Isn't Car Audio a Lost Cause SQ wise...?

[Youhearthat? 10+ year member]

English is not my primary lenguage so bear with me on that....

So Car Audio, It has too many variables and inheretances that make it the less ideal place to have some nice acoustics and SQ, I mean you can achieve a really, really amazing sound in your own dedicated room in your house with the proper equipment (and for much less probably), but in car that is moving with speakers that are far from being in ideal places (even with the nicest pod set-up you can think off) it will not touch what you can have in your home audio setup...

This is just a tought that I get everytime I turn on my altec lansing $200 2.1 PC speaker system... they sound awesome, not as good as my car but very close... and my car set-up cost me 10 fold!!!

Everytime I want to invest to install something else in my car this tought gets me, like today I was about to buy a head unit for my accord (Eclipse 8455) these are one of the best for SQ and features, but then I think that I might be better off just getting a $250 pioneer because it might not be really worth it.... Am I right or just plain stupid?

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

You have an excellent point. Vehicle acoustics is about as bad as they come - tons of surface reflections, awful mounting locations, difficult imaging, high dynamic ranges needed to overcome the road noise, inadequate power supplies...

But the sheer challenge is part of why so many try it, and are very successful //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Edit - I don't care if English is your primary language or not, you speak it better than some native speakers on here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[LoudCrownVic 5,000+ posts]

Car audio is mostly in the challenge of getting that kind of sound in a compact space or a less than ideal location, IMO... It's true you will never get as good as the best home setups, but the challenge of getting there or the fact that subs piss off old people is enough for most...

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

not for this guy.......

 

[JAZN 5,000+ posts]

the reason I do car audio is cuz I'm in the car relatively often and I'd like it to sound as nice as possible. I do realize it's damm near impossible to make it sound as nice as a home audio setup, but hey the challenge is half the fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[superakuma 10+ year member]

In a way it is a lost cause but it wont stop me from trying. Its kind of like why do people mod civic and try to make it fast when you can spend about the same amount of money and buy a muscle car and go faster. Like what everyone else said its the challaged that is why people do it.

Also SOME people(me) spend A LOT of time in their car and not much time at home so I think it is pointless for me at the time to spend money in a home theater setup. Also I love bass.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

eh i just have stuff in my car cuz i like to listen to music.

 

[Decado 10+ year member]

the reason I do car audio is cuz I'm in the car relatively often and I'd like it to sound as nice as possible. I do realize it's damm near impossible to make it sound as nice as a home audio setup, but hey the challenge is half the fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

I agree, I'm also in my car quite often and I hate being w/o music, and the challenge of it is definitely fun.

 

[Savstyle 10+ year member]

the reason I do car audio is cuz I'm in the car relatively often and I'd like it to sound as nice as possible. I do realize it's damm near impossible to make it sound as nice as a home audio setup, but hey the challenge is half the fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

x2 i love going on long drives so 5-7 hr drive in a day i got have my music sounding good

 

[Spr0ket 10+ year member]

SQ in car audio... none. However, it's the only place I can have a system that's decent. In my home I've got 15+ year old JVC bottom of the rung home stereo with barely crappy speakers and no chance of running surround. My wife doesn't like it. Perhaps one of these days I'll have a decent home system again and I'll be able to hang my acoustic paintings and drag out my Boston TA60s with my denon amps, until then... it's all about the car.

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

SQ in car audio... none. However, it's the only place I can have a system that's decent. In my home I've got 15+ year old JVC bottom of the rung home stereo with barely crappy speakers and no chance of running surround. My wife doesn't like it. Perhaps one of these days I'll have a decent home system again and I'll be able to hang my acoustic paintings and drag out my Boston TA60s with my denon amps, until then... it's all about the car.

haha ya same here, i have these 7 year old polk computer speakers working double time for my computer and tv //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

Yeah I agree that it is near impossible to achieve the sq in a car compared to home audio. I have all jbl speakers with 5.1 surround. I even added some crappy sony shelf speakers for added sound. My wife is always like why dont we go in your car and go to the drive inn?(Yes we still have drive inns here lol) I am like hell I am not gonna get the sound out of my car like I will with my home audio. I will get the bass in the car though. Maybe one day I will get some expensive sq subs. I just would rather sit at home and watch a movie and chill. Man it sucks getting old lol!

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

if you do it in stages you can usually knock out the imaging pretty easy then enclosure responses build it then eq it just depends on what you want to do. anyone that just slaps stuff in then say they have amazing results only nip the tip of the iceburg location is still king when it comes to sq.

 

[KingDiamond 10+ year member]

My dad has a Focal system in his Lincoln with some Zapco amps and MB Quart 6x9's in the rear deck for bass. I think the sound quality is great. It cost him around $2000.

He also has a home theater with JMLab/Focal Electra floorstanding speakers, Electra CC901 center speaker, B&W rear surround speakers, a Velodyne 1500W subwoofer, and a Pioneer Elite reciever. That setup cost him about $15,000.

In my opinion they are both amazing sounding, but I think the car system was a much better value. It is true though, the car system doesn't come close to the sound that a home system can provide. They have amazing clarity, and the fact that you sit 10 feet from the speakers you have a more realistic environment because you aren't as close to the source of sound, and there is an increidble ambience. I have listened to the JMLab Utopia series speakers for home theater and my jaw dropped. They cost $90,000 for a pair though, and then you spend at least $20,000 in amplifiers just to power them. But I don't think I would ever spend that much on speakers. Or maybe I would.

 

[twoohfour 10+ year member]

My dad has a Focal system in his Lincoln with some Zapco amps and MB Quart 6x9's in the rear deck for bass. I think the sound quality is great. It cost him around $2000.
He also has a home theater with JMLab/Focal Electra floorstanding speakers, Electra CC901 center speaker, B&W rear surround speakers, a Velodyne 1500W subwoofer, and a Pioneer Elite reciever. That setup cost him about $15,000.

In my opinion they are both amazing sounding, but I think the car system was a much better value. It is true though, the car system doesn't come close to the sound that a home system can provide. They have amazing clarity, and the fact that you sit 10 feet from the speakers you have a more realistic environment because you aren't as close to the source of sound, and there is an increidble ambience. I have listened to the JMLab Utopia series speakers for home theater and my jaw dropped. They cost $90,000 for a pair though, and then you spend at least $20,000 in amplifiers just to power them. But I don't think I would ever spend that much on speakers. Or maybe I would.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif