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      08-18-2020, 10:09 PM   #1
SlowX6M
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Distortions from the center speaker.

Just picked up 2021 X6M with Bowers and Wilkins yesterday. Prior to that I had a 2017 X6M with Bang and Olufsen.

Here is a bit of history. On the old X6M I started hearing distortions from the audio system. I brought it to the dealer and they said one of the speakers was blown and replaced it. Somehow I though it was one of the rear door speakers, but I never bothered to confirm. A little while later I started hearing the same distortion - they would be present at times, gone at times, and some times worse or better than other times. I thought another, or the same speaker failed, but I kind of just ignored it since I am not that picky with the sound.

Then I started hearing similar distortions in my 2012 X5, which has Logic 7 Pro DSP system, which ended up being the factory amp starting to fail, causing distortions on several speakers. At that point I got serious about researching what causes distortions on the X6M, and so I found a song that clearly causes distortions every time, and listened to it holding my ear against every speaker and determined that the distortions are coming from the center speaker. I also went to see a friend of mine who owns a 2017 X5M with the same Bang and Olufsen setup, and his audio system has the same exact distortions coming from the center speaker.

I am not sure what is causing these distortions - whether its the speaker itself or if its the housing is vibrating. Just FYI the center speaker is exactly the same midrange + tweeter as the rest of the speakers throughout the car, they are all interchangeable.

Much to my disappointment, the new 2021 X6M with the Bowers and Wilkins system has the same distortions from the center speaker, and they are even worse and more pronounced than in the old car. Also not sure if its the housing or what, but its awful.

All of these systems - Logic & Pro DSP, Bang & Olufsen, Bowers & Wilkins are all made by Harman Kardon and they are almost identical. They all have relatively crappy midrange/tweeters, and a very cheap DAC/AMP.

Try listening to the first 30 seconds of this song on moderately high volume in your cars and see if you have the same issue.



It is not the only song causing distortions, it just has certain frequencies that make these distortions very obvious. There are no distortions in my $40 computer speaker, apple airpods, apple wired headphones, or my Sennheiser 650 headphones.
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      08-24-2020, 07:34 PM   #2
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Noone else has the issue???
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      08-30-2020, 05:23 AM   #3
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Noone else has the issue???
Interesting threat, will check tmrw
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      08-31-2020, 04:55 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by SlowX6M View Post
Noone else has the issue???
Interesting threat, will check tmrw
Tried it out, no distortions on f15 2017 model with B&O, cool tune by the way.

I do notice distortion sometimes on Mountains by Hans Zimmerman
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      08-31-2020, 08:59 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by SlowX6M View Post
Noone else has the issue???
Interesting threat, will check tmrw
Tried it out, no distortions on f15 2017 model with B&O, cool tune by the way.

I do notice distortion sometimes on Mountains by Hans Zimmerman
Used Apple Carplay
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      09-02-2020, 08:09 PM   #6
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It could be down to the amp design.
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      09-11-2020, 10:04 PM   #7
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I haven't got to it, but I will record a video of what I am experiencing regarding the distortions.
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      09-13-2020, 05:15 AM   #8
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Can you post a photo of your global settings and the EQ settings?
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      11-08-2020, 08:20 PM   #9
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I saw this post a while back and did not respond because I did not notice any distortion from my Bowers and Wilkins speakers after having my car for 6 weeks or so. However after getting my car back from the dealership (1200 break in service), I have noticed distortion coming from my center speaker with certain songs (haven’t tried your song, but I will). It’s obviously unique to a certain frequency.

What’s maybe even more interesting, is that I mashed the throttle pretty hard entering the freeway this weekend and I noticed the distortion coming from the center channel speaker on the aggressive throttle response sound from the engine....presumably because it is piped through the speakers! Am I crazy? I never noticed this for the first two months I owned the car, but I didn’t really mash the throttle until after the break in. I can only hear it in the center channel and only when you really get after it at the top of the rev range in the first couple gears. If I had to guess, I think its an issue with the housing being too close to the woofer, compromising extension during certain frequencies which happen to be produced with the first couple gears high reving as well as (obviously) certain songs.

OP - did you ever discuss with your dealer?
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      11-09-2020, 03:12 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GSG5 View Post
I saw this post a while back and did not respond because I did not notice any distortion from my Bowers and Wilkins speakers after having my car for 6 weeks or so. However after getting my car back from the dealership (1200 break in service), I have noticed distortion coming from my center speaker with certain songs (haven’t tried your song, but I will). It’s obviously unique to a certain frequency.

What’s maybe even more interesting, is that I mashed the throttle pretty hard entering the freeway this weekend and I noticed the distortion coming from the center channel speaker on the aggressive throttle response sound from the engine....presumably because it is piped through the speakers! Am I crazy? I never noticed this for the first two months I owned the car, but I didn’t really mash the throttle until after the break in. I can only hear it in the center channel and only when you really get after it at the top of the rev range in the first couple gears. If I had to guess, I think its an issue with the housing being too close to the woofer, compromising extension during certain frequencies which happen to be produced with the first couple gears high reving as well as (obviously) certain songs.

OP - did you ever discuss with your dealer?
I found that after the audio system "broke in", as long as I keep the volume under 80% there are no more distortions. Other than that, its just the nature of the system I think.

Play it loud for a few hours, let it break in and see what it does.
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