As mentioned in the Vinyl Thread, I recently sold off my entire record collection, turntable, cartridges, 70’s rock mags, rock buttons, ticket stubs, rock t-shirts, posters and promo stuff for a tidy amount of cash.
I really just didn’t listen to LPs anymore and have an extensive CD and digital collection of music, which I primarily listen to in my vehicle. So I took the majority of my cash and completely upgraded my car stereo. I seem to recall a previous thread whereas a popular opinion was that you cannot get good sound in a car, and well, I’m sorry to have to say, that, that opinion is not entirely correct….
I started with a 2019 Honda Passport Touring model, which has an 8” touch screen, a factory CD player, and special sound reducing glass, then I:
1) Had sound-deadening materials installed throughout the entire vehicle.
2) Had a custom fiberglass enclosure molded into a rear cubby and mounted a 8” Audison Subwoofer in it.
3) Mounted an Audison AP F1D Mono Subwoofer Amp to power the Sub (500w x 1). This was mounted behind the rear quarter panels and is not visible. This Sub amp is fed into the (next) DSP Amp, so it can be adjusted digitally.
4) Installed an Audison AP F8.9 Eight-channel DSP (Digital Sound Processing) Amp, which is sending 130w to each of the (4) Woofers and 85w to each of the (4) Tweeters. This is also mounted behind the rear quarter panel.
5) A separate Audison controller is mounted under my center dash to control the Amps.
6) For my front speakers, I went with the Focal Utopia 165W-XP (2-way) set up, with the Beryllium Tweeters mounted in the stock A-Pillar locations and the Woofers mounted in the stock (front) door locations. These Focal’s are hand-made in France and retail for $2k a pair!
7) For my rear speakers, I went with the same 6.5 Focal Utopia Woofers for the (rear) doors and Audison Thesis TH 1.5 Violino II Tweeters in the stock location of the rear C-Pillars. These Tweeters are hand-made in Italy!
8) A computer is hooked up to the (main) Amp and a custom software program is used to adjust the front & rear sound stages so that in the driver seat EVERYTHING is properly balanced, with time delay and the crossover frequencies determined without the use of actual crossovers. Then the file is uploaded into the DSP Amp and multiple sound files are created and stored, which can be selected thru the Controller.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “did he fire 5 shots or 6?” oops, sorry a little Dirty Harry flashback..lol, You’re thinking: “How does it sound?”
It sounds unbelievably clear! I played the remastered Dark Side of the Moon CD (LOUD) and the music invades my head & soul! I played Roundabout and was left breathless, ELP’s From the Beginning is so freakin’ awesome, the acoustic guitar, Greg's vocals and the synth solo near the end on the are SO CRYSTAL CLEAR, it’s like they are in the back seat playing live! I have a remastered Led Zep CD and Stairway to Heaven, Black Dog, Dazed & Confused all sound as good as any home stereo I have ever heard them on in my life. Deep Purple’s - Sweet Child in Time send chills down my spine! And there's many more songs that rock on this set up...
Who would have thought that selling my entire music collection would have re-energized my love for all my music…!
Bookmarks