Spoiled by my HT system, now everything sucks

K

kenhoeve

Audioholic
So I recently got a new ride. It has an "upgraded" sound system with a factory sub and amp. People rave about this system. It even has Dolby PLIIx. The problem is that after listening to my home system, the car is a grave disappointment. Naturally, I tried to tune the system by listening to tracks I'd become familiar with on my home system. Problem is, the reproduction is sad in comparison. I'm constantly adjusting the bass(my god is velodyne good) so I don't have to cringe, and it seems every song needs adjustment in general. On the one hand it makes me appreciate my HT, and on the other it has raised my reference level to something usually unattainable for even moderate systems. My $1000 factory upgrade was a waste, argh.
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
The first step is acceptance. Accept the fact that the whiz-bang car system can in no way compare to your 'reference' system.

My car receiver/head unit/whatever you want to call it/ has developed a new problem where the left channel is much lower than the right channel. I have compensated by changing the balance control to lean more toward the left. <Sigh...> It's my car and I don't really care. ;)
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
A car is not an ideal place for a sound system. Just curious, the system isn't a Bose is it?:D

MDS, you have 3 greens, way to go man.:)
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
My wife's Infiniti Bose system sounds like its coming out the end of an 8" pvc pipe. Crap.
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
My wife's Infiniti Bose system sounds like its coming out the end of an 8" pvc pipe. Crap.
The only car audio system on a "reasonably priced" car that comes from the factory is the Mark Levinson system that comes in some Lexus models.

http://www.marklevinsonlexus.com/index.asp

Above that, you can get a Burmester system in your Bugatti Veyron, but it's gonna cost you about $1.2 million for the car.
 
Hi Ho

Hi Ho

Audioholic Samurai
I don't have anything fancy in my current car. I have some $30 "Lightning Audio" speakers from Wal-Mart and a Panasonic head unit. The speakers actually sound surprisingly good but they don't even come close to a decent home system. They are a giant step up from the stock system that came with my car, a 1990 Civic, which consisted of two wizzer cone speakers and a 5w total head unit with cassette. :D

Now there is a delima with the car that I really want, the Mazda 3. It would be a while before I actually bought one but I want one with the navigation system and the only way to get that is to "upgrade" to the Bose sound system. I haven't heard it so it could be acceptable for a car but I'm sure it's also very difficult to change out.
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
You dont have to settle for garbage sound or a trunk that bounces & shakes with the beat,great sounding & very loud car audio can be done but it takes time, trial & error & cash.

I just finished a 5 month install in my mustang,something i had to come to grips with was that an automobile is a very different enviroment than a home,your worst enemy in making a great car audio system is road noise,elimenating outside noise is a must.

I ended up pulling all the interior panels,door,rear seats,carpet around inner firewall & at the inner trunk panels & trunk carpeting,i then filled all holes in the sheet metal with spray foam,after sealing all the holes i installed a layer of dynamat sound proofing & reinstalled all the panels & carpeting,in the trunk i used 2 layers of dynamat before putting the side panels & carpeting back in,dont forget to install dynamat around the blinker housings & the inner trunk lid.

Sub's & sub enclosures are of next importance,having high spl's & having quality sound do not go hand in hand cheaply in car audio,the enclosure plays a huge role,i got tired of trying to find an off the shelf enclosure that would sound good & still produce high spl's,i ended up having a high end car audio shop make & tune a specific enclosure for my trunk,it was worth every penny($450 just for the box,no subs).

I then found out was that when choosing subs i needed to find subs that could sound good in sealed enclosures & capable of high spl's while they were running in 4 ohms,running 2 ohm or 1 ohm subs sounded like crap plus added problems with being able to send enough constant power to the amps,JL Audio is the only way to go for great sounding subs,nothing else compares.

Amplification,this is a spot where the "all properly designed amps sound the same" falls flat on its face quickly,for worthy amps you need to look at manufacturers like Zapco,Mcintosh,Soundstream,PPI & US Amps,mass market amps like Clarion,Mtx,Lightning Audio & Rockford Fosgate wont cut the mustard,anything that best buy or circuty sells in their car audio depts is also junk & wont cut it.

Powering your amps,most factory alternators are not capable of producing enough juice to power your amps properly,this is also a spot where the "power is power" line of thought will not apply,installing capacitors to store power will only help slightly,i ended up going with a 250 amp ambulance alternator but a 200 amp model should handel most amps easily.

Body ground is also important,your amps will need to be grounded in 2 spots each,one spot to the body & one spot to the frame.

Head units,as long as your running a decent quality head unit with atleast 15 watts & that has 2 sub outs & a rear out you'll be fine,keep in mind that with super expensive head units most dollars spent go to pay for the gimmicks like color tv screens & extra features like 5.1 that wont help your sound.

For about $1,500 you can update your current system to the point where it sounds excellent,for around $2,500 you can put together a world class car rig that will blow away the kids syatems & still sound great but keep in mind that you will never end up with a system that has pin point imaging,in car audio imaging is impossible,if don right you can have a system that is very dynamic sounding,not boomy or bright & a dead quiet background.
 
K

kenhoeve

Audioholic
A car is not an ideal place for a sound system. Just curious, the system isn't a Bose is it?:D
F no! I wouldn't PAY for Bose, let alone upgrade it! That's sort of like buying an Escort and paying $600 extra for metallic paint. It's a Volvo so they their stuff is made by Alpine.

After some listening it seems I could live with it as long as I could get a tighter bass response. Maybe a different amp and sub will do it. The question is whether the factory wiring is conducive to retrofitting. Not likely I'm sure.
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Above that, you can get a Burmester system in your Bugatti Veyron, but it's gonna cost you about $1.2 million for the car.
He, that's what I want; tired of the boomoxes. :D Sell everything and mortgage to the hilt.
Is this available in the states?
 
R

rumble

Audioholic
I have a Bose system in an Acura. Bought the care used so it was not my choice. The system has 6 speakers and an external amp in the trunk. It sounds dreadful. I've adjusted everything possible to no avail.

I'd say it is a small step up from the cheap k-mart systems - kraco??
 
johnb554

johnb554

Audioholic
I have a Boston Acoustics system in my new 2007 Jeep Commander and it sounds great. If you set the EQ's up properly, it sounds great and reproduces the sounds very clearly but if you are not into that, you can also crank the bass on the EQ to push some serious bass out of the two 8 inch subs. pretty pimped out.

Everything is powered by a Boston Acoustics Digital Amplifier and the head unit is a standard jeep unit with 6 disc in dash cd changer with MP3 playback and XM radio.

John
 
Davemcc

Davemcc

Audioholic Spartan
The Infinity system in my Dakota is the best factory system I've had. The Mach 460 system in my Cobra was terrible and the Monsoon system in my Camaro SS was worse. It's amazing how bad factory audio systems are in new cars, considering the engineering resources and huge salaries of engineers and designers that go into creating these systems. Almost any budget aftermarket component is an upgrade to nearly any factory system.
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
The Infinity system in my Dakota is the best factory system I've had. The Mach 460 system in my Cobra was terrible and the Monsoon system in my Camaro SS was worse. It's amazing how bad factory audio systems are in new cars, considering the engineering resources and huge salaries of engineers and designers that go into creating these systems. Almost any budget aftermarket component is an upgrade to nearly any factory system.
ARRGGGHHHHH, the junk Mach system:mad: ,when i took all that crap out of my Mustang i threw it all out to the curb,im lovin the he!! outta pulling up to a stop light where some lil Vanilla ice wanabee is blastin Snoop dog & i can drown him out,they freak out when they see an old dude like me blastin Frank Zappa.:eek:
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
ARRGGGHHHHH, the junk Mach system:mad: ,when i took all that crap out of my Mustang i threw it all out to the curb,im lovin the he!! outta pulling up to a stop light where some lil Vanilla ice wanabee is blastin Snoop dog & i can drown him out,they freak out when they see an old dude like me blastin Frank Zappa.:eek:
You are crazy Levi, I am coming down to Florida just to see that.:D

You didn't smash the Mach system? I am very dissapointed.:(;)(I can never forget the Insignia, just too funny to me)
 
highfihoney

highfihoney

Audioholic Samurai
You are crazy Levi, I am coming down to Florida just to see that.:D

You didn't smash the Mach system? I am very dissapointed.:(;)(I can never forget the Insignia, just too funny to me)
Hey seth,if you go to Florida you could visit Stratman or Majorlooser but you gotta come to Detroit to see me:D

Its no lie,the Mach systems in the Mustangs are something to be ashamed of, in sonics & in looks,when i pulled the amps out i couldnt believe it,i took the bottom coverplate off one of the amps before i lunched it & i saw one green board about the size of my wife's hand & 2 weak little caps that looked like nipples,that was enough for me:D
 
lowmagnet

lowmagnet

Enthusiast
The only car audio system on a "reasonably priced" car that comes from the factory is the Mark Levinson system that comes in some Lexus models.

http://www.marklevinsonlexus.com/index.asp
Mark Levinson Automotive is just a name Harman Group's Automotive division uses when they design for Lexus. They consult with some ML engineers, but of course Mark Levinson isn't involved. He, like Bob Carver, is not allowed to use his own name for a company anymore. Note to all budding electronics whizzes: don't use your own name for your company's name -- "you" may get bought! Also note, this is why the Lexus ML package doesn't cost 80k. ;)
 
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