2. misc-audio
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Do you care about car audio?

I like nice cars and I appreciate the fact that I've been fortunate enough to lease and drive some very nice ones.  I would never drive a luxury car out of warranty, but that's not my point.  My point is, as much as I love audio, I never really had any urge to upgrade my car audio system.  Whatever came with the car was totally satisfactory to me.  Right now, my car came with a somewhat upgraded Meridian stereo, but it is not the full-blown surround/subwoofer deal.  It sounds fine and I've never wanted more than a standard decent car radio had to offer.  
Do you people have any enthusiasm for upgraded car audio as opposed to stock?  Then again, truth be told, I've never listened to the fancy car setups and I might be tempted if I thought it was that much more enjoyable.  Who knows. 
chayro
pauly
1,012 posts
 
@sgreg1

What do you mean by "sound better" in this context? I'd not take a second look if you said "enjoy more", but given the noise produced while driving and your proximity to glass which is know to produce hard reflections, I don't get that one. I do take cognizance that our hobby is very subjective and nobody is the same.

Is it a particular genre that sounds better in the car?

Ps. I do listen to music in the car and I do prefer music over talk radio and the sound of the wind rushing past the car. It's just that it is quite a ways below the quality of my audio system at home. 
speakermaster
738 posts
 
Upgrading your car stereo can be a very expensive and time consuming process but when you get it all done you still have road noise to overcome so it will only sound great when it is parked.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
sgreg1,

"...IMO there are songs that sound better in the car than at home."

I suspect that some material is mixed/mastered with car environment in mind as that is where many (most?) people will listen to it.

"When we had finished a song, we’d take a drive and listen to it on the car stereo to give us that extra objectivity. When you are working so intensely you can lose that objectivity. And when you’re in a studio you’re listening to the absolute best reproduction of the sound. But most people won’t hear it in that environment. So we’d go for a drive – the car test."

Article in the Independent on Sunday - leonardcohenforum.com
boothroyd
365 posts
 
Lost interest after CDs took over.

Concord & Nakamichi head units made it work for me - started with a Concord HPL 110 & called it quits after a Nakamich TD700.
dan2019
6 posts
 
Good evening chayro,

I was in the same situation as the past several years with car audio as there was not much interest in upgrading the car stereo system.  A lot of the local car stereo shops seem to focus on the bass and high volume.  One day I walked into a shop with a car stereo dealer that had decades of experience from the time of cassette and even 8 track!  We talked about several different options for my Ridgeline truck. 

The final choice was to keep the original head unit, add a JL Audio - 5 channel 75 watt amp and 4 JL Audio separate component speakers. The amp drives the 4 JL door speakers and the existing subwoofer.
This dealer was able to use the factory head unit with the preamp outputs so the steering wheel controls all work perfectly.

When the work was completed he asked me to demo the truck with the new speakers and amp.  I was absolutely blown away by the night and day difference in sound. Especially when listening to a CD, the sound quality is exceptional.  He even added a small knob to directly control the output of the subwoofer (without going thru the settings on the head unit)!

After having many good quality car stereos I am amazed how well this simple setup works, and I can say that it is now a pleasure to drive that truck everyday.  

Best wishes,

Dan

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