For you audiophile elitists

[agginline86]

You're full of **** lol

https://numeralnine.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/a-brief-guide-to-audio-for-the-skeptical-consumer/

 

[schmiddr2]

5 of members here might read this, and understand what he is discussing. Not really the right site for this topic.

If you buy quality, meaning well built and designed by a compentent professional, then there is not much gain in sound quality to buy the more expensive equipment.

He does not discuss 2 of the most important things (at least in car audio), the processes used in the install and DSP. But again, only like 5 people here will know or care about doing these things.

 

[xci.ed6]

'audiophile' is a nicer way of saying 'ignorant'

If you want your stereo to sound -exactly- like a band, try step 1. What's the band even sound like?

Go to a concert. After hearing their ´high qualitý stereo, and an occasional crowd noise, how do you plan on getting your radio the same?

Teach it to cough?
buy it some weed (you gotta experience all of it! Smells too!)

 

[Civicatcircuit]

I know this is an old thread but i have to chime in. I agree with what the writer is saying mostly; however, he/she is presenting the information in a way that key factors could be over looked. It basically said that great equipment will sound as good as great equipment. The problem is that most people dont have great equipment. Can you hear the difference between a phase linear amp and a linear power amp? Hell yea you can, blind test that anyday and anyone would pick out the difference. Can you tell a sonic difference between a jl amp and an audison? Nope, because they are both great pieces. the quality of digital to analog conversion makes a massive difference. The biggest difference is that it makes bad recordings sound bad and good recordings sound good. I switched to using a 24/192 peachtree audio unit for digital to analog conversion. The difference was so huge that i it forced me to purchase higher quality music. The mp3 format was now so blaringly inferior that i cannot listen to it. I can quickly point out what artists produce their albums well.

Ultimately, the entire audio chain is only as strong as the weakest link. The writer mentioned that this is the speakers in your system. What it should have said is that the weakest link SHOULD be the speakers. Unfortunately thats not true in most cases, especially in car audio. Its the crap headunit and sloppy ripped youtube audio files that most people need to get rid of. A great system can be simple and fairly cheap. I use ipad mini --> peachtree dac --> active crossover network --> punch45, punch75, punch150 --> jl c5 components and kef sub. Grand total including cables and parts was under $1K.

 

[themonkeystail]

I'm still reluctant to believe that someone who isn't an audiophile would find it worth it to upgrade from "good" speakers to "great" speakers. Sure, anyone would benefit from a $400-500 upgrade from 15 year old worn out factory speakers to a sub, component speakers, and rear 6x9s that don't spit and crackle, but I can't believe that it would ever be worth my while to pay 3, 5, or even 10 times that to get the top of the line.

It's a car audio system. Even with a great sound deadening job you're going to lose the finer details to the engine noise, especially in our noisy vehicles. Maybe someone with a Tesla could benefit from dropping on big brand name stuff, but I refuse to believe it's worth it for anyone who doesn't take audio extremely seriously. I've actually met people who trash low end audio systems and then drive around with the windows down listening to name brand systems. I guarantee they can't hear those extra $1-2k under those conditions.

 

[Hobbit]

ill stick with my £89 12" sub and amp in the boot and soon to be £59 amp to drive a set of component speakers up front , will just leave the 6x9 running off the head unit or disconnect completely as im the only in the car so the sound needs to be by me
ive done the big *** sound systems in previous cars, the amount of power and deadening to try and get the clarity required and labour is what really killed it, the equipment yes is expensive but at the time my Brother worked for an audio supplier so i managed to get high end stuff for the price of branded names.
Crown, Rockford, JL and so on for peanuts - only to have it all destroyed by thieving SCUM, the bits they couldnt get out they wrecked

 

[Civicatcircuit]

For sure the car environment is not ideal for audio bliss. I love the way my accord setup sounds but compared to my home setup, the car sounds a bit unfocused. However, i do sometimes sit in the car with the engine off and listen at lower levels. Blues sounds pretty damn descent in there if i center myself between the seats to develope sound stage. I recently was using a pair of alpine type e 6.5" running off of an alpine v12. The switch to JL C5 components running on a rockford punch 75 was leaps and bounds cleaner than before.