Hi guys, this is my first post. I'm on the way to getting a F12. It's a absolutly fantastic car and in my opinion one of the most enjoyable rides. The car is at a dealer and not build to order. From my other cars I was used to enjoy my music on stereo systems like B&O and co. This F12 has not the upgraded JBL system so I think maybe I'm gonna miss my sound experience. Has anyone of you upgraded the stock system with aftermarket speakers by a shop? How many speakers are build in with stock sound system, 6? Is there almost a subwoofer installed? I know that the JBL has 12. Best regards, Phil
The stock system does suck, I opted not to get the JBL because it was too expensive for what is also nothing special.
Ferrari sound systems are rubbish, plain and simple. One option is just a bit less rubbish than the other. And as for JBL? They have been a shadow of themselves for the last 15-18 years. When you get your car, find out how many speakers are in it, and then upgrade with something like Dynaudio Esotar2 110, 430 and 650 speakers, Arc Audio Kar amps so you can run it active and get an Audison Bit One DSP controller so you can tune the system correctly. I don't know about F12's. But swaps like this have been done in Calis and FFs as far as I'm aware. As for what equipment you choose, that's a personal preference. Personally I don't like anything JL, and I prefer Focal Utopia over Morel Supremo, and Dynaudio Esotar2 over Focal Utopia. As for amps. Brax, Arc Kar or Phoenix Gold Elite depending on the system. I'm not an installer, I'm just an audio geek, and the above is what I'd do in your situation.
Its not easy task to do, but its possible if you have enough cash and you know exactly what you want from aftermarket audio system. Take a look on this video so you can get the idea what they need to do in your car to setup new system properly: https://vimeo.com/106824594
The above is exactly right. The video really shows what's required. Excellent work done there. You can make an improvement but you will be spending serious money to do it (above $10k). The upshot is you will get excellent results. The downside (at least in the USA) is you probably hurt your resale value (if that matters). In this case I would say yes you should consider if upgraded sound is worth the ~$15k investment going in and then ~$10k hit you'll take vs other F12s when you go to sell. Thats a real cost of $25k for a better stereo. With Ferraris I've come to appreciate that its hard to compete with the sound of the motor, exhaust and the road. It takes serious audio hardware. I've done this to my cars so I speak from experience. Looking back I am happy, but I keep my cars. I just want to share my take and where I see the pros and cons.
Your money would be much better spent by putting a Novitec exhaust on the car. Seriously you have one of the most magnificent V12's Ferrari has ever made any you are looking to upgrade the sound system... I find the upgraded sound systems from Ferrari these days just fine, F12, 458, 458 spider And a much better option than having an audio shop even a good one taking the interior apart and cutting things up
I understand your pain Phil, the F12 is THE worst stereo system, IMHO, out of all the Ferraris.... I have the JBL system in another F car and it honestly isn't even that great, so don't feel like you're missing out on anything special. If you plan on driving the F12 often and music is a passion, I would think the 15k would be worth it. If I drove the car more, I would 100% go for an upgrade.
Agreed the stock f12 audio is painful to listen too and the GPS is buggy. Apparently a major Gps software update is due.
Thank you for your experiences. I've a quotation from a car hifi shop which had upgraded several F12s and 458s in the past. I would not add much weight to the car, so the upgrade should not contain heavy woofers, etc. It's no show car A nice feature would be a wifi / airplay port for the deezer or spotify streaming. First of all I'm waiting on the F12 arrival.
My solution for my F12. iPod plus high end shure ear buds for audio, smartphone plus waze plus a piece of Velcro for nav. Better than any factory option and dirt cheap. No issue with software upgrades. No idiot aftermarket guy tearing apart your dash. Car audio systems inherently sound bad. You can make them sound bad more loudly, but that does not equal better. I say that as a composer and longtime audio enthusiast. Plus an F12 is no place for music, it's a place for noise.
I am. It sure I can revive Sethis thread anymore after such a long time, but will give a try. Same story. F12, audio needs some improvement. Spoke to a recommended place in NL, the recommend Clanck. Anyone any experience with this brand? Of course very well known for Porsche upgrades…
I upgraded mine with the stock speaker setup - see post below https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/is-it-possible-to-easily-upgrade-the-stereo-on-f12.632056/#post-147586905
Yep. And funny enough, the reseller of this in the Netherlands is also the one selling CLANCK. Will make a decision in few weeks.
I thought about upgrading mine, but the silly F12 dash setup with no head unit means that some muppet will likely break all my interior panel fasteners, and I will pay $10K for a dubious improvement, particularly since I am a news junkie and listen mostly to talk radio, anyway. I will just sit down at the house with my Planar record player, McIntosh amp, and my Sonus Faber speakers with some live Dire Straits, perhaps Brothers in Arms or Sultans of Swing.... My Tesla Model 3 with the upgraded sound has the best sound of any car I own. It is fantastic, including the integrated Apple Music streaming, and it even helps me with audio on Zoom calls, where the other cars make everything sound muffled and slurred. The cold F12 startup alone is a symphony in V12 major, no other noise needed.
Indeed. Funny that I only listen to classical in the F12. I don't know much about the music but I never programmed any of the stations and I like the contrast of the scream and the calm.
That’s actually the ok part right. You can use buttons on the back of the steering wheel to ch ages volume, mute, and change channels / songs… to me, the quality of bluetooth streaming of audio is probably the most annoying part. Dab radio sounds so much better… still thinking about upgrading the audio but if the input doesn’t come through decently I am not sure that will help…
I very much doubt you will be able to upgrade the actual Bluetooth streaming if you are taking about the codec. I believe the standard is only SBC. Getting it even to AAC or APTX I would guess will be nigh on impossible due to the built-in nature of the infotainment and its age (I think it is based on mid 00s Chrysler components). Many of us have looked at 'trying' to add CarPlay, and if this was not fitted as standard, it's a replacement of the entire infotainment and instrument system - so prohibitively expensive. There is a post about an aftermarket CarPlay kit on this forum - but I don't think many have tried this as it's a bit of open-heart surgery. My suggestion is fit an aftermarket X pipe and switchable rear boxes. That way you get even better sound from the engine and the audio sound quality becomes less relevant.
True. The only upside is mine is 2016, which had apple CarPlay as an option. It’s the upgraded infotainment system. So my naive hope is they can do something.
I purchased a plug n play carplay retrofit kit. The device came packaged well. The Installation was performed by professionals and took less than 3hours. After installation, wireless apple carplay worked as described. Anyway, hopefully this helps Ferrari owners looking for a carplay retrofit. Here's the link: https://***************/products/wireless-apple-carplay-android-auto-for-ferrari-458-f142-488-f142m-f12berlinetta-f152-f8-f142mfl-812-superfast-f152m-gtc4lusso-f151m-portofino-f164-california-t-f149m-2009-2023
