Cars with best audio

[LOA5000]

Hello, I'm saving for a new used car, I would like a car with really good audio, looking to spend like 30k, I'm thinking of the Volvo s90 with the bowers and wilkins or the e300 with the burmester, but it's hard to figure out what is good and what's is not, reading online I figured out the c300 burmester are made cheap, any advise would be great, thanks

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would buy a car based entirely upon the quality of the car, and the car alone.

If I then want good audio in the car, I would go to a place which has experienced car audio knowledge and spend the money to get the appropriate upgrades. If the head unit can't be swapped (common), you can still get upgraded speakers and add a subwoofer as space allows.

 

[LOA5000]

They cant tune the speakers to the car interior by upgrading speakers, most luxury cars are all going to be a good quality car anyways. I Would think

 

[one more time]

Maybe having started driving in the mid 60's when before FM radios weren't even available from the factory, and having put in aftermarket stereos to get decent sound from that time up until just recently, I'm simply amazed at how far factory auto sound has improved. I just love the stock stereos in out 2017 and 2018 Hyundai Sonatas.

 

[everettT]

They cant tune the speakers to the car interior by upgrading speakers, most luxury cars are all going to be a good quality car anyways. I Would think

I'll be nice... any after market can be tuned. Heard of minidsp? DIRAC? But to BMXs point dont ever do what your doing.

 

[Montucky]

Volvo with the Dynaudio setup. /thread
Too bad they switched suppliers for their premium systems though, so that only applies to old models.

I'm guessing the new B&W system's not too shabby either in all honesty. Hehe. It really is amazing how far factory audio systems have come, isn't it?

You COULD always go with the Naim audio upgrade that you can get in a Bentley. Boom.

 

[LOA5000]

I'll be nice... any after market can be tuned. Heard of minidsp? DIRAC? But to BMXs point dont ever do what your doing.

So I'm so confused, like the cars with 19 speakers have twitters and stuff all over, if I just buy let's say a 2018 camero and replace the junk speakers that come with it, there's only gonna be room for a small amount of speakers and no twitters in like special places

 

[everettT]

So I'm so confused, like the cars with 19 speakers have twitters and stuff all over, if I just buy let's say a 2018 camero and replace the junk speakers that come with it, there's only gonna be room for a small amount of speakers and no twitters in like special places

Your assuming a lot. Other than head units on the OEM side being irreplaceable in order for features, most aftermarket systems for less money sound better l. I mentioned the previous because that's the market they are going after. Never buy a car based on audio systems.

 

[everettT]

So I'm so confused, like the cars with 19 speakers have twitters and stuff all over, if I just buy let's say a 2018 camero and replace the junk speakers that come with it, there's only gonna be room for a small amount of speakers and no twitters in like special places

I can make 2 speakers sound better

 

[highfigh]

So I'm so confused, like the cars with 19 speakers have twitters and stuff all over, if I just buy let's say a 2018 camero and replace the junk speakers that come with it, there's only gonna be room for a small amount of speakers and no twitters in like special places

You're ignoring the ability of custom installers to do things that fall "outside of the box". Also, never tell an installer they can't do something- they'll just try harder to prove you wrong.

Signed,
a former car audio installer

 

[Montucky]

You're ignoring the ability of custom installers to do things that fall "outside of the box". Also, never tell an installer they can't do something- they'll just try harder to prove you wrong.

Signed,
a former car audio installer

Excellent point!!! The "premium sound" option for many new luxury cars is in the neighborhood of $3,000-10,000, BUT if I instead went to a good custom installer with the same budget for a car I decided on that came with less desirable options, the custom installer would be able to do some magic for sure.

One of THE coolest systems I saw was on a Porsche 911 I had to deliver to an NBA player. This was late 90s and the factory systems that came with German cars were pretty sparse back then. Before the guy took delivery of his car, the dealer had me take it straight to our contracted (and awesome) audio guys who did an insanely good job. Built out a beautiful custom rear deck, matched the carpet perfectly, replaced speakers, head unit, amps, stuffed a sub somewhere in there. The whole 9 yards. Anyway, it looked factory perfect but absolutely blew away anything the factory had at the time. Cost in the neighborhood of a few grand, so no biggie in the grand scheme of things as the car was north of 100K. Killer sound system that was stealthy too. Very classy.

 

[BMXTRIX]

My first serious car purchase was a 1990 Toyota Corolla (I'm old), and it came with (ready for this?) - NO RADIO!

Really, no head unit at all. I was on a tight budget, and it all came together nicely for me to get the car. But, you can imagine that a entry level vehicle, especially from that day and age, was not exactly designed around great audio. I wanted great audio, but it wasn't something I was going to get from the factory at any price.

So, I went to an aftermarket installer and to get the speakers in the doors that I wanted, they built out the doors an extra inch to give it the room it needed for a separate woofer. They added separate tweeters up high on the door panel for better placement. They opened up the rear speaker holes to put in a larger 3-way speaker, then they custom built a 10-inch subwoofer box for the trunk. It all got wired in and installed with a 10-disc CD changer in the trunk. Sounded absolutely great. Not top dollar stuff or overboard the way some people like but a really solid system in a VERY entry level car.

Never buy a car based on the audio, but buy a car based upon the value and quality it represents to you, and if you want great audio, pass it on to an experienced installer and they will make what you want a reality. If you are concerned about this, then I would speak to an installer before you buy. Ask them if there are specific models to avoid. Ask if there are things they recommend. Challenge them.

I'm not sure if there are car audio forums which compare to A/V forums, but if you can, reach out and ask about what models or specifics to avoid. Yet, I fully believe that the response will be that you should buy a car that you love, and then let us make the audio magic for you.

A good installer seems like a magician. Yes, you will pay for that work, but you will love the end result as well.

 

[davidscott]

Anyone here remember Kraco aftermarket auto equipment? Believe it or not I had an AM/FM 8 track unit installed with upgraded speakers in a 1980 Pinto. Besides the obvious humor involved in such a combo - it didn't sound terrible and much better than the OEM radio and speakers.

 

[highfigh]

Excellent point!!! The "premium sound" option for many new luxury cars is in the neighborhood of $3,000-10,000, BUT if I instead went to a good custom installer with the same budget for a car I decided on that came with less desirable options, the custom installer would be able to do some magic for sure.

One of THE coolest systems I saw was on a Porsche 911 I had to deliver to an NBA player. This was late 90s and the factory systems that came with German cars were pretty sparse back then. Before the guy took delivery of his car, the dealer had me take it straight to our contracted (and awesome) audio guys who did an insanely good job. Built out a beautiful custom rear deck, matched the carpet perfectly, replaced speakers, head unit, amps, stuffed a sub somewhere in there. The whole 9 yards. Anyway, it looked factory perfect but absolutely blew away anything the factory had at the time. Cost in the neighborhood of a few grand, so no biggie in the grand scheme of things as the car was north of 100K. Killer sound system that was stealthy too. Very classy.

When I did car audio, we would occasionally see cars from Milwaukee Brewers or Buck players and one of them was Jay Humphries, who had a white 911 with black interior, white gauges and accents. He left and came back about an hour later, only to find that I had dismantled the interior, aside from the dash. He stopped, leaned back against the wall in shock and said "You know you're killing me, right?". Seats, door panels, rear deck (such as it was) carpet and rear side panels were all laid on the floor, so I could remove the old system. I installed ADS speakers (321i and 300i) and did something for a sub, but I don't remember what. The speaker frames and grills were black, but I painted the grills white, so they would be a good match to the gauges and piping on the seats. He really liked it, even as traumatic as it was when he saw it disassembled. Then, he brought Alvin Robinson in and that resulted in Robinson bringing his red 911 in.

 

[John Parks]

I used to install all of my car stereos back in the day (it seems I had more time back then for some reason). These days, having a nice sounding (factory) system in my car is not mandatory, but is a pleasure to have. If what comes with the car is lacking in the bass, I'll have an aftermarket sub installed, but that is about it. The last few cars I've owned have had "okay" setups: Bose in a couple Mazdas and Sony in my current ride, a Ford ST.

This weekend, I did some car shopping and both VW cars I looked at had Fender (Panasonic) audio systems. In the Passat TDI, it was not bad. Not great, but not bad. In the Golf Sportwagon TDI, it was fantastic - unbelievably so. Most "quality" factory audio systems have kind of a "boom/sizzle" presentation, because that is what initially impresses the average consumer (especially the "boom" aspect). The Fender setup in the Golf had an amazing midrange presence that I do not hear to often (along with the requisite highs and lows). I also like how the head unit can adjust treble, midrange and bass, along with subwoofer output. Of course, the previous driver had all the levels cranked up and it sounded like poop. Once I leveled everything off, it was really enjoyable. Is it as good as a quality aftermarket system? No, but I estimate one would have to spend at least $2.5K to get this level of performance. Impressive.

 

[Montucky]

^^
Yeah, it's crazy how far factory car audio systems have come. Back in the 80s/90s, swapping out decks and speakers, or adding an amp and external EQ, was practically mandatory since factory radios were so utterly pathetic. These days, I have a pretty tough time justifying doing much upgrading.

 

[John Parks]

^^
Yeah, it's crazy how far factory car audio systems have come. Back in the 80s/90s, swapping out decks and speakers, or adding an amp and external EQ, was practically mandatory since factory radios were so utterly pathetic. These days, I have a pretty tough time justifying doing much upgrading.

Agreed!

 

[Darenwh]

New cars have benefited greatly from aftermarket innovations that went into custom car stereo installs. Car makers realized that a good stereo system is a great selling point in a car. Upgraded audio (over base model, not necesarily aftermarket) in most vehicles now days can be very good. A car has the benefit of being a sealed system so if care is taken the sound system can rival some home systems that are installed with no reguard to how the space they are installed in is setup and how sound propegates in the space.

Look for the car you want with the accessories you want and insure it has the upgraded sound system that nearly every model offers. This will give you a very good starting point (may be the end point) to a great sound system. Verify the speakers are truly quality speakers and you likely will be good. Remember it is much harder to upgrade the head unit now as many are integrated into the other systems in the car. Where you can often improve the sound is with the speakers. Some cars can still come with cheap speakers even on their upgraded sound system but in those cases upgrading the speakers is not too expensive and can give excellent results. This is much cheaper than trying to upgrade the car to what you want if you get a lesser ride.

 

[everettT]

The day a car system rivals a home system, I'll eat a bullet. I've had TOL packages from several manufacturers and none would have been a reason to purchase a car.

 

[JerryLove]

I really wanted to get the upgraded stereo for my Linconln. They apparently included custom work on the doors and other interior pieces to re-enforce the speakers work.

Always kind of wanted the B&O system on the BMWs.

Never owned one, but have listened to the Roll Royce's [the Phantom, not the bespoke system in the Wraith] and very much liked it.