Greatone-D

A few years back, I bought a 2009 loaded S5 Prestige with the BO system. Wow. I was blown away that that type of audio was coming from my stock system.

A couple months ago, I bought a new 2012 for a variety of reasons. The specs on the car were close to the 09 and you would make the assumption that things would improve with time / refinement. Most of the car and tech, this is absolutely the case. However, the BO has degraded.

Taking a USB hard drive from the 09 to the 12, with sound settings set identically, there probably is a 40% decrease in clarity. I’ve taken it to the local dealer who agreed they could hear it and emailed Audi about it. They stated that there was a “detuning” of the amp which could be what I’m hearing. So, this was on purpose? Yuck.

Also, another gripe. That same USB drive is instantly available in the 09 at start up. The 12 takes 2-3 minutes to load AND it doesn’t remember where it was in the playback. SO, I always end up starting on the same album / track and have to find what I want. This on every shutoff / start up. Imagine running errands around town and how annoying that would be!

Any thoughts on this guys?

AudiS5Mark

Sounds like a defect to me. I've got a 2011 Cab with B&O and the sound is full and clear as a bell. Also, my USB (once booted the first time after being removed) comes on instantly and always starts right where it left off (even if it's right in the middle of the song that was playing when I killed the engine). Again, I can't imagine what you are experiencing is by design . . . . Hopefully, another 2012 owner will respond to this thread and report whether they have the same issues (I bet not).

PeterJay

Same with my 2011 S5 Cab. B&O strong and Crystal Clear. In fact when I first picked up my car and listened to the B&O system I was blown away. My previous ride, an Infiniti FX had a greaat Bose 330 watt, 10 speaker system but my B&O is waaaaay better.
I use an iPOD with 2600 songs loaded in it. It sorts them perfectly and plays instantly and starts where left off also.
You should be able to have your dealer sort this out.

dseag2

I traded an '09 A5 for a '10 S5 Cab and traded that for an 11 S5 Cab. All have had B&O and all have sounded the same.

There is a break-in period for speakers. They sound better after you've played them a number of hours in the car. Maybe you haven't reached that point yet.

Greatone-D

Thanks for the posts. I assumed I must have been the odd duck. Others have listened and had the same reaction so I know it's not just me. I didn't know about the speakers break in period. The car only has 300 miles on it currently. What do you think it takes? I don't recall my 09 being like that.

My Software version is: HNav_US_P0118_D1

Thinking firmware for the USB issue. Anyone have anything newer?

cha777

I don't know if this makes a difference but I remember seeing a thread that the 2012 B&O has 2 fewer speakers than the previous model. The model order guide specifically stated that the speakers went from 14 to 12 but the output remains at 505 Watts.

Personally, I was unimpressed with the sound overall compared to the Logic 7 in my 5 series UNTIL I loaded some music on an SD card and listened to them that way. This takes the B&O up a notch into the realm of the Logic 7.

Also, as far as the USB hard drive, I haven't loaded the jukebox yet but do you think that downloading a significant portion of music onto the on board jukebox will help things?

dseag2

You can find many conversations out there re: breaking in speakers. Here is a thread to one...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/11...finally-relent

I'm not sure anyone knows the exact answer, but most seem to detect a noticeable difference after a break-in period.

BlankOne

Here is my take on the limited knowledge and experience to the Audi and the various B&O systems and BOSE systems that they have had, but this is based on my other experience in audio, components, business, and other aspects and things I have read or experienced or noticed that might apply.

1. Bose is really good at marketing **** poor audio components and their systems have been farmed out to Becker, which has been making and repairing products on a bunch of other brand names for BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Ferrari, and others, Becker was bought out by Harmon International, which also owns Mark Levinson, Infinity, Harmon Kardon and they also farm out some of their stuff to the Japanese. Are you getting a clue as to what might be going on yet?

2. B&O, I am sorry to say, is really good at making really cool LOOKING products, but in the audiophile industry, they might luck out and make a somewhat decent product every one in a while, but a lot of the audiophiles don't really consider B&O OR BOSE as anything other than really good at dressing up either bad audio or OK audio, but they are not considered leaders or real serious audiophile products that are taken that seriously. the Beo5 system is cool looking, and VERY expensive for what you are getting. I could name another company that is a world leader in DSP based digital speaker technology that will just simply crush sonically speaking the Beo5 system for less money and still be stylish. this very same company is now getting in to the car stereo market and they have just released their stereo and surround sound systems that will enevidably compete with all of the other players, and time will tell how well they'll do. that company is Meridian.

now, this is what typically happens when a company wants to make more money on a product is they start using cheaper components, use less quality labor because the value of money is shrinking, costs to mfg are increasing and if they can't just raise prices to the customer or the auto mfg they will obviously start using other means to save money and in the end, the product suffers. Becker makes amps, decks, etc. and they are working with the exact same auto makers that have switched to Harmon or a Harmon based company just marketed under a different label like Mark Levinson, Harmon Kardon. It would NOT surprise me if some or more of the B&O product is being made by Becker. It would NOT surprise me if Harmon is trying to take control since it might be worth their while to keep the business by simply buying B&O and trying to save money by outsourcing the guts to Becker, which is based in Germany and can produce their products in quantity since they have been doing so for decades to the German automakers.

Now, on the side of Meridian, they don't mfg drivers, they design them and have suppliers make them to their specs OR they might pick a really good driver mfg that has a good product for which they can use. But the thing about Meridian is that their electronics is first rate and they don't skimp and they have standards that dictate what they will out on the market. the car audio world is highly competitive and everyone is trying to sell their brand name, make money and see if they can be successful, but these car companies switch brands every so many years if they can't come in at the right price point and the car companies really don't car which company they use since they will remarket another brand and make people think it is the best thing sincew sided bread when it is simply a repackaged version of something else.

If B&O starts to have problems it just makes me think that they are either using low quality components or they might be outsourcing stuff to another company that is using lower quality components to squeaze out some more profits.

people don't always have the ability to open up the drivers and compare to another, or open up the electronic boxes and see if they are using quality components. Some people don't even care, they just want their stuff working,

Speakers typically need some time to break in, but usually about a week usually does it and sometimes the difference isn't that big, sometimes it is.

Ask around and see who is actually making B&O electronics and drivers because they may not be making them themselves. some of these companies are design or marketing companies. In fact, B&O hires a design company to do some of their design work. so don't always take their marketing hype at face value. do some research and see what they are actually making or outsourcing because B&O might not be able to make these things by themselves. they may have to outsource it to someone like Becker.

Jon'sS5

As a recovering audiophile (it gets addicting if you are not careful) with a new 2012, I was not overly thrilled with the audio. Just one suggestion--there are a million MMI settings on this system. With enough tweaking I am pretty happy with it. For a car, anyway! The other surprise to me was the the settings are individual for each source, so if you do achieve one you like you need to duplicate it under radio, media, etc.

PeterJay

I don't pretend to be an audiophile nor would I want to be one, nor would I want one for Christmas. LOL
All I know is that my B&O system in my awesome S5 Cab. is "Lightyears" ahead in quality and sound compared to ANY system I've heard or would desire anywhere, in car or other. In my simple way of thinking anything beyond this is a pure waste of my time...............and money.

Keep up the fantastic work B&O.