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I’m new to the Defender and recently purchased a 2020 100S with the mid-level/onestep upgraded Meridian system installed (not the top-end surround). Appreciating the somewhat subjective nature of this question, can anyone recommend a good setting (bass, sub, etc) that can nicely service a wide variety of music, from classic rock to classical, and maximize the system’s capabilities? I use often stream from an iPhone. I’m unusually poor at doing this, and confident others are more skilled and have found a good middle ground.
As you acknowledged this is really so subjective but here are the settings I'm using in my D90. Creates a really nice soundstage for the front. Might have to move the position slider a bit differently on a 110 though and lower the subwoofer if too much rattling. I think I'm lucky as I don't experience any rattling that others complain about.
I have the 400w and it doesn't sound great with everything centered. I have attached a photo of my personal settings, which sound the best and most balanced for me. The biggest issue with the 400w IMO is the lack of midrange, as there are only two dedicated midrange speakers. The 15-speaker, 825-watt Meridian Surround in my old Discovery 5 was definitely better.
Lol, at least you guys can turn your bass on. I have mind very low (in the negatives) due to rattles in the rear of my D90. Subwoofer I have no issue with, but anything with my bass above midline and volume above 30ish will cause the rears to rattle something awful.
One of these days I will remove rear side panels and put some sound deadening materials in there to hopefully compensate.
Lol, at least you guys can turn your bass on. I have mind very low (in the negatives) due to rattles in the rear of my D90. Subwoofer I have no issue with, but anything with my bass above midline and volume above 30ish will cause the rears to rattle something awful.
One of these days I will remove rear side panels and put some sound deadening materials in there to hopefully compensate.
I haven't had many rattles with my Defender over the past three years and 33k miles. The worst one was the midrange speaker grilles rattling, but that was a super easy fix - see the link below. I did also install dynamat in the doors and the difference is huge. Slightly quieter cabin and the sound quality is better as well. Best of all, no rattles! I think the Meridian systems are really good despite the cheap paper woofers and midrange speakers that are used. JLR used to use fabric/polypropylene 200mm door woofers - I had these in my old 2017 Disco 5 with the 825w Meridian Surround - these were much higher quality than the 165mm paper cone woofers used in the Defender. I'm sure swapping out the OEM woofers for a higher quality Kevlar unit would improve it even more.
Suggested Audio Settings
