You and I have differing goals in car audio, and that is fine. I have always changed the audio systems in my cars but never had any inclinations to contest.
I have read most of your posts and without a doubt you are much more experienced and capable with the cars today and the digital systems. Where we differ is in the concept of sound quality. Digital audio is still a long way from audiophile sound but by far the best bet for high quality auto sound. The problem with paying for that quality is the sources of the audio signal. In our car the majority of sound sources being used are not close to high quality audio. If you bluetooth MP3 files for your music, or use a memory card stick with MP3 files a cymbal sounds like sandpaper because all the highs are gone. The average ST driver is not going to spend thousands to have all of the things it would take to get to where you think it should be.
Most people also do not have the skills, tools and experience to do this themselves. They may or may not even be able to install new speakers. So if you are not paying labor it is easy to spend money on equipment. Paying to have it all installed is just not in the budget of many ST drivers, like me they are looking to increase car performance not the sound system.
You talk about "hearing problems" the only "problem" is I have normal hearing for my age. Why you keep claiming I have "bad" hearing is beyond me. BTW, using 4 tweeters is a 3dB increase in sound over two tweeters. Why would you say 4 tweeters would cause bleeding ears? Anyone that works in audio understands dB and human hearing. Basic audiology says that a 3dB sound increase is barely discernable to the human ear, I don't think it will cause anyone any discomfort much less bleeding ears. I stated I liked the 4 tweeters because they got rid of the harsh beaming sound from the factory tweeters and presented a more open sound, I think the factory tweeters are some of the worse I have heard. But with younger ears the four may be too bright and you may have to use the factory EQ to reduce it.
The difference in an 8 or 10 inch sub is one fits under the front seat and within my budget the other does not. Your approach to car audio is always focusing on better sound rather than size, space and costs. The system I was referring to was one in a million combinations available for our cars. It was put together with a stated goal. The majority of us are willing settle for less than the best sound for a better fit to our needs. The reason under seat subs are made is not to provide the best sound but the best sound for its application. My car is a DD, as a matter for fact I just returned home from a 600 mile weekend trip and managed to get my suitcase, computer case, small carry on bag, and many other items all in the trunk with the shelf in place. My previous car had a factory 10" sub in a box that was always in the way of packing the car, I usually had to put a seat down for the same load. People that do want stronger bass and do not mind the space taken have that option and several others to get much better bass than an under seat type. One of the reasons I love my FiST is it is small, so real estate in the car is something I do not want to give up.
My goal and that of many others is to make improvements without giving up the factory appearance, space and within a budget. My budget is $500 for audio in two steps, first will be sub and filters, then new speakers later. Never get the impression I do not respect what you do, we simply differ in the technicalities of audio reproduction and technology that most forum members could care less about. On the other hand I understand the audiology, acoustical properties and the technology to know what you do and what a difficult space a car interior is to work with. I would never want to put in the work required. My car is just not my listening room and I really don't mind that, it is my driving toy. FYI, I did a search for the top 10 Audiophile amps over $10,000 and found 5 tube types class A and AB and the same with solid state A and AB's. Funny thing is there was zero,zip, zilch, nada digitals amps on the list. Wonder why?
All good responses deserve good responses right
I think you and are more on the same page than not. For those who are curious, MP3's, and WMA's, and ITunes files compress their music to take up less space. They do this by eliminating the higher frequencies as part of the process among other things. As I had posted in the attached article, when we are talking about a CD that has been converted to WAV, full 16 bit and SACD which has been converted to 24 or 32 bit DSD files, the article clearly indicates that hearing the difference while possible (and I will agree to this), is negligible and the older you get and the more your hearing goes, the more this would be the case (not talking about you in particular).
As for daily driver. I am the king daily driver on the site. 2014 Fiesta ST with 174,947 miles as of today, there would be more but I didn't drive the car here because of the snow since November. Those are real numbers, so I get the need to use the car. You are talking to a guy here who has toted everything you can including a tablesaw from lowes, had to have something to cut the wood for the box
. I get not wanting to take up the space and cut up the car, but we have to put this in perspective. The car is worth about $13,000, maybe. If I tried to trade it for an RS, they would give me about $6,500.00. So you see, the car is done from a financial standpoint. I still feel like I am driving some prototype from Ford though, still on the factory clutch and still have not been in for any repairs. It is kind of freaky. Regardless, My wife and are road trip junkies. We take a lot of road trips, so having tunes in the car are a necessity. This will be my very last foray into car audio besides our jeep that I am starting in June or so, but for me this is it. This is the last car I am modifying audio or engine wise. I have done it some many times and done it on such a massive scale the last time I did the audio piece I dropped $100K in the system, competed with it, got it 4 different magazines but the car had a very short life. The engine upgrade thing is stupid. I had everything from a 300hp Northstar in a Fiero to a 800 HP Trans Am, and 1000 HP GTO. I just turned 49. I think I have had enough. I want to finish it and really enjoy it.
So many people just don't get the whole put an album on and listen to two speakers. With all the technology, I do have only two speakers in the home, but I have a pair of subs for the home theater stuff. We watch a lot of movies. I had a set of KEF 104/2's that I sorely miss, and even more so, had a set of A/D/S/ L1590's which I considered the be an excellent buy at $1500.00 and they were already 10 years old when I purchased them, but when I moved, I had to make a choice, and while the ADS speakers played music better than most as I cannot afford a set of Sophia's or WattPuppies, the Klipsch sounded better with the movies, and they are not your AR's, but they suffice. I hope to pick up a set of Klipsch Series 7 version 2 and pair of Krell mono amps before the end of the year, and that will be the end of that.
The sub box I designed takes up no more space than what is below the panel. The panel will be replaced with a sheet of 1/2 plexi as security measure, but I managed to squeeze 2 10", 2 amps, the processor and 15 farad cap all in that space, so I feel pretty good about it. As for the spare, spare me......pun, No really, the low profile tires while can pick up nails and such, I have AAA, and because of the small profile, nails and such create small slow leaks. There are arguments to this I am sure, but considering the miles I have on the car, I trust my judgment on this.
Ill have to take your word on the 4 tweeters, My competition car had 4 tweeters. (2) on each side stacked in the middle between the two midranges. It created a studio monitor effect with the custom dash we built. But the two tweeters were crossed over differently so I could adjust the height of the sound stage. Not 4 tweeters playing the same frequencies. I think that would be brutal. And yes, I know what 3 db of gain is, and to achieve that you have to double your power. So 3DB is a lot.
I didn't want to mess with the electrical system in this car. The factory Alternator is a known factor, and if something goes wrong with it, I can go down to autozone and get one for about $100.00. So I opted for the inverter to ramp up the voltage to make sure I was getting 14.4 volts all the time and 15 farad cap to reinforce the 2 amps.
The Class D amps are not Class A, and not class AB to your statement. I am absolutely an IC guy, and I am not an tube fan. The whole warmth, blah blah blah, like we have both said, music is a personal preference. That is no different than the argument between copper and silver speaker wire. Having used both, I am a fan of copper, though Nordost sponsored my car after my first win and supplied me with Valhalla, silver interconnects and Speakerwire for the whole car. So I have used it. But the amps, There are maybe 2 Class A car amps you can buy, that have the specs of the Alpine PDX-V9, on how quite they are. As for AB, I don't know of any and they are supper efficient. If I were to use 2 class AB amps in this car with the same power I am using, I would need a bigger alternator and a 2nd battery, and I am not doing all of that. That is just dumb. Will their be a difference in the Class D and Class AB? Maybe.
I think its good to always have a 2nd opinion.