[James Tanner]

Bryston/Thiel Choosen as Reference System
To Evaluate State-of-the-Art LUXURY Car Audio Systems

EDMUNDS DAILY
News and Advice For Car Shoppers and Owners

Tech Tuesdays: Our Sound-Off Reference System
October 6, 2009

Any car lover who also cares about music knows that luxury automakers have significantly stepped up their audio offerings in the past few years. The result has been an unprecedented number of high-end automaker/audio-brand hook-ups. Our reference for judging these systems? Decades of collective experience evaluating audio system and components for esteemed (and now mostly extinct) enthusiast publications such as Audio, Stereo Review, Car Audio and Electronics, Car Stereo Review, Mobile Entertainment and Sound & Vision.

We also set up an in-office system composed of high-end home audio gear to use as a reference and give the Edmunds editorial staff a basis by which to evaluate the sound of stock car stereo systems.

The reference system consists of a Bryston 2B SST Squared Series amplifier, a Bryston BP6 preamplifier, Bryston BCD-1 CD player, THIEL SCS4 loudspeakers, a THIEL SS1 subwoofer and PX05 passive crossover and high-end WireWorld cabling.

It's a simple system and sounds superb!

[Hebrew Hammer]

Congrats  James... a great honor..

But to be honest.. most stock radios regardless of mfg... though very good, do not hold a candle to car audio competition cars.. and to be honest.. not even close..

[James Tanner]

Congrats  James... a great honor..

But to be honest.. most stock radios regardless of mfg... though very good, do not hold a candle to car audio competition cars.. and to be honest.. not even close..

Yes they came to the same conclusion:

"But after listening to the high-end systems in an Acura TL, Aston Martin DBS, Hyundai Genesis, Infiniti M45, Jaguar XFR and Lexus LS 460 L, we realized just how far OEM audio has come. And it's only getting better. And while none of the stock systems lived up to our home audio reference system, any car lover who also cares about music will tell you that great tunes always sound better with asphalt flying under your feet"

[runs10k]

I can only imagine hooking up Bryston electronics in the car! 

[brucek]

I've never really understood high-end car audio. Any car I've ever owned has a noise floor that makes critical listening rather impossible. I suppose high-end audio must be relegated to high-end cars that have super quiet interiors? In any car I've ever been in, I couldn't tell the difference between .05% distortion and 5% distortion..... 

I also thought that any of these car competitions for audio systems were about SPL, not quality....

brucek

[Laundrew]

My dad had a Jaguar and it did have an awesome sound system. It helped him pass the time at the roadside while waiting for a tow truck to take the car back to the dealer for repair, again and again and ... 

[Hebrew Hammer]

going 20+ mph on the road.. who really cares..

but sound quality comps have been around for 20 + years.. nothing tied to SPL... Staging, height, center image, realism, tonality, etc are all judging criteria. infact, I would be as bold to say that I can pick 10 cars that would be on par or better then most home audio systems in any price range period.. that in an environment that is an acoustical nightmare and that you are not in the sweet spot..

I've never really understood high-end car audio. Any car I've ever owned has a noise floor that makes critical listening rather impossible. I suppose high-end audio must be relegated to high-end cars that have super quiet interiors? In any car I've ever been in, I couldn't tell the difference between .05% distortion and 5% distortion..... 

I also thought that any of these car competitions for audio systems were about SPL, not quality....

brucek

[95Dyna]

Bryston/Thiel Choosen as Reference System
To Evaluate State-of-the-Art LUXURY Car Audio Systems

EDMUNDS DAILY
News and Advice For Car Shoppers and Owners

Tech Tuesdays: Our Sound-Off Reference System
October 6, 2009

Any car lover who also cares about music knows that luxury automakers have significantly stepped up their audio offerings in the past few years. The result has been an unprecedented number of high-end automaker/audio-brand hook-ups. Our reference for judging these systems? Decades of collective experience evaluating audio system and components for esteemed (and now mostly extinct) enthusiast publications such as Audio, Stereo Review, Car Audio and Electronics, Car Stereo Review, Mobile Entertainment and Sound & Vision.

We also set up an in-office system composed of high-end home audio gear to use as a reference and give the Edmunds editorial staff a basis by which to evaluate the sound of stock car stereo systems.

The reference system consists of a Bryston 2B SST Squared Series amplifier, a Bryston BP6 preamplifier, Bryston BCD-1 CD player, THIEL SCS4 loudspeakers, a THIEL SS1 subwoofer and PX05 passive crossover and high-end WireWorld cabling.

It's a simple system and sounds superb!

Hi James,

I see they are using hi end Wireworld cabling (Eclipse series?).  I remember you listing Wireworld as one of the several brands you keep on hand.  I'm considering the new Eclipse 6 IC's and SC's and am now encouraged that this looks like a good match for the 7B/BP26 combo.  Your thoughts?

Bill

[James Tanner]

Hi Bill,

I have not used it at home only at the CES Show last year so tough for me to comment.

james

[Mad Mr H]

I use Wireworld for all my video cables.

i use the silver starlight 5.2 versions.

Not sure if it was here or another forum but it is said best to use 2m or longer.

The 1m versions "may" cause a ring on th cable......

This could be sales talk BUT I have seen issues on short cable runs 0.5m not seen in 5m runs of exactly the same cable - This was NOT tested on wireworld cables but several other well known brands.

Hope thts of help.

[Mad Mr H]

sound quality comps have been around for 20 + years.. nothing tied to SPL... Staging, height, center image, realism, tonality, etc are all judging criteria. infact, I would be as bold to say that I can pick 10 cars that would be on par or better then most home audio systems in any price range period.. that in an environment that is an acoustical nightmare and that you are not in the sweet spot..

I used to build audio competition cars,

I would doubt you could pick ONE car that matched audio quality if you looked with no limit to value.


Cars are nearfield so it would be fair if you only considered nearfield speakers in studio use....

Step up to vans and thats a different league.

The good news is that Bryston equipment is used as the REF SPEC - Well done .

People in the car market are still very critical despite the awkward space to work with in.....