# Bang & Olufsen sound quality



## PAUL ZX80 (May 1, 2018)

One of the most important things for me in a car is the sound quality of the audio... hence why I'm interested in a TT with a B&O installation.

I'm yet to hear a sample of the audio quality and I appreciate it's an objective subject but can any owners who appreciate sound quality confirm whether the B&O sound system is actually infinitely better than standard? Or are we just paying extra for the name?

Also, how are the audio frequencies managed? Is there straightforward treble and bass control? (hopefully it's not limited to frustrating 'pop' and 'rock' presets only)

Thanks. I'm new to Audi and really appreciate the helpful advice I've received so far from existing owners


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## gAgNiCk (Dec 25, 2017)

PAUL ZX80 said:


> One of the most important things for me in a car is the sound quality of the audio... hence why I'm interested in a TT with a B&O installation.
> 
> I'm yet to hear a sample of the audio quality and I appreciate it's an objective subject but can any owners who appreciate sound quality confirm whether the B&O sound system is actually infinitely better than standard? Or are we just paying extra for the name?
> 
> ...


Plenty of information on this already if you search the forum...

viewtopic.php?f=98&t=1777114&p=8823138&hilit=bang+olufsen#p8823138
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=1774266&hilit=bang+olufsen


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## PAUL ZX80 (May 1, 2018)

Ahh yes, thanks for the links


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## rizo9 (Jun 16, 2016)

I've had a couple of tt courtesy cars without b&o and I was disappointed. Definitely worth it. Also have the Bose in my a6 c7. Would never have standard speakers. Also had b&o in my b8.5 a4.


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## Dino_Donis (Apr 19, 2004)

PAUL ZX80 said:


> One of the most important things for me in a car is the sound quality of the audio... hence why I'm interested in a TT with a B&O installation.
> 
> I'm yet to hear a sample of the audio quality and I appreciate it's an objective subject but can any owners who appreciate sound quality confirm whether the B&O sound system is actually infinitely better than standard? Or are we just paying extra for the name?
> 
> ...


I have B&O the sound quality good but lacks a bit at the low end. I like bass heavy music. in my previous MK2 TTS I had a Bose system but still added a sub which had a remote level adjustment which i found was very necessary. I could adjust the bass level, cut-off frequency, phase etc. so if the music was a little flat I could compensate likewise if a bit too much I could take some off...I miss this.
The MK3 B&O just has electronic Treble & bass controls as well as a surround level. These are buried in the menus so not so easy to make quick adjustments....I haven't listened to a standard system as I always go for the best option sound wise...
It sounds like you should go for B&O....


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## Mark Pred (Feb 1, 2017)

If it matters to you, you'll have no complaints with B&O in the TT, it is truly excellent IMHO - I had the Audi sound system in my previous car and that was frankly awful, so you can imagine how woeful the standard system must be.


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## daddow (Jan 1, 2017)

The B&0 system although better than Bose the CD player refuses to read many of the CD's that Bose would.


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## jhoneyman (Aug 8, 2012)

daddow said:


> The B&0 system although better than Bose the CD player refuses to read many of the CD's that Bose would.


This is most likely a faulty unit.. A couple on here have had this and was replaced under warranty.


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## MClaine55 (Feb 16, 2018)

Bose works well IMHO as well as in the A3


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## GoodThunder (Jul 19, 2016)

If sound quality matters - B&O is a musthave. It's true that it may lacks some bass but it is what it is and it is very good. Not magnificent or breathtaking just very good


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

if you are getting Nav the upgraded system is just as good as the B&O optional system, or just as bad - depending on your point of view.


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

Personally I would NEVER get a car without the best sound offered, simply because it's so difficult or even impossible to upgrade these days, with sound integrated into the infotainment.

That said, the B&O is the best system I've had (after several Bose systems), although as others have said, it lack bass a bit. It really needs even a small subwoofer for sustained low notes, but the dual voicecoil woofers do offer amazingly strong momentary bass (like kicks).


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## VorsprungDur (Apr 6, 2018)

The B&O sound system is pretty fussy about source quality, feed it some high quality lossless music and the bass will stand out.


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Crap in, crap out... difference is the same across range of audio options.


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

When comparing B&O on the TT to the mk2's Bose, it's mostly better; Bass was never a stand-out feature of the Bose, what there was would get lost amid normal road noise and that's still the case with the B&O.

However the B&O has far more grunt and although there's no sub to fill in the lows, particularly at quiet volumes, if you want reasonable punch the B&O can deliver plenty, provided you're prepared to crank the volume - and you have to go uncomfortably loud to push it close to its limits.

There's just standard bass and treble controls and I find this most annoying as I like to tailor the sound to my liking and indoors use multi-band parametric EQ control on my PC and there's absolutely no reason why they couldn't offer the same level of adjustability with the B&O software - not even a basic graphic EQ, which is pretty poor imho.


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## bainsyboy (Dec 5, 2004)

I was once told be an audio freak that a good system should not have to have a graphic equaliser? Never been bothered to check this out though. 
The top end hi fi equipment that I have had though, over the years, have never had a graphic equaliser, just bass and treble.

As for bose and b&o, I have had both in the tt and too be honest haven't been impressed with either, the b&o sounds awful when I have been spending time listening to my Bowers and Wilkins headphones with high res audi and I have always preferred the sound of the bog standard audio set up in my wife's VW's as the time and bass always seems to sound better.

Trouble is though most people want the high end sound system when it comes to selling or part exchanging the car.

I think the b&o pips the bose but neither, for me competes that well with the big standard offering in the VW's which sound better than the big standard audi offering?

Best factory fitted I have heard In a car was in my mates mazda rx8 which showed the bose system in my mk 1 tt completly up.. Think the head unit was a Sony, not sure of the speakers though


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## Rev (Nov 17, 2015)

bainsyboy said:


> I was once told be an audio freak that a good system should not have to have a graphic equaliser? Never been bothered to check this out though.


It is kind of true. It depends on what the listener likes though. Generally if you have good lows, mids, highs, then why would you need to adjust the EQ? But what is "good" to one person, might not be to another, and unlike with home hifis, we don't get to choose the exact system we get in our car, unless we go the aftermarket route.

If you want to take it super serious, you can test your hearing (sensitivity to frequencies), and adjust the eq to match


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## PAUL ZX80 (May 1, 2018)

Since starting this post I've taken delivery of a mk3 with B&O installed and I can definitely say (in my opinion) it lacks a certain amount of bass.

Sure the sound is generally very good... but it feels a bit too thumpy on kick drums without enough bass.

I had a dedicated subwoofer fitted in my previous vehicle which was infinitely better.

Anyway, hay ho. I'm not complaining. Just noticing.


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

PAUL ZX80 said:


> but it feels a bit too thumpy on kick drums without enough bass.


Couldn't have said it better. This has a lot to do with how their audio processor handles the dual voice coil woofers, which can make much more thump per size but can't sustain bass notes. I simply have my bass set to where the thumps sound good, and have accepted I can just put a sub in for the rest (which I probably never will as its really still a fantastic system). I have random non-audio or car people comment on how gold it sounds spontaneously all the time.


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## zohan92 (May 11, 2019)

Hello guys, I am thinking of upgrading my sound system to a b&o. Do you know if it's a plug&play installation? I found the complete system, also with the amplifier. Thanks


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

No, it's not plug and play.
you'll need all the wiring too and the wiring is different depending on fitted options.


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## GoodThunder (Jul 19, 2016)

VorsprungDur said:


> The B&O sound system is pretty fussy about source quality, feed it some high quality lossless music and the bass will stand out.


I can now confirm this first-hand. Was trying Amazon Music HD along with my usual Spotify for about a month.

With both services I've been using the offline mode and the best possible music quality. My device was iPhone X and my connection was via a USB cable (no CarPlay).

Overall Spotify has much better user experience and a better recommendations engine. But Amazon Music, being a much more clunky service, profoundly transforms the way this B&O system sounds.

With Amazon Music HD the sound is very crisp and detailed with strong and detailed bass even at lower volumes. While Spotify makes it sound more dull and mushy, and only kind of opens up a little bit at higher volumes.

The perceived difference between the two was very noticeable in my case.


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## aeroflott (Feb 18, 2019)

olly2016 said:


> With Amazon Music HD the sound is very crisp and detailed with strong and detailed bass even at lower volumes. While Spotify makes it sound more dull and mushy, and only kind of opens up a little bit at higher volumes.
> 
> The perceived difference between the two was very noticeable in my case.


Interesting. I currently Bluetooth using Spotify and have been looking at Tidal to see what different that makes.


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## Julian R (Aug 4, 2020)

I recently had the B & O system retro installed into my 2016 Audi TTS to replace the horrible Audi stereo system. Its a significant improvement over the standard system but installing it retrospectively is horribly expensive (£3000). Audi wont do it so I had to get an outside company (Hazzydayz) to do it. Moral of the story is to ensure you include the comfort pack when you purchase your new Audi as it includes the B & O system, the rear camera and automatic locks as an added extra for only £1800. If you appreciate sound quality then make sure you get the B & O system. But remember use the best quality music (lossless) to get the best sound. I use an Apple IPod Classic to do this.


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## Ace McCloud (Jun 28, 2020)

I had a play and ended up setting the EQ to bass booster on the iPhone (connected via Bluetooth) and adjusting from the car settings to suite. I also turned off surround sound as I tend to get more bass from it being off.

Give it a go maybe?


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

In my experience with Apple products, I would be avoiding all sound processing on an iPhone - it's probably the worst DSP out there - if you're boosting bass on the iPhone I can almost guarantee with at least some types of music you'll be getting clipping and distortion. They don't call them Crapple for fun. Although it is fun


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

If I may,

All of the Audi speaker/sound systems benefit from higher bitrate files. Not saying go crazy and have lossless files (but highest ACC or 320 MP3 is more than enough).

Also I initially started with the opinion that AUDI SOUND SYSTEM (one below B&O) is bad. But fixing the bitrate quality and actually using the stereo for some time did improve the quality of the sound. Many HiFi magazines tell you that all devices (from earbuds to full surround speakers) have "breaking in period" after which they will sound how the manufacturer wanted them to sound & perform. Has to do something with the membrane loosening up and getting rid of the initial "unused/new stiffness"


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## spidey3 (Aug 13, 2019)

bainsyboy said:


> I was once told be an audio freak that a good system should not have to have a graphic equaliser? Never been bothered to check this out though.
> The top end hi fi equipment that I have had though, over the years, have never had a graphic equaliser, just bass and treble.


Truly high-end audio equipment doesn't even have base and treble controls. To resort to such explicit adjustment of the waveform would be _inelegant_! It would be an admission of failure in accurately reproducing the sounds that are represented on the recording medium.


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## Ace McCloud (Jun 28, 2020)

Any idea what bitrate Apple Music use?


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## BarrieB (Aug 24, 2011)

Ace McCloud said:


> Any idea what bitrate Apple Music use?


Very low, is the answer. Best to stream, or use in offline mode, services like Amazon HD or Qobuz at 24 bit. Can be done via most phones, and always best to use the usb connection rather than Bluetooth. In any event, the TT is a noisy car in all its versions, and so sound quality will always be compromised.


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