B8 S FOR

A car is no place for "quality" audio. Road noise, potholes, etc..... I am an audiophile. Running a home theater component Top of the line Denon, Polk LSI and Velyodyne setup. Pounds like no tomorrow but it clean and crisp like no other. Better than any movie theater! Owned many car audio systems and did all types of installs. The S4 is a small car to boot so B&O or not no real big deal over stock system. But . . . . B&O provides better highs and balance. Stock system is sorta crappy and all midrange. But honestly for $850 bucks for the B&O it's worth the price. In my opinion a "no brainer." The A8 on the other hand is good for car audio. Large spacious sedan. Pretty sick B&O system...but 6K is a bit steep ...really 6K? Good lord! crazy.... just crazy ....

NCAudiFan

I have the standard system in my 2010 S4 and my wife had the B&O in her 2010 A4. There was a noticable difference to me on the rare occasion when we drove her car. She has a new 2012 A6 now with the standard system and after only two months she has commented on several occasions that her new stereo does not sound as "rich" as the B&O sounded to her and I have to agree. In my opinion, the $850 is money well spent when you are paying $50k+ for a car. $6k in the A6 or A8 on the other hand is a bit over the top. Eric Clapton better be sitting in the back seat playing for me live for $6k.

Stereodude

For $6k you only get Derek Claptin, celebrity impersonator, part time. Sorry.

jgd

Check out the couple of videos on Audi TV about why the B & O system is what should be selected as an option, if you care about the sound of your music in your car. Typically a woofer is just placed in an open cavity in the door panel, sound resonates and the door construction affects the sound. B & O speakers have their own fully enclosed cabinet inside that sits inside the door panel. IMO this option is a total no brainer for the money.

http://tv.audi.com/#/07

GR8-LIFE

The S4 B&O could probably use a good sub. I dont know if there is a way to rig one up but typically I am not into the heavy bass. Turning up the bass 60% usually does it for me if I want more. Too much bass is a big turnoff to me. Nothing worse than pulling up to a car and it feels like an 8.2 earthquake

GR8-LIFE

I think thats the key, for $850, its a no brainer, but again, I like nice music.

BTW, a salesman had me listen to the A6 B&O as he did not have an A8 B&O. He said the A6 would give me a better idea because the A6 was a good step up from the S4 B&O. The A6 was in fact a step up. But I SOON found the A8 and that was like 3 steps up from the A6.

Again, it really all comes down to how big one is into music or if one even cares about music. My x-gf most of the time couldnt even drive with the music on.

miztahsparklez

To be honest.. the only reason why i bought the B&O in my S4 was the extra tweeter placements in the sails. Though I was really hoping it would tie me over a bit longer before I got the car audio bug. The next month or so should be quite interesting.

Evlengr

NO WAY should this be a deal breaker.

If it has all the features you want/need and a great price, then buy it and put better speakers and amp in afterwards.

sacker00

That's what I decided to do. Dealer had a 2013 coming in, just got to port yesterday!, that had everything else including the color that I wanted except the b&o. I listened to the stock stereo at the dealer and it was good enough for me for now. I can always upgrade it later. I had a trade in and it wasn't worth ordering a car and waiting 3 months for it and risk losing the value on the trade in. I can use that money towards upgrades/mods. Thanks for your input.

riu

I bought my car on a specific budget and the sound was something I had to sacrifice. I don't listen to music very often though so its not a big deal.

I would say 85% of the time that I am in the car I am listening to Howard Stern. Don't really need great sound to hear someone speak and he has a deep voice so I have my sub turned down a bit as it is. If I was a big music guy I guess I would care a lot but I do respect that it sounds a ton better. I heard it in one of the cards I test drove.