Peter,

Thanks for the post. I'd like to report on my 2016 F-Type AWD S. It comes with the 770w Meridian and I have to say, the subwoofers are simply awful. At any volume from the subwoofer under audio settings and with any of the DSP modes. The distortion and worblliness happen mainly on "punchy" bass notes for me. Sadly, the subs are literally the worst I have ever heard on any "luxury" car.

Yes, the child seat latch cover buzzed, so I removed that and it worked... but the horrible distortion remains.

 

If limiting the frequencies sent to the tweeters can resolve the buzzing, I would think one of the electrical engineers on this forum should be able to design a simple 2 or 3 component crossover circuit to put in-line at the tweeter. I know I studied crossover circuits, but not much of my brain cells left from the early '70s.
3 Way Crossover

 

I had considered changing speakers, but read a Jaguar description, which mentioned active crossovers. Could be hard to work around, so I didn't persue it. (I have some excellent MB Quart component speakers I removed from my previous car.) But inexpensive speakers often have a passive crossover right on the speaker. I can't believe that there isn't a crossover somewhere, unless they let a 5-year old design the system.

Which is starting to sound like a possibility.

 

Three words. YOU THE MAN!!!

 

I agree with Foosh and this my first time weighing in on this topic. I also do not have any buzzing or rattles with the 380w stereo in my 2014 F-Type S. I mostly listen to lossless music files and while this helps the overall sound quality, I do feel the Meridian stereo is subpar for a car in this price range. There is certainly room for improvement, but the excellent total vehicle experience outweighs the lack of stereo performance in my opinion. I am satisfied with my car and enjoy it every day.

 

Where the hell is Meridian on all this?

 

You hear them crickets?

 

I'm also with Foosh,no problems and what I expected for a $1200 upgrade in today's market. I hate to say this as it evokes a nasty discussion but I think a lot of these radio complaints are bs coming from unreasonable expectations. Is HK Logic 7 better? Yes, but it is not B&O or B&W, but those are all $5k plus options and not in too many 2 seaters! Ferrari has an 8k option that is good but not great in a 2 seater. Go listen to the Meridian in a Range Rover, basically same system from same company and it sounds much better. In big open suv!

 

I experimented today with the audio options and found a solution for me for now.

I've moved the Fader 80-85% to the back, Bass one tick above middle, Treble one tick below middle, and Subwoofer about 30%. I can still increase the sub with little distortion. Apparently, fading the sound to the back was the key, and I'm able to dial down the distortion coming out of the rear.

Since it's faded to the rear, I might've expected the subs to sound worse, but that's not the case. I guess it really means it's not the fault of the subs alone and probably something to do with the crossovers or poor wiring.

I now get the best soundstage by avoiding the DSP modes completely (Meridian, Dolby, or DTS) and using plain Stereo mode.

This isn't optimal since the soundstage is a bit farther back than I'd like and it's still disappointing for a 770w "high end" Meridian, but it's now at least acceptable. The "cheaper" B&O system in my old Audi S4 was better, but oh well... the rest of the car makes up for it!

 

If you don't use the DSP modes you are really missing out on any recordings that have more than a left and right track. Depending upon your listening preferences, DSP sounds awesome when you can hear the sound moving all around the cabin.

 

You are welcome to your opinion and we respectfully disagree. Having a speaker grill not vibrate at half power when a DJ uses the word S or Z in a sentence is not unreasonable.

Thanks for your opinion on our opinion.

 

I can 'cause the treble is okay. It's everything else that's muffled. But thanks god that I have no rattles.

 

I don't agree. The facts are it is an issue in enough cars, and the solution is now with JLR. It isn't unrealistic at all, real, and the reason for the nasty responses will be that you aren't correct. Why? JLR NA Engineer worked with the dealership and me, after listening and saying..."sir you are correct and we will fix this one way or another". They did! I am now happy with my JLR experience, the fix, and the total "exotic" experience. The nasty responses may come from "bs coming from unreasonable expectations" that you quoted. This invokes nothing but further anger to an already angry listening community with this problem.

Trying to keep it real here guys....., work with JLR and they will work with you, but remain professionally poised and diligent. They are trying to rectify it with you, but find the right way to communicate with them (if you haven't already). They pulled through eventually.

My system is now a 9 out of 10, brilliant highs always in this stereo, and all of this came up from a 4 out of 10, maybe low 5 out of 10. Material difference, and now I am pleased with my F-Type S totally!

Good Luck all...

 

Working on a fix for the tweeters now with a crossover system.. I will be detailing the install, parts and setting used.. I will be using a crossover in line with the Meridian tweeters. Found the OHM's and Cutoff frequency from the Meridian site and will apply their settings (even though I feel they should be different than 3K and above to the tweeters) but to be consistent with the original tune I will leave it this way. Waiting for the gear to arrive then will post back. Stay tuned

 

Cool... Where did you find that info? I didn't find it. Can you post the link?

 

I was out for a pure joyride in my car yesterday, and got stuck in trafic.


Spent some time playing with the Meridian 770W system (have not done much of that since I got the car, as I have enjoyed lissening to the sound the V8 makes instead).


My impression is that the sound-system works very well in my car. My sources were DAB radio and MP3 music on USB-stick.


DTS mode sounded (subjectively) best, and my settings ended up with Bass +2 (over middle), Treble in the middle, Sub +1 (over middle) and fader in center. ps: some of the radiostations could need minor adjustments, as they might be heavy on the bass - specially if I played (very) loud.


No rattles, no distortions - just good clean sound with a good punch to it.


The system sounds better than the "top of the line" Dynaudio system I had in my previous Touareg, and for the (minor) extra cost I think it is good.


I don't mean that those of you that complain are wrong. There are clearly issues on some (many?) cars, but for the ballanse I just want to say that some of us have gotten a system that seems to work rather well.


The only problem I have got is the center went that does not always retract, but that will be taken care of by the dealer on warranty as soon as they receive some parts.


All in all I could not be happier with the car!

 

I couldnt find one for the F-type (of course) but meridian seems to be using all of the same components based on diameter and outputs. The different wattage around brand and models comes from adding additional speakers for the extra space in the other cars. If you look at the XJ and XF they obviously needed to add rear seat and deck speakers. Using this guide I will tune according to Meridian spec and not my ear so we can have a standardized test and who knows maybe then it will actually sound like we all expect it to

 

I run nearly the exact tune you are running.. everyone has different ears and music quality is subjective so its tough to really know whats wrong unless you have a trained ear or know what youre looking for.. to see if youre car fits the "buzz" issue scenario, download the tone generator on the app store and run through the lower frequencies and you will then be able to detect if the wrong frequencies are being sent to your tweeters. test it and let us know your results! you will hear a buzz, start at 10 hz and work your way up.. your tweeters should NEVER be playing the same frequency as your subs and vice versa.. if you get to 1Khz (1000hz) and you never hear anything come out of the tweeters (in all digital settings and set everything to the middle on your settings for this test) then its safe to assume you do not have this issue in your car

 

Isn't this spec for separate speakers? Don't we have co-axial ones?

 

I have just done as you suggested, and I did find a "buzz". When playing with "all" frequencies and adjusting the ballanse front-rear, left-right, the "buzz" could be identified to the right door speaker at 110-120 hz and 160-170 hz. No buzzing when I tested left canal only.

I then tried several of the music I have on a memory stick + several good quality DAB+ radio chanels, but even though I now know what to lissen for, I was not able to hear the buzzing no matter how hard I tried.

I do agree that this is not how it should be, but I do not think it is worth it for me to try to find a fix - as my ears clearly are not able to hear it anyway.

I also think that the "buzz" is the result of something that resonate. Might be the speaker grill/fasterners, or something loose close to (or touching) the speaker.