The sound quality from the B&O system was bothering me so I left the car with Gary @ AudioFile In-Car in Bishops Stortford for a week, while I was on a business trip to London. Summary of work and components below :-
The factory B&O amp has been removed, the original front mid speaker, sub and rears have been disabled.
One of my objectives for the system was keep the car looking as factory as possible with speakers either in factory locations or hidden. I was keen on having a sub(s) but some of the R8 installs with subwoofer protruding from the rear shelf into the space between the seats were not aesthetically pleasing to me. Whilst any R8 owner will know my sub enclosure is not factory, it would not be as obvious to any casual observer, as it integrates perfectly into the shelf and finished in leatherette. I could have hidden the Audison 8.9 as well, but it is such a nice piece of kit it had to go on display! Well done to Gary for ticking all the boxes.
The system is run from from a full wave line out from the factory head unit, so no need to use the old speaker level outputs from the B&O amp. The new Prima 8.9 has 8 channels and is set up to run "actively" i.e. the frequencies / x-over points sent to the front speakers are set by the 8.9 so no need for passive x-overs. The 6" bass drivers in the doors are run from a bridged pair, so all channels used. The 9th channel is a line level out going to the Hertz mono-amp for the two 8" subs. Gary set it up with two time alignment settings - one driver biased and the other driver and passenger. I was surprised how much difference this makes with a good CD audio source and would easily recommend this to anyone upgrading their system; you will need something like the 8.9, a Audison bit 1, a bit 10, or I think Alpine have a unit though with less functionality.
The DRC is fixed in the glove compartment - its a silver finish so it would stick out like a sore thumb if installed elsewhere in the cabin. Can be used to control the sub level, switch between time alignment settings.
Some photos below (hopefully)
There are better quality photos in my Album
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- Front speakers - Audison Voce tweeters, 3" mids and 6" bass drivers in the factory locations
- Subs - 2 x 8" Hertz EFS20
- Audison Prima 8.9 bit (combination of amp and processor)
- Hertz HDP1 mono amp hidden - same location as old B&O amp (for subs)
- Custom sub enclosure
- Audison DRC control
- loads of dynamat
The factory B&O amp has been removed, the original front mid speaker, sub and rears have been disabled.
One of my objectives for the system was keep the car looking as factory as possible with speakers either in factory locations or hidden. I was keen on having a sub(s) but some of the R8 installs with subwoofer protruding from the rear shelf into the space between the seats were not aesthetically pleasing to me. Whilst any R8 owner will know my sub enclosure is not factory, it would not be as obvious to any casual observer, as it integrates perfectly into the shelf and finished in leatherette. I could have hidden the Audison 8.9 as well, but it is such a nice piece of kit it had to go on display! Well done to Gary for ticking all the boxes.
The system is run from from a full wave line out from the factory head unit, so no need to use the old speaker level outputs from the B&O amp. The new Prima 8.9 has 8 channels and is set up to run "actively" i.e. the frequencies / x-over points sent to the front speakers are set by the 8.9 so no need for passive x-overs. The 6" bass drivers in the doors are run from a bridged pair, so all channels used. The 9th channel is a line level out going to the Hertz mono-amp for the two 8" subs. Gary set it up with two time alignment settings - one driver biased and the other driver and passenger. I was surprised how much difference this makes with a good CD audio source and would easily recommend this to anyone upgrading their system; you will need something like the 8.9, a Audison bit 1, a bit 10, or I think Alpine have a unit though with less functionality.
The DRC is fixed in the glove compartment - its a silver finish so it would stick out like a sore thumb if installed elsewhere in the cabin. Can be used to control the sub level, switch between time alignment settings.
Some photos below (hopefully)
There are better quality photos in my Album
