Concerning high end audio names in new cars

I don't mind crappy stereos in cars....   my company mini van has a mediocre stereo .  The company E250 vans have AM/FM with a 5" full range speaker in each door.   It's pretty bad.  But I don't have a car payment, or pay for gas, insurance, and repairs so I really can't bitch...   After a day driving 300 miles in that thing , there's nothing better than sitting in front of my home system.....  

Samsung bought Harmon Group so they could integrate their media / car infotainment and be a huge player in car/mobile world dominance.

Revel, JBL, Infinity, AKG, Harmon,  Levinson.....  all under Samsung umbrella

spenav

219 posts

05-27-2022 at 11:33am

Aren’t you guys a little too critical? The Mark Levinson in the Lexus is far from being awful. You can’t compare such systems with your home systems of course because the two environments are so different in terms of noise and vibrations but compared to a standard car audio system, it’s a good achievement. Let’s not be unreasonable.

Wrong. The base system in a previous Lexus and  another current model was/is worlds batter. Not even close.

I'm on my third Genesis and the Lexicon systems in the first two were pretty extraordinary, with a notable surround system (geared to DVD-A discs, for which options are limited, but when you score, it's magic).  I had an above-average home system over that time (Counterpoint, VPI, Dahlquist), but there were nights when me and my buddies left the house and spent some time in my car, grooving on that Lexicon system (which is ostensibly only otherwise available in Rolls Royce'...I've never bothered to validate that).  Yet I'm finding the Lexicon in my '16 Genesis to be less compelling, but that's likely 'cause I've since replaced the Counterpoints with PrimaLuna E400 separates and a REL S810 sub.  I'm staying in the house a lot more lately.  😁

Brand exposure, ie. Not a lot of the average population know McIntosh from Mark Levinson….

Also, I’ve never heard any car stereo that would be up to the standard of the average audiophile, also I don’t think automobiles are a great place for critical listening. That’s my two cents. 

Wrong. The base system in a previous Lexus and  another current model was/is worlds batter. Not even close.

I have the Levinson system in my 2009 Lexus LS.  It was way better sounding to me than the basic audio system.  I listened quite a while to both.  I wanted the better one. To me it was worthwhile upgrade and I have enjoyed it for years.  It is still a car surrounded by glass.  I did not buy it because of blue meters.