I just saw that the 2013 Jaguar XJ and XF are no longer useing the Bowers and Wilkins setup.....why did they switch to Meridian. Seems like a downgrade if you ask me. Why would they have switched. Im sure the F-type will have Meridian audio and soon to follow the XK...
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

Never know what goes on at this Corporations. It could simply be for cutting costs.

 

As far as I know, Land Rover had fairly recently switched to Meridian. Therefore, I suppose it was cheaper/easier for JLR to put Meridian in the XJ.

From my point of view, the Meridian system is not superior to the B&W system (caveat: I of course have not heard the Meridian system personally, just my opinion based on the specs and my experience), it's just what they had already implemented for Land Rover & Range Rover, so they carried it over to the XJ.

Edited to say: Forgot to say, I was in a Range Rover Evoque the other day, and it was very evident how closely some of the interior features are shared across the vehicles.

 

It looks like Maserati has bagged B&W for their vehicles in 2013. I wonder if that had something to do with it?

Maserati - Bowers & Wilkins | B&W Speakers

 

I have the upgraded top of the line B&W system in my 2011 XJK and it's the best sounding stock audio system I've ever heard. Maybe better than some of the expensive after market audio systems I've installed from third parties.

 

Well, I CAN tell you what I was told when I inquired about that subject. Is it absolutely all the truth?...... anybody's guess.

The sales side of things give their talking points, as evidenced in the attached. The big points are very low Total Harmonic Distortion [THD], and concert type CLARITY. That comes from somewhat lower total power [watts] and very high digital clarity. I'm not the audiophile I was in my late teens and twenty's, but this system sounds mighty good. If you're a headbanger, you will probably miss the BW and 1200 watts. If you like the subtler stuff and crystal clear reproduction, you will like the Meridian.

That said, I will also say that from technical people I trust are in the know, the absolute prime reason for the switch is power consumption......less of it. As most of you that have these newer cars know, the battery is by far the weak link now-a-days. Some don't know it, but fifteen years ago it was said we'd all be on 36v or 48v auto electrical systems by now. Hasn't happened, but with all the electrics in these cars they sure need to do something. The 12v system is for sure taxed to the max. Not only do they scrimp for every hundredth of a mile per gallon, they also hunt for ever more miserly electrics wherever they can find it.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

 

New (two weeks) 2012 XFR owner, be kind. This is more likely Bowers & Wilkins making the switch to a higher end company (not by much). In my opinion for what it is worth, B&W is one of the top three audiophile companies in the world. Since discovering their speakers we have exclusively outfitted our home with their products. We have purchased their speakers for years now. They entered the market via Jaguar and designed their first vehicle system; so happens to be the best audio system that has ever been placed in a production car. Everyone was aware of their capabilities, but Jaguar was the company that took the chance to see if they could translate that into a car. I know may people went into the dealership just because they heard of the B&W system in the car. Meridian will however give you more control of the tonal quality of your sound, but with the B&W it was engineered for that car. Hint: If you move the Bass, Tone or Sub settings of your audio...try it again back in the middle. That is the sound B&W engineers meant for you to hear:-) Only my thoughts, everyone has them. Also, the B&W system will play DVD-A's while doing hot laps..I'm in Heaven!!!!

 

I thought B&W went bankrupt & Jag had to switch to a new brand! I haven't sampled either so I'll take your word regarding sound quality. I hardly ever listen to music while driving so the audio system brand is academic in the XJ I plan to buy.
Anyway how's the Mark Levinson audio in Lexus compare to B&W? & is Bang & Olufsen in Audi, Aston any good?

 

I have a 2012 xjl portfolio with bowers Wilkins base stereo. It's fine except it doesn't have surround sound. Even my 2010 Mercedes e class had surround sound. The new meridian system does have a surround sound setting.

 

Venture, I am not sure what the base B&W system on your car is? My car does not create virtual surround sound out of a stereo source like my BMW did, but it will play DVD-A's :-) Also any DVD with surround sound tracks. The only fault I can find is that it will not play SACD's. If you are familiar with analog audio, it kind of reminds me of that with multiple channels...or Hi-Def audio via HDMI. I just know that it sounds a little better then average playing the radio and streaming bluetooth audio, but when I put in a Hi-Def Multi-Channel source material! It's like being at home with a Rotel/B&W 7.1 setup, except it's in my 510hp car!!!!! I have arrived:-)

 

I will miss the B&W speakers in Jaguar's cars. Although I bought my XF without it, I thought the next Jaguar I bought as an "upgrade" would surely have it. Now I am wondering if is worth the upgrade cost to have the dealer transplant the system into my current car and hold onto that for longer. I just have the base XF but I love that V8 and have no plans to switch back to a V6 again. That said, I know they switched both out for the sake of efficiency.

 

As an audiophile and a owner of a 7.1 B&W home audio system I will give my two cents. In the normal luxury car market without a doubt the upgraded B&O sound system is the reference standard. It has great clarity, depth of field, sound dispersion, and solid bass. It just happens to cost about 7000 dollars extra. The B&W is an awesome sound system but THD is an issue. I have also found the center channel and the door woofers to be a weak link so much so that I have had to replace all of them. I have actually had more issues with the car itself impacting sound quality. They door panels will rattle at certain frequencies and the headliner where the sunroof starts will also. I actually think its the wind/bug screen rattling in its compartment because the sound goes away with the sunroof open. Even by B&W's own omission the subwoofers in the back deck are underutilized but would be better served as 10 inches. There is actually a back ledge in the trunk against the back seat that would have been great for a subwoofer box. With all that said here is my major heartache with all the new high-end systems.

Whether we want to accept it or not SACD and DVD-A will never catch on as evident by the lack of selection of current music. We continue to move forward in every other audio/video format except music. Basically MP3's killed the audio industries forward moment. The ability to carry thousand of songs on your ipod or phone trumped sound quality. With that being said I think the next move needs to be a way to make those crappy MP3's or AAC's (Our system wont even play FLAC which confuses the crap out of me for it to be a high-end system) sound as good as they possibly can. As much as I would love to be able to play the highest sounding quality audio on my system I would either have to listen to old remastered stuff from people I normally wouldnt buy or the limited new stuff from people I wouldn't normally listen too. While the doting public has embraced blu-ray and 1080p and soon 4K and DTS Master Audio and Dolby True HD for their movies, they seem to care less how their music sounds. Convenience wins. No one wants to go back to the days of the 100 cd book in their car.

I myself have Spotify and Rhapsody which I bluetooth stream through my B&W car system. And for the record Meridan is not a crappy audio company. They are just as high-end as B&W even though they are nowhere close to B&W in the speaker arena. But Jaguar/Landrover probably had to do economies of scales. I am sure it was a business decision and not a sound quality decision. While the Merdian system doesn't have the same amount of wattage its THD is crazy low. So what does it matter if you can turn the B&W up to 50 if it sounds like crap. By the way that is the normal sound level I listen to all my music and it is really telling of the strength and weaknesses of the system. Depending on the music anything over 50 with bluetooth streaming and the center channel starts clipping. Bluetooth streaming, Spotify, Rhapsody, and compressed music is here to stay. So make a system that makes that mess sound good and you will have a winner.

 

I have the B&W 2013 525 W system in my XKR-S. It is, by FAR, the WORST system I have ever listened to. Go to the XKR 2006-up page and go under the XKR-S poll. That thing has been basically us bitching all day about how off the stereo sounds - We must turn the mid and sub to the MAX while turning the treble ALL THE WAY DOWN. It sounds like your listening to a AM radio with your ipod with all the settings set to the midline. What does everyone think could be wrong in the XK's B&W system? Did they forget to hook something up? switch to cheaper speaker wire which kills the sound? I think a thorough investigation by Jaguar should be done.

Loth

 

Try addressing this issue with mike@jaguar who is a Jaguar Rep that is monitoring this forum.

 

No, B&W are far from bankrupt. They seem to be going from strength to strength.

Lothar52 I think you need to find out whether there's a fault with your system. B&W kit generally sounds "bright" (i.e. with strong treble) but you should be able to correct it out (if you don't like it) with minor adjustments only.

I'm a big B&W fan, and like ExpatJag have a lot of B&W kit in my house. I think that the 1200W system in the XJ is tremendous.

 

When looking at an XJ recently I was told by the dealer that B&W only do speakers, so the head unit is actually a Harmon Kardon head unit

So that's why they switched to Meridian as Land Rover use it... And they can provide them with a whole system which B&W couldn't do

 

Just came across this thread which relates to a thread that I started on this forum per link below:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...system-100405/

My 2010 XFR B&W system is outstanding (but the bass is not well controlled in the doors). The mids and uppers are wonderfully transparent and a joy for listening. The base 2012 system is entry level junk. I plan an attempt to install B&W speakers in my 2012 XF and hope for better sound...and no problems with fitment, connections, and impedance and crossover matching. But I am so disappointed with the base system in my 2012 I am willing to risk this attempt. I'm not anticipating any base improvement, however. I will report back when I have made the attempted upgrade.

 

Steamer 22: did you make the upgrade yet? And if so, give us your assessment of the
upgrade. Thanks.

 

+1

I'll put my two cents too!

I have both. The B&W in my 2012 XKR-S and the upgraded Meridian in my new 2014 XJL. There is NO COMPARASON betwenn the two system. Like Lothar says, the B&W is really crap in the XKR-S.I just start back to listen the music since I bought the XJL. That Meridien systen is awesome. Great quality, great difinition, goog bass, etc. I'm more then surprise by that sound system. Maybe B&W drop the ball with the XKR-S and Jaguar decided to switch to Meridien to make sure they know how to do sound system for their cars??? B&W are great for houses, but for car?

By chance, with the XKR-S, the best sound come from the tailpipe!!!

;-)
Guy

 

the two B & W systems....

Iv'e heard both the 525w base system and the 1200w Upgrade system.

They sound nothing alike...