Audio, the F30, Audi A4 and Kia Optima

Did the thread title intrigue you? lol

Anyhow, as I will do occasionally when I'm bored, I went up to the Carmax near my office and test drove an A4. I'm pretty sure it was a 2008 base model. I'll spare you my thoughts on the driving experience here.

What I noticed right away was how much better their base stereo is even than the HK system in the F30. Holy schnikes, what a difference.

I think the F30 suffers from what I noticed in the new Kia Optima--the middle dash speaker is too overwhelming. It tends to drown out all the rest. I played around with the fader moving the sound more towards the back of the car to offset it.

You might want to try this too. It helps to produce more of a surround sound than even the L7 setting.

Originally Posted by shabadoo25

Did the thread title intrigue you? lol

Anyhow, as I will do occasionally when I'm bored, I went up to the Carmax near my office and test drove an A4. I'm pretty sure it was a 2008 base model. I'll spare you my thoughts on the driving experience here.

What I noticed right away was how much better their base stereo is even than the HK system in the F30. Holy schnikes, what a difference.

I think the F30 suffers from what I noticed in the new Kia Optima--the middle dash speaker is too overwhelming. It tends to drown out all the rest. I played around with the fader moving the sound more towards the back of the car to offset it.

You might want to try this too. It helps to produce more of a surround sound than even the L7 setting.

Are you sure the Audi sound system was not the highly vaunted Bang and Olufsen system?
It can be had in the present A4 for around $800. In top of the line, like A8, it used to be around $6000, no telling how much these days!

Nah, it was the standard stereo.

Funny, I test drove the 2013 A4 and the 2013 328 and I thought the stock stereo was much better in the 328.

Originally Posted by mjsabin01

Funny, I test drove the 2013 A4 and the 2013 328 and I thought the stock stereo was much better in the 328.

Same, I found the base audio in the F30 pretty damn good, and better than the C350 and A4 base. I would never pay for premium sound in a car though so I doubt I am the target audience.