Ground Zero speakers and Audison amp any good?

[robdmarsh]

Hi everyone
I just paid a visit to Oxford Car Audio and they told me Ground Zero door speakers upgrade and Audison SR 4.300 Amp would be a significant upgrade to the factory fitted audio in my w205. They quoted me £1100 all in. I don't really know anything about car audio so does this sound like a good deal?

 

[ChrisPDuck]

I can't speak for that particular Audison model, but I rate my Audison Prima very highly. For me the key to getting a sound that I liked was being able to adjust the levels and frequency response of every channel separately (see my post here). With the Prima this is done in software via a Windows app, and in the SR 4.300 it looks as though it uses hardware controls instead.

Once I had the channels set up the way I liked, I found that the original speakers, which had sounded woolly and dull, now sound very good indeed, and I haven't felt the need to change them. I wonder if your installer would consider fitting the amplifier first, so that you can judge whether the factory speakers really need changing after that.

 

[robdmarsh]

I can't speak for that particular Audison model, but I rate my Audison Prima very highly. For me the key to getting a sound that I liked was being able to adjust the levels and frequency response of every channel separately (see my post here). With the Prima this is done in software via a Windows app, and in the SR 4.300 it looks as though it uses hardware controls instead.

Once I had the channels set up the way I liked, I found that the original speakers, which had sounded woolly and dull, now sound very good indeed, and I haven't felt the need to change them. I wonder if your installer would consider fitting the amplifier first, so that you can judge whether the factory speakers really need changing after that.

Thanks for that Chris. It's interesting that you suggest an amplifier upgrade before a speaker upgrade. Do you have the original w205 speakers? I also think they're not bad, in fact they go quite loud and bass level is ok for me (I'm not a bass head!). What the sound lacks is greater definition and control and maybe an amp upgrade will provide that. Are you planning to upgrade your speakers in the future?

 

[ChrisPDuck]

Hi Rob - my amp went into my W221 with the Harman Kardon premium audio option, so perhaps my experience isn't directly transferrable. But I've done a fair bit with DSP in my home hifi setup too, and in my experience you can make almost any speaker sound good if you shape the signal to your preference. I favour a setup with a lot of crisp top end and a warm bass, with the boxy mid range dialled down a bit. The Audison Prima allows very detailed signal shaping through their Windows app. I don't know about the SR 4.300 but from the manual it looks as though you'll be able to use the controls on the top of the unit to set high pass and low pass filters for each speaker, and set the levels separately, so you'll get a decent amount of flexibility.

Personally though, I'd save my money on the speakers, at least initially, and consider spending that money on one of the Prima amplifiers to get the most control and potentially bring out the best of the existing speakers. Another benefit of the Prima is that the unit itself doesn't have to be accessible if I want to tweak the setup - I've left a USB cable connected and I can connect my laptop to it without having to strip out the boot lining to get to the controls.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

As long as doing it in two steps doesn’t dramatically add to the overall cost then I would be inclined to agree that replacing the amp first and replacing speakers later would be a wise choice.

Whilst less-sophisticated than the set up in your car, when we bought our W163 ML in 2004 the sound quality was poor, and I assumed that I’d have to replace the head unit, speakers and add an amp and sub.

By chance I replaced the head unit first as a great deal came up on a Becker Mexico, so I replaced the standard Audio 10 first. The difference in sound was so great that I left everything else completely standard.

I was amazed how much more clarity and bass was being held back by the amplifier built-in to the standard Audio 10 head unit. The speakers were clearly capable of much more, as the Mexico liberated it.

 

[Skd884]

Audison products are superb but i do not know anything about ground zero audio

A forum sponser did the following on my 204, they fitted morel speakers and an alpine sub and left the oem amplifier in situ and it sounds very very good

Front:
2 x MOREL MAXIMO 6½" 2-WAY 90W RMS

Rear:
2 x MOREL MAXIMO 6½" COAX 80W RMS

Boot:
1 x ALPINE 8" SUPER COMPACT ACTIVE SUBWOOFER PWE-V80 160W MAX

And Dynamat acoustic insulation inside the doors.

 

[robdmarsh]

Hi Rob - my amp went into my W221 with the Harman Kardon premium audio option, so perhaps my experience isn't directly transferrable. But I've done a fair bit with DSP in my home hifi setup too, and in my experience you can make almost any speaker sound good if you shape the signal to your preference. I favour a setup with a lot of crisp top end and a warm bass, with the boxy mid range dialled down a bit. The Audison Prima allows very detailed signal shaping through their Windows app. I don't know about the SR 4.300 but from the manual it looks as though you'll be able to use the controls on the top of the unit to set high pass and low pass filters for each speaker, and set the levels separately, so you'll get a decent amount of flexibility.

Personally though, I'd save my money on the speakers, at least initially, and consider spending that money on one of the Prima amplifiers to get the most control and potentially bring out the best of the existing speakers. Another benefit of the Prima is that the unit itself doesn't have to be accessible if I want to tweak the setup - I've left a USB cable connected and I can connect my laptop to it without having to strip out the boot lining to get to the controls.

Thanks again Chris. Wow, you look like you're really into good sound. Me too, my home hifi set up is modest but sounds really good. I haven't played with DSP though. I went to Oxford Car Audio and that's where they recommended the Audison. I think if I get it online I can get a further saving so lets see what I can achieve with an outlay of about £600 including cabling.
I had the HK upgrade in my outgoing w204 and I thought it didn't sound bad but I see what you mean about the sound lacking detail.

 

[robdmarsh]

Audison products are superb but i do not know anything about ground zero audio

A forum sponser did the following on my 204, they fitted morel speakers and an alpine sub and left the oem amplifier in situ and it sounds very very good

Front:
2 x MOREL MAXIMO 6½" 2-WAY 90W RMS

Rear:
2 x MOREL MAXIMO 6½" COAX 80W RMS

Boot:
1 x ALPINE 8" SUPER COMPACT ACTIVE SUBWOOFER PWE-V80 160W MAX

And Dynamat acoustic insulation inside the doors.

Cheers Skd884. How much did that set you back all in?

 

[Skd884]

Cheers Skd884. How much did that set you back all in?

Over to @markjay

 

[robdmarsh]

Over to @markjay

Sorry, don't get why you're sending me over to him

 

[markjay]

Sorry, don't get why you're sending me over to him

It was my car previously. The audio upgrade was fitted in 2017 by Comand UK, not sure if the prices are relevant today - better ask them for a quote [email protected] or check their prices online www.comandonline.co.uk.

 

[robdmarsh]

It was my car previously. The audio upgrade was fitted in 2017 by Comand UK, not sure if the prices are relevant today - better ask them for a quote [email protected] or check their prices online www.comandonline.co.uk.

Thanks. Their Morel Maximo Ultra kit looks better value than the Ground Zero equivalent that Oxford car audio were recommending to me. OCA are asking £120 for an in door speaker fitting and £315 for an under seat amplifier fitting including cabling.

 

[markjay]

Thanks. Their Morel Maximo Ultra kit looks better value than the Ground Zero equivalent that Oxford car audio were recommending to me. OCA are asking £120 for an in door speaker fitting and £315 for an under seat amplifier fitting including cabling.

I can't comment on Ground Zero, but I found the Morels to be absolutely fantastic. Well worth the money.