My Megane - Renaut can't help me - can you?

Jamericco

Hello all – wondering if anyone can help (particularly if you own a Renault Megane i-Music edition) or make suggestions as to how I tackle this problem I have with Renault…

In May, I picked up my Renault Megane Coupe – it’s the i-Music special edition (tagline “Life.Amplified”). I figured it’s the perfect car for me; not only do I think they’re a lovely looking car, but I’m a music lover who spends hours in the car and it ends up being the main place I listen to music.

When I test drove it, I didn’t test the stereo – I wouldn’t think that’s a normal thing to do on a test drive. But between test driving and committing to buy, I did read the press on the i-Music, and I did read through the i-Music website. I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that part of my decision to buy was partially based on the inclusion of the ‘uprated Arkamys 3D sound 4x30W stereo system’.

Good news is that the connectivity options are great in the car. Bad news is if I turn the stereo up, the sound distorts. All my previous cars have been hatchbacks (Saxo, Punto, Fiesta) with standard fit stereos, and none of them have sounded so poor. Remember – I’m now meant to have an uprated system. The stereo in the Megane goes up to volume 32…most music distorts at 25+, and some even distorts at 22+. That’s about a quarter of the volume I can’t use. It also means I can’t use the speed adaptive voume – that also pushes the volume up to a point where it distorts.

It’s been back to the dealer, and they say it’s not defective. They also say they compared it to other Megane stereos and it sounds less bad than the others, so it’s acceptable. I have also spoken to Renault Customer Services – who have dealt with me excellently, but don’t know what to do to answer my complaint. They want to find me another i-Music so I can listen to them side by side and see if mine is on a par with the other.

So:

1) Am I being petty? I know a car is a car first of all, and the stereo is secondary. But for an allegedly uprated stereo, surely this isn’t acceptable?
2) If mine sounds the same as the i-Music they find for me to compare with, should I still complain because the stereo doesn’t perform to the described standard?
3) Anyone here got an i-Music, and is finding the same on theirs?
4) Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks all!

rob7475

the stereo may be upgraded in the i-music but are the speakers also upgraded?

If they are standard renault quality speakers, they will sound awful when you turn the radio up. This is the same for most manufacturers to be honest.

Your best bet may be to look at upgrading the speakers if you want your music that lout, or turn the bass down a bit - this is the usual cause of distortion. Maybe look at adding a sub in the boot to add bass.

vikingaero

Have you turned up any of the settings form normal such as the bass and treble? Generally if you do that then the music will distort earlier.

mkaibear

Basic advice in the hi-fi world is not to turn your amplifier up above half way.

Uprate your amplifier and possibly your speakers if you want to get more noise without distortion.

rodenal

I'm not sure there's really an issue here either to be honest. Find another one and try to compare, but if you're turning the head unit volume 3/4 of the way up then it seems likely to me that the music will start to distort with standard speakers. It should also be bloody loud at this point, without actually hearing it that's a bit of a moot (or mute, boom boom) point though.

My suggestion would be as above, replace the speakers - it's not difficult to do and you can get reasonably cheap units that will do a far better job than the manufacturer standard fit.

vax2002

If thats all you have to worry about after buying a renault the you are very very lucky

Strider590

I-Music? do you plug an Ipod into this?

With any Audio connection, if there's a variation on impedence matching, you'll lose power and power is the ability to go louder without distortion.

skiddlydiddly

If you bought a car prtially on the strength of the stereo then didn't bother to listen to it before buying it, you can't really blame the car.If you think it might be faulty then try and compare it to another to check but I'd guess its going to be down to the speakers and swapping them should sort it.

bigjl

I have never had a standard fit stereo that didn't distort at the levels of volume the OP is talking about.

As already mentioned the standard speakers are a compromise between performance and cost.

Put simply the wiring between the head unit and speakers will not be top quality, the speakers will not be top quality. The amp in the head unit will again be a compromise.

If you want distortion free sounds then you need to have aftermarket component speakers and subwoofers. Not every speaker can handle all frequencies, hence why top.end systems seperate the frequencies to speakers that can deal with that range. Such as using low and high pass filters to partly protect the speakers.

But it has been many years since I was into spending £3000 on car stereos and speakers.

I think that as in most things these days the advertising blurb oversells the product.

Being brutally honest if the head unit goes up to 30 odd then the fact you get distortion when you do is entirerly expected.

A Megane doesn't have the same acoustics as a top end car and you will never get decent undistorted sounds from the power level.you have quoted.

It is almost certainly Pure Music Power rather than a more accurate RMS figure. Don't ask for a detailed explanation as i am in my forties and now listen to LBC.


OP, turn the sound down when you hear distortion otherwise you are ruining the speakers.

Though it has been a very long time since I set up an aftermarket car amp. I think the adjustment was the "gain", anybody else remember this? All i can remember is setting up the amps power with the stereo at 3/4s volume, increase the amp.output till you get distortion then wind it back a bit.

A bit vague I k.ow but it has been 18/19 yrs!

datostar

It seems there is more of a problem with sound distortion in the Coupe than the 5 door hatch for some reason. Also, access to the rear speakers on the Coupe is very difficult and requires removal of a lot of trim.