Car audio always has the image of the Kev in the Nova etc. but this is not always the case. Don't judge me until its finished and if possible you have heard it.

Oh, I believe you when you say that you're not just going to rig up a 1000W sub and drive around town centres with your windows down...

I just can't help but think that no matter how much time, effort and money is spent on a car installation, and no matter how much power it uses, you'll still have engine/road/wind noise, poor acoustics, electrical interference, and vibration spoiling it. And some scrote will quite possibly break into the car and help themselves to it.

Rob.

I already have a rather nice home setup, but I spend 3 hours a day in my car travelling to and from work and also at home you can't turn the stereo up loud

So loud=better?

... could really show up a bad recording.

... I'm not insane' date=' I just love my music[/quote']

Reading between the lines these two statements tend to suggest that what you love is not music, but picking the bones out of music until there's nothing left. Music is not about analyzing the quality of the recording, it's about the MUSIC. JMHO.

EHO??

and just wondering why you hope I don't live near you? (not offended' date=' just curious)[/quote']

EHO = Environmental Health Officer - the person the Police direct complainants about noise pollution to.

Because I don't fancy my Sunday afternoons being disturbed by you driving up and down making "NTS NTS" noises. I'm sure we can live happily together, but to me that's not entertainment, it's noise pollution.

I agree, but so far I've been lucky (for approx 7 years, never had a break in, touch wood)

Also I always choose cars which don't attract attention.

Has anyone seen a Citroen ZX with a large stereo?

Its also always hidden, which is my first rule of installing stereo (only broke the rule once)

No electrical interference (its part of the competition and I get full marks on this)

Getting the full frequency range is quite easy if you have the power and the correct speakers, the hard part is the imaging, creating the perfect centre soundstage. This is my final task and i'm not that far away

If you have a national meet after July, I will be happy to come along to see what you lot think. Hopefully you will be suprised at how it sounds, but also how compact it is. The plan is it will only take 8" of width off the whole boot. The rest of the boot will be fully usable.

EHO = Environmental Health Officer - the person the Police direct complainants about noise pollution to.

Because I don't fancy my Sunday afternoons being disturbed by you driving up and down making "NTS NTS" noises. I'm sure we can live happily together' date=' but to me that's not entertainment, it's noise pollution.[/quote']

Thats the rep we car audio people have sadly :(

You'll be pleased to hear, no stickers on my car, no blue LEDs, no spinning alloys, no sony, no stupid bodykits. All plain except a well installed car stereo.

Just good quality audio and no cruising round with it on, i do enough driving during the week with work!

Surely if it's hidden that means there are sound absorbing materials between you and the speakers?

And do you sit exactly in the centre of the car as you drive along? If not, surely the soundstage is biased towards you and other passengers will have a rather less sublime experience

We'd love to see you at any of the meets, Max - it doesn't have to be a national one ...

Thats the rep we car audio people have sadly :(

You'll be pleased to hear' date=' no stickers on my car, no blue LEDs, no spinning alloys, no sony, no stupid bodykits. All plain except a well installed car stereo.

Just good quality audio and no cruising round with it on, i do enough driving during the week with work! [/quote']

I don't mind people with stickers - I don't have to look at them. I DO mind people who want to share their music (usually not very melodic, but chosen to show off the power of their subs) with me ... when it's not necessarily to my taste. I have no choice about that other than wearing earplugs.

Out of interest, what kind of music do you listen to in your car?

Has anyone seen a Citroen ZX with a large stereo?

Yes, but it didn't use anywhere near 2500W...

Rob.

Yes' date=' but it didn't use anywhere near 2500W...

Rob.[/quote']

A radiogram in the boot? :P

So loud=better?

Reading between the lines these two statements tend to suggest that what you love is not music' date=' but picking the bones out of music until there's nothing left. Music is not about analyzing the quality of the recording, it's about the MUSIC. JMHO.[/quote']

Loud doesn't = better, but I do sometimes love playing Metallica or Travis or Coldplay at loud levels (with all windows closed as I go down the motorway) similar to at a concert

Have you heard Eva Cassidy's Songbird album? That is really badly recorded, you can easily hear hiss on a lot of the tracts, which really ruins the track, as the tracks are amazing, sung so well, just with a huge hiss in the back ground :(

Then you get Michael Jackson's History album, which is recorded perfectly, or a track like Sarah McLachlan - Angel which is simply amazing. Most people who hear it in my car go and buy it. Its such an amazing song, just her and a piano but with amazing ambience etc.

The best example of a bad recording is TATU - All the things she said. No matter what sort of stereo you listen to, it sounds the same as the recording equipment was v poor. Normally when you move from a crappy

Heard of some of those - never actually heard any of them. TATU - never heard of.

Different to what I expected tho

PS - had your hearing tested lately?

Eva Cassidy's Songbird...Michael Jackson's History album' date=' which is recorded perfectly, or a track like Sarah McLachlan - Angel...bad recording is TATU - All the things she said[/quote']

Yeah, it's a shame there's no good studio albums of Eva Cassidy's, but at the same time while most of Michael Jackson's productions are *perfect*, they sound rather overengineered and a bit boring - I'd rather put up the with the lower quality of Songbird for the quality of the actual music itself.

TATU...well, it's just naff pop music...

Rob.

Surely if it's hidden that means there are sound absorbing materials between you and the speakers?

And do you sit exactly in the centre of the car as you drive along? If not' date=' surely the soundstage is biased towards you and other passengers will have a rather less sublime experience

We'd love to see you at any of the meets, Max - it doesn't have to be a national one ...[/quote']

The tweeters will be visible and the mids will hopefully be in the standard location (after strengthening) so these won't be seen. The rest will be hidden

Imaging - This is where aiming comes in and off axis response, the speakers closer to you will be more off axis, therefore quieter, so the balance won't be over to the right or left.

I've heard cars where you can sit in any seat, and the singers voice comes from the centre of the dash.

Never owned a Michael Jackson album - never want to - apart from the style which is not really me, I wouldn't buy anything which would make that self-obsessed twerp any richer...

Eva Cassidy - heard good things about her - one day will actually get round to listening to some. Who's Sarah McLachlan?

Heard of some of those - never actually heard any of them. TATU - never heard of.

Different to what I expected tho

PS - had your hearing tested lately?

eh?

TATU was the lesbien school girls from russia, a complete pile of crap.

As I said, as soon as we mention car audio, a bad image of us is immediatly created. There are quite a few which fit the image perfectly, but there are some who do enjoy good music and want it in the car.

My kids like stuff like Travis and Coldplay - I find all those bands so dreary - must be getting old. My eldest is determined to educate me and has been forcing me to listen to Tracy Chapman - :( ... now I want to slit my wrists ....

Never owned a Michael Jackson album - never want to - apart from the style which is not really me' date=' I wouldn't buy anything which would make that self-obsessed twerp any richer...

Eva Cassidy - heard good things about her - one day will actually get round to listening to some. Who's Sarah McLachlan?[/quote']

Eva Cassidy is sadly dead, but the best place to start is songbird (She did a cover of Stings - fields of gold which was used on one of the adverts last year)

Sarah Mclachlan is a canadian woman, similar to Jewel, she has a track which is played on Magic at the moment, and the only other track I know which was released in this country was Adia. She also did a track for the Due South soundtrack. Check out the album Surfacing.

I only like fast car by tracy chapman.

What sort of stuff do you listen to?

My kids like stuff like Travis and Coldplay - I find all those bands so dreary - must be getting old.

No, they really are that dreary. If they're as miserable as they sound, you really wish they'd just hurry up and jump...

Rob.

Eva Cassidy is sadly dead' date=' but the best place to start is songbird (She did a cover of Stings - fields of gold which was used on one of the adverts last year)

Sarah Mclachlan is a canadian woman, similar to Jewel, she has a track which is played on Magic at the moment, and the only other track I know which was released in this country was Adia. She also did a track for the Due South soundtrack. Check out the album Surfacing.[/quote']

I knew Eva Cassidy was dead.

Jewel, Magic, Due South = other unknowns - so not much clearer but I'll do some research.

Me - blues, classical, rock but not heavy metal. Eric Clapton, BB King, Mark Knopfler (yes I know - middleaged pipe and slippers stuff), Gary Moore. Trying to broaden my horizons now after a long fallow period - basically kids.

No' date=' they really are that dreary. If they're as miserable as they sound, you really wish they'd just hurry up and jump...

Rob.[/quote']

Phew!! It's not just me then ...

Wow.

I just spotted this thread and have luuurved every post in it

Regarding the power available for amplifiers, it's all about headroom. I don't think I've bumbed into Madmax TTA, but I have been to a few talkaudio meets.

Sure, some of the chaps are bassheads and pride in 150+ dB ratings, but there are quite a few sound quality chaps out there. Some of the audio installations are absolutlely amazing. The soundstage is precisely drawn in front of you, so much that if you were to close your eyes, you think you could touch the singers / musicians on the dashboard

In order to achieve that, yes, you can (and need to) spend a lot of money on car audio. And more power does kind of = louder, but in a controlled manner.

You're absolutely right, a car isn't the perfect environment for listening to music. Acoustics, road noise, wind noise, engine noise, etc all add to the negatives, but if you have a good quality system with enough power, you can overcome the ambient noise.

As to whether you need x kW of power in your car, I'd say: do you really need a Jabba'd, Vented, Lowered car with a Forge DV, Green filter, set of Samcos and Osram Silverstars lightbulbs to take you from A to B ? No, but you just enjoy it that much more

You're absolutely right' date=' a car isn't the perfect environment for listening to music. Acoustics, road noise, wind noise, engine noise, etc all add to the negatives, but if you have a good quality system with enough power, you can overcome the ambient noise.

As to whether you need x kW of power in your car, I'd say: do you really need a Jabba'd, Vented, Lowered car with a Forge DV, Green filter, set of Samcos and Osram Silverstars lightbulbs to take you from A to B ? No, but you just enjoy it that much more [/quote']

No, but then I don't have all that... :P

A car *is* designed for getting you from A to B...so performance modifications improve the ability of a car to perform it's function.

It is not designed as an ideal place for high fidelity sound reproduction - and no amount of power will remove unfavourable conditions borne out by humidity, extreme temperature fluctuations, vibration through the CD laser transport, interference on amplification circuits, and things which are totally unavoidable by putting it in a car in the first place.

My point is, if you aren't going to achieve perfection, why bother spending a lot of time and money getting second best?

Rob.

My point is, if you aren't going to achieve perfection, why bother spending a lot of time and money getting second best?

I'll never marry Britney Spears, but it doesn't mean I stop wan^H^H^H admiring her looks...

My point is' date=' if you aren't going to achieve perfection, why bother spending a lot of time and money getting second best?

Rob.[/quote']

Then why own a skoda when you could own...

Same arguement can be used.

You'll achieve perfection for your car, but a car designed to get you A to B quicker will outperform it. So I won't get perfection in my car, but i'll get damn close

Either way I find well reproduced music keeps me calm on my morning drive up the M3 :irked:

I personally will be having a Jabba remap of my PD, a boost/fuel controller, replace the air filter and think about the exhaust giving close to 200bhp. But thats when my warranty runs out (or close to)