I would definitely recommend shopping elsewhere as well. While the Audison is ok this vendor is not. Not very good to deal with or responsive to issues. Mostly he is concerned with his bottom line. Bad attention to detail in packing and tuning and doesn’t deal with broken parts. The packaging of the systems is very bad. I’m sure he does this on other forums with a lot of systems but this system isn’t worth it and the tuning is terrible. When you contact him about anything it’s always someone else’s fault. Bad shipping company etc…. Also a lot of “you’re the first to complain” type responses.
I ordered the v4 system from simsound (Bjorn at car & audio) and I would recommend purchasing elsewhere. First, there were some good things about the system, the cables were good and all worked for the most part. The directions were adequate and the insulation kit was good. The bad: The shipping, packing, customer service and tuning of the system was all horrible. Also this is just a basic Audison system you can buy all the parts for. The only thing custom is the little tiny sub and the cables. And the tuning file which you shouldn’t even use.
My system took 27 days to arrive to the US from Germany. For over $3000 spent you’d probably like to select a better shopping option. He argued with me and said no, too expensive. And told me DHL only delivers in the US with USPS which isn’t true. They have a DHL option that is express as well as FedEx which has an express international option. All too expensive he said but I’m sure the client would pay. Very rigid, not open to discussion which is the case on every discussion with this guy. Broken pieces in shipping included the subwoofer driver, subwoofer grille, 3d printed spacer, and the front woofers were all beat up with no packing material. Everything was single boxed.
So my packages all came with USPS which is always a disaster. First thing that arrived is the sub which was heavily damaged and had literally no packing material. I thought it was just the grille dented at first so I just asked for a replacement grille. I later realized that the whole basket of the speaker itself was bent over a 1/2” and was distorting badly.
I contacted him about covering the cost for a replacement woofer. I could order one locally to get here in 2 days for $277 including shipping. He wouldn’t hear of it because he could get the parts cheaper. He insisted on shipping me another woofer from Germany. This would maybe take another 27 days? This is just super bad customer service in my opinion. In the end he offered to send me 100 euro because he said that’s all that this would cost him. Since the packing was so bad with multiple damaged pieces I thought he should cover the expense of a replacement woofer locally. It was $277 including shipping. I later found one on amazing for $249 shipped.
Tuning: this is a DSP system and based on some other reviews I was expecting it to be great. I work in music so I’m a pretty experienced engineer. After a little digging I got a test mic and retuned the system. The tuning from Bjorn at Car & Audio in my opinion is way off. Like I’m not even sure how they got it so off. Even the phase and time alignment numbers are way off the mark.
If anybody wants my tuning config file you can have it. Just send me a message and your system will sound so much better. With the pc software you can easy switch back and forth between the two. Night and day.
The sub: It is insuffienft in this conflig because the caninet is so tiny. Doing a larger cabinet somewhere in the back and small mid bass drivers in the front under the seats would be better. This works but it’s not great.
In the end I would recommend ordering elsewhere. If you want Audison there is a dealer that Audison recommends for the Grenadier in their site who is not this dealer. In the US if I had it to do over I’d probably go with a different manufacturer. Although the tuning software for Audison is pretty cool, the eqs and amps don’t sound amazing. Keep in mind this is kind of a consumer system using high level outputs from thr Grenedier head unit. Meaning you’re getting amp distortion from the head unit and the Audison. Not ideal but easier install with smaller footprint. With a better sub solution and additional tweaking I think it could be a lot better.
