# McIntosh Car Audio?



## hugz

(mods, if this is the wrong section, feel free to move it)

 How good are McIntosh at car audio? Chances are we'll be picking up a subaru liberty 3.0 Spec B ("Liberty" is what we call your "Legacy", except the cars seem to be pretty different. different engines, diffrent interiors, diffrent audio systems), and it comes with a Mcintosh audio system.

 Unfortunately i haven't been able to find out much information on the specifics, but it has a mcintosh head unit with a 6 cd changer and 13 mcintosh speakers of various descriptions (a sub, some tweeters and some normal speekers). I assume it has a mcintosh amp in there somewhere too.

 How good would you expect this audio system to be? I only had the chance to give it a quick listen today while test driving, and only with the radio. Audio's obviously something i care about (or i wouldn't be here!) so i'd like to get the best system possible.

 my current car has a blaupunkt stero system with 9 or so speakers of various descriptions. it's okay. how do they compare?

 edit :

  Quote:


 The sound system is integrated in the centre console. The advanced McIntosh was incorporated in the car’s design from the start, with thought given to door length, angles and shape to ensure optimum compatibility between car and audio entertainment.

 It has 13 speakers including new midrange speakers, which deliver clarity and quality of sound equal to most home audio systems.

 Door mirror gusset tweeters, remote tweeters and door woofers are provided for both the driver and passenger seats. Midrange squawkers are arranged between the tweeters and woofers.

 Coaxial two-way speakers (full range and tweeters) are provided in both rear doors.

 A super woofer is located on the rear shelf. 
 

found that on some website. it sounds like it has..
 front: 4 tweeters, 2 normal speakers, 2 woofers
 back: 2 tweeters, 2 normal speakers, 1 super woofer

 i dont really know much about speaker audio because i pay more attention to headphones. is a "super woofer" a real term? i'vce of course heard of "sub woofer" but never super woofer. also i've always assumed "woofers" and "sub woofers" were the same, but looking at the names it would seem that sub woofers do deeper bass than woofers?

 also, is "squawkers" the proper term for "normal" (mid range) speakers?

 I've read a few reviews on the car and they seem to like the audio system.. but i trust a car reviewer just as much as a plumber when it comes to audio. i'm sure they just google the name, see that the brand has a good reputation and then declare that it sounds wonderful

 after all, doesn't bose make the best headphones?


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## bhd812

if I would do a car audio ever again I would use mac amps, Dynaudio speakers and the top head clarion headunit (the one with the rotary knob).

 I have heard a couple installs and had a mac amp once before..I loved them.

 but the thing is with stock radios it might be more name then anything to, like the Lincoln LS with a THX sound system...after hearing it I lost all respect for the THX label!

 is it a stock setup or after market?


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## hugz

stock stock stock

 we go through a car every year or two. i'm not going to mess around with the car audio for this reason alone. 

 I'm certain that i can acheive much better sound by mixing and matching this amp with this head unit with that speaker and another tweeter. however, that's not an option. my choice is between stock, and stock.


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## soundboy

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *bhd812* 
_if I would do a car audio ever again I would use mac amps, Dynaudio speakers and the top head clarion headunit (the one with the rotary knob)._

 

Funny that Clarion was mentioned. Until recently, Clarion owned McIntosh. In terms of performance, mobile Macs are up there at the top. However, I don't expect any "stock" car system can match a carefully planned and executed aftermarket system. And that include those "stock" systems that carry names such as Linn, Mark Levinson, etc.


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## DrewWinters

To be fair, I have heard a few stock systems that sounded resonably good. A car is just a terrible acoustic environment, so it's very difficult without extensive modification to get anything even remotely resembling the quality of an entry-level home audio system - not to mention headphones.

 I don't say this to bash car audio guys at all, I am one! Rather, don't get your expectations too high.

 That said, there are some stock systems out there that sound pretty good - though nearly all of them suffer from a lack of deep bass and most of them will degrade fairly quickly due to low-quality surrounds and cones, not to mention the heat that comes with using explosive substances to power your vehicle (heat is the bane of magnets, if your wondering what I mean). Sound quality is acheived by carefully picking which cheap parts to put in the vehicle and where to put those cheap parts. A few hours extra design time is negligible compared to the kinda money you can make by selling $5 worth of speakers as a $1000 option.

 All that to say, don't dismiss stock systems out of hand, but don't be surprised if you find yourself thinking "Didn't this used to sound alot better?"

 Best of luck!


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## LFF

IMHO you simply can not get anything better than McIntosh. It is top quality stuff. I would suggest you keep it all McIntosh and just go to an audio dealer and have them properly check you setup and re-Eq it. You should be happy with the results.


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## mjg

they were really good stuff in car audio back in the day..

 I think they make highend stuff to for home...

 As far as high sound quality car audio stuff, i can't vouch for them..

 i like mb quart, eclipse, kenwood exceleon, names like that


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## Mat347

McIntosh amps are IMO among the very best for sound quality, you will not see any winning SPL contests...but if I were going for ultimate SQ(which I do), I would use McIntosh. This is of course the after market amps I am talking about. I recently heard some McIntosh components...and they sound very good..not quite my taste, but would make a very good match to McIntosh amps/head units. They tend to lean towards a very clean/warm but precise sound. I suppose you could see them as the tube amps of car audio??

 As far as factory systems are concerned I agree completely with soundboy. I have heard many, many premium sound systems and ALL have fallen very short of what could be built with aftermarket components for about the same price.

 But quality is relative and since I put 5k(hardware only, I did all the install myself) I know what having a top of the line stereo in a car sounds/feels like. So "unfortunately", every car I own needs some sort of sound system upgrades. 

 For instance...take your headphones of choice away and use Bose....it would take a good deal of enjoyment out of listening thru phones....but give the Bose to someone who has only heard $10 phones all their life...and they sound amazing(almost).

 But remember...if you invest in a car audio system, you can take most of the hardware with you and use in a different car. You may need new speakers at most, but the head unit(think DVD & Navigation)/amps/DSPs/Capacitors/most wiring will work in a different car.


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## PsychoZX

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *bhd812* 
_but the thing is with stock radios it might be more name then anything to, like the Lincoln LS with a THX sound system...after hearing it I lost all respect for the THX label!_


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## cillenmolin

ooooooh car audio, my speciality.

 Unfortunately my persuit of hi-fi began in the car audio environment & cost me a LOT of $$$. I've only spent about 1/5th on heaphone setup & it already sounds more satisfying.

 That being said, the Mac amps are regard by some as a little overated compared to what can be had for the same money. They are partly riding on name when it comes to their aftermarket amps. Their aftermarket Head Units on the other hand are absolutely top notch. Not looking at what else is out their though, Mac builds very good aftermarket products for mobile audio & you really wouldn't be going wrong purchasing any of them.
 When car companies contract audio companies like Mac or Pioneer or Fujitsu ten (also make eclipse which make amazingly good Head Units also), they don't really contract them because they make audiophile quality products, and don't expect them to build audiophile quality for a stock system.
 Taking that into account, it's very very hard to say that because the system is a certain brand whether it will be good or not.
 The best place to ask would be a car audio site such as www.sounddomain.com perhaps someone will have the same model car as you and can comment on whether is is a good system or not.

 On a side note & as somoene else mentioned, some stock audio systems sound very good, sometimes fantastic. A year or 2 back I heard a stock system in late model Honda Legend that rivaled some systems i've heard costing upwards of $3000. It didn't havn't the bass impact or extension, or the super details analytical highs, or the forceful midrange,,,, but it gave you a whole VERY involving, warm rendition of performances. I have to admit that I did have a hint of jelousy that i'd spent mega $$$ on my install & here was this stock system, that in many ways was more enjoyable to listen to than mine..

 I guess that's why my heaphone persuit is sending me sound a Senn + Tube route. I've had the bright analytical highs of Focal/Dyn car speakers, but when i'm in my home I just want to be able to relax back & enjoy my music 100% in a smooth manner without my brain buzzing about over analyzing the music as some headphone setups lead you into doing. 

 But yeah, final suggestion, have a look over on sounddomain, I spent a good lot of years there and is definetly on par with this site in regard to supporting audio addicts in their persuit of the holy audio world grail.


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## soundboy

I think one aspect of a top-of-the-line stock car audio system has over an aftermarket one is that the car's acoustics is taken into account when being designed.


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## cillenmolin

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *soundboy* 
_I think one aspect of a top-of-the-line stock car audio system has over an aftermarket one is that the car's acoustics is taken into account when being designed._

 

To an extent that is true.

 To a much larger extent though, an aftermarket installer can take this in to account much more. Custom kickpanels can be made to angle drivers for the best possible sound staging. Most car manufacturers will prefer to build their doors (which house speakers) on a more asthetic basis as apposed to building a door panel around the best possible places for drivers for sound.
 On another level, people installing aftermarket equipment often go to lenths to improve the acoustics of the cars & the integration of components into it. ie, driver placement, reinforcing speaker baffles with solid wood to eliminate resonance & improve response, thicker padding behind door panels & under carpet, sound deadener sprayed or matted onto metal surfaces to further improve resonance.

 I don't know TOO many car manufacturers that would go to much, if any lengths to design their system around vehicle interior. And the ones that do are still CAR salesmen & not audio salesmen so the main focus will still be on everything fitting where it looks best and most cost effective. But that is in no way to say that stock installs can't sound very good and havn't been optimized for that specific interior.. or that the manufacturer doesn't have some of the worlds best sound engineers working on the system... But someone buying the car & installing an aftermarket system in persuit of Hi-FI & not to get a new car ready for production has a LOT more option for making the system sound much better than what a manufacturer & it's engineers have...


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## Twombly

According to the August issue of TAS, the Mark Levinson engineers worked pretty closely with Lexus.


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