Car Audio Head Units Belong in Space Shuttles, Not Cars

[admin]

We recently installed a brand new car audio system as part of a "Pimp Mom's Car" feature in honor of Mother's Day. I mean, Mom had gotten her share of flowers and chocolates - why not go for something different this year? In writing the article and installing the system, there was a clear difference between the stock and finished stereo. It was "night and day", as the saying goes - and when we were done there was no doubt that the audio quality was vastly improved. So much, in fact, that we didn't understand why anyone would drive around with their cars' stock audio solution when, for just a small amount of money and effort, they could upgrade to something much better.


Discuss "Car Audio Head Units Belong in Space Shuttles, Not Cars" here. Read the article.

[djoxygen]

I am skeptical that the car-fi aftermarket has the potential to explode the way home theater has in recent years. The same forces driving the widespread adoption of mp3 as the predominant music distribution format weigh heavily on mobile audio.

Since the enjoyment of video is an all-consuming activity, quality in home theater makes perfect sense. When we are going to watch a movie or a TV show, there is little else we can do at the same time. Because both our visual and aural senses are fully engaged, it is much easier for the average consumer to appreciate the difference in experience between a small TV with built-in speakers and a large display paired with a full surround system.

It is rare for anyone to allow themselves the same kind of engagement when listening to music. The primary decision point in music consumption is convenience. Most people listen to music while doing something else: Working, exercising, cleaning the house, and yes, driving. Often these activities are paired with a secondary activity such as holding a conversation.

In the situations where most people consume most of their music, convenience is king and quality only needs to be "good enough". Given that mp3 players and smartphones are becoming *the *entire music library for most of us (either by buying/ripping our own music or, for the next generations, through the world-wide all-you-can-eat music libraries of services like Spotify and Pandora), interfacing with these devices is quickly becoming the most important feature of car-fi.

The OEM car audio designers/manufacturers have figured this out. It's very difficult to buy a car without at least a dash-mounted aux-input jack. Most new car models have at least a USB interface, if not full-blown control systems, for iPod/iPhone. They put more capital (human and financial) into designing these convenience features than they put into quality amps and speakers. (Built-in support for streaming Internet audio is already appearing on high-end models and will likely be the next must-have car-fi feature.)

When even the Compact Disc is considered inconvenient, and its adequate measure of quality is readily sacrificed for mp3s (or worse, when considering streaming music services), I very much doubt the aftermarket car-fi world will ever be more than a niche.

All that said, the aftermarket component designers aren't doing much to convince anyone otherwise by having such user-hostile interfaces.

[avnetguy]

I agree that the control on new units are not very well laid out for the average person, having a simple one purpose volume knob should be a MUST! Some units are definitely better than others, even when using a menu type, multi use clickable volume control but it does take some getting used too.

I however did not find the sound quality to be much of an improvement but that will depend on what you're upgrading from. My last install was on the GF's car with a basic system from the factory and the sound quality really didn't get any better. I would imagine the speakers were the limiting factor here but at least we got some nice usable features from the new head unit. I have yet to replace any of my own head units in my cars as I find the sound quality more than good enough but I also normally get the mid or high end stock units.

The aftermarket units do seem to follow along with the technology upgrades faster than the factory stock units, USB / SDHC slots, etc which is the main appeal for me to upgrade. My now aging daily driver lacks a USB interface which I find most useful, just being able to take the USB stick from my computer, PS3 or AVR and plug it into the car's system it really nice.

Steve

[DS-21]

I am skeptical that the car-fi aftermarket has the potential to explode the way home theater has in recent years.

It clearly doesn't. The reason for that is that audio electronics are increasingly integrated into the overall electronics package of cars, including navigation, cellphone integration, etc. Also, today they seem to usually NOT be the once-standard (among decent carmakers, at least) "DIN" or "double DIN" sizes. Also, OEM stereos are just getting much better.

So yes, aftermarket head units are almost all horrible-to-use eyesores. Mine, a McIntosh, is not an eyesore, though it could be easier to use with an iPod. And it was hellishly expensive for what is basically a mass-produced Clarion box with a pretty face. (But I have to look at it, so I was willing to pay.) But aftermarket headunits are basically a dead product category, so there's little incentive to improve them.

Also, again, OEM systems do seem to be improving quite a bit. So even the products that people inclined to spend money on sound might buy - OEM integration processors such as the JBL MS8, amps, speakers - are going to be more-or-less replacement parts for old and broken systems rather than new purchases for a new car. IMO at least.

[westcott]

And try finding a multi CD disc player.

They are about as rare as 8 track players.

And does anyone know of a vendor that supports FLAC files?

It seems the car audio buyer is far less sophisticated and far more concerned about the bling factor of tying in an iPod.

[avnetguy]

And try finding a multi CD disc player.

They are about as rare as 8 track players.

And does anyone know of a vendor that supports FLAC files?

It seems the car audio buyer is far less sophisticated and far more concerned about the bling factor of tying in an iPod.

With USB storage so cheap these days is there any need for Single/Multi disc CD players? I guess the same can be said for FLAC files, would be nice if you already have a FLAC library but I'd think MP3 would be fine for any car system.

Steve

[wiyosaya]

For me, the car-fi market is something I won't spend my money on and never has been. I think its a better value for me to spend my money on my home theater.

[lsiberian]

Harman is putting systems in cars now so I do have hope for the manufacturers.

[beyond 1000]

I have an 08 Acura TL with 7 speakers, a factory subwoofer (small I must admit) and a 6 slot cd changer integrated to a nav system. There is I-pod hook up as well. I wouldn't want to ruin the car with these aftermarket add-ons for kids that just want to do db drags. My car's sound system is great.....that is great enough not to waste my money on a removable faceplate that belongs in 80s and 90s auto decor.

I would put my money on my home theatre.

[Nestor]

Late model OEM head units are becoming a PITA to remove and replace with something that looks like it belongs there. A popular upgrade is to leave the stock head unit intact and install a line output converter, and one's choice of signal processors, amps, and speakers.