| Re: Car Audio [message #86016 is a reply to message #86013] |
Fri, 01 September 2017 11:11   |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18786
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I love cars and I love music so naturally, I like to have a good car sound system.
But I don't put as much effort in them as I once did, and I don't spend a lot of money. I find a competent sound system that has good tonal balance and enough power to play loud enough without distortion. That's all I'm really looking for.
Back in the 1970s, things were different. Car sound systems were horrible. Factory radios were no better than table radios and aftermarket components weren't much better. They sounded like telephones - no bass and no treble. There were a few exceptions, like Concord and Alpine. I used to run Concord head units, Alpine amps and little one Pi speakers with JBL professional series drivers. That was a seriously good sound system, and it contrasted starkly with what was in most cars at the time.
Things now are much different. Premium sound from the factory is usually pretty good. Now days, it seems to me that aftermarket component "upgrades" offer very little. Some people like to do the SPL competitions, but that's not about quality, that's about volume. And I'm not impressed with that either, because it doesn't take much acoustic power to pressurize a few cubic meters to a high SPL level. So putting that aside, the aftermarket doesn't ofer much. I'm pretty satisfied with the better factory sound system offerings.
That said, if you buy a used car with a mediocre sound system, the aftermarket does offer good products. I didn't mean to dismiss the aftermarket, it's just that premium sound from the factory is really pretty good as-is. However, not all cars have the premium sound package, and sometimes the "standard" system is pretty unimpressive. In that case, I'd upgrade to one of the better aftermarket units. You can usually find equipment that fits without modification.
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