General Anyone with the interscope sound system?

[killahboo]

Just wondering if anyone has the upgraded sound system and if they have a photo of the sub, just wondering if it is like the one in the punto or different

 

[tommus]

I have it but it's difficult to take a picture as it's under the seat. But i do think it is the same as I saw one in the boot of a punto once and it looks the same.

 

[nottsfiat07]

I know this is slightly OT but can you easily add a sub to the existing sound system? If I ever get a 500c I've toyed with the idea of having the interscope system but I'm pretty sure it'll be cheaper to add one to my existing car. Answer quickly before I hibernate again!

 

[killahboo]

Yes it will be possible you could get the feed off of 1 of the speakers. It would probably sound better too the only problem is the space an aftermarket sub takes up.

Tommus if everything is under the seat that means boot space is normal right? On the punto I saw the subwoofer was on the right hand side of the boot, it didn't take up much space as it was above the rear wheel arch

 

[tommus]

Yeah its under the seat in the 500 and boot space is normal. The one i saw in the punto was in the same place you are talking about.

 

[RobinPJ]

I like the irony of having 2 threads on Interscope running today - stereo, innit.

 

[ffxmy]

I like the irony of having 2 threads on Interscope running today - stereo, innit.

I was thinking of starting another interscope thread too but perhaps I should take this one a little further OT...

So I've search on here for info on interscope but I'm still not clear if we should go with interscope on the 500 that I've just ordered for my wife. Some say that the std system is good. However I've also read that it's possibly not as good as it was.

My wife likes music in her car and apparently used to play it loud although she's never done that with me around. I know she has said in the past that she wants a car with a good music system. So if our 500 arrives with the std system and it turns out to be poor then I think she will regret that we didn't specify the interscope option. So what should we do? Is interscope really worth £265?

 

[RobinPJ]

How soon do you need to decide? Because if I was you I'd badger my dealer to tell me when they have a (new) car coming in that has it fitted - and let you have a listen. It's the only way to decide.

PS I recall there were supply issues following the tsunami, but presumably those are all now resolved? I think there may even have been a suggestion of going onto different parts, which is why I say you should be sure to listen to a new build one not an old one in case it has indeed changed.

 

[ffxmy]

I think we have a few weeks to decide as the order was only "tagged" this week. I'll speak to my dealer and see if we can arrange a listening session.

 

[306maxi]

How soon do you need to decide? Because if I was you I'd badger my dealer to tell me when they have a (new) car coming in that has it fitted - and let you have a listen. It's the only way to decide.

PS I recall there were supply issues following the tsunami, but presumably those are all now resolved? I think there may even have been a suggestion of going onto different parts, which is why I say you should be sure to listen to a new build one not an old one in case it has indeed changed.

I thought the alternative was an aftermarket stereo?

 

[RobinPJ]

I thought the alternative was an aftermarket stereo?

There are three alternatives, I think:

(i) standard fit stereo;
(ii) Interscope; or
(iii) aftermarket.

My idea was to find a way to judge between the first two alternatives using ffxmy's own ears rather than someone else's opinion. Of course, that doesn't help toss up against option (iii).

Hi-fi is one area where things are very very subjective so it's not a great idea to rely on others. (qv the recent off topic discussion in Grimwau's front room of B&O - a lot of support for B&O on here, but having worked in very high end audio in my formative years, I know that most people who are reputed to "know" about these things would tell you it is a load of tarted up carp and you could get much better sound for your money elsewhere.)

 

[306maxi]

There are three alternatives, I think:

(i) standard fit stereo;
(ii) Interscope; or
(iii) aftermarket.

My idea was to find a way to judge between the first two alternatives using ffxmy's own ears rather than someone else's opinion. Of course, that doesn't help toss up against option (iii).

Hi-fi is one area where things are very very subjective so it's not a great idea to rely on others. (qv the recent off topic discussion in Grimwau's front room of B&O - a lot of support for B&O on here, but having worked in very high end audio in my formative years, I know that most people who are reputed to "know" about these things would tell you it is a load of tarted up carp and you could get much better sound for your money elsewhere.)

No no, what i mean was that i thought Fiat were fitting aftermarket stereo's in lieu of not having interscope.

 

[nottsfiat07]

A lot of the pleasure of the 500 is the styling so I think it spoils the interior to bang in an aftermarket head unit. I mean if you care so much about the sound quality of your car stereo why buy a 500 anyway, why not see which car has the best interior acoustics and noise suppression and buy that, then fit a better quality HU in that? Otherwise it's like sticking a Heinz label on a tin of Smartprice baked beans.

 

[arorat]

I was thinking of starting another interscope thread too but perhaps I should take this one a little further OT...

So I've search on here for info on interscope but I'm still not clear if we should go with interscope on the 500 that I've just ordered for my wife. Some say that the std system is good. However I've also read that it's possibly not as good as it was.

My wife likes music in her car and apparently used to play it loud although she's never done that with me around. I know she has said in the past that she wants a car with a good music system. So if our 500 arrives with the std system and it turns out to be poor then I think she will regret that we didn't specify the interscope option. So what should we do? Is interscope really worth £265?

If they are still doing Interscope get it, I cannot recommend enough. But try it first, take couple of CDs slow one and one with bass, when testing make sure equalizer is turned off.

 

[skotl]

Oh. :idea: We've been the owners of a 2009 500 for about seven hours now, and I must admit to being bemused by the "Interscope Design" decals on the speakers. "Never heard of them", was my first thought.

I would say, though, that driving it home the sound was very good. Of course I haven't compared it to a non-Interscope system, but it seemed pretty decent to a second-hand buyer.

 

[loveshandbags]

I think the interscope systems is worth the £265 if you are into music. It cannot be retrofitted and changing the standard unit to something else loses the 'look' of the dash. Fitting a woofer some place is an awful lot of wiring. My understanding that is you lose the underseat storage on the passenger seat if it is specified.

If you compare the price of this good value option with the Bose upgrade in the US Models (although it is in a different league) it's expensive at a reduced price of $1,250.

 

[ffxmy]

I spoke to my dealer about this today. He said that they have done back to back tests between the std and interscope systems in the showroom and struggled to tell the difference. He said that none of the salesmen in the dealership would go for the interscope system if they were being honest.

 

[306maxi]

I spoke to my dealer about this today. He said that they have done back to back tests between the std and interscope systems in the showroom and struggled to tell the difference. He said that none of the salesmen in the dealership would go for the interscope system if they were being honest.

Tbh most of the people on here would disagree. There's also going to be a big difference when you've got wind noise and tyre noise to contend with.

 

[pearce_jj]

There is a picture of the sub on my floor pan sound insulation page in the guides section - https://www.fiatforum.com/500-guides/165563-500-sound-insulation-floor-pan.html (about half way down). The sub itself is a 5.25" DVC paper-coned driver in a small resin ported front-firing case, with integral "100w" amp.

The heart of the interscope system though is the amp and DSP which is mounted in the rear quarter panel on the drivers side. The standard head unit unit (I think) is routed to that, which provides spacial processing (creates a sound-stage just over the dash) and of course provides the oomph.

Rear speakers are paper coned (with wizzer) and serve their purpose as rear-fill well enough.

Front speakers are polypropylene (or similar) coned 6.5" drivers in the doors and supposedly uprated tweeters. Neither front nor rear speaker circuits are band limited, and as a result adding mass to the door cards doors does slightly improve low-end extension.

Bass wise, the sub provides a good solid thump, for the dealer to say that they couldn't tell the difference is just crazy. Very clearly it is engineered with the usual hump in response towards 100Hz, on account of the limited low-end range due to its small size. But there is a lot of music that doesn't need any more and it will cover broadly the full spectrum just fine. It has sufficent power to easily cover roadnoise at motorway speeds without any particular distortion.

Sonically the system does have issues in the mid range, I think stemming from the outer door skins being in such close proximity to the front drivers. I keep meaning to fit a damper behind the drivers, but it's not severe enough for me to have done so. There are a couple of pronounced peaks but they are quite narrow in bandwidth so only noticable in specific tracks, although it can also be noticable with voice, for example Raido 4's Eddie Mair manages to pick them out.

Acoustic drums and cymbols (i.e. Seasick Steve or 24 pesos) sound convincing, and it has a reasonable go at bass guitars and even string bass. However 1990's eletcric bass (for example some as on the original Sasha/Digweed Renaisance set) hit some upper bass peaks and can be very tiring indeed to listen to at any volume.

But I think for the money frankly it's a bargain and would definitely specify it again.

Hope that helps.

 

[pearce_jj]

I also just found this photo of the front drivers. Sorry about the noise on it.