Hi Gary

I just wanted to drop a message to say the immobiliser you guys fitted got its first real-world test recently. Unknown to me but caught on my home security camera, a car pulled up alongside my car, one passenger jumped out with a relay device and walked up to house, the other passenger crouching next to my car and within two seconds my car was unlocked. The would-be thief jumped into my car and spent a few moments trying to figure out why he (or she - didn't see their faces as they all had balaclavas on) couldn't start my car. That's because you guys had not only installed the immobiliser, you did it in such a way that the Target Blu-eye on/off switch was installed directly next to the immobiliser light which completely baffled the uninvited guest. Eventually they gave up and drove off. Only to return a few minutes later and try again, perhaps thinking their relay device hadn't fully activated the first time, only to be defeated yet again. It was quite satisfying to watch them fumble around thinking it was an easy target. You guys are legends and well worth the 2hr drive to get the kit installed.

Regards
Dean

Hi Gary

Thanks v much to you and the team for doing my RRS yesterday.

I had a good chance to run in / try out the system on the way home, and it’s a massive improvement.

Really neat and professional installation too.

I’ll try the Taycan when it comes and likely be in touch as some point.

Best Regards
Paul

I bought my 66 plate Z4 20i about four months ago.  I must admit I never cottoned on to the fact that it had a Harman Kardon sound system fitted already and what that actually meant, it sounded okay, but not great In my view.  Although probably a costly upgrade option for the original owner it certainly wouldnt set any audio review on fire.  After reading numerous positive online reviews, as well as watching some of the Audiofile YouTube videos, I contacted  Gary and discussed the merits of a system 3 and possibly a system 3 plus upgrade on my Z4.  Initially I opted for the system 3, not really understanding the differences between the two, other than cost obviously.  Being from Yorkshire my genetic tendency was to go for the cheapest!   I dropped my car off on day one of the installation and I sat in the demo car with Gary whilst he played the system 3 and 3 plus to me, the difference between the audio quality was enough for me to justify the extra expense of the 3 plus.  There was certainly no hard sell here, it was a case of what do you think, these are the differences, etc, etc.  In essence the 3 plus system phases the speaker outputs so that the sound stage appears to be just above the  centre of the dashboard.  I genuinely believe that you’ll get significantly enhanced sound quality with any of these systems but if you want the best and you truly love your music then I’d strongly advocate the Plus systems.  That’s a long story cut quite short : ), apologies if I’ve massively oversimplified matters Gary.

As I listened to various tracks on the way home, including Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac, Dido, at one point it sounded like Mark Knopfler’s guitar was literally just in front of me.  As other customers have said, with these high end systems, the percussion takes on new, magical depths. I think in many systems you probably just don’t hear it.  If you’re going to spend 2k on an audio system then a few hundred quid more to get it sounding amazing was justified in my book.  The system 3 sounded great to me but the 3 plus was simply amazing.

Anyway when the technicians started opening up the car it became apparent that I already had a HK system onboard and this runs off an optical cabling systems.  As you’ll see on the Audiofile website this gives you similar upgrade options to a standard manufacturer’s system, but some more costly components are required to achieve similar changes to the due to the digital optical nature of the system.  However the sound quality in optical systems is guaranteed to be better due to the lossless nature of the system i.e. signals don’t degrade as they travel around the system.  The cost / quality impact can be mitigated by retaining some of the original HK components.  As a result I ended up opting for a system 2 plus upgrade - utilising some of the factory fitted HK components - and I can only say that the sound is jaw dropping.  I normally tend to listen to the radio in the car, but after listening to the system once fitted I found myself stopping quite a few times on my journey home in order to ponder what track / album to play next.  It was a lovely two hour drive and one of my best ever audio experiences.  Gary and his team are a bunch of extremely professional, knowledgeable and friendly guys.  The standard of fit is exceptional, the sound proofing of the door panels is particularly impressive / effective, not only does it add to improved audio quality, but a quieter drive too.  If and when I get my next car I’ll be booking myself in for an audio upgrade at Audiofile early doors.

I think it says it all when people are bringing their vehicles from across the continent to get them fitted out by Gary and the team.  I think I’ll be listening to my radio far less now and my music collection a lot more.  An interesting tip from Gary was that it’s better to stream online radio content through your phone into the sound system, as opposed to utilising the DAB broadcast, which for some DAB channels is only sent out in mono, something I didn’t know and will be taking on board.
Thanks once again Gary and team, great job.

Regards
Chris

Hi David and Gary,

Drive home was brilliant.

The speakers sound great. Before, I could barely even listen to the radio as the voices sounded squeaky, both sharp and difficult to hear at the same time, whilst only the least complicated of music sounded musical. Now everything is sounding natural, engaging and enjoyable.

The car is now more comfortable to drive faster on the motorway due to the soundproofing. The big issue with 911’s is road noise due to massive tyres and minimal soundproofing. That’s why you always see 911s doing 60/65 mph in lane 1 on the motorway; drivers can’t stand the noise! I’d say the sound proofing reduces road noise to the tune of 10 - 15 mph. So if 65 was the comfort level before its now 75 – 80mph. This makes the 911 a much more useful road car, keeping up with traffic in lane 3, without doing your head in, whilst being able to listen to the radio or music as well!.

Taking into account the car is now more drivable for every day use and the speakers sound musical, where before they were barely useable, this is incredible value and I would strongly recommend this for anyone using a 911 as a daily driver, looking for refinement over raw noise.

Thanks guys.

Good Afternoon Gary,

I hope this message reaches you well.

Following the collection of my defender on Thursday, I wanted to take a moment to thank you and your team once again. I had great confidence once I had committed to having the work carried out with you, however, you’ve exceeded my expectations.

Not only was the car ready early, the level of finish, the attention to detail and the end result is simply fantastic. The sound is balanced perfectly, the quality and clarity is superb, plus the cabin noise with the sound deadening/foam makes a much bigger difference than I thought.

I had a few questions regarding a slight smell on the way back, the amount of volume required to reach my level of sound, but David reassured me, talked me through some adjustments and since then it has performed extremely well.

Having not spent this much on a sound system before, I have to say it is 100% worth it. Knowing you guys have carried the work out gives me so much peace of mind.

I will be highly recommending you to follow enthusiasts and will no doubt be back myself in the future.

I hope you have a speedy recovery with your knee and pleasant bank holiday weekend.

Kind Regards
Richard

Good Evening

Just wanted to leave a message to all involved in the install today and say a big thank you. I am so pleased with the results. David you was very welcoming and thanks for showing me your own car with the System 3 plus as I originally booked the standard System 3. What a huge difference the plus makes.

I will enjoy driving even more and cant wait to jump in the seat every single time. I also showed my friends and they where overwhelmed with the sound stage and performance of the products used in the install. This is best service I have seen for a very long time in any vertical market.

So glad I went to you guys and not your competitors. Definitely worth the 2 hour drive and not the company which was 10mins away and cheaper.

Good Luck all and I will see you all soon.

Thanks
Ricky (F30 White BMW)

Hi Gary, David and all the team,

A massive thank you for the install in my car. The sound is just stunning, it puts a huge grin on my face every time.

I had forgotten just how good in-car audio can be.

I cannot recommend you highly enough, friendly, knowledgeable and do ‘exactly what you say on the tin’.

Keep up the good work, you deserve all the plaudits and excellent reviews.

See you for the next one

Dave

Hello Gary,

We had a good run back to Wiltshire last night and enjoyed listening to the new system all the way home.

We were both hugely impressed by the sound quality, firstly on popular music, then listening to classical music on the DAB radio. Classic FM just happened to have a continuous play of wonderful pieces that fully illustrated the insight and depth of what you have installed. From delicate early music with lute and then Spanish harp and castanets to Beethoven's 5th Symphony. What was outstanding was the tonal accuracy of the instruments.

In the past we have given up with classical albums when travelling as the road noise drowns out the more delicate passages. I had not fully appreciated the power of the system, but as our speed rose the volume/speed adjustment I (or you?) had set, kicked in. Also having the ability to adjust the bass of the subs is very helpful. Rosemary said that for once she could hear the double basses in the orchestra whereas before it was largely lost. The percussion was also crystal clear and each instrument could be picked out.

We have had a look at the photos and played some of your demo tracks. We will gladly send in those reviews next week.

In the meantime we just wanted to say how pleased we were. I would have called, but Saturday morning is probably rather busy for you.

Many thanks to you and your team.
Have a good weekend.
Best wishes
Peter & Rosemary

Hi Gary,

Just a quick note to say exactly how pleased I am with my install. Now that I've had a few days to properly audition it, I can honestly say I love the way my music sounds!! All my friends were blown away too - both by the sound and the quality of the finish and attention to detail.

The other day , I thought I heard a buzzing from one of the speakers in a song I know well. However it turns out I can only hear it at that exact time in that one song...so I put on my high end headphones (with standalone DAC and headphone amp) at home and listened to it there, only to discover that the car system had found a new instrument in the song that I didnt know existed!!

Loving it.

Also, I've found that I do like the sound best with quite a lot of bass and am running it at vol0 on the Bit 10. I dont play it loud enough to hurt my ears at all - will it be ok like that?

And finally, I got a Carly code reader for the car - great idea. Based on that I got a new ABS sensor from a mate who work at car factors place for £24 and spent about an hour replacing it - easy job with one allen key. All faults cleared and probably saved myself £300 at the main dealer :D

Many thanks again, look forward to your opinion the volume levels.

Dan

Dear Gary,

I wanted to thank you and your team for installing the sound system upgrade into my Jeep Grand Cherokee! From first speaking with you on the phone your expertise of in-car audio and honest suggestions gave me great confidence in having the work done by your company, Audiofile-InCar. From your suggestions we agreed make and specification of the dashboard tweeters, four door speakers (two of which you found at time of installation due to available space could be upgraded, which you done with no second thought) and a rear subwoofer advised by you. The system is simply outstanding and given a whole new perspective to my music that crosses many genres. I can hear the finest detail of instruments and vocals never heard before. Being in the music industry it is a great help to have such a system to decide what artists to book and now a great joy to listen while driving, to the point of having an excuse to go somewhere just to turn on the system! The care shown by your team in stripping and reassembling the Jeep was very professional and above what I would consider a dealer or manufacturer standard. And without asking your team adjusted the smooth closure of a door where my wife (bless her) had previously hit a traffic calming post, now that’s service above and beyond and shows the pride you and your team have in doing the work, it makes all the difference, a big difference!

Thank you, Doug - Cambridge

Hi Gary & Dave,

Thanks for doing a great job on my Defender. You've not only done what I asked but you've also added some very nice little touches which I didn't ask for with brilliant workmanship and fitments. You've both been very approachable, helpful and professional throughout the process.  What a refreshing change, and  I wish other so called professionals were half as good. I would have no hesitation in recommending Audiofile.

Thanks Liv

Dear Gary

I just wanted to send you a quick note regarding my recent experience with Audiofile-incar.

As you may have a gathered I do not make decisions lightly when investing money. And I do mean 'invest' when considering something as important as a sound system upgrade for my BMW 5 series. I shopped around as is common now a days and found your website. A great proposition and solution to my very poor factory fitted speaker set up by the sounds of it. I visited 2 of your competitors who were closer to where I live and as much as they talked and sold at me they seemed to lack the warmth and passion that you came across with on the phone. So I came to see you and your demo X5 to hear what I would be hoping to buy and I was blown away with the sound quality and the sound stage that could be created with your expertise. A system 3+ was a no brainer after hearing the quality with my drum and bass and house tracks. So I took the plunge and signed up. The loan car was a great service on the day. The workmanship and quality of the finish is excellent and above all the sound has been taken to an entirely new level. Every journey is now a sonic explosion and I am hearing music like never before in the car. I am incredibly impressed with the overall result. Thank you for a great product and great service and keep doing what you do.

Giles

Dear Gary

First, thanks very much for the work you did yesterday. I had a slow but very happy journey back to Gloucestershire and have had a good drive to the furthest reaches of Herefordshire today. The sound is massively improved and now a real pleasure to listen to.

Also, the car is much quieter at motorway cruising speeds, presumably because of the additional sound insulation in the door panels. I am also really enjoying the reduction (or absence) of the active sound. The car sounds better without it my opinion – and strangely goes just as quickly!  Also, I can hear people on the phone over hands free much better, the sat nav spoken instructions are easier to hear and even the warning sounds are better.

The car was reassembled impeccably. I hate rattles – and I have not got one!

Thus you have a very, very satisfied customer – thank you.

Hi Gary - when I collected my car from you, you said you had been surprised to find no music stored on the car’s system. The answer was very simple: it sounded so awful, it was really a disincentive to use the BMW standard sound system. I’ve been very happy with the X3 except for this astonishing weakness.

You demonstrated the system with some tracks, including percussion which was astonishing. Drum and cymbal detail was incredible so it was a real delight to think of installing music to enjoy while driving. On the way home, I was listening to some classical music and wondered if the sound stage can be ‘widened’ as it was all very focused around the driver’s position. You pointed out that when reception for radio stations is low, they revert to mono.

So I grabbed some classical CDs when I set out next time. First up was Percy Grainger with some choral work. One piece, Shallow Brown, has very wide dynamic range and what impressed me was the depth of the sound stage. In stationary traffic I was able to close my eyes and easily imagine being in the concert hall. Next up was Gershwin and American in Paris. In this, the instruments came to life and the sound stage was ideal and a real delight to listen to.

Since then, I’ve been uploading music as often as I can - stopping on my journey to change to a new CD when the first one had finished uploading. Piano concertos are nicely clear and instruments are well-placed and a delight to hear so clearly.

I was wary about spending so much money on the System 3 Plus but I’m truly delighted with the results and am glad you talked me into it!

Many thanks for so dramatically improving things!

Best wishes

Antony

E46 Pioneer Double Din Conversion, Hi Fi Upgrade, JL Audio 13T5, JL Audio XD 700/5 and Focal KRXS Components.

Gary,
Just a quick note to say how please I am with the install. I was in the car for about 8 hrs over the weekend driving up North and back. The system works like a dream, the clarity from the speakers is excellent and the sub really backs it up with tight bass. Can't thank you guys enough!
Patrick.

Hi Gary,
Just a quick note about the car on my drive home - the tyre noise from the rear is still there, but has definitely reduced, and the car is quieter overall with the extra sound proofing in the doors etc, with a reduction in other road noise and so on. It's not as quiet as a Rolls Royce, but then it's not that sort of car! Overall I'm pleased with the noise reduction, so many thanks to you and your team for all their work - I think you've struck a good balance for a sports car.

As for the audio system - epic! Very pleased indeed - found myself laughing out loud at how brilliant it is! I agree with you that if anything it's a better sounding system than the X5, and I think that's saying something.

Many thanks indeed and best wishes, John Megarry

Hi Gary,

I would like to say a big thank you to you and your team for the excellent work on installing the system 3 plus to my 2011 BMW F01 M Sport.

There is simply no comparison between my original BMW Professional system and your System 3 Plus. BMW has been historically weak with their sound system even with the upgraded Professional one. It was still muddle and no definition at the top/mid range and the bass was just loud not deep where as your System 3 plus has transformed from a so so 'I could not be bother to listen' system into a full orchestra musical hall in my car! The hi end has such clarity and definition I could hear every details from every direction, the mid range has brought the instruments right out where some of them I did not hear before and the bass! It was so solid and deep it scared the xxxx out of my mrs when she first sat on the passenger seat while I turned the system only half up!

I was grinning all the way home. The 45 mile journey seemed only took half the time.

I am also grateful for sending back my jacket I left in your courtesy car. When I left your establishment I was so pleased with the sound system I had forgotten everything else. When I discovered I left my jacket behind I emailed you to say I would come to collect it the next day. You suggested in your reply you would send me the jacket by FedEx foc as it's a long journey from Harrow to Bishop Stortford. Now that's what I call top notch customer service.

I will have no hesitation in recommending your company to anyone as your work is exemplary and your customer service second to none.

Kind regards
Joe Wong

Good afternoon Gary,

Just to say thanks for the very efficient and neat job your guys did on my BMW last week. I've now done over 1200 miles with the system 2 and am very glad to hear real detail and depth in the music I have been playing.

I can see the limitations of the standard subs but for now the money was just right for what was achieved, I have had the hairs standing up on my neck during some favourite tracks so all in all money well spent and I wish I'd done it 12 months / 24,000 miles ago when I got the car!

Best regards
Ian Laight

Having picked up my new BMW with the Harmon Kardon upgrade, I was really expecting the sound to be satisfying, unfortunately I was disappointed and immediately started to adjust the sound with the equalizer settings, raising or lowering the different bands… none which really seem to help.

There was two things that stood out – the surround set-up of the Harmon Kardon adds the centre speaker and creates a very spacial sound, whilst initially sounding OK it looses the stereo of the music, and thus loosing the separation of instruments. The second is that the midbass or the warmth of male vocals was missing…. Which we later identified with the filtering from the HK Amp.

So in my quest to improve the sound I spent quite a few hours searching for a Car-Audio dealer that a) was reputable and b) understood the car set-up. In fact when you search for BMW audio F30 upgrade “Audiofile-incar returns the top of the page.

Anyway after a quick call speaking to Gary, who owns Audiodfile I decided to visit the shop to get a feel for the place. That visit was a 2 hour drive, but in just a few minutes of getting there I felt re-assured and would be in good hands.

The initial upgrade, which was a system3 plus, although good, uncovered a couple of issues, a strange clipping noise and slightly muddled bass, which in praise to Audiofile-incar, were very receptive with my feedback, and was keen to understanding the issue and get to the root cause.

Suffice to say leaving the car with Gary and team to address these issues, and picking up the vehicle a few days later, the transformation in sound was nothing short of huge. As my car came with the Harmon Kardon upgrade it meant Auiofile-incar could take advantage of the optical feed. The net result was an Audison Bit 10(d) optical feed from the head unit, digital feed to the JL Audio Amps and usual speaker cable to the focal speakers.

So how did it sound… well as mentioned the change was nothing short of huge. The sound is controlled, instruments are separate and you feel in the centre of the performance. Bass, which is important to me, is really tunefull, not a distorted thump, but really clean, tones are clear and when you need a track to hit you over the head with a heavy track, its all there…. And theres no shortage of power. Wack the volume and it only gets better… and if I was to describe the difference in one sentence… “I’m now enjoying music tracks in full, no longer skipping to find that one tune that acoustically sounded OK”. Now my challenge is having to keep the volume down when the missus is in the car.

Dominick Ash

Good afternoon Gary,

Just to say thanks for the very efficient and neat job your guys did on my BMW last week. I've now done over 1200 miles with the system 2 and am very glad to hear real detail and depth in the music I have been playing.

I can see the limitations of the standard subs but for now the money was just right for what was achieved, I have had the hairs standing up on my neck during some favourite tracks so all in all money well spent and I wish I'd done it 12 months / 24,000 miles ago when I got the car!

Best Regards
Ian Laight

I first visited Audiofile in 2005 when I had my bmw330 sport. Back then I wanted to improve the sound and multimedia on the car, so I asked my local Sytner BMW dealer if they could help.

They highly recommended Audiofile-incar and put me in touch with Gary.

Back then I had my PS2 installed in the glovebox and headrest screens installed. The end result was very pleasing and was a neat and tidy install. They knew I wanted to conserve boot space so instead of a bulky subwoofer, recommended and fitted a compact slimline punch subwoofer that sounded awesome, especially once the car was boot was lined with dynamat! Along with tv on the move, I was so happy with the result I kept my 330 for 6 years and I still miss it today.

I bought my M3 in 2010, with the optional bmw individual audio.upgrade This already sounded pretty awesome, but I knew audiofile would be able to better it. I had a focal amp fitted - this really powered everything a whole lot better.

I also wanted to see if there was a way to incorporate my garage and gate fobs within my car. Gary had the perfect solution and incorporated the fobs as flush buttons into my redundant front ashtray. This simply looks awesome and keeps people guessing what the buttons are actually for! I also had front and rear cameras fitted to the car which make manouvering at junctions and blind spots a lot easier.

Finally I had an extreme makeover done on my wife’s range rover sport. Rosen headrest screens were installed which keeps our little one entertained on one screen with its built in games and lets a dvd/tv run on the other screen. Also I installed the gate fob buttons on the car and had DRL’s mounted in the front bumper, all of which look neat and tidy. Gary managed to refit my old slim line sub from my old 330 into the sport. The base sounds immense and yet I still retain my boot space!

Despite Audiofile being a 50 mile round trip, I have always come back ever since. Their knowledge and professionalism are second to none and they seem to make the impossible possible! I would certainly recommend them hands down!

Amit Gupta

Hi Gary,

Hope you had a good few days on Exmoor.

I just wanted to thank you and your team for the excellent upgrade you completed on my Defender 'Emily' last week.

I drove up to the midlands on Friday and apart from turning the dog into a bag of jelly, enjoyed some fantastic sounds. Your service was very professional and personable, a thing you don't come across much these days. Keep the good work up. I have no reservation on recommending you guys to others should the opportunity arise.

Many thanks, superb service.

Regards
Jon Hunting

Hi Gary,

Thanks so much for your work on my 5 series over the last couple of weeks. I am delighted with the new system and didn't want the journey home on Friday night to end it sounded so good ! Please pass my thanks on to Dave and the guys.

And thanks too for the pics. Interesting to see the car in bits!

All the very best.
Richard

Over the last few years these guys have fitted systems in my old, Maserati, Jensen and my sons two 70s Beetles, they recently fitted a lovely retro system in my E Type and have just arranged for a great system to be fitted in my sons Karmann Ghia, they know their stuff and don’t try to talk you into spending a fortune and they are very helpful for sorting out little problems with your car phone connections etc.

Duncan Larke

29th July 2013

Hi Gary,

Thank you so much. Jade is over the moon about the stereo installation and the blackout windows. She sent me photographs and it looks so nice. It was a pleasure doing business with you as always. You always give straight answers, the best advice, excellent customer service and installation.

I must also thank you for fitting Jade’s kick strips at no extra charge that was so nice of you.

Of course we will be repeat customers in the future and I wish you the very best for your business which I am sure will continue to be successful.

Best Regards
Steve Howes

I have - over my too many years - had a number of nice cars and and fitted good quality stereos many of them. If you are reading this then I am sure you both enjoy your music, your car, and understand the difference to your car journey that good music can make. And if you live or work around London you will also agree that a good way to survive the daily pain of the M25 is by having your favourite playlist pumping out a classic from a ‘home hi-fi quality’ car stereo.

I currently have a BMW E46 M3 - in English that’s a 2003 model which started out life as a £50k performance car. Now, 10 years on you can pick this type of car up for less than £10k. But if a car's value can be measured in fun per mile - these things are up there with some of the best around (which is probably why they're still in the top insurance group!). Touring through Europe in this thing is a total pleasure and as I had a trip to Germany pending and because the standard BMW stereo was pretty awful and I decided to see what I could do to improve things... Anyway, whatever your choice of car or its value - even if it’s only a few grand, your experience will be much better with some good music to keep you company. You can always get the 'sexy new car stereo' moved into your next car if things go that way.

I had looked online first and was amazed and disappointed at how few 'proper' car stereo installers there are around. Of course there were the low end car part suppliers offering basic systems with 'installations from £30' (you know them - they sell headlight bulbs, bikes and touch up paint too...) and that was the last thing I wanted. Specialist car stereo installers seem to be in a niche market and I would strongly recommend that you travel that bit further if necessary to get what you really want.

One of the top Google hits I found was 'Audiofile-incar'. They had an impressive website so I dropped in to have a chat to see what my options were.

Lots of people reading this will have a car worth £50k or more in their drive. Regardless of what car gets you from A to B you will probably be worrying about the same things as I did...

Can you be sure that you can entrust your expensive vehicle to these guys?
Will it look ok in the dash?
Will it integrate properly with my steering wheel controls?
Will it ‘talk to my IPhone' properly?
If I do follow my heart and have a lovely subwoofer unit and amp fitted will it make my already meagre boot space completely unusable? (and will this cause friction between you and your better half?!).

These were all things on my mind as I walked in to the shop. And as I chatted to Dave behind the counter my concerns dissipated one by one. They had done some lovely work on a variety of lovely cars. They knew the challenges here and there with installing a 'dual DIN' unit in my particular BMW dashboard. Dave already knew the best configuration for the door mounted speakers and they offered a solution to my boot space worry - an easily removable sub-woofer for the very occasional trip to the shops when we had big items to carry...

Something I had not really grasped previously was the criticality of the sound insulation in the doors when upgrading a car stereo. Dave was adamant about this and it was very clear from my chat that they sell entire audio 'solutions' and aren't simply selling the stereo kit itself with the install being an afterthought.

Another nice touch is Audiofile-incar offer you free a courtesy car whilst yours is being done. That of course makes a big difference to the logistics - especially if you have taken my advice and travelled a fair way to get the right guys to do this work.

Anyway I made my choices, left my car with them and drove off looking forward to 'collection time' 3 days later... During this I had a couple of calls from the guys to keep me informed of progress on the install. And when the time came to collect the car I was impressed with their thorough post installation ‘intro to your new stereo’ session. The last thing you should be doing is trying to navigate around a new stereo whilst driving! Gary was insistent that he find a nice, high resolution "BMW M Power" jpeg off the web to show as the Pioneer screen starts up - a nice touch. So I had my briefing, selected my playlist then headed off home with a smile on my face....

Key points then:

• I would recommend these guys very highly.
• Trust your instincts and don't leave your pride and joy with a low level stereo installer who can throw the kit in for a 'fiver' in 30 minutes! Take some time to choose your installer and be willing to travel.
• Don't think you should only fit a good stereo to an expensive car - they can transform an inexpensive car too.
• From my experience I would now say that you should seriously consider allowing budget for a quality installation with as much sound insulation as they can fit. It would be foolish to focus only on the speaker upgrade themselves - my doors now sound much more solid when closing them and you can really notice the big improvement in bass from this type of detail.
• Enjoy your music!

Cheers
Dave C

I bought my Maserati GT 4.7L S Auto in August 2012 having owned essentially the same model with a 4.2L engine for the previous 4 years, So, being obviously pleased with the car I bought another one!.

The 4.2L has a Bose sound system which was, errr, OK. but the 4.7L had only the standard factory fit “Maserati” system, otherwise the car had all the options I wanted and that is why I bought it.

However, the standard fit system is to the say the least poor, muddy, woolly, with little bass (no rear shelf speaker unlike the Bose option), no middle and a weak treble and also lacking power. I am genuinely surprised that Maserati, having produced such an outstanding car in every other respect, choose to fit such a basic and ineffective sound system. Could it be that they want you to choose the optional Bose system for around £1450? If you do it will certainly sound better but in my view you can also do far better than that for almost the same money. This is where Audiofile-Incar comes in.

You will not find a more knowledgeable or helpful specialist than Audiofile-Incar. They had already upgraded the Bose system in other owners GT`s and I therefore had confidence in entrusting my car to them, in view of their previous experience. You can find a comprehensive picture trail of the work done on other vehicles on their website, just search for “Maserati” on the Audiofile-Incar website.

Now here’s the good bit, for just over £2000/ Inc. Vat, you can get a system fitted which far exceeds the sound quality of even the optional Bose system, let alone the factory fit standard system, in simple terms Audiofile-Incar replaced the front door speakers and tweeters, fitted a “woofer” to the back parcel shelf with a perfectly fitted custom made grille and fitted an amplifier out of sight behind the right hand side boot trim. In addition they fitted a bass boost control on the left side of the steering column just below the column adjust switch so that you can control the intensity of the bass response depending on the both the music you listen to and you own preference. Apart from the new parcel shelf grille the interior appearance or the car remains exactly the same.

And the sound, well, that is a revelation, a deep crisp bass which you actually hear and feel, a double bass in a small jazz group sounds like a double bass should (and I should know, I am an ex bass player, you can actually hear the notes!. The mid-range is clear and defined and the top end sharp and clear, just as it should be. There is more than adequate power from the new amp, which of course is fitted in any case to improve control and balance rather than just volume.

There is no comparison between this new Audiofile-Incar system and the Bose I had in my previous GT, and the difference between this set up and the standard factory fit system in my new car is phenomenal, so if you have a Maserati Gran Turismo (or Quattroporte) and you enjoy your music this is the way to go, you will not be disappointed, just like me.

Best Regards
Ron Thomas