Hi, I'm going to throw my little bit of my reality here. I've been doing systems for my car for over 25 years, and still enjoy it quite a bit. I started my career performing car installations, though I have moved on to other technologies. And though I'll admit that I have scaled back my systems, I still enjoy upgrading the stock system in my car. It is car audio that got me into the audiophile bug. For it was these systems that I started noticing more elements in the music, I'd be driving along and notice that I had never heard something in a song before. I was missing stuff. I had a decent image, full sound, and details appeared before and around me. I learned through this experience to begin to look for more from my home system.
I'll also add, as Ellery911 mentioned, I lived in my car, hours each day, two-hours minimum, typically more. So having a better system in my car was a requirement for me. I am now listening more to home system and less to my car. Though the car still sounds good, the house sounds great.
Is a car a perfect audiophile experience? No way. Can you get good to excellent sound, you bet! It all depends on what you want and how much you want to spend. And you are going to get some very polarized attitudes about sound in a car. I believe even more so as compared to home audio.
I've owned several Saab models from a 99, 900, and 93, sedans, hatches, and convertible, each has it's own issues (my 99 was wonderful and unique at the time).
A couple fo things I'd like to ask:
1. What do you define as "good sound"? What are your expectations for the car?
2. You mentioned that you have an older Saab, what year? Model? And style (2 door, 4 door, hatch, convertible). There are basic installation issues and concerns that need to be addressed with each.
3. What is your budget? Good sound, depending on your definition, can be had relatively inexpensively?
4. What equipment do you have and/or like now? Knowing your tastes can nail a system a lot better.
Yes, you can do a lot of things to tweak a car to help improve the output, imaging, and environment. And there are a lot of different ideas and methods achieve this, but that's it, tweaking. As mentioned in previous posts, adding sound dampening materials (such as dynamat or dexdamp) can help lower the noise floor within the car. Especially the squeeks and rattles within your car. It'll also add a lot of weight to the car (I happen to have a box next to me right now that I was going to use for a previous installation, it covers 20 square feet and weighs 20-30 lbs, it's heavy, it'll be like adding an extra 1-2 people to your car, depending on the extent of the install, this will affect handling, ride, economy, and load ratings). If you've ever heard a Mercedes door shut, compared to an inexpensive car, there is a more solid, deep shut with the Mercedes. That is sound dampening and that is what it will do for you.
Speaker placement is also a major topic. Unlike home systems where speakers can be easily adjusted to obtain optimal sound, the car really limits this placement. A couple of things to note about placement. Car speakers, unlike home speakers, are typically designed to be very, very directional. Because there are so many hard surfaces for the sound to bounce, this helps with imaging in a car. And because multiple mounting locations can be used, tweeters up high, mids & woofers down lower, there can be other acoustical issues that occur, time relationships, acoustic separation. But by placing speakers up high, the image and soundstage will rise as well.
Also the installation location will affect the speaker. Dash speakers tend to lose bass output versus door or shelf installations (a dash does not make a good enclosure, a trunk does). And another issue is cabin gain, a cars natural environment will boost low frequencies (when everything else is done right). You can also play with speaker wiring polarity adjust the perceived imaging.
I'd start by getting some good solid speakers (separates or very high quality coaxes - and this can be separates mounted in a coax-type configuration), some dedicated amplification, and a decent front end, and you'll be surprised at the sound in the car. I have a good head unit, Clarion, a Soundstream amp, and A/D/S/ component speakers. I don't have a sub, I dropped that a couple of years ago. A cars cabin provides gain in the low-end, and speakers with decent output in the low-end will have some gain added naturally by the car. Over time I have found this setup to be more musical, though with less impact and extreme extension. And when a good song comes on, it easily overcomes any of the road noise in the car. Though I should mention that the whole car audio world changes with a convertible and/or all your windows open - then you would probably want a sub.
I've had one stereo ripped off, back in the 80's, I haven't had an issue since. It all depends were you go with the car. I don't believe you can prevent it, and this is why you have insurance (keep receipts and take pictures). A detachable face front end helps, especially if you take the faceplate with you. But many people don't, at most they remove it and leave it in the car (glovebox or door pocket). Some companies will hide the faceplate, others will use coded keys for security, all can be bypassed in one way or another (sometimes the factory will need to do it). Car alarms help as well. I believe the car itself is the more primary object of theft nowadays, anyway.
Hope this helps, Todd
