VE II stereo in SV6

[iUte]

I had an SV6 hire car when I was in Melb last and have to say by far it is the SHITEST stereo I have ever heard in my life. How could they get it so wrong, It would drownn out with bass the instant increment it was turned up, none of the bass settings would fix it, even turning the dynamic bass setting off didnt work. Otherwise it sounds shit and hollow, a Nissan micra has a better sounding stereo.

Holden should do a recall, it's a pretty embarrassing stereo

[jbray1984]

They are pretty horrible.
Personally, the part I hate is that all the features of the car are all tied into the stereo... So you can't even go change it without major f*** arounds.

[davey g-force]

So you're judging all SV6's by a hire car?

Ever occur to you that some speakers could be blown or the stereo may be faulty in some other way? Hire cars tend to cop a lot of abuse...

[jbray1984]

It's not too bad with the centre speaker disconnected. But overall they are pretty bad by standard though. Could probably use the standard speakers and wire up an amp to make them better.

[davey g-force]

But overall they are pretty bad by standard though.

No arguing that. But not to the extent that he described. I reckon either:
1. The stereo / speakers were faulty
2. He's exaggerating
3. He's BS'ing (as he's been known to do)

[Z3RO]

They put paper speakers in new cars, cheaper. I replaced mine with Kicker in the front and JL in the back. It isn't just Holden but most manufacturers do this.

[jbray1984]

Replacing the speakers only, would that make a lot of difference without putting an amp in?

[vicarious]

No arguing that. But not to the extent that he described. I reckon either:
1. The stereo / speakers were faulty
2. He's exaggerating
3. He's BS'ing (as he's been known to do)

or he hasn't fiddled with the equalizer and just kept on std

[iUte]

Hi Davey, yes it is a shit stereo in all of them, I've been in 3 in total all hire cars some with as little as 8000kms on the clock, if standard speakers are blown with such little use then they are shit anyway.

I want to upgrade my VE SSV utes.speakers and agree that it needs an amp, the stereo is pretty gutless and changing speakers alone wouldn't make it sound much better, I'll just take it somewhere and see what they recommend. Either way my stereo with blown speakers would still sound better than a VEII SV6 stereo.

I don't even have to lie about this one, if you disagree Davey then you must be tone deaf.

And yes I did play with the equalizer and all setting, which I already explained. Hi Davey, yes it is a shit stereo in all of them, I've been in 3 in total all hire cars some with as little as 8000kms on the clock, if standard speakers are blown with such little use then they are shit anyway.

I want to upgrade my VE SSV utes.speakers and agree that it needs an amp, the stereo is pretty gutless and changing speakers alone wouldn't make it sound much better, I'll just take it somewhere and see what they recommend. Either way my stereo with blown speakers would still sound better than a VEII SV6 stereo.

I don't even have to lie about this one, if you disagree Davey then you must be tone deaf. Davey thinks TEAC make the best high end stereos in the world, bloody Kmart shoppers.

[davey g-force]

Hi Davey, yes it is a shit stereo in all of them, I've been in 3 in total all hire cars some with as little as 8000kms on the clock, if standard speakers are blown with such little use then they are shit anyway.

I want to upgrade my VE SSV utes.speakers and agree that it needs an amp, the stereo is pretty gutless and changing speakers alone wouldn't make it sound much better, I'll just take it somewhere and see what they recommend. Either way my stereo with blown speakers would still sound better than a VEII SV6 stereo.

I don't even have to lie about this one, if you disagree Davey then you must be tone deaf.

And yes I did play with the equalizer and all setting, which I already explained. Hi Davey, yes it is a shit stereo in all of them, I've been in 3 in total all hire cars some with as little as 8000kms on the clock, if standard speakers are blown with such little use then they are shit anyway.

I want to upgrade my VE SSV utes.speakers and agree that it needs an amp, the stereo is pretty gutless and changing speakers alone wouldn't make it sound much better, I'll just take it somewhere and see what they recommend. Either way my stereo with blown speakers would still sound better than a VEII SV6 stereo.

I don't even have to lie about this one, if you disagree Davey then you must be tone deaf. Davey thinks TEAC make the best high end stereos in the world, bloody Kmart shoppers.

...says the guy who just posted the same thing twice in the one post

[iUte]

Awwwwww someone sounds a little it upset hahaha do you need some tissues mate?

[Xonar]

well the fact is that they are shit...

Any euro or Japanese car will have a better sound quality than Holden crap...

FFS my 2003 323 Mazda has better sound quality than my 2010 sv6


My sister got New Mazda 3 not long ago and the sound is really good for factory system compared to Holden

My work car Hyundai i30 even has better sound than Holden's crap configurations

I drove many small Japanese cars for work, and for what they are, you get decent stereo

Have you ever seen what Europeans do with their stereos !? The level of R&D they put in is beyond belief...

Holden IQ is the biggest stuff up by far.... windoza based rubbish that most dealerships can't even fix...but tend to replace the whole unit as they have no idea what happens in that shit box with rubbish non responsive screen and buggy software


breath in.......

[TinSnips]

Not relevant, but ... I've never been big on car stereos, to be honest - could rarely care less (home systems are a different story for me, incidentally) - but after spending time in a MY11 Merc C class with the Harmon Kardon upgrade through AMG (not sure what it entails but it's worth a mint!) I think I could get used to a set up like that! My god that's a clear sounding system.

[The X Man]

Yep, the OP is right, the VE Series II stereo does sound like shit and yes, i own one. The Series 1 had far less distortion and had better sound but i wouldn't jump through hoops to listen to either. Holden has really ####ed up in this department. I even sent them an email complaining about the iQ and how a dissapointment it is and as expected, no reply.

I have now upgraded my speakers and installed an amplifier and it's better however the output of the HU is hopeless even with upgrading all the speakers etc.

I also had two faults today, first time seen. Went to make a call (through Bluetooth) and the HU locked up completely. Had to pull over and turn off ignition for 2 mins and all was well. Then today (hot and muggy) the screen itself was blank, audio was heard but no display at all! I turned it off and back on and it came back to life. That is in addition to some other iQ problems i have had.

So, stop taking the piss out of the OP, we can all agree the quality of both the sound and the iQ system is rubbish and should be fitted to a Great Wall, not an Australian made Commodore. Holden should be ashamed of themselves, especially the brain dead engineers responsible for this department.

[Xonar]

Audi Bang Olufsen - YouTube

[Atomic G]

Not relevant, but ... I've never been big on car stereos, to be honest - could rarely care less (home systems are a different story for me, incidentally) - but after spending time in a MY11 Merc C class with the Harmon Kardon upgrade through AMG (not sure what it entails but it's worth a mint!) I think I could get used to a set up like that! My god that's a clear sounding system.

Mum's MY11 E Class AMG has the Harmon Kardon in it... Brilliant! Better than any other I have heard.

[pjdm1980]

The IQ is actually a VW system that Holden adapted so the Europeans haven't got it a 100% either. I have to say my stereo blew the two rear speakers but other than that it's sound ok to me and has nice bass for a standard system.

[azzss]

Well our wagon (my 9.5) stereo and bluetooth craps all over my hilux with toyotas "upgraded" stereo with bluetooth. Couldn't use the phone through it was useless ended up putting a gps in dash aftermarket one in it massive improvement but I paid for a good one off toyota and it was shit. VE2 I don't know much about but i'll be hanging on to the wagon so it doesn't worry me.

[StoneX]

How different is S2 SV6 to S1 Calais? I'm pretty happy with how balanced the Calais system is at moderate volumes and I've had a few decent aftermarket stereos in previous cars.

[TinSnips]

Mum's MY11 E Class AMG has the Harmon Kardon in it... Brilliant! Better than any other I have heard.

I am a massive fan! Now I just need to date the girl who owns it! ... unless your mum is single?





really.. just kidding!

[iUte]

Its i dont understand why noone at holden tested it properly, all you would have to do is sit in an actual car and listen to the thing to work out its embaressing. Ppl pay god money for these cars and engineers incharge should get out from behind the desk and do their bloody jobs. If he was my employee i would have him sacked and take him to court on industrial sabotage charges.

[pjdm1980]

One thing everyone needs to remember is that everything is built to a budget and although it may not be to your standard it would suit 90% of the market, otherwise they'd have bull bars and lift kits and so on included with every car it's up to you to upgrade it if your not happy or pick a higher spec model, the Caprice has a Bose sound system LOL or even a V spec model.

[The X Man]

is that everything is built to a budget

Oh yes, of course. Seems the stereo system was the hardest hit with the penny pinching.. For what it's worth my previous car (prior to Commodores) was an Aurion and it had a much better sounding stereo.

[HussySV6]

Hey guys, i have a ve sv6 09 and ive got sub and upgraded speakers with amp.

iUte, i think its the songs you are listening to. I dont know if anyone else realised this but, some songs make it sound really really really bad, like the bass is abit to high so the volume just drops and it the tones dont match, it still happens with my upgraded sound system. I definatly think its the HeadUnit.

BTW nissan Micra actually have a really good sound system i must say. MY11 though. Ex GFs mum has one :P

But i must say this aswell.... My cars sound system is very clear. My friend has a more expensive sound system in his VT with aftermarket headunit and its really loud and lots of bass but its not as clear and clean as mine. Just thought id add guys.