Upgrading the Sound Quality on the M3RS Stereo

Sounds like this could be a neat solution!

 

Very interesting idea and would be a great solution to the poor audio quality the Megane has. I opted to replace the front speakers, amplify them and use an Audiocontrol LC2i to get my signal for the front amp and for an active sub.

I did this to maintain the function of the satnav and keep the interior aesthetics from looking "Halfords". I'm kind of regretting this decision now as the audio quality still isn't there.

Have you looked into whether there are alternatives to the TDA7569BLV which can be swapped in, or are you mainly focusing on external amplification?

 

I believe i have the "uprated" system in my Meg, and really dont know what all the fuss is about, seems fine to me, maybe i am getting old, but i dont like it so loud it makes my ears bleed and everything in the car vibrate, and i was over the moon when i found out you can plug a USB stick in it full of MP3's

 

I've been spoiled by previous car audio builds featuring after market head units which really do add a new level of detail to the music. The Megane speakers are terrible, as is the actual radio for "quality". Upgrading the speakers and amplifying the signal can only get you so far because, as is the case with anything electrical "garbage in = garbage out".
A stronger amplified signal can help reduce the effect noise coming from external influences has, but if you have noise to begin with from the radio you will amplify that too and make it worse!

It's only really when you get the volume past 20 the issue comes into play so I guess it wont be so much of a problem for people who like quieter music. USB is great for quality and makes life so much easier! But it brings up another issue I have with the radio - the interface for choosing song!

As you can tell, I've had a bad time with this radio ha!

 

I have had d/din units, amps/subs in previous cars, but being an audiophile, gave up, and now use a single din/standard speakers, iPhone 6 plus, into a HiFi M8 amp/dac, and use either Shure 846, or WestoneW60,either cabled, or Bluetooth for convenience, far superior for me, but maybe not for others.

 

I have the Arkamys but it doesn't upgrade the hardware/speakers it just "helps" tweaking the worst quality sound in any production car by far from absolutely and utterly shyte to utterly shyte. My daughter's cheape Yaris has far better sound.

I really don't care about audio but I am really shocked it can be THAT bad.

 

I have just finished my audio update for my Megane RS250. What the OP has written about amping the the standard signal without running wires etc is good and it is what I have done with a plug and play amp costing around £90 new. Its the size of an iphone 6 and will tuck up behind the glovebox. You need an ISO adapter to go from quadlock to the two singles, mine was from a ford mondeo and the output from headunit plugs into the input of amp and then this outputs back into the origonal wiring. I have changed my front and back speakers to Vibe Slick 5.25" with some light sound deadening 3 sheets each door on front, 2 sheets each quarter on back. The fronts I have setup as components with tweeters in the A pillar mirror cover and the backs I have used the cross over but not connected the tweeter as the high range sound was spot on without it. As an audio fan in all my previous cars I wanted a bit of base so I bought a Vibe Optisound Active 8 to go under the seat, this wouldnt work with my recaros so bolted to the back of the single seat in the boot, this makes it sound a million times better and can turn it full whack with no distortion, loss of qualiy, nasty vibrations. Just crystal clear sound, I should of took some photos and listed what I bought, this included the wiring adapters for speakers, plastic rings for speakers, the loom adapter, amp and sub etc. All in it cost me under £200

 

And plus... the sub has quick connect fittings on so can be disconnected and removed in under a minute, really doesnt weigh that much at all

 

Molesyy, that sounds like a great upgrade. If you could list the parts that would be great. I wonder how much £ the labour would cost at an audio specialist?

 

What OP is talking about here is different to the set up you describe. As it stands, I have a very similar set up to you - taking the feed from the output of the head unit and amplifying it. The problem with this is that the head unit has already amplified the signal (to 4 X 35W or whatever it is), this is where the poor quality we are describing comes from. The MOSFET or whatever component used is of poor quality, so produces a bad audio signal. This means that what ever you do to the signal after it comes from the radio will always inherit this lack of audio quality.

What OP is suggesting is that we take the signal before the head unit gets a chance to mess with it, and then amplify it with a much better component to begin with.

 

@Molesyy if you could do that, that would be great.

 

I've got a feeling you would lose the sat nav with this method, unless the replacement ISO lead only intercepts the speaker wires.

Another method that a few people here including myself have used it to buy an "Audio Control LC2I". With this, you take the speaker wire outputs from the radio (front speaker pos and neg) and feed it into the Audio Control unit. This is a line converter that will give you the RCA outputs typically found in after market radios. From here, you can connect a standard amplifier via RCA leads, as well as a separate RCA feed for a sub.

My install cost roughly:
Audio Control LC2I: £80
Amplifier: ~ £50, already owned.
Speakers: £80
Sound Deadening: £15
Active sub in boot: ~£100, already owned.
Amp wiring kit: ~£25, already owned
Misc (electrical cables and connectors, silicon): £10
Speaker adapters: £10 (adapted some Ford ones as the specific ebay ones were far too big and wouldn't allow door card to fit)

 

Ahhhh I get you, i didnt realise that, must of misread. The Pioneer amp I have has HPF LPF and noise canecellation filters in apparently and sorts the signal out before it is amplified.

What crowdie has listed above is pretty much very similar pricing to what I have spent

 

I don't really get this. I have the 'best' stereo they fitted in mk3's, in the Trophy. I'm not sure if this is the same as Cup-S's have, but it's honestly fine for OEM. I've had a couple of friends ask where the sub is fitted which it obviously doesn't have. I've tweaked the eq/levels/fader to get it how I want, but it really is okay up to a reasonable spl.

The upgraded Cabasse or whatever it is called I had in the R26 was the same, perfectly fine.

To put this into context, yes neither system is the best in the world and can certainly be improved on. In addition when I listen to CD's at home, it's through Meridian components which cost as much as a rough Clio 172. Meridian are standard fit in McLarens.

 

Having a look at the data sheet and the amp has a THD of 10% which isn't exactly great!

The problem I see is the fact it's using the I2C interface. Do you plan to hijack only the pins for the analog audio signal?

 

I have a feeling the last Cup-S were put together with any old bit laying around. My rear windscreen has some defects that shouldn't have gone through QC, my car never had DAB despite being part of the spec when you get nav so it's possible my system is even more basic than others. The sound is truly crap by any oe low standards. But I got free servicing for 3 years as compensation so not too shabby as a deal.

 

similar set up to mine this, but I did away with the underseat sub in the end and fitted a small traditional box which can be easily removed,
ive just fitted the factory Renault bose front tweeter upgrade £40 for the set, they have made a massive difference

 

Yes please, a topic or post with some pics would be great. I was thinking about installing a Gladen RS 8 RB Dual Active under the boot floot, bus this sounds like a neat solution!

 

It sounds like the amp is going to throw a fit if it cant "detect" the speakers. I'm struggling to think of a way this can be done without causing too much upset to the existing circuit. It would be nice to have an equivalent component, but better, to drop directly in place.

Perhaps a higher quality mosfet or something could be sat on top, taking only the digital in and tapping back into the analogue out.

 

Hmm, that ST chip can run without the I2C interface. Simply running the I2C pin open circuit disables the functionality. But what the rest of the stereo needs the I2C for I don't know.

Also, if the car has start/stop then the system needs to cope with a varying input voltage but I am not sure if the Mk3 Meg has that?

I agree, finding an alternative chip from a better supplier (maybe analog devices) would offer better audio.

I would first see if the stereo will run without the I2C interface in the car. If it does then I can't see why you can't remove the ST chip altogether and replace.

 

I just spoke with one of the electronics specialists at my place of work. He suggested that the I2C has minimal input on the amplification, offering what looks like only fault diagnostics (which would explain how my car gave fault codes when speakers were changed).

His opinion lines up with yours, where he doesn't think it will cause any issues. My 250 doesn't have start stop, although I'm not sure if it was ever a feature in later models.

Replacing the chip is a possibility, it would have to be done with one that takes an 4 channel analogue input and gives 4 channel out which shouldn't be too hard to find.

The THD doesn't look too bad at lower levels. I'm currently set up to use the volume range 0 - 20 on the radio, it may be beneficial to set the amplifiers up so that the radio only uses 0 - 15 volume, with the external amplifier turned up to a higher gain to get the equivalent volume but with a lower % THD from the radio (around 1% at these levels of power).

Another suggestion was to use the AUX input as opposed to USB, which was against what I though. The idea behind this is that the AUX will give an analogue in, so will bypass the digital to analogue conversion within the head unit which could also be the problem. Although this will still go through the amplifier.

I'm running a mounted tablet as my music interface, with a USB DAC coming in the post hopefully today so that I can get good reproduction via OTG. I'll report back and see whether going in via AUX is any better.

Hopefully clixx-io has made some progress, certainly got me intrigued.

 

The later mk'3 do have stop-start. Even put it onto the official model designation as SS.

 

Thats basically the way mine is set up...

I bought mine off ebay, some where best offers, ive included what I paid and the ebay numbers so you can find similar products:

Pioneer GM-D1004: Compact 4 Channel Amp for Speakers
£89.99 (eBay 400817023263)

Vibe Slick 5.25" 5C Comps: 2 Pairs Front and Back
£55 Best Offer (eBay 252592250912)

Vibe Optisound Auto 8 Active Sub
£80.00 Best Offer (eBay 262704582349)

Speaker Adaptor Rings: 2 Pairs Front and Back
£16.98 (eBay 360755052841)

Speaker Adapter Plugs: 2 Pairs Front and Back
£11.98 (eBay 380567089382)

Silent Coat 2mm 10Pcs Sound Deadening
£14.99 (eBay 161282941044)

Interior Trim Removal tools: Very useful
£6.99 (eBay 111769232442)

Replacement Door Clips: You will snap some
£3.39 (eBay 291532261482)

Insulated Terminal Connector Crimps: Tool Required
£6.39 (eBay 131835288988)

Total Spend £285.71
Considering this is for a half decent sounding OEM setup with good quality sound, decent bass, no rattling, professional wiring if done right, sound deadening, you cant go wrong. I should of took pictures etc. Only thing I havent included is the Quadlock to ISO Block adapter for standard headunit but people may have aftermarket headunit already. Ive also missed off some small cable ties, self tapping screws for the adapters, tools for removal of panels etc.

 

I cant remember mate, Im sure it was off a mondeo, but if you take headunit out and have a look at the quadlock fitting and then you just basically need the two seperate iso blocks for amp to plug into etc.

I just chose the ford one because it was the cheapest, but im sure the majority of them will work

 

Gavin
Can you elaborate for me on what you have fitted and how plz

 

Ah...this thread answers my first question perfectly.....i had thought my audio system was faulty.....no bass.....seems upgrading is the only way to go.....having said that it sounds better than a bmw (meh) "professional" system from my experience! I got rid.........

 

Anyone who has used an lc2i getting ౩ or 6 popping sounds whenever they turn the stereo on?

Wondering if it is due to the fact that the stereo is not detecting speakers...

 

This issue is caused by an issue with grounding. Are you using the remote out from the LC2I for the amp or another source?

 

Ah, i think you are onto something there!

I'll have a real good look as i think there might be something in the way the lc2i might be wired up.

I'll be back tomorrow with updates!

 

Awesome find. I'm doing this.

How are the ebay tweeters holding up. The reviews on ebay are a little mixed (admit-ably, there are only 3).