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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum iDrive, Audio, Bluetooth, Phone, Cameras, Electronics + Coding B&W v B&O

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      10-25-2017, 10:53 AM   #1
nsa100
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B&W v B&O

Having had my G31 for over a month now I will give my opinions on the Bower & Wilkins sound system over the Bang & Oulfsen system I had in my 2013 F11.

The B&W system is definitely a more 'forward' sound in terms of the tonal balance of highs and mids compared to the B&O. This is without them being too harsh.

The imaging and spacial placement of instruments and voices is very good and I am hearing more detail than the B&O. I also find the sound stage is also placed more in front of you than the B&O with the default Studio sound mode. I am not a fan of the other surround sound modes, like the B&O sound mode in the F11, as this seems to add in unnatural reverb.

I sometimes set the B&O Fader +1 to the rear to give more sound fill, but this doesn't seem to work with B&W system, which just seems to move the staging rearwards, rather than filling the sound.

I ran some test tones to listen at the low end range and found that the bass reproduction is good down to 30Hz with roll off down to 20Hz, which is very impressive for the 8" drivers. I do have to increase the bass by +2 or +3 on the tone settings and boost the 100Hz on the equalizer to get it to sound to my tastes. Having said that, I do feel the bass is not as strong as the B&O, and I don't know if the speakers are still running in, but there is definitely some bass limiting going on after 80% volume.

I am considering adding a subwoofer, not to add massive amounts of bass just reinforce 20-50Hz range. I wanted to do this in the F11 by fitting a hidden system under the loading floor and the G31 is no easier finding a solution as the depth of the speaker has to be under 90mm high.

Finally the system goes very LOUD, even compared to the B&O!
I do think it is a worthwhile upgrade if you can afford it and like a clear quality sound with excellent drive.
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      10-25-2017, 01:36 PM   #2
Roadkiller
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Thanks for the review. Is there a true equalizer available for the B&W? I'm coming from a Merc AMG and the Burmeister was okay but you could only control the treble, midtones and bass. There were no additional settings and I thought it really didn't allow for customization of the sound.
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      10-25-2017, 02:53 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadkiller View Post
Thanks for the review. Is there a true equalizer available for the B&W? I'm coming from a Merc AMG and the Burmeister was okay but you could only control the treble, midtones and bass. There were no additional settings and I thought it really didn't allow for customization of the sound.
yes

Bass & Treble tone setting and then there is 7 point equalizer to adjust variable frequencies 100,200,500,1K,2K,5k,10K Hz

I had a C63s W205 for a year with the Burmester.......which was crap in comparison
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      10-25-2017, 08:57 PM   #4
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Do you have recommended settings for the equalizer? I just picked up my G30 550 and would appreciate any advice you have. I relied on forum posts to set the equalizer for by previous (2012) 5 series and was pleased with the result.
Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer! (I have the B&W system.)
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      11-27-2017, 01:43 PM   #5
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I have added 2No 8" Subwoofers under the floor in the loading area.

You can read about it here:
http://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1443805
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