I'm just over 4K miles and I'm pretty happy with my decision to purchase a 90 S, I love this thing, except for one option choice. The Meridian Surround System was a complete waist of an option. The Meridian, in my opinion, is both good and horrible. I feel like anyone who even pretends to be an audiophile, and listens to anything other than classical music/podcasts/talk radio, should probably hate the Meridian. The speakers just feel incredibly cheap, no luxury vehicle should have a system this bad - I can't listen to any of the stuff I'd like to listen to as loud as I like. The speakers feel like they're going to give blow, don't even bother if you like a rich/deep bass. I never thought I'd upgrade my vehicle and deeply miss my BOSE systems (they never felt like they were going to blow, and the bass felt great, considering).

Has anyone experimented with having their MSS replaced with something more capable? I'm going to reach out to a couple places over the next few weeks and see if it's something they're capable of doing. If anyone has any warnings, suggestions, experience (yes, I'm aware this could become a warranty issue later) I'm all ears. I enjoy listening to music too much to not at least consider doing something about this.

Quirks I've noticed:

• I have occasional losses of connectivity between Android Auto & my phone. This happens just enough for me to call it a minor nuisance. Probably like 5x since new years.
• The start/stop engine when I hit the breaks. It doesn't really bother me, but I have noticed that it can be such a jolt that it feels like I've been tapped by the car behind me. It also starts and stops randomly during the same stop light. I'm even starting to wonder if the engine kicks back on when it sense movement from other cars.
• Why doesn't the passenger side door have the ability to unlock the car doors? Imagine my surprise the day I realized my partner was unable to unlock the car from the passenger side as I was walking to the car with bags. Weird. I'm assuming their must be a way to do it. I just haven't bothered to play around with it.
• Can I not lock the door from the outside with the car running? I must be able to, because I can remote start the car.

And I did watch my windshield crack right before my eyes this weekend. It was a beautiful 57+ degrees on a sunny day; I was stationary at the light, and the crack just appeared.

Other than those things. The car hasn't had an issue. And I trust it. I really love the activity key, just wish it was a bit smaller.

 

So that's the 700W Meridian Surround Sound System, not the 400 W regular Meridian Sound System?

 

my buddy has a 90 X and has always complained that his Meridian Surround sounding terrible. perception is key as my p400 sounded pretty good and no complaints. he has been to the dealer numerous times and various exchanges of speakers and checking of wiring and minimal improvement. realized my buddy didn’t know what a correct system is suppose to sound like till he heard mine

once i heard his i knew immediately that there was various rattle issues that really had nothing to do with the system but poor build quality. it appeared that it was coming from the speakers

sound fidelity is very important to me. i have heard amazing systems and spent plenty on my in home. the meridian is good for what it is. the upgrade cost is pennies to what other car manufactures charge. speakers get better with age. give your speakers some time to break in and the right source and will be surprised

 

If you want to upgrade beware of the 2ohm amplifier in the Defender, this makes aftermarket choices more difficult.
In the UK several auto hifi shops use the Focal elite es165 KX2

https://www.focal.com/en/car-audio/c...its/es-165-kx2

 

Only dropouts I noticed were due to non OEM cables (iPhone). Wireless appears to be reliable too (I only connect phone wirelessly now). Check the auto-hold setting. It can be set to always be on or only when you come to a hard stop. When auto-hold is engaged (it will indicate this in the instrument screen) auto start does not activate when you lift off the brake—you have to tap the gas pedal to move forward again which is not good when driving in heavy traffic. try to avoid “hitting” the brakes. Go to the settings screen to see if it is set to auto-onThis is also a mystery to me. I do not understand why they would omit unlock from the passenger side. Bizarre.Probably a Euro regulation. There’s a group hysteria thread on this subject you may want to follow.

 

I don't think you can lock any Land Rover from the outside remote with the engine running. Seems like a pretty reasonable safety feature.

 

Speaker impedance should always be the same or higher than the amp's rating and there will be no damage pushing 4, 6, or 8 ohm speakers with a 2 ohm amp.

An 8 ohm speaker (generally home speakers) would be louder on the same amp than a 4 ohm. A lower number on the speaker means it's harder to drive.


I have also noticed that XM sounds terrible compared to almost any other source. It's dull, lacks range, and has no presence. Spotify, YouTube Music, and the rest are much better in mine (700w Meridian).

​​​​​​We experienced the same in the new Bronco. I have XM in 2 other cars and it's fine. Idk what's up with these but it's definitely worse.

 

XM via satellite is very low bit rate. They do simultaneously stream the programming via their app (which is also CarPlay compatible) and you can select the streaming rate you want - the audio quality improves dramatically when you listen this way.

 

It's funny because have an F-Pace and an old Toyota truck that both sound dramatically better with XM. It's just these 2 new vehicles.

 

you lose quality when you stream anything. It always best to plug your phone in with the usb if your source is your phone. I use Tidal which is one of few CD quality streaming services

once you hear a proper source any system sounds dramatically better