Does car audio really have to suck?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Claude Benshaul, Mar 11, 2018.

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  1. slovell

    slovell Retired Mudshark

    Location:
    Chesnee, SC, USA
    I've read about the Levinson systems that come in the high end cars, never heard one though. They say they're pretty amazing. I suppose Bose systems are OK as long as you don't have high standards. The one in my G37 sounded OK until I turned it up, the equalization in the amps kicked in, the bass started disappearing along with the highs, replaced with distortion. Start gritting teeth at this point.
     
  2. GroovyGuy

    GroovyGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Halifax, NS Canada
    In the last 10 years or so, when buying vehicles I tend up "factory upgrade" the audio whenever possible. Some of the systems these days sound very nice :)
     
  3. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Great way to test the air bags to see if they work. :confused::tsk::bone:
     
  4. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    My Acura TL has a nice system (2008 my favorite) designed by some famous dude. 5.1 dvd capable with an 8 inch sub. It’s ok
     
  5. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Elliot Ray Scheiner was the guy I was talkin bout. Worked with Pioneer to develop the ELS audio system. I guess he won a Grammy or sumpin.
     
  6. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I'm surprised more of them don't use DSPs to cancel road, wind and engine noise, adjust for phase/EQ issues, etc. Maybe some of the factory systems do - I know Audi was talking about using the stereo to cancel out road noise a decade ago, but don't know if they deployed it in production cars.

    Without pretty sophisticated noise cancellation, I think the most important thing for car audio is reducing ambient noise. Surprisingly, bigger more expensive cars aren't always quieter than smaller cheaper cars. The interior of my el-cheapo 2008 Hyundai Elantra - which I never drive (has 25,000 miles on it) - is much quieter than the more expensive VW, Nissan, and Ford crossover SUV's I've rented while traveling the past few years. It's even quieter than a Mercedes SUV a friend of mine has (WTF?), especially since I replaced the aging tires with newer, quieter models. So if audio is a concern that's probably the first thing to shop around for - the car with the quietest interior. Then make sure you're using tires that minimize road noise, and don't put anything on the exterior - like a luggage rack - that can make wind noise worse.

    Beyond that, yes there are noise dampening solutions like Dynamat that can quiet road and engine noise, but they can be a pain to install or expensive to have installed.

    Luxury brands definitely come with better stereo systems - a monster BMW SUV I rented a couple of years ago sounded pretty good when cranked (I think it was a h/k unit) - but I haven't heard one yet that I thought was truly impressive. They're good but seem compromised. There might be superior factory systems out there, though.

    The trend toward systems integrated with the onboard computer - very much custom-fit to the dash - makes replacing them with aftermarket products difficult to impossible on most modern cars. That's one reason why I'm sure the aftermarket stereo business seems to be in serious decline.
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2018
  7. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    The me full size Chevy trucks have in cab noise canceling, pretty cool.
     
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  8. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    That Acura from 2005-08 is my favorite car audio system of all time, and the reason I acquired a good size library of DVD-A discs, though the system didn't play DVD-V, so listening to the audio tracks on concert videos was not an option.

    The B&O systems in the last few years' Audis have a 5.1 system that does play DVD-V, and sounds excellent as well.
     
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  9. luckybaer

    luckybaer Thinks The Devil actually beat Johnny

    Location:
    Missouri
    I'm content with the Bose system that came with my vehicle - I run lossless files out of my iPhone -> Dragonfly Red -> Aux-In. I dread buying a new car, because it will likely be a Honda, and they have notoriously bad audio. I'd hate to have to go and get after-market stuff just to have decent sound... :cussing:
     
  10. Bill Larson

    Bill Larson Forum Resident

    Ha. I bought front and back Boston Acoustics 3-ways for my 98 Accord, saved them and stuck them in my 05 Civic. Pretty good results with the factory head units (although FM sounds like it’s in mono half the time, even when it indicates stereo). They certainly could both go uncomfortably loud without obvious distortion. Good enough for a car, and comparable to average bookshelf speakers overall.
     
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  11. Claude Benshaul

    Claude Benshaul Forum Resident Thread Starter

    The one I have is the AVH-X8550BT. I like the fact it has auto EQ and that with a bit of trickery I can use the touchscreen and use a Miracast dongle to cast he phone screen which gives me all the advantages of Android Auto with none of the drawbacks.

    Dampening the doors, upgrading speakers, adding a power amplifier and sub-woofer, been there, done that already and it still doesn't hold candle compared to a modest home setup. I'm not looking into further upgrades but just wondering why is the aftermarket car audio so primitive, limited in choice and crude compared to home audio. It makes me wonder if audiophiles never leave home and drive.
     
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  12. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    I used to be into car audio way back in high school and just after. Here's some random pointers:

    • Dynamat the entire car, remove all the carpet, door panels, side panels & seats and do the whole thing. Then reinstall the seats, drive around and listen for areas of the car that need some extra help and install the foam panels in those areas.

    • Run all the wires for amplifers and anntennas before you reinstall the carpet and seats.

    • If speakers are in the doors, you want to pick the best sounding drivers you can find. Separate woofers and tweeters perform better but require separate amplificaion and an active crossover to sound best.

    • If mounting speakers in the dash, you really need to pick a lush warm sounding mid-range driver and the most laid back silk dome tweeter you can find. Everything is going to sound bright when reflecting off a windshield.

    • Speakers mounted in the dash tend to image better than door mounted speakers.

    • A good active crossover with adjustable crossover points and slopes is pretty much a must. It's hard to predict what sound will do in a car.

    • If it's a large vehicle and there's room for it, build some mid-bass modules up under the dash for a more cohesive sound. I would recommend a 6" or 8" woofers for mid-bass modules and then you can match them with a single 12" sub in the trunk with a very low crossover point.

    • If you can't build mid-bass modules, I recommend 8" or 10" subwoofers and a higher crossover point.

    • For sub construction, it's easer to build using cardboard sonotubes made for concrete columns than it is to build square boxes and they perform better.

    • Port noise is a bigger deal in an enlosed space like a car than it is in the home, use flared ports or build larger sealed enclosures.

    • Don't skip on head-unit, GIGO.
     
  13. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    It's becoming quite common. I believe most of the new Hondas have this feature.
     
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  14. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    In agree with much of this, though I've put together some great systems with factory head units.
     
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  15. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    I think this is because many luxury cars already has pretty decent audio to start. Changing the head unit is pretty much out of the question now for most luxury brands due to the integrated nature of infotainment with other car controls.

    BTW, Consumer Report was very impressed with the Genesis G80 quiet interior. So, this is a good start.
    Then, quote CR:
    Opting for the Ultimate package includes the top-level Lexicon system that goes all-out with 17 speakers and a 900-watt, 12-channel digital amplifier. It produces prodigious amounts of loud, clear sound. Your ears will give up before the speakers crackle into distortion.

    Go take that car with ultimate package for a test drive. :D
     
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  16. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Not surprised the Genesis is quiet - even my cheap Elantra is quiet (and a much more comfortable ride than its price peers the Civic and Corolla - it's also substantially larger, with cabin space about halfway up to an Accord or Camry). Sounds like a decent sound system in the Genesis, too. Although even the el-cheapo system in my 2008 Elantra sounded substantially better than the factory systems in the Civic or Corolla circa 2008.
     
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  17. Blank Frank

    Blank Frank King of Carrot Flowers

    Aston Martin Vantage S...Who needs a sound system, just listen to that V8.

    Or an old V12 Vantage if you can still find one. Mmmmmmmm.
     
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  18. stuwee

    stuwee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson AZ
    Having listened to the US Grand champion system way back in the early 1990's, I remember it was a Chevy Tahoe, amazing!!! Very clear, and I know clear as a ML owner!

    Totally agree with Blank Frank ^^^^^ if ya got an Aston V12, who the hell needs a sound system???
     
  19. A Saucerful of Scarlets

    A Saucerful of Scarlets Commenter Turned Viewer

    My dad had a Ford Fiesta. I wasn't the semi-audiophile I am now and was a lot younger when he had it so I didn't pay much attention to it, but even then I could always appreciate how incredibly good it sounded. Everytime I've bought new headphones and my dad has gotten a new car I compare it to my memories and none come close. Not even these $400 headphones I have now. Absolutely phenomenal. But maybe memory's just playing tricks on me, not sure. Not a Ford thing either as other Fords he has gotten don't sound special at all.
     
  20. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    I agree with much of the above advice.

    A year ago I was amazed at how much my back pressed-metal parcel shelf vibrated when the installed rear speakers played - it was much more than I would have ever imagined. There was no hiding the energy when my fingertips touched it when music was playing. It didn't take me long to realize how that vibrating baffle would be affecting the performance of the speakers.

    To address this, I applied dynamat to the top surface, to dampen as much of the vibration as possible. To provide further dampening and to add rigidity, I cut an old pine floorboard and screwed it underneath the shelf, using as many screws as I could (there were plenty of holes in the metal already, and I added a few more.

    This didn't eliminate the parcel shelf vibrating, but the touch-test revealed a significant reduction in the vibrations. The audio result was an immediate increase in clarity (esp. bass) and imaging. There may have been a further increase had I used a sheet of hardwood rather than softer pine. As I drive a couple of hours a day to/from work and use this time to listen to a lot of music, I wish I had undertaken this tweak years ago. I probably only have about a year's life left in my car, but this will be the first thing I do when I get a new vehicle.
     
  21. Jim13

    Jim13 Forum Resident

    Hi, I would really appreciate some advice, I have an alpine cda 137 ebt head unit, alpine pdx f6 4 channel amp, focal k2 165 power 6.5 component speakers, which I planned to put in the front doors, should I go with another set of speakers in the back, or go with a sub, the focals have great bass and I’m not a big bass guy, just want a good balanced sound. Also would the back speakers be better in the parcel shelf or back doors, I have not picked the speakers for the back, any suggestions would be great, the car is a 74 Jaguar xj6, also , what areas of the car would you put dynamat..regards Jim
     
  22. sa5150

    sa5150 Forum Resident

    I'm getting a new head unit for my car and really wanted to get Alpine UTE-62BT . It plays Flac but down converts them to 16bit , Does that matter at all in a car? I'm also not sure if it plays the 24bit 96k , A lot of my files are like this so I need a player to play them from a usb without any issues . I've had a Jvc that I'm sick of with no flac playback . I did not really want to buy a kenwood which does , There way to cluttered and too many steps in the interface .
     
  23. slovell

    slovell Retired Mudshark

    Location:
    Chesnee, SC, USA
    I finally got it tuned without the EQS (sold it) by just tweaking the crossovers and gains on the amps, the output voltages on the Matrix, and the tone controls on the oem head unit. Sounds very good, haven't tweaked anything in quite a while. Now, if I could just find that little buzz in the door. :D
     
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