Damon: I recently have gotten right back into Car Audio following some time off. (Family two cars 3 kids and a mortgage). I am a big fan of high quality sound and am very particular on how my system sounds. Could you give me some guidance in setting up for sound quality. All information is appreciated.

Nipper....

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Pioneer DEH-P8250
Pioneer CDX-P670
JL Audio VR600-CS Front
Pioneer TS-A1695 Rear
Rockwood 200 x 2 (Subs)
Alpine MRV-F407
2 x Sony 10" Sony Boxes

You say in your question that you are very particular about the type of sound you like, and this should give you pointers to what type of improvements you can make to your system.

Without discussing these preferences it is impossible for me to help you.

Damon Dupriez

Sorry Damon I should of been more precise!!

I don't mean "particular" as in it has to sound a certain way, but particular as in clear and clean.. Does that make sense...
My music listening background goes back to vinyl records and "Audiophile" recordings in particular. (Makes me sound Old). All my current CD's are original recordings as I find the quality of burnt CD's to be a little suspect.

I like my audio to sound as if I am actually there. Acoustic or live recordings.

I hope I am making sense here...

Basically, what do SQ Judges look for???

Would I need to make wholesale changes to the system I have in my signature (other than the Rockwood amp which will be upgraded) to get into SQ events.

I'm sorry if this all sounds amateurish but this is all new ground for me..

Hope you can help!!!!!

Nipper....

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Pioneer DEH-P8250
Pioneer CDX-P670
JL Audio VR600-CS Front
Pioneer TS-A1695 Rear
Rockwood 200 x 2 (Subs)
Alpine MRV-F407
2 x Sony 10" Sony Boxes

Sound quality is a relative term, and for each person it can mean a different thing. Still, there are a number of things that hold true to help any system sound good apart from using high quality components.
In no particular order these are:

1.Knowing what you want
Audition some fine home audio systems to help you set a sonic benchmark to aim for when building your car's own system. You'll find that one particular type of tweeter dome material will usually catch your favour - so look for car audio brands that offer similar designs and materials to find a similar sound. Auditioning speakers with your favourite program material (and not rushing!) will reap rewards.

2. Power
Good dynamics form part of any good sounding system, and the more power you can have available the greater the dynamic range your system will have without threat of distortion negatively effecting performance. I recommend at least 100WRMS for each main speaker and 300+WRMS for subwoofers for any speaker system, and more power again when low efficiency speakers are used.

3. Low noise
Sound sytems with no noise floors can take advantage of high dynamic range to really bring a recording to life. Any component with a 'Signal to Noise' ratio that is greater than 100dB is good, with some greater than 110dB these days. Remember that your system's noise floor is only as high as the lowest S/N ratio of all your components. So having three components with an S/N of 110dB means nothing when your fourth has an S/N of 90dB.

4. Good speaker placement
From car to car the ideal speaker placement to offer balance and depth is different, and some people prefer different sound stages to others. Visit an SQ sound off and audition some cars, then look for the type of staging and imaging that suits you. From here an experienced installer can assist you in achieving a similar sound stage in your car - if that's possible. Unfortunately, narrow, short, and high cars are always difficult to produce wide would stages in.

5. Correct speaker enclosures
Whichever speaker system you choose it is still vitally important to install them into enclosures that will allow them to work to their potential. Subwoofers in particular sound different depending on enclosure type, and if accurate tight bass is what you like stick to sealed or ported designs with Low-QTS values of 0.707 or below.
Full range speakers are just as important. Midrange drivers can sound horrible in kickpanel installations if there isn't ample room behind the driver to form some form of 'enclosure'. I had this problem with the Alpine DDDrive components in my old burgundy 200SX. Most mids are designed to work well in infinite baffle when mounted into a door cavity, and doors always need to be treated with deadening material to avoid resonances. Tweeter placement, similarly, has a great bearing in SQ, but they are much easier to experiment with before final positioning thanks to their size.

6. I quiet environment
If you own a car with a quiet interior you will be able to enjoy every last nuance of your sound system's performance. If you can reduce you interior's ambient noise level by 3dB it will sound like you've doubled your amplifiers' power output!

7. Equalisation
With so many different car interiors, car audio products, and listening tastes out there, it makes sense that some EQ will be needed to fine tune your system to meet your requirements.
Often 30-band EQs aren't required if you don't plan on competing, but a good 14-band EQ or a flexible parametric EQ can do wonders. Also, because of all the different recording qualities chosen by different artists, it helps to have enough tweakable EQ on hand (like an in-dash processor) to help make quick adjustments on the road.

8. Your own attitude
At the end of the day you can get way too anal-retentive about car audio and forget what you are into this scene for in the first place - to ENJOY music. Sometimes you need to remember to stop listening to your sound system, and start listening to the MUSIC instead....

Damon Dupriez

Thanks Damon: I appreciate your views on SQ. I agree I base my car system against my own Home System that is made up of mainly European Speakers as I love their sound.
B & W Digital Monitors (Main) and JPW (Rear Surround) speakers. Harmon Kardon Amplifiers, Denon CD player and Polk Audio Sub's.. It is far easier to set a sound stage in the home than it is in the car.
Thanks for the info....

Nipper.......

------------------
Pioneer DEH-P8250
Pioneer CDX-P670
JL Audio VR600-CS Front
Pioneer TS-A1695 Rear
Rockwood 200 x 2 (Subs)
Alpine MRV-F407
2 x Sony 10" Sony Boxes