I'm a torn up old heavy equipment mechanic.. Sometimes inspired by inspiration and sometimes by desperation, BUT always by motivation.
I can't stand NOISE. I love beautiful things.. Like GREAT sound..
In any cab there just isn't enough room to get the stereo effects you get in your home units.. That being said, you can get rid of a lot of outside noise. Secure rattles, and dampen the shins of the cab a LOT better..
German, and English cars are a heaver gage material. They use some really good composites to help with dampening, pressure flex and leakage. There is a LOT of dampening material between joints NOW to the point of, epoxy bonding in leu of electro arc. Joining metals and composites now is a GLUE factory.. Look out slow running horses..
Can you get the inside of a cab to sound pretty good? YUP..
I have a 1996 Eddie Bower.. F150 5.0.. When I tip the bed up and plug in.. We have a WALL of SOUND EFFECTS.. nothing more.. Kids use to love it.. Carlos.. DANCING..
Me.. I'd go inside and listen to MY STEREO..
NOW!!!
A Rolls-Royce and a FINE looking chauffeur please.. :-) |
I used to always change out the factory system in the car because they weren't tat good. New head & speakers. But today, many of the cars have decent enough systems in them that I don't need to do so. The caveat to this is that I don't expect it to sound as good and realistic in the car as in the 2 channel system at home. But I love music. And driving some distance with music is pretty good for me.
I would not have called myself a car enthusiast when changing the systems. Nothing to get enthused about when you see and 85mph top speed on the speedo. Now its different. Great cars around again today. Much more power today than during the muscle car era. And though I love music, I cannot see changing out the factory system of my Corvette convertible. Its too noisy for one. And driving these mountain roads like it is a sports car takes my full time attention. But It would be nice to have a little better on my trip to MD coming up. But that's the exception, not the rule. Usually I'm on the back roads having fun, enjoying the music when its appropriate. |
As I am a sports car guy, the small spacial volume available is a real challenge. Much easier to get decent sound in an SUV.
Oddly, some of the luxury cars with sufficient internal space have very poor sound and some have quite decent sound.
Best I've experienced in a sports car is in one of my own - a BMW Z4M coupe, which has a Bob Carver designed system. Sadly that is paired with some of the worst ergonomics I have ever seen. So mush so that the resale value of the cars with that top of the line system can be slightly lower than the same car with the lower cost system. The other reason I hate that system is that it has a factory GPS system that pops a screen up out of the dash whenever you hit the wrong control, and that catapults my GPS stand alone unit on top of it into your lap. (Why do I not use the installed BMW GPS, you might ask - because it is a CD updatable system that is painful to actually operate).
For most of my sports cars, the sound system consists of the car's exhaust. |
@wspohn
As wspohn sez, with my sports car it's all about the noises the vehicle makes. The whines of the different gears. The clatter of the valves. The rise and fall of the exhaust note. The sound of the wind in my ears. The roar, clop-clop and squeal of the tires. Dogs barking. Birds cheeping. |
I thought car stereo was important back in the 1980's. Searched around for an installer who designed me a sub to fit in my CRX. He understood audiophile, not one-note bass, and the result was freaking incredible! It helped that I did my research, used proper gauge wire to power the amps, it was quite a good system for a car, especially back then.
The CRX went away and I found the sounds and pleasure of driving a 911SC are not at all improved with a sound system. Also my home system by then was so good nothing in a car sounded like anything but something in a car.
Car audio can be done very well indeed. All you have to do is strip the car down, replace everything that rattles, pad everything else with a couple hundred pounds of damping material, and wire, and add a couple hundred more pounds of components, and you can get about the same sound as at home. Until you turn the key and start driving and then, it is back to being a car stereo.
Or instead for about a grand you can get Campfire Dorado, plug em into your player or phone, and call it good. So that is what I do now.
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The whines of the different gears. The clatter of the valves. The rise and fall of the exhaust note. The sound of the wind in my ears. The roar, clop-clop and squeal of the tires. Dogs barking. Birds cheeping.
Children screaming, women fainting, old men shaking their fists......oh, that's only for old British sports cars (my specialty). I never install any sort of radio in my old stuff (1956-1969 or so). The symphony of the winding road is sufficient. |
@wspohn
The scream of a siren as it approaches from behind. The siren's decreasing pitch as the fire truck/ambulance/police car zooms by me for parts unknown.
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Back in the 80's I also had a great car stereo, I worked at an audio store and I had Concord front end and a clean power amp with AR speakers all around. The tapes I recorded on a Nak sounded great. But I agree with millercarbon, car and home quality just are too far apart now-a-days. I currently have what comes with my ML350 SUV and usually listen to, and no hate emails, Sirius radio or play MP3's off a memory card. It's good enough for the road in my opinion.
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It seems to me that the disconnect between auto and home hobbyist is often fundamental. The car guys seem to want volume and thump and the home adio guys want a realistic listening experience. Car guys think home guys are wimps and home guys think that car guys are Neanderthals.
And if you are a home guy, don't dare to try and explain to a car guy that the wattage ratings for car audio are ridiculously detached from industry standards (and I have seen that inaccuracy, or rather huckstering lying, sneaking into home theatre as well) |
I enjoy both and look for similar things from my home and car system. Obviously what can be done and how they sound are dramatically different. In cars I generally spend 2-3k and can get a very nice setup. I always start with amplification and then add in HQ front speakers. If I have the budget a sub is the last thing to do and rear fill speakers.
Yes all too often people just add a sub to a stock setup which sounds just awful. But a good setup with more power and better separate drivers can really sound and image well. The imaging is unfortunately somewhat driven by existing speaker locations. I also stick to OEM head units (lossless music on USB) and stock speaker locations so setups are stealth. I do longer drives fairly often so a good rig in my car is important. |
Lexus LS460 with a Mark Levinson Sound System….
Luxury with superb sound.
Nuff Said..
—Charles— |
For car audio I have always taken a "is it good enough" approach - especially with the way most cars are designed today and aftermarket is not such a great option.
Right now I keep going back and forth on getting an Audi Q8 or A7. The system it comes with is what I will use and it seemed decent enough.
Agree with the OP that the home system is where the I place all my efforts. |
The portable Bluetooth speaker is the best way to listen to music on the go. Portable Bluetooth speakers are available in a wide range of shapes, sizes and designs. They're small, portable and easy to use. They're also easy and convenient to charge, which makes them perfect for your daily commute and long road trips.
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