ins_asac@jhunix.UUCP (Stephan Alexa Cooper) (05/12/86)
I'm going to be entering the car stereo market soon, and I was curious as to what are decent stereos for the money. I want an FM-cassette stereo (rear mount), at least 50 watts that sounds good. A lot of car stereos have that hollow, tingy sound to them, and I want a more solid, resounding sound... a cleaner sound. So I was curious as to what's good. I don't really want to spend over $200. An amp and/or equalizer would be nice, too. Any suggestions of brands/models? Thanks, -- Steve Cooper ...!seismo!umcp-cs!jhunix!ins_asac jhunix!ins_asac@CSNET MR PIGS MR NOT OSAR L I B, MR PIGS!
jimn@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Jim Nesheim) (05/13/86)
In article <2808@jhunix.UUCP> ins_asac@jhunix.UUCP (Stephan Alexa Cooper) writes: > >I'm going to be entering the car stereo market soon, and I was curious >as to what are decent stereos for the money. I want an FM-cassette >stereo (rear mount), at least 50 watts that sounds good. A lot of car >stereos have that hollow, tingy sound to them, and I want a more solid, >resounding sound... a cleaner sound. So I was curious as to what's good. >I don't really want to spend over $200. An amp and/or equalizer would be >nice, too. Any suggestions of brands/models? > > Steve Cooper Somehow I have a hard time believing that you'll be able to get what you really want for $200. The problem you are talking about ( hollow, tingy sound ) comes about from the poor range of the tape section of cheap decks. I was looking for a new car stereo system last fall, and virtually all of the cheaper decks had a tape response of something like 100hz-14000hz, or worse. Blech! Play any tape on that and it will sound "hollow, tingy". If you want an amp and/or an equalizer as well you are definitely out of the $200 price range. Sure, I guess you could go to K-mart and get the Kraco special or something like that, but I guarantee you that you won't get that "solid, resounding sound" that you are looking for. I've found that spending the money to get a good, quality car stereo system is *definitely* worth the money. I spent ~$950 on my system and I haven't regretted a dime of it, and I'm not quite done with it yet either. No Flames, please. I'm not saying he'll have to get a Nakamichi ( drool ) but I do feel that in car stereos, you're going to have to spend a few bucks to get a decent system. -- jim -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Nesheim jimn@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu Cornell Theory Center rochester -\ 265 Olin Hall, Cornell U cmcl2 ------>!bullwinkle!batcomputer!jimn Ithaca, NY 14853 uw-beaver -/ / (607)-255-8686 gould!-/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
aptr@ur-tut.UUCP (The Wumpus) (05/14/86)
50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. The Wumpus.
jj@nrcvax.UUCP (Utah) (05/15/86)
In article <339@ur-tut.UUCP> aptr@ur-tut.UUCP (The Wumpus) writes: >50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with >efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 >Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows >down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. > >The Wumpus. I don't think so. I had 400 Watts in my last car and there were times when I wished I could turn it up a little louder. You make the assumption that he will be using efficient speakers. Most speakers designed for car stereos are pretty efficient but I have yet to hear any that sound good. Your best bet is to possibly give up some efficiency and get some good separate drivers. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Jennings Network Research Corp. ihnp4!nrcvax!jj 923 Executive Park Drive Suite C ucbvax!calma!nrcvax!jj Salt Lake City, Utah 84117, U.S.A. {sdcsvax,hplabs}!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!jj (801) 266-9194
davet@vaxwaller.UUCP (Dave Triplett) (05/16/86)
> 50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with > efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 > Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows > down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. > > The Wumpus. Obviously, if you listen to your radio with a bad muffler and open windows, you aren't a very critical listener and don't expect your stereo to sound much like it might at home or in quieter conditions in a car. As your response indicates, a common misconception is that lots of power in a car stereo is only needed if one wants inordinate volume levels. While it is true that a high powered amplifer can play loudly, it is also true that such an amplifier will also play much more clearly at moderate volume levels. My own car has 4 way speakers with about 8 watts to each speaker. In addition I have a subwoofer system which adds about 35 watts to each stereo channel in the low bass. The result is full sound at moderate volume levels and lots of bass. I can play the stereo loundly but most of the time I don't. I sure enjoy the better sound, though. -- Dave Triplett (415) 939-2400 x2087 Varian Instruments 2700 Mitchell Dr. Walnut Creek, Ca. 94598 {zehntel,dual,amd,fortune,resonex,rtech}!varian!davet
hijab@cad.UUCP (Raif Hijab) (05/16/86)
In article <285@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>, jimn@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Jim Nesheim) writes: > I was looking for a new car stereo system last fall, and virtually all > of the cheaper decks had a tape response of something like 100hz-14000hz, > or worse. Blech! Play any tape on that and it will sound "hollow, tingy". *Fidelity* of sound reproduction matters. That means a good dynamic range and low noise in the useful frequency range, except when you talk about speakers, where less quantifiable qualities enter. In "Speech and Hearing Science" [Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1968] Prof. Willard Zemlin of the University of Illinois states, "The range of audibility is often stated to be from 15 to 16 cycles per second (Hz) to about 20,000 Hz. In most adults, however, the upper limit of the frequency range is in the vicinity of 14,000 to 15,000 Hz, while in some young children the upper limit of hearing is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 Hz." So, except for pre-teen listeners, any output much above 14,000 will have no effect on fidelity. Of course, if you listen to music at high volume levels, then what you should look for is the *power bandwidth*. Still, good hi-fi equipment does not require a response much above 14,000 Hz [There is nothing wrong with a higher frequency response if there is no penalty, in price or otherwise].
aptr@ur-tut.UUCP (The Wumpus) (05/17/86)
In article <457@vaxwaller.UUCP> davet@vaxwaller.UUCP (Dave Triplett) writes: >> 50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with >> efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 >> Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows >> down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. >> >> The Wumpus. > > >Obviously, if you listen to your radio with a bad muffler >and open windows, you aren't a very critical listener and >don't expect your stereo to sound much like it might at >home or in quieter conditions in a car. As your response >indicates, a common misconception is that lots of power in >a car stereo is only needed if one wants inordinate volume >levels. Okay, I admit that when I am driving I am not that critical a listner, but I do expect it to have a good sound to it. Having MacIntosh speakers at home makes me very aware of what things should sound like, but I still stand by my statement, for most listening in a car you do not need more then 10 Watts/channel. Something that must be considered when talking about listening in a car is what kind of music you want to hear. For modern pop (read rock if you want to) which has a very limited dynamic range, you don't really need all that much head room in the amplifier because most of the music is within about 5db in level. When I am driving I tend to listen to pop music, but when I am at home, I will often listen to Jazz or clasical music. For both of these where the dynamic range is large, head room is needed. The MacIntosh 2100 amplifier that I (read my father in this case) uses is set so that there is a great amount of head room. This is for two reasons, 1) So that there is room for the loud and soft parts in Romantic pieces, and 2) the combination of Mac Speakers and Mac 2100 Amp is enough that you can turn it up loud enough to make doors and book case rattle, but still not be clipping or showing any distortion in the output. I will agree with you that there is a misconception about power vs. loudness, but you must also look at the loss in the speakers themselves (efficient vs. unefficient), the enviorment (including size and noise damping properties), and the dynamic range needed (generally the type of music being listened to). Since you say that you have a CD player in your car, I feel safe in saying that the main purpose of our listening while in the car is probably different. The Wumpus -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boy is it getting hot around here. Two flames in one day, and I haven't even gotten halfway through my newsgroups.
jj@alice.UUCP (05/19/86)
> From allegra!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!jj Wed Dec 31 19:00:00 1969 > From: jj@nrcvax.UUCP (Utah) > Newsgroups: net.audio,net.auto > > I don't think so. I had 400 Watts in my last car and there were times when > ... > drivers. > > -- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Jeff Jennings Network Research Corp. > ihnp4!nrcvax!jj 923 Executive Park Drive Suite C > ucbvax!calma!nrcvax!jj Salt Lake City, Utah 84117, U.S.A. > {sdcsvax,hplabs}!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!jj (801) 266-9194 > Noting mostly for Jeff Jennings sake... There is no connection between nrcvax!jj and alice!jj, the latter being a well known (both pro and anti) digital commentator. -- TEDDY BEARS UNITE! SAVE YOUR FUR TODAY! "Gravity causes the stars to shine, tropisms make the ..." (ihnp4;allegra;research)!alice!jj
herbie@polaris.UUCP (Herb Chong) (05/22/86)
In article <457@vaxwaller.UUCP> davet@vaxwaller.UUCP (Dave Triplett) writes: > 50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with > efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 > Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows > down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. one manufacturer's 50W is not another's 50W. a power specification that is not to FCC standards is not very meaningful unless it is more stringent. some manufacturers state that their amp is a 200W amp. it is measured at 50W into one channel only at 1kHz at 10%THD. when measured with all channels operating at 20-20kHz at 0.1%THD, it is a 10W/ch system. Herb Chong... I'm still user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... VNET,BITNET,NETNORTH,EARN: HERBIE AT YKTVMH UUCP: {allegra|cbosgd|cmcl2|decvax|ihnp4|seismo}!philabs!polaris!herbie CSNET: herbie.yktvmh@ibm-sj.csnet ARPA: herbie@ibm-sj.arpa, herbie%yktvmh.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu ======================================================================== DISCLAIMER: what you just read was produced by pouring lukewarm tea for 42 seconds onto 9 people chained to 6 Ouiji boards.
terryl@tekcrl.UUCP (05/26/86)
In article <533@polaris.UUCP>, herbie@polaris.UUCP (Herb Chong) writes: > In article <457@vaxwaller.UUCP> davet@vaxwaller.UUCP (Dave Triplett) writes: > > 50 Watts in a car? Wouldn't that be a little loud, especially with > > efficient speakers. I use a system that on a good day will put out about 5 > > Watts, drive a car with a dying muffler, and cruise at 60+ with the windows > > down and have never had (or wanted to ) turn the radio to full volume. > > one manufacturer's 50W is not another's 50W. a power specification > that is not to FCC standards is not very meaningful unless it is > more stringent. some manufacturers state that their amp is a 200W amp. > it is measured at 50W into one channel only at 1kHz at 10%THD. > when measured with all channels operating at 20-20kHz at 0.1%THD, it > is a 10W/ch system. > > Herb Chong... It's even worse than that. Car amps do not have to state RMS power, as is required of home gear if you're gonna quote power. So a car amp manufacturer can even state that his amp puts out 200W, but only for a micro-second before it burns up. As far as I know, car amp manufacturers do not have follow anyone's standard qhen quoting power. Terry Laskodi of Tektronix