Who makes the very best Car Stereo equipment??

[svonkampen]

Hi All,

Stereo time.......

Let me kick of by saying that I am a Sound Designer and work in a Recording Studio all day, every day...........My Speakers (we call them studio-monitors) cost about 2000.00 a pair.........

So I take sound very seriously.........since I have only recently started to drive again.....i was in Europe where I did not drive...........I am now painfully unfamiliar with all things concerning quality car audio.....

I am looking for the best (not to be confused with the loudest) amp/speaker maker's out there........in other words things you would never find at circuit city....

My Budget is:

600: amp
1200: speakers

1800.00$ total (that's my max)

[1973911s]

You already have the best stereo in your car, the engine. Roll the windows down and enjoy.

Michael

[svonkampen]

hehehe....

yeah but I want to blast the score from "Bullit" while I'm cruisin' the freeways!!!

[1973911s]

The stuff from Alpine isn't bad, but the early cars it is hard to get much gear in, without taking up space. The MB Quarts sound nice.

Michael

[svonkampen]

How about Polk-Momo??

[svonkampen]

Michael

MB Quarts.......very sexy .....great reviews.....GERMAN

thanx

[maxnine11]

How about "search"

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Here is my system which sounds excellent even at 90 with the top off

Eclipse head unit
JL 300/4 amp mounted in front trunk vertically in front of heater system
this drives MB Quart, 6.5 top-of-the-line separates up front
the head unit drives midline MB Quart 5.25 separates in the back deck.

[1fastredsc]

mb quart speakers, and either eclipse or clarion head units

[svonkampen]

Shaun,

awesome....

This is the kind of info I need....
So your bass sounds fine without a sub huh?
I'm not a Hip-Hop fan anyway so it's not that much of an issue

[vash]

mb quartz separates up front, solobaric 10 sub in the back. two mtx amps pushing. eclispes deck. no frills and sounds great. (this is in my pickup)

still kicking myself for selling my two early rockford fosgate punch 150's. they dont make them like that anymore. the solobaric 10 is designed to run in a small (.66 cubic feet) airtight box, so it will not take up much space. unlike a baffled box, my bass sounds a bit tighter, and that works for my non rap music.

p.s. i spent 2k for everything. but admittedly, there are way better system out there. 2k doesnt get you "the best".

[svonkampen]

question.......I have a coupe ..........can I get decent sound with just rear-deck speakers and none in the front??

(MB quartz seem to be the ticket)

SvK

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by svonkampen
Shaun,

awesome....

This is the kind of info I need....
So your bass sounds fine without a sub huh?
I'm not a Hip-Hop fan anyway so it's not that much of an issue

Yes, bass sounds very good for a car with no sub. I just need to listen to the intro of song #5 on the Evanescence CD to confirm. The 6.5's do a good job. A sub would be nice, but you've got weight and space issues. If you do go with a sub, get a 5 channel amp.

[Randy Webb]

The best is probably Cello, which is Mark Levinson's new label. I believe it will operate off of 12 v DC.

After that I would pick the ML stuff itself - it is OEM in some Lexus models.

But these will cost more than nearly any used Porsche. Do you really want to pay that much? Why not give a price range and see if Bell and some others will chime in.

And.... you will never get audiouphile sound from a 911 - a 996, maybe.

[svonkampen]

Randy......

I don't want a sub
I do want decent bass ( as good as I can get without sub)
I only want to install rear-deck speakers (nothing touches my front door-panels)

Budget: 1800.00 to 2000.00

[david914]

You can decent sound out of just the rear. It depends on if a front image is important to you or not. If you don't car about "imaging", then just do the rear.

[svonkampen]

David,

Ok........
Since I'm only getting rear-deck speakers which MBs do I now consider?

[svonkampen]

My plan is to have a connector in my glove-box for my Ipod which feeds straight into my Amp that feeds super hi-quality Rear-Deck speakers

that's it

[bell]

here's what i'm running.
head......pioneer kexm900 w changer (old school )
also feeding sirius satalite radio to it.
mb quart 5.25 referance components
mb quart 8" (1 in each door)
crossfire bmf 10" in the smugglers box (sub freq's can be reproduced by anything quality as long as the box is correct for the driver)
JL audio 500/5 (this runs the tweets/5.25's/10"
an old school 4 channel sony is running the 8's, this will be replaced by a JL 300/4 soon.
audio control eql
audio control line driver (to beef up the old scholl head's preamp signal)

i have been tuning this setup for about 3 months.....it's beginning to get spooky
also.....with the targa top off and cruising at 80 it has no problem reproducing what seems like a live korn concert
doesn't take up too much space, does require planned packing for long trips.

for the quality stuff i like the quarts and focal for mid's tweets.

[david914]

As far as the current offerings, I'm going to defer to Bell and other's here that have used some of the most current stuff. I'm using an "old school" system, all a/d/s/. As a matter of fact, I've spent this whole weekend putting my 320i's in my doors.


Alot of work to do it right. The backing plates are made out of 1/4" aluminum, machined to fit the recess in the door. The plates are threaded to accept 8-32 stainless hex head bolts that hold the woofer in place. There is a foam water shield that also acts as a gasket between the door panel and the door, then an aluminum trim ring to cover up the factory speaker mounting holes (the 320i's are a little smaller than the factory speakers). For now, the tweeters are surface mounted, but they will be flushed into a pair of factory '88 and up style tweeter grills soon.

I still have to build the amp and crossover rack for the trunk. I'm using an a/d/s/ PH15 (6x50), a/d/s/ 642i crossover, and a special subwoofer enclosure that a/d/s/ made just for the 911. It's going to take me a few more weeks, but will be worth it when done.