I drive a 97 Infiniti Q45 that I put Focal Utopia Speakers and subs into with zapco competion and other high end gear. I alos own a 93 Toyota pickup with a bottom of the bottom of line system in it (Im talking dual and boss) It sounds horrible but works and came with the truck
I cant see a new car after spending that much money 3 years back in installation alone. But if I was to get a new car it would be really nice to find another Q45 with less than 30K miles!
My dream car cost no object, theres so many. Honestly Ill take a fully tricked out and hot rodded BMW Z4 M Coupe. Its hot enough and it would be SO fast!
01-31-09: Shadorne Ah yes - Houston - Oil Capital of the World. Houston is going to hurt some. COP already announced layoffs - it is just the starting. Rig count is in freefall. '86 all over again. Only positive is a really cold winter so far.... Shadorne (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Don't know how I missed this 2 yrs ago, and didn't comment, but better late than never, and having the advantage of history.
1) no Houston actually never did hurt, there never any layoffs, you were way off base there, and at the time you wrote that, not only were there not dropping rig counts, but there were more rigs running than at any time since the latter half of the 20th Century (modern efficient rigs).
2) Houston is the Energy capital of the world, and also the largest medical center in the world.
3) we never had a big real estate bubble, so it didn't burst. It's just plain cheap to live in Houston.
4) more companies continue to move to Houston due to affordablity and very favorable gov't incentives. Plus did I mention it's cheap to live there?
5) city continues to grow both high paying white collar, and some of the few high paying blue collar jobs. The huge natural gas finds in the Shale regions of the country has led to a resurgence, and sustainable one, of petrochemical companies. Many shuttered plants have been reopened.
6) The port of Houston, largest in US in most categories is busier than ever, and with with the re-growth of the petrochemicals industry is now exporting many products that were once imported.
Too bad I am moving to OKC, I will miss Houston. It's too hot, terrible limited audio community options compared to other big cities, very ugly freeways with all the crap along the feeder roads but:
Great restaurants, great business prospects, excellent theaters and museums (those big energy companies like the arts), best medical care in the world (thanks guys) and super nice people from literally every corner of the world. I'm going to miss the diversity.
My first post. I have read a bunch and will read more. Very diverse group. I doubt that I can be called an audiophile. Must be some other term to describe me......maybe music lover........ I no longer hear distortion......because I no longer listen for it......too busy listening to the music!
I am a widower and have two cars. For my grocery getter short range stuff.....a 2004 Retro Thunderbird. Only 32000 miles so it is in great shape. For longer trips....a 2001 Jaguar XJ8. Again only 57000 miles, so again, in great shape.
I am building a system after being out of audio a very long time........I guess my choices of audio are more or less inline with my cars. A NAD 7175 vintage receiver. Still looking for a nice TT.....and a brand new pair of ElectroMotion ESLs from Martin Logan.
I need to get back to reading.......A huge resource here..........
I drive a 1995 Ford Probe GT with a manual transmission. I love it. I hope you derive as much pleasure and satisfaction from your wheels. It is a true sports car, a sleeper, and handles like it is on rails. I cannot believe how reliable this car is and the body style still gets appreciative glances. In the future I will probably still be driving my 1995 Ford Probe GT. The body, engine and drive train are all in superb condition. I will probably get it professionally repainted just to be sure there is no underlying rust, etc. I live in NYC and the mass transit is so good that a car is not a necessity. If price were no object I would consider a Tessla.
Shadorne, I doubt your tastes for accuracy are much different from anyone else's on this forum, as it is an audiophile forum, but who knows?
I'm not familiar with the LX 570 system. I remember on my IS F there were a lot of settings, like surround on/off and it was never clear when to use them. I think I wound up using surround on a lot, even for CDs, and turning that auto volume off. For me, though, it always sounded terrific.
You might check the Lexus F Forum where they discuss this. Many of the IS F owners have comments that echo yours:
You obviously never heard the system in the IS F. It was as good if not better than my ARC gear at home. It was by no means "one note bass" but supremely musical. It even had multichannel DVD-A. I can't imagine how you've come up with that assessment. What gave you heard in a car that was better?
Wow, I expected to see a bunch of Porsches and Audis. I'm glad I'm not the only one on here who's not rich. 1. My daily is a 2010 Camaro SS. 2. My next will either be a Corvette, a 911, a Jaguar XK(R?), or an MB SL. (I'm assuming I'll be somewhat richer eventually...) Have you guys heard the B&W sound system in the Jaguars? Or the Mark Levinsons in some Lexuses? Very nice! 3. My unlimited-budget car would be a Ferrari 458 Italia.
1) F150 pickup 2) A new F150 pickup 3) Mustang Cobra GT500
I used to sell BMW, Mercedes Benz's, and Porches for a living so I have had my fill of driving silly priced German metal and they are nothing special. They break just as often Detroit metal (in fact probably a lot more) and cost a ton more to fix.
Give me a Detroit V8 and I will have a lot more fun anyways. ;-)
there is an inherent problem with the question being asked.
audiophiles are not tyical. they are unique just as non-audiophiles are.
the vehicles owned by audiophiles probably are no different in the aggregate than non-audiophiles.
that is i doubt you could distinguish an audiophile from a non audiophile based upon choice of vehicole.
it would be interesting to find out what variables distinguish audiophiles from the rest of the population.
perhaps there exists some personality quirks that are relevant. , such as obsessive/compulsiveness. there may be a greater prevalence of this syndrome among audiophiles than non audiophiles.
there may be other predictors indicative of the status of audiophile.
Rockitman, I hear that. My 2010 GT3 "sound package" factory upgraded stereo is average at best, and used only on rare "windows up" occasions when not listening to the sport exhaust singing above 7,000 RPM!
Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3 The only 4-door gentlemans hot-rod,period. In the near future, a 300SEL 6.9 for the lady of the lady of the house to keep up with me,(behind thst is) when taking the boys out for a roller coaster ride out in the desert freeways.
Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3 The only 4-door gentlemans hot-rod,period. In the near future, a 300SEL 6.9 for the lady of the lady of the house to keep up with me,(behind thst is) when taking the boys out for a roller coaster ride out in the desert freeways.
2006 BMW 330ix. Superb sound system. Although it has an iPod input in storage area under armrest, one must control iPod from the unit itself, not on steering wheel or dash. Later models added this. I bought a Nordost Heimdall cable to connect iPod to input and it made a noticeable difference in audio quality over Rat Shack cable. Nothing drives or handles like a Bimmer, but it has multiple annoyances due to loading it with unnecessary technology. Could not drive anything else any more, and I have owned Acura, 2 Audis (A4 and S4), etc.
My wife drives my 2008 S4 V8. Sounds great, excellent interior. Now for the bad part:
Audis are garbage. I had a 2005 V8 Avant. I loved the car initially for its stealth value. The motor died at 80k. Turns out that Audi used an undercoating on the valve covers to deaden valve train noise (stopped using the coating and changed to plastic valve covers in 2006). The problem with that is that the coating leaches into the oil (always changed at 3k/mi or less) and clogged up the timing chain tensioners. The motor came out of the car 2/x at 10k per (thank God under warranty). Finally the insurance company waived the white flag and considered it a total loss.I bought a 2008 V8S4 thinking I had a lemon on the previous S4 and it is much the same. Garbage. It has been in the shop, under warranty, far too often. Hopefully Porsche can straighten out the VW group (Audi,VW,etc) as Porsche are the new majority owner. I have owned 4 BMWs including M5. BMW are much better cars. Better handling and more reliable. I hope to have a Lotus Exige S240 or 260 soon. Will work very well in the cut and thrust traffic here in Chicago...
I wouldn't say I'm a typical audiophile, as I just got started in this hobby in Aug of 2009, but I drive a 1994 Nissan Maxima. It has 151K miles on it and I've owned it since 1997. Pretty soon I am going to have to >sigh< buy another car because in a few years, it is going to be very hard to get parts for this thing. I would rather spend the car payment money on a new turntable and new digital front end! Come to think of it I need a new pre too...
I drive a 2002 VW Beetle and it is painfully bright green. I would probably get something a bit bigger but with good gas mileage next. If money were no object then an 60's Jaguar XKE. (Goose bumps just thinking of it) An Ariel Atom would be my second money-no-object car. It looks like the most fun thing in the world to drive.
Cwlondon, Your response/concern is well received. I've riden it for 2.5 years, no problem. I'm an old motorcross racer/ survivor of a head-on collision in the late 70's.
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