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[Impious 1,476]

Maybe I'm just getting old and bitter. Maybe I'm maturing. Or maybe it's just my depression talking. But I'm almost tired of car audio anymore. Everything is a hassle. Any setup I'd actually want to have in my car would require a major modifications and about two months of installation. Running wire is a pain in the ass. Sound deadening can kiss my ass. Cramming yourself into positions and spaces you never thought possible to install anything is getting old. And you do all this work just to shove some overpriced audio equipment into an acoustic hell hole that will sound worse than even a mediocre bookshelf setup. My god...what the hell have I been thinking the past 7 years

I'm half tempted to ditch most of my car equipment and switch my focus on home audio. I don't spend nearly as much time in my car as I used to (like, went from hours/day to minutes/day). The setup is never freaking finished anyways....always a constant work in progress (read: constant headache).

Home audio just seems so much...nicer. Acoustically better enviornment. No major modifications to anything. If you want to change the location of your speakers....just slide the damned things across the carpet to a new spot. Want to switch speakers? No door panel removal, etc etc. Pop off a grill, grab a screwdriver and your work is done. No spending hours cramped into a blazing hot vehicle in 100* heat, parked directly in sun light.....spend a majority of your time in my nice, air conditioned house. And the DIY selection is almost limitless. Having no space restrictions (within reason) would be a blessing for once.

And the more I think about it....the more I talk myself into the idea of ditching car audio in pursuit of home audio/theater. But I know as soon as I make the "transition", the car audio bug will bite again and I'll kick my self in the ass.......so it seems almost not even worth it to try. And I surely don't have the funds to do them both.

I don't know....I just felt like ranting and thinking out loud. Thanks for listening.

[Supa_c 1]

It also costs about 10x more and you cant get 130dB's out of your HT unless you are running some serious power.

If you dont drive all that often then i see no reason to have a nice stereo in your vehicle. A cheap H/U and some speakers will do fine

[Impious 1,476]

It also costs about 10x more and you cant get 130dB's out of your HT unless you are running some serious power.

Not really. Pick up a nice Nad receiver/amp for ~$300 and a pair of $200-$300 DIY towers. Add my Rl-p and a nice plate amp for the low end, and use my 5 disc DVD player as my CD player.......and overall I'd have approximately the same $$ into a pretty killer home audio/theater setup than I do into my half-assed sounds-like-chit car stereo.

If you wanna go nuts and spend $7500/m on your speaker wire and snatch up a $300,000 dual monoblock amp....yeah, it'd be expensive. But on the whole, I'd say expensive wise it's pretty even.

[Supa_c 1]

Pshhh....

Thats not a real HT

[dennisp 0]

It also costs about 10x more and you cant get 130dB's out of your HT unless you are running some serious power.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

why would you want a constant 130dbs? the home environment (sans children ) is a lot quieter than a car, there's no need to be that loud. the car environment is just horrible to work with, speakers in doors, unequal pathlengths, resonance up the arse, installation, etc...like squeak said, so much easier to move things around at home.

i would be more into home audio if i was at home more, watching movies and/or listening to music. HA>CA.

[Supa_c 1]

I cant get my body to rumble and my lungs to collapse from a sub in my living room.....

I only listen to music loud, movies i usually listen at a moderate level and T.V as well

[mrray13 30]

me? HT pwns ca, by alot. but i'm a basshead, so my car has got to boom, staging is less important, but i wnt everything to atleast be clear and clean. so my goals in car audio are easy to attain, well, not all goals. i still have to hit 150 legal in my truck NW. but u get the point.

HT doesn't have to be expensive. except maybe power. but as far as the speakers/subs are concerned, there are so many options, there just isn't a need to drop a crapload of money. for what i have in my truck, money wise, i could easily build a HT system that would literally tear my house to pieces. and sound awesome doing it!

brad, i say get the car sounding liveable. then build ur HT. there isn't any reason why u can't have both. u just have to focus on one at a time. and i believe once u get the HT where u want it, it won't change as much as the car. as soon as my truck gets done, the house is in trouble...muhahahahaha

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Upstage Audio 0]

If you wanna go nuts and spend $7500/m on your speaker wire and snatch up a $300,000 dual monoblock amp....yeah, it'd be expensive. But on the whole, I'd say expensive wise it's pretty even.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wow, that sounds like Nick there for a minute....HT is very nice and satisfying and could lead to a better setup but it all depends on the person i would say. I doubt you sit at home too much and just sit around and listen to music. And even if i was at home i doubt i'd be spending that much time sitting in one room....i like to move about. And i know like the hair on my butt, i don't ever starting singing along to the song, i sometimes do it in the car with the windows up but there's no one who can hear you. Plus you got to watch out for pesky neighbors. My friend had got an SVS PB2 Ultra in his house and it sounded awesome but he never really got to turn it up cause the neighbors were getting on him. So it all depends on you.

[Jmac 24]

I haven't invested more than $100 into car audio in the last 3 years ...

HT is a much better investment ... and you don't need to worry nearly as much about it getting stolen ...

[Supa_c 1]

HT SQueers are way worse than CA SQueers.

[Impious 1,476]

HT SQueers are way worse than CA SQueers.

SQueers?

There's nothing wrong with enjoying high fidelity sound.......played at a level that will wake the neighbors a block away

[Supa_c 1]

At least in your vehicle you are moving, kinda hard for people to call the cops on you. At your home its very easy. Happened to me before and it was only 2 DD mids

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Eh, see, I'm the opposite. My love of cars leads me to the car audio world moreso than the HT. Now, I did have a killer setup at mo old house, which included 4 Tempests IB in the attic, and while I do miss it dearly, most of my time is spent working on vehicles or something related. Hence I concentrate most of my energy there.

To me, the vehicle is more important. You can live in your car, but you can't drive your house.

[Impious 1,476]

I dunno....I think I'm going to make the transition. 7yrs+ of dabbling in car audio, time to try something new. See how long it takes me to get bored there.

I think I have most of my HT setup planned....

Dayton 8" MTM for my front mains: http://www.objext.com/Dayton8.htm

Dayton D3 for my rear surrounds and center (assuming they work well for a center): http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Pr.../D3/dayton3.htm

Rl-p in a low tuned PR enclosure mated to a Behringer EP2500 (heh...nothing like having 2500w available )

Just need to find a good integrated receiver/amplifier. Use my 5-disc DVD player as my CD player aswell.

I'll think I'm going to still keep a decent stereo in my car though. Probably still pick up those Memphis Sync8's. Nice low end extension, so I could get away without any subs (for the time being atleast....maybe throw some Rl-i 8's or Crystal CMP8's in my doors if I miss my subbass still). Probably keep the SS Rubi 702 and run those on the comps. Might switch back to my factory deck and sell the Eclipse....still haven't decided there. Sell everything else....and I mean everything.

[Supa_c 1]

Get an R/V

Problem solved

[Chevy350TPI 12]

I'm never satisfied with mobile electronics.

My CDT's sound like chit.

Horns never sound 'perfect'.

EQ's are a pain in the pucking ass because I have no patience nor time.

Only thing I'm happy with is the uber and the Shiva's.

Whenever I get a new vehicle in the future, I'll just toss whatever I have sitting around into it and make it sound good enough just so that I could deal with it daily. My money will be going to a new set of 6.5" components ... after that it's strictly HT ... matching (to my towers) center channel, maybe surrounds, small pair of bookshelf speakers, amp for towers, maybe a new receiver and amp for the bookshelf speakers.

[dave_Edwards 1]

I know I am always looking for better sound----always----be it in home or car-----car audio to me seems to take more talent. in home----buy sub cabinet---install to a good home reciever----buy good sounding speakers and install---then boom----done-----it car there are so many more variatons and it takes skill to get a car to sound as good as a HT.

just my 2cents.

[Below 30 0]

First off, DIY home audio is generally less expensive and for sure, way more efficient than car audio. For power you grab a Peavey or QSC amp that puts out 1000 watts x2 in 2Ohms(examples), approxamately for around $1000 (and this is Canadian price). Then a 200 watts x2 into 8ohms rated, pro amp for around $400 (Canadian). Everything else, is just the same as in car arena, in terms of building your sub and front stage enclosures and using car marketed subs.

It must be made clear that I don't believe in one arena being better than another, in terms of what people like as a hobby. Based on facts though, you technically get alot more of your money's worth in the home. The fact that car sub enclosures are so small, is why so many watts are required, to get decent real-world db's out of them. I mentioned 1000w pro amps for home as an example, when that is really over-kill. Front stage in a car is basically the biggest joke. The speakers on the driver side is at the feet (normally), then the right-front stage, is all the way at the passenger side. There is no real world way to get proper imaging, with-out employing tactics, like using a balance control, which like an EQ, only degrades the purity of an audio signal path.

Too many differences to list. Car audio is more a novelty, like being able to break-dance vs. walking. Walking is essential and efficient for survival, dancing is not efficient or practical for survival but it's cool as hell to see. Car audio on a technical level is inefficient, but it's cool as hell to hear low tones at high DB in public. If it wasn't for the subwoofer, there would,'t even be a reason to have to term "car audio" and have dedicated shops for them. All you would need is the factory system.

One thing is for sure, car audio brings out the greatest DIY's in the world. When it comes to crafting sub-enlcosures and door pods and all that electrical work, to get hyped-up car system working.

Is home better than car, on technical level, yes. On a general and preferential level, it's for each DIY'er to decide.