Arkaband
Ready to race!
I recently started considering trading my 2011 Autobahn for a mk7, and that poses the frustrating decision of going down to the base audio system in the S or spending $3,000 more for the SE to get the Fender system and a bunch of other features I'm not crazy about.
The problem is I'm really picky about audio. The Dynaudio system is one of things I like the most about my car. I know aftermarket is an option, but my history with aftermarket systems has been hit or miss. If you have an aftermarket system you like, feel free to post about it.
Now, I don't know what qualifies an audiophile. I have a music degree and I appreciate good audio, but by no means do I consider myself an expert.
For the test, I picked a few songs from my SD card: Coldplay's Hurts Like Heaven, Metallica's Fade to Black, Muse's Madness and Forbidden Friendship from the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack. I listened to them in my car, then went to my local VW dealer and listened to them on a mk7 GTI S, then in an Autobahn.
I'll start with the base system:
Hurts Like Heaven is a good test of the system's range and balance and it does surprisingly well. At my standard pop/rock EQ settings (+2/0/+2), the balance is just about right. The bass has plenty of punch. There's not even any noticeable distortion until I turned it up louder than Coldplay should ever be.
Fade To Black started showing the weaknesses of this system. The soft guitar intro wasn't offensive but lacked the clarity of the premium systems. The power chords were a letdown compared the Dynaudio. Midrange power is really where the base system is lacking.
In Madness, it did a decent job with the power and clarity with the bass line, but it just didn't have the low range.
Forbidden Friendship starts as a percussion ensemble with mostly marimbas and timpani then slowly adds the whole string section. The base system did okay but scores well below the premium systems due to overall lack of clarity.
Dynaudio: Hurt's like Heaven sounds good with good low and mid clarity at moderate volumes but isn't very pleasant when turned up. I had to turn the treble down to -4 to tolerate it at a loud volume and that's my biggest complaint about the Dynaudio system. You only notice it in certain types of music but the highs can be quite "synthetic" or "tinny" to the point of hurting my ears after a while. The bass and mids I have at +3 and +1 respectively.
Fade to Black on the other hand is right in this system's sweet spot. The soft guitar intro is crystal clear, as are the bass and vocals. When the power chords come in, they're clear with lots of punch and no distortion as loud as I could stand to turn it up. Kirk's epic solo is clear without being offensive.
The orchestral percussion in Forbidden Friendship sounds very clear and natural, but the system struggles a little with the string bass's low range. The range is there, but the super low frequencies are muddy coming out of the 6.5's.
Fender:
I can keep this review short. I really couldn't find a weakness with it in any of the songs. Range, balance, clarity was all very good. One strange thing was that the highs were much better with the treble turned up to +6 or higher. Unlike Dynaudio, the highs from the Fender system never got unpleasant at loud volumes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply the difference between metal and cloth tweeters. Both Dynaudio and Fender had lots of bass without turning it up much, but the Fender was a little clearer down in the lower range. If Dynaudio has an edge anywhere over Fender, it's in the midrange. It has a little more punch and I might prefer it's tone quality in the mids over Fender though not by much. The highs are the biggest difference and the reason Fender wins this comparison IMO.
The problem is I'm really picky about audio. The Dynaudio system is one of things I like the most about my car. I know aftermarket is an option, but my history with aftermarket systems has been hit or miss. If you have an aftermarket system you like, feel free to post about it.
Now, I don't know what qualifies an audiophile. I have a music degree and I appreciate good audio, but by no means do I consider myself an expert.
For the test, I picked a few songs from my SD card: Coldplay's Hurts Like Heaven, Metallica's Fade to Black, Muse's Madness and Forbidden Friendship from the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack. I listened to them in my car, then went to my local VW dealer and listened to them on a mk7 GTI S, then in an Autobahn.
I'll start with the base system:
Hurts Like Heaven is a good test of the system's range and balance and it does surprisingly well. At my standard pop/rock EQ settings (+2/0/+2), the balance is just about right. The bass has plenty of punch. There's not even any noticeable distortion until I turned it up louder than Coldplay should ever be.
Fade To Black started showing the weaknesses of this system. The soft guitar intro wasn't offensive but lacked the clarity of the premium systems. The power chords were a letdown compared the Dynaudio. Midrange power is really where the base system is lacking.
In Madness, it did a decent job with the power and clarity with the bass line, but it just didn't have the low range.
Forbidden Friendship starts as a percussion ensemble with mostly marimbas and timpani then slowly adds the whole string section. The base system did okay but scores well below the premium systems due to overall lack of clarity.
Dynaudio: Hurt's like Heaven sounds good with good low and mid clarity at moderate volumes but isn't very pleasant when turned up. I had to turn the treble down to -4 to tolerate it at a loud volume and that's my biggest complaint about the Dynaudio system. You only notice it in certain types of music but the highs can be quite "synthetic" or "tinny" to the point of hurting my ears after a while. The bass and mids I have at +3 and +1 respectively.
Fade to Black on the other hand is right in this system's sweet spot. The soft guitar intro is crystal clear, as are the bass and vocals. When the power chords come in, they're clear with lots of punch and no distortion as loud as I could stand to turn it up. Kirk's epic solo is clear without being offensive.
The orchestral percussion in Forbidden Friendship sounds very clear and natural, but the system struggles a little with the string bass's low range. The range is there, but the super low frequencies are muddy coming out of the 6.5's.
Fender:
I can keep this review short. I really couldn't find a weakness with it in any of the songs. Range, balance, clarity was all very good. One strange thing was that the highs were much better with the treble turned up to +6 or higher. Unlike Dynaudio, the highs from the Fender system never got unpleasant at loud volumes. I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply the difference between metal and cloth tweeters. Both Dynaudio and Fender had lots of bass without turning it up much, but the Fender was a little clearer down in the lower range. If Dynaudio has an edge anywhere over Fender, it's in the midrange. It has a little more punch and I might prefer it's tone quality in the mids over Fender though not by much. The highs are the biggest difference and the reason Fender wins this comparison IMO.