Hi Fi Car Audio

It seems to me that some of the peolpe that posted above have a pretty closed mind when it comes to car-audio. I think it is safe to say that they haven't sat in a car that has been done right. In my car I have an Eclipse 5303 cd tuner, a Pioneer DEQ 9200 eq/digital delay/crossover, ADS AL-6 mids(6 1/2")/tweeters (1"),and a JL audio 12W6 sub-woofer. All speakers are driven by Rockford Fosgate(same company as Hafler for you closed minded people) amplifiers. There is 50 wpc to each mid and tweeter and a dedicated 450w to the sub. All the crossover work is done actively by the Pioneer DEQ 9200. The thing that makes the most difference in my system is the abilty to adjust the amount of delay time between all of the individual drivers as needed. I am positive that this car has better imaging than 95% of the high-end home systems I have heard in the past 15 years. The delay and the low kickpanel placement of the mids and tweeters makes the distances from ear to left door, and ear to right door as close as possible to perfect. Put in some good music(Sheffield Labs, Mo-fi, DCC, or whatever) and it flat kicks ass. It sounds like there is music coming from 3-4 feet outside the drivers window. The Missing Link, Thelma Houston, James Newton Howard, Usual Suspects cd's by Sheffield are even more fun to listen to in the car than in the house. I have never heard these discs sound better anywhere, period! Car audio can sound every bit as good as home audio IF you do it right! For the $5000 I have put in my car, I would have to spend at least twice that amount to even come close in a home system.I have yet to hear a home system with bass as tight, quick, and musical as a properly built car system. Impact and low end extension is not even a contest. Put in any organ track with a 16hz pedal and you will then understand. Tocotta and Fugue in d by Michael Murray on Telarc is a perfect example to listen to. All I am trying to say is that if you put a lot of time in building a car sytem correctly and spent a lot of time tweaking it, you can have excellent sound in a car. I suggest you get off your high horse and try building a car system correctly before you say that it can't be done. I think you will change your mind in a hurry.

who *cares* if ewe can get good audiophile-quality sound in a car? if your car is fun-to-drive, the *on* knob of the stereo won't even get turned-on. if yure really doing audiophile listening in yer car, i sure as hell hope yure not driving while doing it. if so, yure a safety-menace, like those who yak on their cell-fones/read/drink alcohol/apply make-up/etc., while they make a feeble attempt at driving.

Hey Sedond, I think you maybe on the wrong website- This is a Hi Fi Audio website, not Gearhead.com! Let's stay on topic, shall we? Grumpybb, your car system looks like it would sound terrific! I'm about $2,000 behind you, but have considered a larger sperate amp for my sub (Infinity Beta 12 in a sealed enclosure), and a Rockford Fosgate DSP unit that does EQ/delay/crossover in one box. The salesman was really pushing the DSP unit, but I was afraid it would screw up the great sound I have been getting without it. It sounds like you have had great success with your Pioneer DEQ 9200, and would recommend it. Did you happen to compare it to the Rockford DSP unit? Could you elaborate on the Pioneer DEQ 9200 and offer any insight on comparable units you auditioned? Also, does the DEQ 9200 help in any way to integrate your sub into the soundstage? That is my biggest problem with my system - the bass still sounds like it is coming from behind at times, which can become detrimental to the soundstage I am creating up front. I agree that with a good sub, well recorded organ discs can be exciting ear-openers in a good car system! I recommend Pomp & Pipes/Dallas Winds on Reference Recordings - check out "The Vikings" - it's sure to get your blood pumping! Lastly, what type of car is your system in? Thanks!

Hifi4me, sure I'll fill you in on the DEQ9200. I have not compared it to the Rockford unit, or any other for that matter. The reason I bought the 9200 is because I owned an older version of it(about 3 year old model),which was stolen. I think the model number was 7200, and it under the Premeire side of Pioneer. The 9200 is an incredibly adjustable piece of machinery. It has built in crossovers for sub, mids, and tweeters, and all 4 cut-off points are ajustable for frequency AND slope. The sub can be crossed at 12,18, or 24 db per octave and the others at 6,12, or 18 per octave.It allows you turn on and off tweets, mids , and subs seperately to allow for easier crossover tuning. It also allows you to invert the phase of any of the drivers by pressing a couple of keys instead of having to swap wires. This really helps make set-up much easier. The delay lets every driver be set seperately from the others, since obviously no 2 driver are in the same location. This is adjustable in 1/2 inch increments. Just measure the distance from your head to the driver and punch in the distance. The best way I have found to match the sub was to cross the low pass of the mids as low as possible with 18 db/octave slope(80 hz works best for me) and same with the sub high pass but at 100 hz and 24 db/octave. I know there is a little bit of overlap, but with the sharp crossover rates it is not noticable at all. This keeps as much low frequency as possible up front. I tried lower crossover points, but the mids bottomed out to easily at higher volumes. By the way, the vehicle is a Lumina Z-34. The sub is in a 1.5 cu/ft sealed box that's mounted against the rear seat but fires towards the back of the car to get proper loading. I also have a pair of Beta- 12's that I have not tried out yet because of lack of free time, but I am looking forward to giving these subs a shot. Picked them up at Ultimate Electronis a while back for $125 ea, unopened. Couldn't pass up a deal like that. If you have any other questions, post back or e-mail me.

I'm also interested in the 9200. Can you change the phase of the sub just a little bit. I had a local car audio guy tell me that one of the problems with my system is that as the bass comes to the front of the car the bass form my mid bass 8's and the little bit that is eveident in my 4's are clashing just a little bit out of phase causing my bass to seem disconnected and out of the sound stage. I drive a Mercedes 190e and cannot put my sub in the cabin (Boston Accoustic Competitor C110, it's a 10 with a passive radiator) I do however have the 8's (Boston Accoustic rs-8) On the floor behind the driver and passenger firing at the celling. do think that this unit will help solve some of these problems, or do you know of other units that have sub woofer delay or advance reseptively through delaying everything else. thank you