[anderson_b76]

Guys, looking for your impressions of the Premium Sound. I've been in three cars with it and have to say it is quite disappointing. It sounds flat and the bass is distorted. The "premium" sound for $1440 is the equivalent of a BMW base system IMO. I can not believe this is a $1440 option and would hate to hear what the standard system sounds like. With that said, the Bowers and Wilkens system is $5,100….that is A LOT to get IMO an acceptable sound system in a car of this class.

My BMW standard sound system is not great, but slightly better then the premium sound in the Ghibli. My Mercedes has the upgraded sound and perhaps I'm spoiled as that is truly one of the best OEM sound systems I've ever heard.

Is anyone getting the B&W sound system or has anyone heard it yet?

 

[khans]

I am trying to make the same decision.

Auditioned the B&W setup in a Quattroporte and I didn't think it was a big enough step up from the premium sound. Especially for that kind of premium.

That + the fact that this is a driver's car and the sound of the exhaust is going to be far better than any other soundtrack, I at least, decided that the premium sound was the way to go.

Would welcome other people's opinions on this.

 

[anderson_b76]

I am trying to make the same decision.

Auditioned the B&W setup in a Quattroporte and I didn't think it was a big enough step up from the premium sound. Especially for that kind of premium.

That + the fact that this is a driver's car and the sound of the exhaust is going to be far better than any other soundtrack, I at least, decided that the premium sound was the way to go.

Would welcome other people's opinions on this.

Totally agree it is a drivers car and the sound of the exhaust is more important. However, as a daily driver and an audiophile, a good sound system is critical. I may just go with aftermarket speakers and an amp to fix this. You can spend $1500 on an aftermarket system and I'm sure it will sound much better without modifying the look of the car at all.

Thumbs down to Maserati as this is a major FAIL on their part.

 

[maserwannabe]

Agreed. the premium sound in the one i test drove was underwhelming..it was 'premium'
my 540i premium sound system which is 12 years old kills the Maserati and MB GL 450.
I would HIGHLY recommend that no one waste money on the Ghibli premium sound. Your $ are better spent on other options.

 

[ratti]

Im kind of surprised it's like this in a MASERATI of all cars out there. I think the best thing you can do if you're serious about your listening experience in your vehicle is to get the speakers upgraded at an audio shop.
When your lease is up, if you leased it, replace speakers with the factory speakers and you're on your way!

 

[pitchfork]

Agreed. the premium sound in the one i test drove was underwhelming..it was 'premium'
my 540i premium sound system which is 12 years old kills the Maserati and MB GL 450.
I would HIGHLY recommend that no one waste money on the Ghibli premium sound. Your $ are better spent on other options.

thanks for your insight

I've never been one to fall for upgrading to premium sound unless it really made a difference (in which most of the time in luxury cars it doesnt) Likely because the standard stereo is pretty good as is.

 

[blunero]

I'll have my car next week with the B&W system. I'll post back if the option is worth it. I didn't want it or need it, but my dealer offered me a car a month ahead of the one I was actually having built so I decided to take it.

 

[ratti]

I'll have my car next week with the B&W system. I'll post back if the option is worth it. I didn't want it or need it, but my dealer offered me a car a month ahead of the one I was actually having built so I decided to take it.

Welcome to the forum!

Couldn't help but noticed the nice collection of cars you have in your signature. Would love to see pictures of the F-Type you have

 

[ghibless]

problem is how do you decide if you want Ghibli or F-Type on a daily basis its like blonde or brunette, why not both!

 

[pitchfork]

I'll have my car next week with the B&W system. I'll post back if the option is worth it. I didn't want it or need it, but my dealer offered me a car a month ahead of the one I was actually having built so I decided to take it.

looking forward to your insight.

 

[McGrathDW]

Let us know your specs!

Totally agree it is a drivers car and the sound of the exhaust is more important. However, as a daily driver and an audiophile, a good sound system is critical. I may just go with aftermarket speakers and an amp to fix this. You can spend $1500 on an aftermarket system and I'm sure it will sound much better without modifying the look of the car at all.

Thumbs down to Maserati as this is a major FAIL on their part.

If you do go aftermarket I would love to know what parts and pieces you got and what the improvement was like. I am thinking to go the same route and would love to benefit from your experience!

 

[blunero]

Received my car late yesterday and had a 72 mile drive to bond with it a little.

I can say that the B&W system is very rich and clear. Worth the $5,000? Well, I'd say if you're a real audiophile and like to blast your music you'll really appreciate the difference. If you're playing your music lightly, however, there's not enough of a difference from the regular system to justify the difference. You really feel enveloped in a deep surround sound experience with how many speakers are placed throughout the car. But worth the money? Probably not.

I also noticed some distortion. The tweeters vibrate a bit, and there's a strong vibration coming from one of them in the back seats I've yet to figure out, but note I have played with NONE of the settings yet to correct it or see what's up.

Anyway, the car is awesome. You won't regret anything about it!!

 

[Nova]

Thanks for the feedback. I've ordered my car with the plain sound system. I used to build competition car audio systems in my younger days. Cars are not built like they used to be so I imagine it would be quite a bit tougher to work with a feature packed modern car. Also, a car like the Ghibli would not have an easily accessible shop manual or electrical diagram to figure out wire color codes, connector pinouts, and etc. Feels a bit daunting just thinking about it.

I would be swapping out all existing speakers, powered with 4 channels fed by a miniDSP 2x4 processor unit. The miniDSP would allow advanced in-car EQing and provide the necessary subwoofer crossover output. Modern class D amps are fairly small and power efficient so they can be hidden and even covered without fear of overheating. I figure for $2k in parts, I can put together a pretty good collection of equipment. And then it's a lot of sweat and pain to get it all put in carefully.

My wife will have yet another thing to complain about. Ha!

 

[ratti]

Thanks for the feedback. I've ordered my car with the plain sound system. I used to build competition car audio systems in my younger days. Cars are not built like they used to be so I imagine it would be quite a bit tougher to work with a feature packed modern car. Also, a car like the Ghibli would not have an easily accessible shop manual or electrical diagram to figure out wire color codes, connector pinouts, and etc. Feels a bit daunting just thinking about it.

I would be swapping out all existing speakers, powered with 4 channels fed by a miniDSP 2x4 processor unit. The miniDSP would allow advanced in-car EQing and provide the necessary subwoofer crossover output. Modern class D amps are fairly small and power efficient so they can be hidden and even covered without fear of overheating. I figure for $2k in parts, I can put together a pretty good collection of equipment. And then it's a lot of sweat and pain to get it all put in carefully.

My wife will have yet another thing to complain about. Ha!

It would be cool if you posted the whole process of you doing this or even pictures from it going from start to finish

Chances are it will be one of the first ghibli's with a custom system

 

[pitchfork]

Thanks for the feedback. I've ordered my car with the plain sound system. I used to build competition car audio systems in my younger days. Cars are not built like they used to be so I imagine it would be quite a bit tougher to work with a feature packed modern car. Also, a car like the Ghibli would not have an easily accessible shop manual or electrical diagram to figure out wire color codes, connector pinouts, and etc. Feels a bit daunting just thinking about it.

I would be swapping out all existing speakers, powered with 4 channels fed by a miniDSP 2x4 processor unit. The miniDSP would allow advanced in-car EQing and provide the necessary subwoofer crossover output. Modern class D amps are fairly small and power efficient so they can be hidden and even covered without fear of overheating. I figure for $2k in parts, I can put together a pretty good collection of equipment. And then it's a lot of sweat and pain to get it all put in carefully.

My wife will have yet another thing to complain about. Ha!

would be cool to see. post up some photos if you end up doing it.

 

[maserwannabe]

Received my car late yesterday and had a 72 mile drive to bond with it a little.

I can say that the B&W system is very rich and clear. Worth the $5,000? Well, I'd say if you're a real audiophile and like to blast your music you'll really appreciate the difference. If you're playing your music lightly, however, there's not enough of a difference from the regular system to justify the difference. You really feel enveloped in a deep surround sound experience with how many speakers are placed throughout the car. But worth the money? Probably not.

I also noticed some distortion. The tweeters vibrate a bit, and there's a strong vibration coming from one of them in the back seats I've yet to figure out, but note I have played with NONE of the settings yet to correct it or see what's up.

Anyway, the car is awesome. You won't regret anything about it!!

Blunero
congrats on your sq4! Did you get the sport package? How do you find the gear shifting? curious to get your thoughts
cheers

 

[blunero]

maser,

Actually I think it's one of the best paddle/gear systems in a car right now. The paddles themselves feel like something right out of a Ferrari. The gear shifting is smooth and responsive.

I can't really find a fault with the car overall. My only complaint would be the turbo lag and I thought about this and figured, what do I care? In normal mode it's very noticeable but once you click it into sport mode the car begins to act like a different animal. If I'm not into the spirited driving kind of mood I'll just leave the car in normal and not think about it. It's when you want to drive spirited that the turbo lag would get on your nerves, but then just click it into sport and it really dissipates.

That's beating a dead horse though as I know it's been covered on the forum over and over.

Honestly, for the money, I don't know how Maserati pulled it off. It's a very special car.

 

[brutesky]

Does your car have the sport package suspension? If so how does it ride and absorb bumps? Wheel size?

Congrats!

 

[maserwannabe]

awesome to hear, Blunero, happy to hear. The issues i have heard are 1) when you rest the elbow to operate the touch panel the cooling compartment opens up and 2) sequence of going from auto to paddle and vice versa requires some learning....the sequeqncing a bit odd presumably????
To address your wonderment on how they were able to make it work on the $....I heard CEO Wester mention in an interview that they were able to produce ghibli for a competitive price due to the economies of scale in engine manufacturing (shared with QP), shared other components with QP (tranny, etc.) So, ghibli is getting a free ride from the investments to build QP.

 

[anderson_b76]

maser,

Actually I think it's one of the best paddle/gear systems in a car right now. The paddles themselves feel like something right out of a Ferrari. The gear shifting is smooth and responsive.

I can't really find a fault with the car overall. My only complaint would be the turbo lag and I thought about this and figured, what do I care? In normal mode it's very noticeable but once you click it into sport mode the car begins to act like a different animal. If I'm not into the spirited driving kind of mood I'll just leave the car in normal and not think about it. It's when you want to drive spirited that the turbo lag would get on your nerves, but then just click it into sport and it really dissipates.

That's beating a dead horse though as I know it's been covered on the forum over and over.

Honestly, for the money, I don't know how Maserati pulled it off. It's a very special car.

Congrats!!! The paddles are even better then Ferrari paddles and the paddles in the GranTurismo. The dealer pointed this out to me and we walked to two cars over and felt the paddles in the Ferrari and he's right, they are better in the Ghibli; more substantial and titanium. My guess is this will be the next paddles used in all Maserati and Ferrari cars.