Tabor

I would put a "nice" stereo in, but it would weigh too much. I'm not going to be satisfied until my car feels like a go-cart, and it isn't there yet!

IanM

Nice...good tune. Good Canadian band. I don't know what the basic stereo is like in the 944's. I've got the so-called premium sound option 10 speaker factory system, and an Alpine cd-player. I don't get the greatest bass at higher volumes, but I'm pretty happy with the system as is. If my car came with a lesser system, I probably would have upgraded to at least the level I'm at now. I think the moral of this whole thread is that it's all a matter of priorities. I think everyone generally likes music, but some like it more than others, and are willing to sacrifice storage room and a little performance for it. I've got no problems with that.

slevy951

On the performance issue....

I don't think I've lost any at all. Some storage space, yes. Let's see.....

2 8" woofers and enclosures-25 lbs
2 Amps and mounting rack-10 lbs
Lots of wire-5 lbs
Removed spare, jack, and tools-(20) lbs
Removed rear speakers- (2) lbs
Cell phone in case of flat- Oh hell, the change in the ashtray weighs more....

Total-about 18 lbs added. I don't feel any performace loss. May actually be better as all the weight is in the back helping the balance. Now, if you were to add an enclosure with 2 12" that weighs around 100 lbs. Maybe that would make a difference.

My point here is that an excellent stereo can be done with minimal weight added sacrificing no performance.

TomH

Can we cut to the crap. You young guns are doing what we all did at that age. Its a matter of priorities. Those of us who are a little older, married, or just low on funds, do not fork out dough on non-essentials.

Of course there are exceptions to the rule, like those with too much money and time, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

When I was a teenager, pre-amps were a novelty, Beta ruled, and CDs were non-existent. But I had my Audiovox deck and Jensen speakers, so I was cool

Oh, and Rush rules too! Red Barchetta is a fav, though I think I like Freewill a tad more

Manning

I'm with Thaddeus. With the back seat out and the loud exhaust I can barely hear the stereo anyway. Plus the squeaking hatch.

Besides, I do like to hear the car and what is going on around me. Too many times I have been caught off guard when "my 98 booming with a trunk of funk" muffled the sound of an ambulance or fire engine coming off of a side street. That's about enough to fill your shorts sometimes.

Actually it wasn't a 98 but a Taurus.

Es3L

last night someone stole my Panasonic deck, all of my change (ashtray filler), and my friends cigarettes, of all things he didnt take the 2 kenwood 600 watt amps (located in back boots , or the 2 infinity subs. THey also stole 64 cd's. i guess i left my window cracked on the wrong night. garage time.

Tom R.

A couple years back my buddies band was playing a benefit that Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult was also playing.

While hanging out backstage I was in a group chatting. I didn't recognize Bloom until he came onstage an hour later and started belting out Godzilla.

Bloom was talking about how he spent his day with his son shopping for a car stereo. Hhis son wanted to put a stereo in the Taurus wagon he gave/sold him, and how much it cost. Being the charmer I am, I politely told him to cut the crap. His son was no different than he or I (or any of us over 35) were 20 years ago, when the most important part of a car was the stereo. It didn't matter what it looked like as long as it sounded good in the high school parking lot.

Guess as I approach my 40th the need for a stereo takes a back seat to a mortgage payment, and the more thing change, the more...

ThE sPaCeCoWbOy

personally i dont see the reason for loud stereo systems either.....but for some reason, i getting myself into it now.....i guess the reason for me was when my subaru was somewhat maxed out on n/a mods (bolt on), i guess stereo was the next thing...now for the porsche, right now im on performance...supercharger, nitrous, afc, etc.....as soon as thats done, then im going on to the body/wheels, then the stereo...

and also like what someone else said...because i can....

thanks,
space

HalfGreek

My question for you stereo people is:

If listening to good music is a priority to you. And you spend $100s+ to have really crisp clear deep sound.... Why do you put it in a vehicle? Why put your stereo in something that adds +50dB of background noise to your music?

slevy951

Well, besides the car, I spend the bulk of my time at the office and at home. Home has nice HT setup. Office won't let me put in anything better than 2 watt computer speakers (I just don't understand that logic). So, when I'm not at the office, I'm covered with the car and house.

deni durrell

i agree with you thaddeus, but thinking "outside of the box", we also could expect a similar outburst from someone else who comparatively thinks, "why do those people put so much effort into a simple means of transportation”, i.e., MAF; chips; Piloti shoes; floor mats; tensioner tools or shocks/springs/coil-overs. There are many outside of our humble board that think we are crazy for caring so much about how much boost we can get with blowing something up. So it's relative. Don’t get me wrong – I have to laugh when some dude drives by in his 79 Tercel with the bass so loud that the boot and the license plate frame are vibrating louder than the music emanating from within – cheesy as hell.

Thaddeus: Thanks for at least starting coversation. if we no one ever dissented or had a different opinion (no matter how wrong) I would leave in a instant. god/jehovah/allah bless america for our free speech!! (for the moment)

bs

well first off i'll admit that the stereo in my 951 is as it was when i bought it: stock except for an ancient sony cd head unit.

but i did install a rather impressive stereo in my previous car. why? well think about why you all love your cars so much--take something that is enjoyable (driving, music) and then extend that to an appreciation of the science and tools that make the activity possible (cars, stereos). I have always loved music, and so when i began learning about electronics, i realized that this extended to enjoying designing systems to reproduce it. just as many of us enjoy tweaking our suspensions and engines for the ultimate driving experience, gaining just as much enjoyment from the optimization as from the actual driving, and perhaps even enjoying the driving *more* after working so hard to improve it, there are many more who feel the same about stereos. in the 3 or so years since i installed the stereo in my ford, a process which took me 3 months and involved the dissasembly of most of the interior of my car, there has not been a single time that i have sat down in that vehicle and not been made happy by the sound of my system powering up.

thaddeus: your analogy to ricers putting anodized oil filler caps and spark plug wire covers on their hondas is invalid. those modifications are for aethetic purposes ONLY whereas a stereo dramatically improves the exerience of being in a car.

halfgreek: what matters is signal to noise RATIO so if your amps are big enough (and you aren't phazed by permenant hearing damage) then you can still get a nice 80dB SNR. I know i personally can cruise at 80 with the windows down in my ford and still hear my music perfectly. plus, if you have a decent amount of commuting to do (i was driving an hour each way to work when i built the stereo in my ford) then you will want to invest in the place where you are trapped with nothing else to do for hours 5 days a week.

and since GanjaPorsche hasn't chimed in, i'll add that some of us have an.... uh.... "chemically enhanced" appreciation for music.......

plus when you have lived out of your car for awhile, slept in it a bunch of times, it starts to feel like your home, and of course everyone needs a good hi fi at home.

deni durrell

Woohooo!!!! I'm all for "chemical enhancement" must be from Northern Cali..!

bs

well, deni, i only just moved out here (sonoma county) this year, but i am amazed by how much more "enlightened" everyone is, if you know what i mean...

Thaddeus

28 and counting... who would've known one little troll would get the attention of so many little billy goats gruff?

Actually, I enjoy Muddy Waters, LOUD, as I carve the corners. Sex Pistols work too.

Thaddeus