Maserati Granturismo Audio - Hi Fi Upgrade.
This has to be one of the most beautiful looking cars on the road today. The Hi-Fi system is not bad in principle but can be improved massively. It uses front 6.5” components with a 10” subwoofer in the rear shelf (which doesn’t do much except rattle!). It's driven by a multi-channel amp mounted in the boot compartment.
The first thing we do is strip the front doors and fit a pair of 6.5” Audison Voce components. One of the main problems, as with any factory install, is the severe lack of sound deadening in the doors. This is rectified with a generous amount of Dynamat being applied to the inside of the outer skin, the inner skin and the back of the door panel itself. The new speakers are mounted on solid fabricated baffles for rigidity.
This picture shows the Audison bass driver mounted on the MDF baffle, the edge of the Dynamat can be seen behind the membrane. The crossover is fixed neatly next to the drive unit, the speaker cables are loomed in Tessa tape to protect them and stop vibration; this also gives a very factory look.
The next thing we looked at was the subwoofer. It’s a 10” slim drive unit mounted in the rear shelf running free air. The rear shelf has no sound deadening, just a foam pad between the metal shelf and the leather shelf itself. The sub fires directly down on to the fuel tank, which again is un-deadened and that is covered by a tin panel, again no deadening. The whole rear end was vibrating when we listened to the system, there were virtually no perforations in the factory grill on the shelf causing it to simply “flap” up and down with the bass.
We decided an Audison slimline subwoofer would be perfect for the job. It was mounted on an MDF baffle to give rigidity and then we killed off the resonance with a couple of sheets of Dynamat Extreme, which is very effective yet light weight. The shelf now had a completely different feel to it, solid and acoustically dead.
The photo shows Maserati Granturismo rear shelf, sound proofed and fitted with a slim line 10” subwoofer.
The first photo shows the Maserati Granturismo's fuel tank sound proofed to stop resonance.
The second photo shows the metal fuel tank cover also covered in Dynamat to stop vibration.
The next problem to deal with was the grill in the shelf. After a little thought we decided to remove the factory grill from the shelf and re-make the insert using an MDF panel trimmed in acoustic cloth. This worked an absolute treat, allowing the bass to pour through the grill without the shelf trying to jump out of the rear window!
Above: These pictures show the rear shelf with the grill removed, the first picture shows the MDF outer ring, which is curved to follow the contour of the original shelf, the second picture shows the grill trimmed and re-fitted to the shelf.
We managed to get a good clean line out from the factory head unit, picking up the signal before the factory amp which is always an advantage in terms of sound quality.
We fitted a JL remote sub control under the column so the bass can be tweaked by the driver.
We used the factory amp to run the rear speakers and a JL Audio XD500/3v2 3 channel class D amp to run the Audisons up front and the Hertz 10” subwoofer.
What a system! This was one of the best sounding cars I have heard for ages, a true Hi-Fi in every sense of the word; musical, accurate and incredibly powerful. The free air sub blew us away, it was better than we could have hoped for, the dynamics where enough to take your breath away. We were over the moon as was the customer!
Install time around 2 full days, cost, £2299 inc VAT
We also have a "plus" version of the Maserati audio upgrade which includes a Hertz H8 Digital processor, this allows us to tune the system to the vehicle and also completely time align the sound system, this has an incredible effect, pushing the sound stage forward in front of the driver, instruments become perfectly placed across the sound stage taking the experience to the next level. We have two demo cars here in which we can demonstrate the benefits of a DSP.
The Plus version of the audio upgrade costs £2999 fully fitted.
Click the link below to see a short video of the Maserati audio upgrade and also our latest Apple Carplay solution.
Maserati Granturismo Audio and Apple Carplay
Customer Review
Maserati Gran Turismo Audio Upgrade
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 £2k, 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