Thankfully, I am seriously tone deaf. I blame it on "too many explosions in my youth". Otherwise, I would wind up with ANOTHER expensive hobby. Whew, missed that bullet....

 

I've read the biggest knock on the Meridian system is the customization on the sound is pretty minimal.

There is treble, bass, and that is about it. Can adjust mid's, highs ect.

 

@_Allegedly thanks for sharing this video. It's the first one I've seen like this, though I haven't been looking for much.

Seeing that the speakers are all the same (at the very least at the surface level) was a little saddening. It's like we've paid a little extra for some Meridian badges.

 

That's very much the case.

The big choice is "stereo" or "Meridian" which is some sort of hellish DSP that pushes through a center channel in the dash in an attempt to create a better soundstage.

It just doesn't work consistently. It's not an encode/decode process like Dolby surround so it's all artificial and it does okay with some songs but poorly with others.

​​​​​​Beyond that, it can be hard to tell if the sources are all poor quality or if the hardware is just that mediocre. You can't just pop a CD in and get the answer.

We do know the speakers look like they cost around $3.75 to build. Nice magnet.




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Bringing back this topic with another brand for a reasonable priced upgrade.
French brand BLAM , several kits with 2ohm impedance.
For example the Relax 165RX2 , I think I will give it a try.

https://www.blam-audio.com/en/165rx_2/
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Thanks for sharing this. I'm interested to learn more. Is there a diagram with all the speakers in the car (110) and their respective sizes?

Matt

 

You would also need to know

Depth of each opening vs the depth of the speaker unless you plan to modify the opening (cut).

Height of the speaker once mounted to make sure the factory grills will still attach.

Hole pattern for mounting although new holes can often be drilled in the frame of the speaker.

Crossover specs for the factory component speakers (front tweeters). The crossover is probably built into the factory amp and it's easier to try to match up compatible tweeters rather than try to use another crossover (as shown above in the Blams).

Ohm rating. **I don't know the factory amp rating** but many say it's rated down to 2 ohms which does sound likely. This would mean 2 ohm or 4 ohm speakers can be used. 2 ohm will draw more power from the amp and will play louder than 4 ohm on the same amp. On the surface, this sounds desirable but the bass can be cleaner and tighter on a 4 ohm at more moderate volume. Good quality 2 ohm should be fine. 4 ohm could be considered if you prefer cleaner sound with volume limitations. Another way to describe would be 2 ohm = more boom while 4 ohm = more punch on the same amp.

I really wish I had time to do this.

 

I currently have the B&O system in my Audi and if the 700w Meridian system is on par with that I'll be happy but, if not, something will need to be done so please keep us informed of the progress if you decide to make a run at changing them out.

 

Can you all just figure all this "stuff" out and tell me what to buy?? Not only do I have NO audio experience, but I'm tone deaf and have a bunch of other projects I'm trying to do. I can't WAIT until you all dial this in! In all seriousness, I'm eager to see how this develops.

 

I’m always confused when I read these posts that complain about the Meridian audio in the Defender. I have the 400W version in my P400SE and using a high quality audio file streaming service like Tidal, and more recently Qobuz (best file rate of any service), the sound is more than decent. I would recommend avoiding Sirius and lower file rate streaming services but most especially Sirius XM - it sounds just as awful in my Defender as it did in my previous Jeep Summit with a great sounding Harmon Kardon Surround system. I think it might be more to do with dud speakers that slipped through the QC section of the production line, rather than the system being poor. I’m not saying you’re wrong - just that we know there are many (many) quality control issues with the Defender and perhaps poorly wired, or poor quality speakers (or amps) incorrectly got installed on some vehicles, because it doesn’t seem like a universal issue - certainly I have no issues with mine, and I’ve also rented two Defenders in the UK and both sounded good too.

Either way, if you do switch out for better speakers or system - let us know. Most of the time, I like the sound of the P400 engine so much I drive in silence anyway….(that or the PiviPro system HATES CarPlay and music apps….)