I just picked up a new TL and find the radio sound to be much less than expected expecially after hearing all the hype on how good it was supposed to be. I'm coming out of a BMW 5 series and found that radio exceptional. Am I expecting too much? Are there any upgrades out there? Does anyone else find this radio dull sounding?

 

radio? as in am/fm? are you referring to the loudness or the clarity? maybe you're not getting a good signal but why still listen to the radio when you have XM? i just can't stand commercials and those "call up now and win". well back to your question if the clarity is a problem, maybe look into another antenna. if it relates to volume, try upgrading the amp. i've upgraded my system and been pleased with the results. can't give you a comment on the radio since i don't listen to any of the fm/am channels. i just use the cd/xm/tape for iPod

 

It is not the reception, the radio sounds are not crisp. It sounds like the speakers are mounted under a blanket. Moving the bass/tremble etc, has very little improvement. Turning the volume way up just makes the radio louder but still sounds muffeled. My friend just put a $150 Pioneer radio in his stock speakered Passat and it sounds twice as good.

 

Turn all setup bars (treble, sub, etc) to their middle position. Get a clean source, like a CD or DVD-A disk that you know is crystal clear, and listen to the stereo in the driveway with the engine off. It should sound pretty nice.

I really like the audio in my 2006 6MT navi, but I agree, it does not live up to the hype.

 

I've found that our antennas hidden in the windows don't get reception nearly as well as with traditional antennas.

Maybe you're referring more to the quality of the stereo, in which case I would agree with you, BOSE made a good stereo overall, but with the head unit there is not much control over the sound frequency. I find no problems with CD's, but the FM doesn't pick up very well.

 

What source? Pop in a CD or DVD-A.

I think the system sounds exceptional.

 

Not a problem with reception. Exactly right, sound frequency is non-existant. The radio sound muted no matter how you try to adjust the controls. I think the problem is in the head and this radio was made to match a price point for Acura. I've heard Bose in other applications and the sound was terrific. I can't understand how anyone thinks this radio is great. It just "good". Still looking for a solution.

 

Popped in everything I've got including their demo CD. If the demo CD sounds bad then its the radio, speaker mounting, acoustics, whatever. This radio has no business being in this car. Jump in any BMW with the premium sound package, crank up the volume, sit back and close your eyes and you will think your sitting in the middle of a live band. Thats a radio!

 

I think the radio sounds pretty good. My wifes new MDX has the bose system witch is allot louder but not any clearer. I prefer the TLs for cds/and xm. If I listen to FM I like the bose because the loudness drounds out some of the distortion from the crappy fm reception. Besides that I would get it checked out. BMW has to have a good sound system at there price. Espeacialy for while a BMW customer has something to listen to while he/she is waiting for roadside assistance. They all try in there own ways.

 

the tl sounds great but not as good compared to a e60 545 sound system because in the bmw you have two subs under the seat and they also use harmon kardon sound system with a sound system called logic seven. this is why you will pay around 60,000 dollars or more for a bmw

 

I admit that I was very unhappy with the audio system in my 2006 TL when I brought it home as well. I did not listen to it much in the demo because I was busy checking out other things in the car. I had already test driven a few Honda Accords and they sounded OK. Plus I had already read a lot of reviews that praised the system. I believe the system is lacking in two respects. One, the XM Radio sounds crappy, even for XM. I had a SkyFi2 with a cassette adapter in my Audi A8 that sounded better (of course it was a $72k car). Second, the stock sub SUCKS THE BIG ONE. I fixed the bass problem with two 12" subs and a 250w amp. I still think the XM is sub-par, but I am happy with everything else. I just added the Music Link and I am very happy with the sound quality (even at 128kb) even though the interface is a little clunky.

jjh1234

 

Um maybe turn down center channel if you are listening to 2CH sources. It sounds better for 2CH

 

I have to say that the stock system in the TL is average. When I say average i mean the sound quality of the speakers. With the treble and bass properly adjusted so that the bass does not overwhelm the mids and highs the sound really is not that great. I think it is pretty sad that in order to get good sound I have to listen to a DVD-A. The DVD-A quality is pretty good bu tnow that leaves me searching for good titles in this format. In my previious car I had Alpine 6x9's, 6 and 1 1/2's and tweets running off of an Alpine deck and it sounded 100 times better.

I too expected more out of the Elliot Scheiner system.

Am I the only one that wants to drive my car into a brick wall when you hear him come on and talk about how good the ELS system is?

 

Well if you want good selections, get dual discs and transcode to DVD-A. Dual discs got lot more titles than DVD-As.


I can't listen to stereo sources anymore after listening to surround sound Jesisca Simpson disc.



My Mp3 burned discs sounds crappy though.. I agree on that - now I'm not making them anymore cuz I moved on to surround

 

it really hard for me to notice the difference from 2 ch to 6ch DVDA stuff - i mean the songs that were remixed to 6ch (99% of them)

the tracks that were constructed from the ground up to be 6ch is nice, but youll be hard pressed to find any

 

The 3rd Gen. stereo sounds much more improved than the 2nd speaking from experience. The subwoofer is definitely improved, but I thought that the DVD-A only supported music made with that type of audio on it. If you can figure a way to switch over all your music, COOL!.

 

To get the full effect of the 5.1 surround the music has to be mastered in 5.1 otherwise it's just your average 2 channel sound.

 

yep. that why u gotta start with DTS,Dual Disc, AC-3, LPCM or so on. IT sounds amazing and very lively.

Thats why I just bought 7.1 speakers for my computer. Just so I can listen to DVD-A discs at home.

 

So then is this like HD TV where only some things are available in HD?

In other words, some music is mastered in 5.1 and some not?

Only new music I assume.
How do you know if it's DVD-A or not?