Who has an Audiophile Stereo in their Vehicle...Please post the details!

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 20556 times.

fredgarvin

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 1329
The car is a 1996 Impala SS. It has won numerous IASCA titles including the 2002 IASCA World Championship in the Ultra Pro division.

Sources: Pioneer DEX-P9 cd player, Pioneer ODR RS-M1 12-disc changer, Pioneer SDV-P7 DVD player
Processor: Pioneer Carrozzeria ODR P90X
Speakers: Dynaudio MW160 mid-bass, Scanspeak Revelator 12M/4631G00 4.5" midrange, Scanspeak 2904 tweeter, Xtant X124 subwoofers
Amps: Xtant X604, Xtant A6001

Cabling throughout is Kimber Kable


http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/SoundQcar/Impala%20SS/

Nicely done!

winslow

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 2
Steve Cornell's old car...still love it, one of my favorites- but you know that already.

The car is a 1996 Impala SS. It has won numerous IASCA titles including the 2002 IASCA World Championship in the Ultra Pro division.

Sources: Pioneer DEX-P9 cd player, Pioneer ODR RS-M1 12-disc changer, Pioneer SDV-P7 DVD player
Processor: Pioneer Carrozzeria ODR P90X
Speakers: Dynaudio MW160 mid-bass, Scanspeak Revelator 12M/4631G00 4.5" midrange, Scanspeak 2904 tweeter, Xtant X124 subwoofers
Amps: Xtant X604, Xtant A6001

Cabling throughout is Kimber Kable


http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f241/SoundQcar/Impala%20SS/

cAsE sEnSiTiVe

Hey Jason. Yeah....I think I'll go before that car does.

Drive it on weekends, listen to it every other day.  :D

I go to some of the local get-togethers and take a listen to what's out there now, and still enjoy Steve's work.

cAsE sEnSiTiVe

Nicely done!

Thanks Fred. I'm just the lucky stiff who paid for it. Steve Cornell did the hard work.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070224080705/www.rtol.net/scornell/

kberman

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 6
I'll see if I can post some pics of my system.

The HU is a Pioneer Stage 4, the DEX-P99RS.

Speakers are the Morel Supremo tweeters, with Elates midrange and 9"midbass.  The 9" are under the front seats, the others are in the doors in the stock locations.

Focal Polyglass subs, 2 8" in the trunk.

Have an Arc Audio amp driving everything but the midbass, a JL 300/2 is wired to them.

Finally got wise and got rid of my CD's.  Got an iPod classic and loaded my discs using Apple lossless option.

Makes driving in crappy traffic tolerable.

rollo

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 5440
  • Rollo Audio Consulting -
Back in the day an 1983 Mercedes with all Nakamichi amps, Alpine head unit, crossovers to Boston coutic speakers, infnity tweeters, and polk. In NY though they steal them so home audio for me now.
     Today a simple pioneer and pioneer speakers, really good.






charles

rollo

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 5440
  • Rollo Audio Consulting -
Back in the day an 1983 Mercedes with all Nakamichi amps, Alpine head unit, crossovers to Boston acoustic speakers, infinity tweeters, and polk woofers. In NY though they steal them so home audio for me now.
     Today a simple pioneer and pioneer speakers, really good.






charles

jeffreybehr

  • Volunteer
  • Posts: 875
Bought a 2010 Ford Escape XLT last August.  It contained the standard CD-radio, 4-speakers-in-the-doors Ford system.  Being a hi-end audiofool...cough, cough... :o
...that system wasn't nearly good enough--all the music came from around my knees, the music was gritty...edgy, the system had no low bass, etc.  So first, new door speakers. 

I again chose the SonicCraft 6-1/2" drivers I've bought literally by the several dozens over the years...

[That CC speaker had 4 of those in its bottom, too, for a total of 10.  That system didn't last long.  :-(  ]
...and installed them in the 4 doors...


Then, after installing and finding unsatisfactory a pair of top-mount tweeters, I installed a pair of Polk home-system TL1 Sat speakers atop the instrumentpanel.  This got the orchestra in front of me, finally, and improved the overall sounds considerably.  All this was still driven by the stock CD-radio. 



Also around this time I rewired the LH- and RH-rear-door speakers in series and then wired them across the rear-channel-positive-only speaker leads.  This of course reproduces only the difference between the 2 channels.  The music is somewhat low in level and rather 'phasy' and spacious, and this added a bit of spaciousness to the overall sound.

For bass, and not wanting to add any kind of box that'd be in the way too often, I installed a Lanzar 10"-driver one-piece powered SW under the RF seat.

That added the missing midbass and some bottom-octave bass.

Replaced the head unit with an Axxera ...7200 CD-receiver, which is OK but not great (I think).


BUT...I felt things could be better still and started investigating poweramps.  After a highly trusted audio 'guru' told me that I really wouldn't like the sounds of modern digital car-stereo amps and a long-time friend agreed and pointed me at the old Apine V12 series of amps, I found on eBay and bought an Alpine MRV-F303 amp in excellent condition for only $146 delivered.  It's rated (14.4VDC in, 4 Ohms out) 50 Watts, continuous, times 4 channels.  It had the hi-pass filters that would eliminate overdriving both the front-door and Polk TL1 speakers with too much bass, and under the LF seat it went*.  I chose Audioquest cables for the front speakers--Type 2, 4-solid-long-grain-copper-conductor cable for the instrument-panel Polks and G2, a stranded type for the frontdoors.

WOW what a difference, all good.  Then within the Polks, I removed the cheap 300uF 'lytic cap in series with the 'bass'/MR driver that was used to limit bass and increase power handling.  Also replaced the cheap 'lytic in the tweeter network with my last of the great-sounding BlackGate NonPolar caps, and the sounds got even better.  The system now sounds quite good on an absolute scale.

Of course, being an incorrigible tweak, I can't leave well-enough alone, so I bought another 'F303 amp and a Service Manual and started scheming on how to improve the sonic quality of the poweramp.  So...
 
In the powersupply, I replaced both pairs of 'chicklet'-type 0.047uF and 0.056uF bypass caps with 0.047/100 MultiCap RTXs ('styrenes). Was tempted to replace a pair of 330uF/35s 'lytics bypassing the output-stage rails with maybe hi-Q Nichicons, but didn't.

Preamp section:
1. Replaced all 4 coupling caps, cheap 'lytics, in channels 1 and 2 with 0.47/200 SoniCap Gen.2 'propylenes.
2. Replaced all 8 DC-rail-bypass caps, 4.7/50 'lytics, in all 4 channels with 4 7.5/200 SoniCap Gen.1s bypassed with 0.47/200 SC Gen.2s.

Output stage:
1. Pulled all 8 DC-rail bypass caps, 0.47/50 'lytics, in all 4 channels. Replaced with 4 5.1/200 SC Gen.1s bypassed with 4 0.47/200 SC Gen.2s plus 4 more of the latter on the board.
2. Replaced all 8 emitter resistors with 5W Mills MRA-5s, noninductive wirewounds.




Just for kicks, and every time I do something like this in this car-stereo amp I laugh at myself, I replaced all the magnetic, brass-plated-steel speaker- and power-wire hold-down screws with nonmagnetic stainless-steel screws and lockwashers and brass flatwashers.

Have turned the front-door drivers into woofers with 75Hz LP filters (and raised their level) and have lowered the HP filter on the Polks to 75Hz, both of which increased mid- and upperbass and overall warmth.  The system sounds quite good, and I'm HAPPY. :D

* Meanwhile I had purchased a new Soundstream REF4.400 poweramp, but it was too long to install.

john dozier

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 108
Eclipse head unit and two amplifiers-one two channel one four channel. Audio Control digital crossover. Focal Utopia three ways. Two 8inch subs. Enough said.

Delta Wave

Mine is a 4 cam V8 w/ 5 speed, stainless Borla exhaust, Ford Racing stainless headers, throttle body & intake manifold. It sounds exactly like the live performance.  It's music to my ears.  :D

S1NN3R

here is the link to my mobile tube system.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPP_Jp1s17U

nature boy

Greetings,

I picked up a 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i to replace my aging 2000 Nissan Maxima and had an aftermarket stereo recently installed.  Pioneer DEH-80PRS headunit, Hybrid Audio Technology (HAT) Imagine I61-2 6.5" component speakers, JL HD900/5 amp & Knukonceptz IC's and 12AWG speaker wire.  Picked up the speakers in a dented box sale and the JL amp used for good prices :D

Front doors were treated completely with sound deadening.  Speakers were installed in the stock locations.  System was auto equalized by the installer through the Pioneer DEH-80PRS head unit. 

Very happy with the installation by AudioWorks (Newark, DE).  I was a little leary of getting a Pioneer head unit after years of Alpine equipment, but the DEH-80PRS is a high SQ product.  Very clean and has a lot of flexibility with capabilities of running up to 3 amps.

Regards,

NB

TheChairGuy

Lucky me - I have BOSE factory install in my two vehicles [2008 SAAB 9-3 SportCombi and 2002 Porsche 911 (nee, 996) Cabrio]

Kinda' BLOSE all you guys with Pioneer/Alpines/etc. away, no? :wink:


kevin360

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 758
  • án sǫngr ek svelta
I don't know about audiophile, but my car isn't exactly a rolling listening room. I once had a Caddy STS that qualified, and the Delco/Bose system in that car was very satisfying. The stock stereo in my '08 S2000 CR was pretty miserable, so I upgraded it – nothing really extreme. In a car like this, why bother?



The head unit is a Pioneer Premier DH P710BT – largely to get hands free cell phone operation. For the most part, I use an iPod Nano as a source. I opened the door covering the radio and rested the iPod on it for this crummy photo.



The rest of the system is all JL Audio. The amp is just the little 300/4V2 - gets the job done.



I can't remember the model of the JL speakers in the doors (tweeters up high and mid/woofers down low), nor can I really get a photo of them without pulling the door cards, but here's a shot of the 10” stealth sub in the trunk.



It's a decent system - better than the 'room'; that's for sure. Then again, in this car, it's more about the driving experience than the listening experience. :D

saeyedoc

Very tempted to get a Burmester system in my next Porsche. Expensive, but way less than other Burmester gear.

nature boy

Just picked up a second pair of Hybrid Audio Technology (HAT) Imagine I61-2 6.5" component speakers to add to the rear doors.  A very impress set of audio speakers by a small company who puts out a truly quality product.  :thumb:

NB

DS-21

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 334
Fairly simple system, appropriate to the car it's in (2001 Miata SE)

Source: McIntosh (Subaru Legacy OEM) double-DIN with Clarion iPod controller, concealed 160GB iPod with Apple Lossless files
Processor: Alpine PXE-H650 (Audyssey MultEQ XT)
Amps: Kenwood XR-4S (2ch bridged to sub, 2ch powering widebanders) and Ubuy Piccolo (branded "Arc Audio KS125.4 Mini") bridged to midbasses
Widebanders: Aura NSW2 "Whisper"
Midbasses: JBL 116H-1
Subwoofer: Clearwater footwell sub
Wires: appropriate

Bill O'Connell

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 687
  • Retired . Music Lover

I picked this 2002 C5 up about 5 months ago from one of my best friends in Arizona and shown here with his grand-daughter, and first thing I did was upgrade sound system to this

JL Audio HD 900 5 channel amp
JL Audio Stealthbox sub
Alpine CDE HD138BT
Focal PC 165 speakers
Focal PS 165 speakers


Vapor Audio

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 2023
  • Building Audio Bling since 2007
    • Vapor Audio
How about a phone number for the grand-daughter   :wink:

nature boy

I picked this 2002 C5 up about 5 months ago from one of my best friends in Arizona and shown here with his grand-daughter, and first thing I did was upgrade sound system to this

JL Audio HD 900 5 channel amp
JL Audio Stealthbox sub
Alpine CDE HD138BT
Focal PC 165 speakers
Focal PS 165 speakers


Nice car, nice system upgrade Bill.