claim to have with that one unit, Freelander2 has a different audio system to the Discovery/Range Rover, and the systems changed to IAM2.1 in 2012/2013, and the factory amps and other modules like phone, digital radio, etc are not compatible between the Freelander2 and Disco/RRS either.

Somehow they've managed to overcome these problems and have a unit that works on all?

I never got an answer to these points when I asked them. And they have a "no returns" policy. So I don't trust that it actually does what they say it does.

 

You are spot on. I am not at liberty to say. In just a month, at CES they will announce some game changing stuff- based on MOST!! all I can say.

And then you will be able to get a pure full range signal out of the headunit across all cars. Note this is being developed by OEM believe it or not, that's why it works. The codes are being made available to us for the first time ever!

 

I hear ya, but getting a 2 inch speaker mounted anywhere else is just not feasible IMHO...

 

Those other channels are being created by a F-All processor which is at the heart of the problem. If you want to recreate those channels many aftermarket DSP or dolby surround processors will do that for you. As will many xovers which you will need anyway.
The objective of that device is to bypass the bs xover in the Harmon unit. The fact that everyone has been gunning for this should show you how fundamentally flawed the xover is.

 

Ok, but there's a few potential issues with integration here...

The "Surround" software is in the amp, not the head unit. If whatever you have in place of the amp cannot emulate those functions, they no longer work on the touchscreen. I mean the Stereo, 3-Channel, Dolby options.

Seen this issue also when we put a "Logic7" amp in an XF, surround modes were not available, but everything else worked correctly.

Mobridge has the same problem with their DA3, you lose the Surround functions on the touchscreen. They told me that because of the different licensed DSP's, it would cost them a fortune to add the features, they would have to pay Dolby, Meridian, DTS, HK or whoever to "use the button".

So again, if the solution to the problem has the side effect of leaving some functions/selections on the touchscreen inoperative, that's a major bummer...

 

I hear ya. I wasn't sure if you were familiar with them.
From their site:

Q. Why are there only TWO RCA inputs?

A: It only supports Stereo input from your front Left and front Right RCA audio output.

Q. If it is only using TWO RCA audio cable how will get sound from all of my speakers?

A: The MOST interface will convert the TWO RCA audio signal into a fiber optic signal your factory amplifier can understand. Your Harmon Kardon amplifier will distribute sound to all of your speakers including your subwoofer.

Q. Can I control fade and balance after this is installed?

A: You can control only LEFT RIGHT balance since it is only using those two RCA audio cables. No fading from front to back.

 

You will not lose any of those functions.

The amps we design (for others) already have those functions, necessary in 3-way systems.

You will lose the 'B&W Tuning' which is the objective.

Get a CAD file for that tweeter cover and I will make it for you.

You are really better off waiting just a short while for all things that will emerge to emerge, even I dont know what all is in the pipeline. And if you do what the entire industry will seemingly be doing, you wont need to change that tweeter to anything more than a direct replacement in size.

I noticed something significant from your photos above. One of the biggest differences between the b&w tweet and the Alpine one is that B&W is horn-loaded, which will inherently sound ear piercing.

 

You have just put your finger on why there is more to gain than lose.

1. the amplification is external and replaceable
2. it dictates the frequencies the drivers get

In other words the replacement of the driver will not get you what the driver was intended for, still what the factory amp intends.

By CES Jan9th you should see aftermarket amps that change the rules.

 

My XK has waited since 2008 to have a better sounding stereo system. To sum up how I feel about the announcement ...

 

BTW,
You guys do realize that this is an outright farce.
Neither the Alpine, nor B&W or the Meridian drivers in Jaguar actually are made by any of them or even an audio company.
They are made by Philips.
Who supply majority of the market.
Premium Sound Solutions

However, the B&W is the most ridiculous of the lot and they should be sued.
They (Philips) have simply taken the B&W cone and put it on the same frame and engine from the VW drivers. That simply cannot work and it does not.

 

Is the basic system's amp bridged or not?

 

Actually not even Meridian uses Meridian speaker drivers, they use Seas Your point is still valid though. I’m amazed that the B&W speakers in our cars are the same old speakers in disguise.

 

Regardless of their origins, the "B&W" bass speakers out of the 2008-2011 XF are still a considerable improvement over the standard crap speakers in other JLR models.

Just this week a guy on the Land Rover forums installed them in his 2016 Discovery Sport with the "base" audio system, he put in the B&W bass speakers along with the kevlar-coned "Meridian Signature" 80mm midranges.









To quote him directly;

"After installing the new speakers everything becomes a lot clearer. The sound is very crisp. the bass goes a bit lower, everything sounds cleaner, when you turn up the volume there is no distortion. All in all a great upgrade. Very happy with results. Its hard to put a number to theses things as there are many variables, i would give it a 100+% improvement, even my wife noticed a huge difference, and shes the type of person that doesnt think theres much difference between SD and HD tv."

But again, in the Discovery Sport, there are separate channels to the front doors for the bass, and for the mid/tweeter. This is a fundamental flaw with the system in the XK.