Chris Throop’s Solid Defender

Twisted, then re Twisted for extra Twistyness!

Chris Throop’s Solid Defender

Chris Throop lives in a house that suggests he has been successful in business. He owns a textile company in Leicester that manufactures clothing for the Fred Perry brand. On his driveway, a Twisted Land Rover Defender 90 sits resplendent. Chris invited us to take some pictures and have a listen.

Despite the Dutch origin of his surname, Chris grew up in the Leicester area. After college, he took a job in textiles, manufacturing school uniforms and liked it so much that he wanted to dedicate his career to the industry. It's a simplified version of accounts, but hopefully accurately reflects his current situation. Before we go any further, the hard-pressed textile industry in this country has a variable reputation. However, Chris is proud of how his company, UK Pique, ethically produces garments.

Chris has lived in his current home for around ten years with his wife, Laura, and two double-digit children. He has owned several cars and leased many more, which have become increasingly “high-profile”, reflecting his business success.

Although he doesn’t remember a lot of music around the house as he grew up, he does remember his father being keen on purchasing audio-related gadgets to improve listening quality. He could only remember his father listening to Phil Collins, which is not necessarily bad.

His musical taste grew out of his love of clubbing. He and his mates used to hire a coach to take them to club hotspots around the country, including all the major cities within striking range! These early experiences left him with a penchant for music with lively bass lines, which led to his early disappointment with factory-standard audio.  Even then, Chris was a serial modifier of cars he owned. Even his first-ever vehicle, a Ford Fiesta, had work done. At this time, his modifications were not necessarily just audio upgrades, but he developed a knowledge of what could be improved.

Having endured standard sound during his car-leasing years, he determined to treat his latest vehicles to a sound upgrade. He had previously owned an Aston Martin with a B&O upgrade, which, although it wasn’t as offensive as many others he had owned, still didn’t give him the bass kick he craved.

Chris discovered Adil at FOUR MASTER Cambridge Car Audio on YouTube. Adil has now become his go-to audio installer. Adil has all the skills Chris needs in-house. “Looking around the Defender, I could see it was going to take all of the skills that Adil talked about in his videos to give me what I wanted,” Chris told us. “The Defender already had a system, but it wasn't giving me everything I wanted. In particular, a cubby sourced from Lucari had been fitted which housed an 8” subwoofer. It looked great, but it didn’t do enough for me. Adil and his team were able to modify it and fit a Hertz MP 250 2.3, 10” subwoofer in its place. The 10” is a 2-ohm subwoofer and would, therefore, drag more power from the Audison Prima Forza AP F 1D amplifier he had suggested I use.”

The speaker placement in a Defender is all over the place. Dash top tweeters were replaced with Hertz Mille Legend ML280.3, and the under dash mids, which fire directly toward the floor, were replaced with 3” Hertz Mille Legend ML 700.3. The woofers are situated under the front seats, pointing forward toward the driver and passenger’s ankles. Once again, Adil went for the Mille Legend range and fitted ML 1650.3s. Making a coherent sound stage with speakers at such crazy angles would require remarkable technology. This came built into an Audison Forza AF M12.14 bit amplifier. The processing power available in this amplifier allows for time-alignment and phase adjustment with all manner of equalisation available. In expert hands, it can mould and shape the sound from the speakers and present the listener with a perfect soundstage as if reproduced from a traditional pair of speakers in a living room. This amplifier has 12 X 60-watt channels. Pairs of channels can be bridged to provide 180 watts. Bridged channels drive the MP 1650s as bass requires more power to reproduce. The under-dash midrange speakers are also run from bridged channels.

The Land Rover Defender was designed as a rugged off-road vehicle. Little work was done on comfort, handling, and noise suppression. Therefore, many Skinz sound treatment products are required to calm road and engine noise and the various rattles typical in this kind of vehicle. Twisted had added some, but Adil insisted on adding more to help further quell outside noise and the resonance of the metal panels that make up the vehicle body. Adding Skinz everywhere can offer a completely different experience in a vehicle like this. The same can be said for panel vans and campers.

Chris also decided to upgrade the rear speakers. This has become increasingly popular as drivers want their rear-seated passengers to experience great sound and add a bit of rear fill, which can help create a more immersive listening experience. Adil was again left to select the most appropriate product and selected Hertz Mille Pro MPX 250. These are 6” 2-way coaxial speakers. They sound very dynamic and handle plenty of power.

Chris's brief to Adil was for a discrete installation offering excellent dynamics and low, smooth bass. The installation meets the aesthetics of the brief, and I have to say, the Lucari cubby with the matching quilted upholstery and 10” letter-box ported subwoofer looks very much part of the vehicle. All speakers are in the factory positions, and the two amplifiers are hidden under the driver’s seat. Nothing to see here, folks!

Time to have a listen. The vehicle has been set up for driver listening. This means that the centre of the soundstage is positioned directly in front of the driver. Chris could use the controls on the Alpine head unit to adjust this somewhat when travelling with a passenger. However, the most elegant solution would be an Audison Forza DRC AC. This allows specific amplifier functions, such as subwoofer level, to be adjusted on the go. It can also access different set-up presets, such as image positioning and alternative EQ settings for various music genres.

I was keen to use Chris’s own music selection as the car had been set up for his favoured style. The first track he selected was “Crawling” by Chase and Status. An atmospheric start with light and airy vocals at ear height over the top sounded immediately engaging. The image was wide and immediately made the interior feel larger. The bass line entered around 47 seconds. This played loud and low, while articulation was good, and the overall impression was that despite having loads of it, the sub-bass remained controlled and under control.

“Jaded” by Disclosure (Lone Remix) is a more straightforward pop song. However, an atmospheric intro has been added along with prominent keyboard figures and some electronic percussion, all of which are reproduced very well. A low kick drum came thundering in at 1m06s but did not upset the balance. I felt the mid-range was a little “lite” with this track; however, while listening to the same track back at home, I think it is mixed this way.

To check, I played “Hey Now” by London Grammar as a well-known reference track. I have a Hi-Res version of it stored on my phone, and it didn’t let me down. The system certainly wasn’t lacking any mid-range at all and sounded fantastic across the spectrum.

We played several other tracks from Chris’s Spotify playlist and can confirm that dynamic, lively with smooth, low bass was also achieved.

Overall, the Defender's system sounds excellent. Adil and his team captured the original brief perfectly, and Chris said it sounded twice as good as anything he has previously had in his previous vehicles.

Huge thanks to Chris for being so welcoming and, of course, to FOUR MASTER Cambridge Car Audio for continuing to delight its customers.

Chris’s Top Five Tunes

Crawling – Chase and Status

Lonely Town, Lonely Street – Deelicious

Jaded – Disclosure (Lone Remix)

All This Love – Emeli Sandé

Lost – Frank Ocean