Facelift Standard Stereo Upgrade

[LeonFRDave]

Hi all, happy new year!

I have a 2009 FL Leon FR with the standard fit headunit and original speakers. I've been quite disappointed by the quality of the sound from the standard setup - boomy base, muddy mids and poor clarity in the trebles. I don't want to spend a huge amount, to get better output. Does anyone know whether the culprit is the speakers or the headunit? Has anyone upgraded either or both for similar reasons? Do you have any recommendations?

Many thanks

Dave

 

[Robbo73]

Sorry to heaar you are finding this. Mines the pre-FL stereo and with some standard setting up it's actually quite a nice sound- better than the one I had in the R32 from a clarity/separation point of view. I can't comment on the new units, but would think with a bit of adjusting it will sound pretty good. If you want decent sound you'll need to upgrade to something like an HK or Dynaudio system and imo it's not worth it in a car to install.

 

[jezyg]

Hi,

I have the FL stereo and find none of your issues but then it is better than the one I had in my BMW 1 Series. On the FAQ page there is a section that shows you how to change the main speakers as this will improve quality greater than the head unit which is actually quite good.

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=123171

It is for a pre FL but the speakers and fittings are the same pre and FL.

Hope that helps.

 

[LeonFRDave]

Thanks for the replies chaps. I'm actually finding the found to be more muddy than my previous car which was an 05 plate Corsa, so I'm very surprised that you're finding it better than your significantly more upmarket previous cars - confused

jezyg - I believe (from a picture I've seen on these forums) the the newer facelift cars (MY2011?) have a different headunit to the early facelift cars, you don't happen to know which yours is do you? I think the newer unit is quite square and looks like it might be double height?

Thanks again.

Dave

 

[sniperftw]

LMFAO!!! if your finding it to be muddier than a CORSA , then return the car it was built wrong!

Dude the sound system in FL leon's are fantastic!! I had a sound system in my previous car, and was planning on getting one in this, then i realised actually the bass is pretty good and the clarity is fantastic!

Regards!

 

[jezyg]

Thanks for the replies chaps. I'm actually finding the found to be more muddy than my previous car which was an 05 plate Corsa, so I'm very surprised that you're finding it better than your significantly more upmarket previous cars - confused

jezyg - I believe (from a picture I've seen on these forums) the the newer facelift cars (MY2011?) have a different headunit to the early facelift cars, you don't happen to know which yours is do you? I think the newer unit is quite square and looks like it might be double height?

Thanks again.

Dave

The FL Leon is indeed double DIN and compatible and with many of the VW unit's with the latest firmware. I know MY11 now have the VW RNS310 double din unit. I have not been able to find out what the original SEAT unit is. But is bespoke to SEAT and still a double DIN unit as the clip on fascia hides this.

You are not using the AUX in are you? As this has a known connection problem that needs replacing. Have you tried USB and CD? As said mine is not muddy at all unless your tweeters are blown

 

[LeonFRDave]

I've been listening to a combination of music from a USB stick and from the Radio. I don't think I've played a CD yet. I was out earlier, and actually the radio didn't sound too bad, perhaps I need to check the bit rates of my MP3 files, think most of them are 160kbps so shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Robbo73]

that will probably explain it. The radio is OK, the cd performance IMO is great for a relatively budget system. I can confirm this having experienced long listens in more upmarket cars. In fact I'd say as well as 4th gear in the Cupra, that this is one of the most surprisingly pleasing things about the car...the stereo is good quality. MP3 I use for exercise only not for sound quality even if it uncompressed, not the same as old school discs...very very average clarity out of mp3 through a car stereo for sure, but understand it's convenient.

Hope you get it set up to your preference.