Hello all, new member. I've been scouring the forum for a few days to find out about this car (thanks for all the useful info) and have today ordered my Croma Prestigio 1.9 16v manual.

I'm very happy that this will be a great car for me (especially for the price), but have only one minor niggle...

I've sat in a couple of Croma's, both with the standard Blaupunkt stereo. I like nice sound quality, but I'm not a total hi-fi snob. The sound quality seems pretty OK (I'd give it 7/10), but it seems to have very boomy bass. With bass set to 0 and no loudness it seems very bass-heavy. It's not a nice punchy bass though, more of a drone. With the bass turned down it just goes tinny.

Has anyone else thought the same? Are there some settings that can be tweaked? I thought I saw something about an equalizer in the settings, but I didn't want to twiddle too much with someone else's car.

I'm assuming that (as with most cars), the stereo itself is pretty decent but the OEM speakers are cheapo. I'm wondering about replacing the speakers with posher cones, but I don't want to do this unless I can put replacements in the original speaker grilles. Anyone tried this?

Cheers.

...found these 165mm speaker adaptors on ebay:

Item no 310135778752

(can't post a URL as I'm a new member)

Welcome aboard,

like you I find the standard stereo setup quite 'boomy', there is a graphic equaliser which does help but if you're after decent sound then please let us know how you get on with the speakers. You can get single and double DIN faceplate adapters as well, you should find a link for them on here somewhere.

HTH.

Cheers. Looking forward to joining the gang (collect the car on Saturday).

I'll give it a try with the OEM speakers for a bit. To be honest, I normally listen to Radio 4 anyway! But I do like the odd bit of a blast of sound now and then.

I'll probably have a go at replacing the speakers only, I don't want to lose the standard look by swapping the head unit. Wouldn't you then also lose the steering wheel controls?

I'm hoping it's a good head unit (Blaupunkt were once good at least), with cheapo speakers. This would make sense - save a few Euros on the invisible bits, nobody will notice until they've bought it.

I do worry though where they offer a "hi-fi" upgrade. That suggests to me that they go out of their way to make the standard one sound naff - there may be some special "mushy" software or components in the thing to intentionally cripple it.

Ah well, shouldn't be moaning about the car before I get it - really looking forward to driving the most expensive car I've ever had (in terms of original price, but not buying price).

Doofer said:

I'll probably have a go at replacing the speakers only, I don't want to lose the standard look by swapping the head unit. Wouldn't you then also lose the steering wheel controls?

I'm hoping it's a good head unit (Blaupunkt were once good at least), with cheapo speakers. This would make sense - save a few Euros on the invisible bits, nobody will notice until they've bought it.

I do worry though where they offer a "hi-fi" upgrade. That suggests to me that they go out of their way to make the standard one sound naff - there may be some special "mushy" software or components in the thing to intentionally cripple it.

Click to expand...

You can get adapter kits for many head units these days to still allow the use of the steering wheel controls - don't forget it's a V**xh**l underneath. By all accounts, the 'upgrade' capability for the Croma consisted of MP3 capability and a Subwoofer (taking the place of the RH boot pocket) but the reast of the Head unit remained the same. I'm no expert but that's what I've found out so far.

HTH.

Interesting. You've prompted me to read the ELearn CD information...

ACOUSTIC SYSTEM

A HIFI system with special speakers and an outside amplifier is available on request.
The system has been developed ad hoc for the FIAT CROMA: the acoustic properties of the passenger compartment have been carefully designed so that the amplifier and the speakers are perfectly in keeping with the passenger compartment offering optimum listening properties.
The system is also in perfect harmony with the aesthetics of the vehicle without taking up additional space.
The system has a dedicated wiring interface with the various vehicle wiring (dashboard, rear). It is therefore not advisable to make any changes to the original system (e.g. graphic equalizers, additional sub-woofers, extra amplifiers).
In addition, the system components (amplifier and speakers) should not be repaired individually, but should be replaced with new components.
There are two distinct types of acoustic system for the vehicle:
- Standard
- Hi-Fi sound system
Composition

The location of the components is illustrated below.

1 - Radio
2 - Front door speakers
3 - Tweeter front speakers
4 - Rear door speakers
5 - Tweeter rear speakers
6 - Rear subwoofer speaker with built in amplifier
7 - Aerial
Standard system general specifications

The system is composed of 6 speakers, divided into the following types:
- 165 mm diameter, 40W mid woofer speakers, located in the lower part of the front doors, designed for the reproduction of medium-low frequencies. The technology used for these components (water resistant) means that they do not suffer damage from any sprays of water inside the door.
- Tweeter speakers, 40W, located in the exterior rear view mirror triangles, designed for the reproduction of high frequencies.
- Full-range 165 mm diameter, 40W speakers, located in the bottom part of the rear doors, capable of reproducing a range of frequencies from medium-low to medium-high. Water resistant technology has be used for these components too.
General specifications of hi-fi sound system

The system is composed of 8 speakers and a sub woofer box containing a five channel power amplifier.
The main features of the components are as follows:
- 165 mm diameter, 40W mid woofer speakers, located in the lower part of the front doors, designed for the improved reproduction of medium-low frequencies. Water resistant technology has be used for these components too.
- Tweeter speakers, 40W, located in the exterior rear view mirror triangles, designed for the reproduction of high frequencies.
- 165 mm diameter, 40W mid woofer speakers, located in the lower part of the rear doors, designed for the improved reproduction of medium-low frequencies. Water resistant technology has be used for these components too.
- Tweeter speakers, 40W, located in the top part of the rear doors, designed for the reproduction of high frequencies.
- Bass-reflex type sub woofer box, 12 litre volume, containing a speaker 165 mm in diameter, 100W, for the reproduction of low frequencies. This box is located in the boot, on the side of the right wheel arch. The five channel audio power amplifier is located inside the sub woofer box for the operation of the actual sub woofer.
The view of the sub woofer is illustrated below.

Pin out
Pin
Function
A1
n.c.
A2
Left rear door audio output (+)
A3
Left rear door audio output (-)
A4
Right front door audio output (+)
A5
Right front door audio output (-)
A6
Left front door audio output (+)
A7
Left front door audio output (-)
A8
n.c.
B1
n.c.
B2
Right rear door audio output (+)
B3
Right rear door audio output (-)
B4
Right rear door audio input (-)
B5
Left rear door audio input (-)
B6
Right front door audio input (-)
B7
Left front door audio input (-)
B8
n.c.
C1
Earth
C2
Enablement from radio
C3
Status recognition
C4
Right rear door audio input (+)
C5
Left rear door audio input (+)
C6
Right front door audio input (+)
C7
Left front door audio input (+)
C8
+30 battery power supply

My conclusion from that is that for the basic stereo you get:

Standard Mid/Bass speakers
Front Tweeters
No rear tweeters

For the Hi-fi stereo:

Posher Mid/Bass speakers
Front tweeters (probably the same as standard)
Back tweeters
Boot mounted subwoofer/amp unit

The subwoofer unit also includes an amp for the other speakers. So I wonder whether, where it is not fitted, the speaker wiring goes via the subwoofer's connector, perhaps with a dummy connector that directly connects each speaker output to its input. Pure speculation - I haven't even got the car yet!

The fact that the mid/bass speakers are better with the hi-fi option suggests that they did intentionally put crappy units in the standard version. I reckon 8 new speakers would give a massive upgrade, even without the subwoofer/amp unit. Assuming that the wiring for the rear tweeters is in place - if not then it would still be a big improvement.

The previous owner of my car did add roof rails as an option (£250!), so I'm hoping they also ticked the hi-fi option while they were splashing their money around. According to Parker's, the MP3 option was £150 and the hi-fi option was £350, so they were probably not very popular options.

Does the standard car have the grilles for the rear tweeters, but with nothing behind?

The stereo in the Croma I've finally bought sounds superb. It's only the standard stereo, so no tweeters in the back. But it sounds really good. I haven't had chance to play with the settings yet, but EQ is shown as on - I think the previous owner must have had good ears and has actually spent some time twiddling with it.

The two others I tried sounded rubbish. So either there is a build difference, or the equaliser is capable of making the stereo sound good enough (for me anyway).

So I'm not going to start pulling any door panels apart (especially after looking at the steps involved on the ELearn CD). I'll leave it well alone - I'd rather not have slightly better speakers and a million rattles and squeaks from loose trim.