Brain Salad Surgery

Eshan Peiris Takes on the Jaguar F-Type Audio Upgrade Challenge

Brain Salad Surgery – Eshan Peiris takes on the Jaguar F-Type Audio Upgrade Challenge

Eshan has owned his 2016 Jaguar F-Type for some years now. For all of this time, he has been unhappy with the Meridian system. Unsure what to do, he read the Driving Sounds Magazine article “Hi-Res Jaguar F-Type SVR” in issue 11, and decided to make friends with a FOUR MASTER who could help him achieve his goal with surgical precision.

Eshan, and his wife have raised two boys while living in West Bridgford, close to Nottingham, for the past 20 years. Keen on cars, alongside his Jaguar, Eshan also owns a Maserati and a Mercedes. It was the Jaguar we wanted to see as we had heard he had a highly specified system installed, and we wanted to compare it to the previous Jaguar we had covered.

Eshan is a GP with a surgical background, making him a valuable asset to the NHS hub in Derby, where he works. His 35-minute commute at the end of each stressful day is his time to unwind, and what better way to do this than with good music played at high quality.

Eshan has always had a strong connection to music through his childhood and latterly his piano-playing wife. Both children also play the piano, and the eldest plays the guitar, while the youngest plays the bass guitar.

Eshan has an analytical mind and is also very practical. He wanted to carry out the work on his Jaguar himself. However, he knew he would need help along the way. He searched around for an installation company who would be happy to help, and found that to be his first challenge. Having read how Dale Melton, owner of our previously reported F-type, had received help from John Kleis in Reading, he thought it would be easier than it turned out to be to find a dealer as accommodating. Quite often, installers can find themselves offering free-of-charge advice, which can distract them from making a living.

Finally, Eshan found himself at Car Electronics in Derby. Adam at Car Electronics was prepared to offer advice and help, provided he sold the equipment to be installed. Sometimes, resellers are asked to install equipment that has been sourced overseas or, even worse, previously owned equipment. Such jobs often turn into a complete nightmare, and without the warranty assistance of their local distributor, most dealers sensibly avoid all involvement!

Typically, the customers we see leave equipment choices up to their installer; however, Eshan had already carried out a good deal of research and also referenced our previous F-Type article. There were unknowns and discoveries along the way that he was not quite so prepared for. His car is a bit of a crossover between models with an on-board MOST bus and those with piped Ethernet. His head unit was different, which resulted in him picking up all eight channels from the Meridian amplifier output. These were fed into the high-level inputs of an Audison Forza AF M12.14 bit amplifier. As part of the upgrade, Eshan replaced the stock head unit with an aftermarket replacement with a larger screen and Android operability. The new head unit had a MOST bus output which he used and Audison bit DMI to convert into an optical TOSLINK signal, which was fed into the Forza amplifiers’ second input. This enabled him to level match between streaming device and radio.

The original Meridian amplifier was still required as it is used to process beeps and bongs from other on-board services such as reversing sensors as well as hands-free calls. Knowing this, yet needing space to mount the Forza amplifier, he removed the original amplifier mounting brackets and lowered the Meridian onto the floor. He then created some bracketry to hold the Forza more or less where the Meridian had been originally!

Due to space constraints, Eshan opted to replace the original rear speaker system with a pair of Hertz Mille Legend ML 1800.3 woofers. He appreciates the drama provided by deep bass, but felt that with a quoted reach down to 38Hz, these could be fed with sub-bass to satisfy his requirement. For good measure, he used the passive crossover and tweeters supplied with the kit and a switch to leave the tweeters operable as an option, but has seen no need to use them for now.

The front doors have been treated with lots of Skinz sound-deadening sheets to prevent rattles, but also to ensure the maximum sound from the speakers ends up in the cabin and not in the cavities behind the door cards. As we know from Dale Melton’s previous experiences, depth is an issue, and specific speaker rings needed to be modified to accommodate the excursion and rolled surround of more ML 1800.3s, which would generate the bass for the front 3-way system.

ML 700.3s fitted pretty easily into the stock locations, which was a welcome relief. High-end is important to Eshan, as he wanted to be able to hear every single nuance of his music. Hertz Mille Legend ML 280.3 tweeters are mighty, but also pretty large, so he plumped for a pair of Audison Voce II AV 1.1’s. These revolutionary silk-domed Hi-Res tweeters are smaller and, with some carving of the original plastic, can be fitted neatly into the original tweeter mounts. This saved considerable time and effort making bespoke tweeter mounts and modifying the A-pillars. I asked Eshan if he got nervous about cutting away parts of his car. He pointed out that he had spent a good deal of his life operating on humans, and so felt pretty comfortable doing such things on a car. – Good point, Eshan.

During this entire process, Eshan had been liaising frequently with Adam and Jez At Car Electronics Derby. “I was very fortunate to have the support of Adam and Jez. They were very generous with their advice, and both have a wealth of experience that they were happy to share with me. Jez did the original setup on the car and has invited me back since, showing me around the bit software so I can become more self-sufficient. I would never have managed to complete this project without their help, for which I am extremely grateful!”

It was time for me to jump in and have a listen. I decided to go with some of Eshan’s tracks to try and get a flavour for the kind of music he listens to. We started with a track by Ashley Monroe called “Silk”. My first impression was one of image height and width. The track seemed to play well outside of the confines of the car, which is a magical effect. I did feel that the whole thing was a bit “toppy” for my tastes, but everyone has a different perception of such things.

Next up, we listened to “Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay. I know his track well, as it is currently my 3-year-old grandson’s favourite – although he prefers the version from the animated movie “Sing 2”. The filtered piano and two dramatic bass drops were spectacular, the kick drum was hypnotic, and the lead vocal sat right on top of the steering wheel! I was still a little bothered by the top-end and the lack of instrument separation.

I then realised that we were listening to music streamed from a phone with the original source coming from Spotify. It somewhat surprises me that people install Hi-res equipment into their car yet listen to poor sources. I mentioned this to him, but rather than lecture, I simply played a Hi-res version of Lou Reed’s “Walk on The Wild Side” from Qobuz. Eshan’s jaw dropped. It is not a little better, but a whole galaxy away from renderings available on Spotify or Apple Music. I believe he has seen the light, but needs to convince the rest of the family, which I get.

Eshan (with considerable help from Car Electronics Derby) has managed an incredible feat to get this equipment installed and working in his car. He tells me his motivation was to learn new skills and apply his practical and technical skills in a way that was unrelated to his normal line of work. In short, this has evolved into a hobby that borders on a passion. I look forward to hearing his next project!

We are extremely grateful to Eshan for giving up his valuable time to meet with us. I have huge admiration for the man’s ambition and skill, and of course, I always get on well with fellow music fans.

Eshan’s Top Five

Hotel California - Live - Eagles 
No Sanctuary Here - Chris Jones
Silk – Ashley Monroe
I will be there (Full concert version)- Katie Melua
A Sky Full of Stars- Coldplay