Extremely High End car audio.

[JTFVegas]

They can definitely not compete, but man it’s expensive to upgrade with all the integrated stuff. If I do anything, it’s an amp and sub with a power run straight to the battery. That’s about it.

Yea its definitely expensive but its so cool though to have a nice custom audio system in your cae.

 

[JTFVegas]

I could not disagree more. Those ugly systems of old invariably sounded awful to me. They were Frankenstein systems that displaced room for passengers and luggage, and looked awful to boot.

These new systems are wonderful, considering the constraints pf a vehicle cab. The system in my new RAV 4 hybrid, is excellent. It is discreet and I never have to adjust a control, everything is set to flat and well balanced. It is also integrates with all the rest of the wonderful functions. No way do we want to return the era you seem to idolize. In my view it was awful and all orientated to the ghastly pop culture. My current and previous vehicle are definitely orientated to the classical ear and appropriately voiced for it.

Im not quite sure I follow you. I dont think there was anything ugly about any custom installed system I ever saw. In fact, quite the opposite!
Sounded awful? Then I ask, what is IASCA? LOL
Ghastly pop culture? Every culture has its undesireable subsect, and im not sure how thats relevant to sound quality.
Everyone has their own opinion I suppose, and of course theyre entiltled to it.

 

[NINaudio]

Im not quite sure I follow you. I dont think there was anything ugly about any custom installed system I ever saw. In fact, quite the opposite!
Sounded awful? Then I ask, what is IASCA? LOL
Ghastly pop culture? Every culture has its undesireable subsect, and im not sure how thats relevant to sound quality.
Everyone has their own opinion I suppose, and of course theyre entiltled to it.

Most people not into car audio assume you're just talking about a bandpass box with a couple of 15's in your car and nothing else. Mobile neighborhood shakers.

Similarly, very few people outside of it will have heard of IASCA.

In the early 2000's I took home 3rd place for SQ at the first IASCA competition I went to for the 301-600 watt class. It was never my intention to compete with that car, I had it all installed for my own enjoyment. I just felt like going to a sompetition that weekend and seeing how I did. Would have come in 2nd if I had pictures of the installation. I had BA 6.5^3 pro's up front and 2 BA 10" competition subs in a sealed box firing through the rear deck. Running off a Sony Mobile ES CDX-910 head unit and powered by 3 Xtant amps.

I kept the front stage in my next car, sold the subs and went with a 12" IDMax V2. Ran it all off an Audison VRX4.300 EX2. That sub was and still is a beast. Ran it in my theater for a while when the SC4000 wasn't enough for me until I had the funds for the UM18 build.

 

[ClairET]

Yea its definitely expensive but its so cool though to have a nice custom audio system in your cae.

It’s not the expense as much as not being able to get everything to work properly. For example, losing climate control readouts just to upgrade the HU just doesn’t sound that appealing. Still very much possible with some mainstream vehicles, but I can’t even begin to think of the bugs I’d have to chase down, if I attempted to upgrade the ML system in my Lexus. There just isn’t enough after market adaptors that would make things work. As far as my old Z4 Carver system, I probably could have upgraded it easy enough, but that thing would rattle your teeth wit two 6” subs. To get the same impact, I would have had to take up every cubic inch of the shepherd box trunk with amps and a box. I would have lost all storage, added weight, killed handling and gained....well, not much. The decks in those cars would go out pretty regularly, so you will see tons of after market decks. So long as the car didn’t have a Carver system, they weren’t a complicated upgrade. By that same token, if they didn’t have the Carver system, they weren’t worth keeping. In 09 BMW changed the audio system with the release of the new model and things got complicated. It’s just how things have gone.

If there’s a will, there’s a way, but as mentioned here, I could by 3 to 5k worth of home audio equipment, hit the power switch and bask in the glory of my excellent components, or spend double that and spend the next decade trying to figure out why things don’t work as they should. Up to 6 months ago, I still had old Orion amps from the 90s, an Audio source crossover, an Orion Xtreme 12” sub, Polk component drivers and all the goodies I could need to fully outfit another car and never found the Adaptors I needed to put them in any of my cars since about 2003. They just got more complicated as they go newer. It wasn’t the expense for me, it was the technology matchup challenges.

If anyone wants to do it and have a mainstream car, where conversion accessories are available, I don’t see why you wouldn’t if that was your thing.

 

[JTFVegas]

Most people not into car audio assume you're just talking about a bandpass box with a couple of 15's in your car and nothing else. Mobile neighborhood shakers.

Similarly, very few people outside of it will have heard of IASCA.

In the early 2000's I took home 3rd place for SQ at the first IASCA competition I went to for the 301-600 watt class. It was never my intention to compete with that car, I had it all installed for my own enjoyment. I just felt like going to a sompetition that weekend and seeing how I did. Would have come in 2nd if I had pictures of the installation. I had BA 6.5^3 pro's up front and 2 BA 10" competition subs in a sealed box firing through the rear deck. Running off a Sony Mobile ES CDX-910 head unit and powered by 3 Xtant amps.

I kept the front stage in my next car, sold the subs and went with a 12" IDMax V2. Ran it all off an Audison VRX4.300 EX2. That sub was and still is a beast. Ran it in my theater for a while when the SC4000 wasn't enough for me until I had the funds for the UM18 build.

Lol. IDMAX. Remember the SQ/SPL Series? Awesome stuff man. I had 2 12s. Loved them for there ability in Infinte Baffle configuration.

 

[panteragstk]

It’s not the expense as much as not being able to get everything to work properly. For example, losing climate control readouts just to upgrade the HU just doesn’t sound that appealing. Still very much possible with some mainstream vehicles, but I can’t even begin to think of the bugs I’d have to chase down, if I attempted to upgrade the ML system in my Lexus. There just isn’t enough after market adaptors that would make things work. As far as my old Z4 Carver system, I probably could have upgraded it easy enough, but that thing would rattle your teeth wit two 6” subs. To get the same impact, I would have had to take up every cubic inch of the shepherd box trunk with amps and a box. I would have lost all storage, added weight, killed handling and gained....well, not much. The decks in those cars would go out pretty regularly, so you will see tons of after market decks. So long as the car didn’t have a Carver system, they weren’t a complicated upgrade. By that same token, if they didn’t have the Carver system, they weren’t worth keeping. In 09 BMW changed the audio system with the release of the new model and things got complicated. It’s just how things have gone.

If there’s a will, there’s a way, but as mentioned here, I could by 3 to 5k worth of home audio equipment, hit the power switch and bask in the glory of my excellent components, or spend double that and spend the next decade trying to figure out why things don’t work as they should. Up to 6 months ago, I still had old Orion amps from the 90s, an Audio source crossover, an Orion Xtreme 12” sub, Polk component drivers and all the goodies I could need to fully outfit another car and never found the Adaptors I needed to put them in any of my cars since about 2003. They just got more complicated as they go newer. It wasn’t the expense for me, it was the technology matchup challenges.

If anyone wants to do it and have a mainstream car, where conversion accessories are available, I don’t see why you wouldn’t if that was your thing.

That's the real issue now. Head units do SO much more than control the stereo. Hell, my Durango head unit can fold the rear headrests down so I can see better...or smack an unsuspecting passenger in the head.

 

[Montucky]

I could not disagree more. Those ugly systems of old invariably sounded awful to me. They were Frankenstein systems that displaced room for passengers and luggage, and looked awful to boot.

These new systems are wonderful, considering the constraints pf a vehicle cab. The system in my new RAV 4 hybrid, is excellent. It is discreet and I never have to adjust a control, everything is set to flat and well balanced. It is also integrates with all the rest of the wonderful functions. No way do we want to return the era you seem to idolize. In my view it was awful and all orientated to the ghastly pop culture. My current and previous vehicle are definitely orientated to the classical ear and appropriately voiced for it.

A good custom system COULD sound good if components were selected well and tuned right, but overall the plug and play method that most people did really wasn't the best and you're right about that.

Something that we often forget about with the premium systems in newer cars is how much effort and research goes into the TUNING aspect of them. Even companies we normally dog on like Bose, get paid big bucks by GM to make their systems sound as good as they can for a specific car, like in the new Cadillacs where even I've been surprised by seeing a "Bose" emblem on the unit. (Although the Bose in my Chevy Trailblazer is still utter garbage. lol)

Same goes for the HK, Bang & Olufsen, Bower & Wilkins, Dynaudio, Revel, Sony, Mark Levinson, Burmester, Naim, Focal, and more. Those companies literally tune their systems specifically to the dimensions and cabin of each particular model they're outfitted for. It would cost you a princely sum to achieve the same results yourself IMO, so for as much money as those upgrades cost, they might actually not be THAT bad of a value? Even better if you buy a used luxury car and don't have to pay anything extra for the privilege. Haha.

 

[JTFVegas]

A good custom system COULD sound good if components were selected well and tuned right, but overall the plug and play method that most people did really wasn't the best and you're right about that.

Something that we often forget about with the premium systems in newer cars is how much effort and research goes into the TUNING aspect of them. Even companies we normally dog on like Bose, get paid big bucks by GM to make their systems sound as good as they can for a specific car, like in the new Cadillacs where even I've been surprised by seeing a "Bose" emblem on the unit. (Although the Bose in my Chevy Trailblazer is still utter garbage. lol)

Same goes for the HK, Bang & Olufsen, Bower & Wilkins, Dynaudio, Revel, Sony, Mark Levinson, Burmester, Naim, Focal, and more. Those companies literally tune their systems specifically to the dimensions and cabin of each particular model they're outfitted for. It would cost you a princely sum to achieve the same results yourself IMO, so for as much money as those upgrades cost, they might actually not be THAT bad of a value? Even better if you buy a used luxury car and don't have to pay anything extra for the privilege. Haha.

Tuning=
An experienced qualified installer.
The right placement of driver components in the very first place.
A quality DSP, EQ.
A microphone.
An interface with real time analysis.
Those are all of the same things that companies like Harmon, ML and Bose do.

 

[davidscott]

Quite a long way from my Kraco 8 track aftermarket system that I had installed in my 1980 Pinto.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Decided to ask the question here instead of starting a new thread Even thought it’s old. Looking for a new ride and don’t want to add an after market system. What car/SUV that you own or have listened to has the best factory-issued sound system?

 

[crazyfingers]

To be very honest, my 2000 Outback had the best sound of all of my cars. I kept that car for 17 years.

I was amazed how terrible the stock speakers on my 2017 Outback Premium were. Just horrible on the highway. I couldn't even understand what they were saying on talk radio in that car. I upgraded all of the speakers to Focal and JL the first chance I got.

I'm hoping that the Harman Kardon speakers in my new 2024 Outback Limited will be good enough. I'll know in late October though the test drive they seemed fine.

I have very limited to no experience of in cars other than mine.