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Author Topic: Kick-Ass Car Stereo Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-18-2003 01:06 PM                     I thought Steve wuld have had nothing less than a pair of A4's for his car stereo  |  IP: Logged John Lasher Master Film Handler Posts: 493 From: Newark, DE Registered: Aug 2001 posted 08-18-2003 02:12 PM                        In DE, a cop can pull you over for having your music up too loud (if it's audible 5 feet or more from your car with the doors closed and the windows up, it's too loud) I don't drive currently (licensed, not insured), and I don't own a car, but my parents drive a '94 Chevy Suburban and a '91 Dodge Caravan, both with the installed cassette players, my dad listens to NPR or Christian Family Radio (Where one program will often interrupt another, mid-word.)  |  IP: Logged Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-18-2003 04:20 PM                        quote: For laughs, being a vinyl enthusiast, I was looking up high end turntables. Anyone knows that the Techniques 1200 mkII is an excellent machine. Sure, d.j.'s love them because they can "scratch" or what ever that rap-crap is called. But all in all this turntable is mechanicallly excellent and, with a good stylius, is easy on records I wouldn't take anything for my pair of 1200's. I bought them back in the early 90's... because I figured CD's would end up being a fad like so many other things. I worked as a mobile DJ for years, but NEVER scratched anything on my tables. No scratching required for wedding receptions. Thing I hate is... my original 30 watt Technics reciever I bought in high school finally crapped out about a year ago. Actually it was just the volume knob, everything else worked fine. Anyway, I bought me one of these "Home Theatre" receivers to replace... and guess what, no place on the rear inputs to hook up a turntable. Turntable signals have to be pre-amped, and this one doesn't have that. Back to the topic of car stereo's, I drive a '96 Ford F150 with the factory radio/CD player. I took a pair of old drive-in speakers, gutted them and replaced the driver with a 4" 40watt JVC speaker. I put a 10 foot cable on them and placed a 1/4" phono plug on the end. Since my truck has speakers in the corners of the walls behind the seat, I installed a 1/4" "cut-out" jack on the grill of the factory speakers. When we go to the local drive-in, we slide open the rear window, run the cables through and plug them in behind the seat. The movie sound is in stereo, and my wife can listen to her side soft, and I crank mine up the way God intended.  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-18-2003 04:33 PM                     Will, Don't 1200's retail for about $1300? Barry, Most receivers do include a phono input with a ground screw. Up here, I haven't seen a " Technics " brand anything for years. Panasonic ( Their parent company ) has started manufacturing receivers under their name.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-18-2003 05:28 PM                        I used to have a 1990 Volvo station wagon, with the factory radio/tape player. It worked OK. In February, I got a new car (1996 Volvo); the new one also has the factory radio/tape player. Unfortunately, the new one is noticeably inferior to the old one. Radio reception (AM, especially) is worse, and the speakers are way too bassy, with almost no midrange. The plus side is that the radio antenna is now inside one of the windows, instead of being a motorized mast which tended to get damaged or fail for no apparent reason in my old car. I used to have a portable CD player in the car, until it got stolen and I didn't bother to replace it. If I could get significantly better radio reception and sound quality (I'm talking about "musical" sound not "one-note-bass" or "blast the neighborhood" sound) for a reasonable price (say, under $200), I'd seriously consider an upgrade. I would also consider satellite radio if the sound quality were decent and if the programming variety were really as great as the advertising claims it to be. Any suggestions? Or should I just stick with the factory radio? I can live without CD capability if there's a way to upgrade just the speakers to something good.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-19-2003 02:13 AM                        You need a car OR a radio. So this (U.S.) guy decides he wants a Morgan, he orders one, plans a trip to England where he'll pick up his car, drive it around for awhile, then have it delivered to the US. So he's at the factory & Peter Morgan is showing him around, he's watching them build his car, & he looks & says "Hey, where's the radio?" Peter Morgan looks at him for about 10 seconds & says, "You listen to the motor." US guy says, "uh..."  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-19-2003 02:22 AM                  quote: Don't 1200's retail for about $1300? Interesting... a couple of years ago, I paid about $600 for my 1210...the Black version... Add the cartridge and stylus for another $500...that's about $1100 for the package. >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Bruce McGee Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1776 From: Asheville, NC USA... Nowhere in Particular. Registered: Aug 1999 posted 08-19-2003 07:31 AM                     I got to use a 1200 about 2 years ago. Really nice tracking on some really poor discs. I've got an Audio-Technica cartridge and stylus. Paid about $100 for it in 1984. Bought a replacement styli this year. It alone cost $50. Wow. I currently use a Kenwood direct-drive turntable from around 1980. Got it for $25 at a yard-sale about 10 years ago. I found a bad solder connection on it, and it has worked perfectly since. I have to clean the speed control pot every year or so. Back to the topic: I heard a huge system in a Honda Accord last night. Heard it from inside the car, I mean. The bass was overwhelming and the highs are scratchy and digital sounding. I got out of the car with a headache, and some temporary hearing loss... ears were ringing when I went to bed last night. The car is owned by the son of a pal of mine. I fear for his ears. And his wallet. He has a fortune sunk into this system. EDIT: When I say digital sounding, I mean incredibly bright highs, etc. The system was supposedly 'tuned' by an "expert."  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-19-2003 07:42 AM                     Interesting how this has turned to the subject of turntables. I bought a Garrard GT55 turntable back in 1980 for $30 from Foley's. It was a demo model and had a cracked hinge on the dust cover. This model was the first or one of them to have "linear tracking", but it accomplished it differently than the more recent linear tracking models. It kept the pivoting arm and had an alignment rod to twist the cartridge so that it maintained perfect alignment with the groove to prevent record damage. Later I upgraded to a Shure microridge cartridge and that turntable is still running flawlessly to this day. I have done demonstrations for friends from time to time and the quality always knocks people's socks off, even put up against $1000+ models on an A/B comparison. If anyone is in the market for a turntable and finds one of these, I would highly recommend it.  |  IP: Logged Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-19-2003 09:39 AM                        You can buy a new 1200 for around $500 - $600. Mine are the Silver models. Like everyone else said though... it's only going to sound as good as the cartridge, headshell and stylus you choose. I have about as much invested in the cartridge, headshell and stylus as I do in the whole table. I think my new home theatre reciever is either a Technicsor a Sony. Either way, it does not have a place to hook up the turn table. I was, and still am kinda pissed.  |  IP: Logged Joe Beres Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 606 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 08-19-2003 10:12 AM                     I drive a '99 Saturn SL-1 with a stock AM/FM Cassette deck in it. I really wish I had a CD player, but I don't want to cut up the dash and risk thievery and put in an aftermarket deck in. I considered getting one when I got the car in 1999, but they wanted $360 for a single disc player upgrade, and over $500 for an armrest mounted 6-disc changer. You would think that manufacturers would keep some of the mark-ups on upgrades lower so that people would be more inclined to add them, but I guess that is asking way too much.  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-19-2003 10:59 AM                        I just bought a 1990 Geo Metro, and was quite pissed to find out that it had no speakers in the dash, just holes for them. 55 bucks later, it has speakers, but no deck. I want a head deck with a cd player and line outs. I am even considering getting a bazooka tube for the hatch. By then, I'll have to pull my bumper sticker off for fear of being a hipocryte But this will all have to wait, I'm still saving for my crotch rocket Josh  |  IP: Logged Matt Hale Expert Film Handler Posts: 123 From: Vancouver, Canada Registered: Dec 2002 posted 08-19-2003 02:01 PM                        My 83 Chevy Celebrity (a classic if ever there was! ) sports its original Delco AM/FM radio. I believe it was the first PLL tuner that GM ever offered - but the clock doesn't work. I know it has one, I've seen it maybe 3 times in that last 7 years, but normally when you turn off the radio the display just goes blank. Its probably just a bad solder joint but I can never be bothered to pull the whole dashboard to get to the stupid thing. Anyhow, the sound is really quite good for a factory system. I put a frequency analyzer in it once, just to see, and was able to get quite a flat response using only the bass and treble adjustments. Not a bad sound at all, but I don't like boom. On the sub-topic of turntables I have an ancient Gray belt-drive model that came out of a CBC studio. Very nice unit, very smooth.  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-19-2003 02:16 PM                     I wanted Focal or MB Quart loudspeakers installed but they were 4 times more expensive than the speakers I installed. They sounded good but not 4 times better. The thing was that I thought that I just wouldn't be able to hear the difference in my somewhat loud minivan. I've driven around with my SPL meter and recorded 85 db with the windows rolled up. At 60 MPH with the windows rolled down the SPL meter was 99 db. So after living with my system for a week these are my thoughts; although the sound is good, it's not great. The lower midrange is missing. Male speaking voices are too bassy, the announcer comes with a bit of subwoofer. But all the instruments in the lower midrange are very distant. I did listen to my home system and was very disappointed with the sound. I guess my spending days are not over yet. I have an early '90s mini system from Kenwood. I'm going to start another thread for recommendations for my new home system.  |  IP: Logged Josh Jones Redhat Posts: 1207 From: Plano, TX Registered: Apr 2000 posted 08-19-2003 09:21 PM                        I bit the bullet today and could no longer drive in silence. I got the cheapest CD player with the best tuner I could find. I found a Pioneer DEH-P3500 for 169.99 at best buy after $20 rebate. Since I'm and FM guy, I need a good tuner, and this one will do .7 mV with 30DB SNR. Not too bad for portable audio. I also threw my dual 10" sub from my home system in the back, as this deck is set up to have the rear channels devoted to subs. I still have work to do. Josh  |  IP: Logged

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