Car Stereo Stuff

[Greebe]

I'll comment simply with...

GURM is 100% correct!!!

[rant]

These sales fools do nothing more that pad their pockets with cash from the gulible people who believe their BS and their Marketing teams do more to harm the industry than anything else with their psychobabbling crap.

There is a time and place for everything. Like time compensated cables, yes they have to be custom made for each and every application, but these are typically used in radar & communication systems where time domain signal correction is an absolute must, NOT AUDIO!!!

So many times I've heard people claiming, Oh my awsome system has no more than 0.00007%THD+IMD with a S/N ratio of 134dB...

What a bunch of overhyped crap they buy. Distortion measured at that level can only be done in a RFI clean area, which is normally a RF shielded room (cage). While being measured and tested with some of the most expensive and best lab grade test equipement available on the planet and even then the test equipement is located ouside of that room in order to prevent contamination!
Then you have their proclaimed S/N ratio, that even in the most prolific and detailed recording studios can't achieve! I know first hand, been their, done that.

Now what they always forget to realise and not mentioned by these sales and marketing hype experts (cause if they did, all their other claims would fall to pieces!) is the speaker has the toughest job of any other componet in the chain. Most every speaker made produces THD in the range of 5-10% if driven even at modest SPL's!


[/rant]

[Greebe]

Continued...

Back on with the wire gauge size criteria... the only reason for such high gauge wire to be used (like 1-4 AWG) is due to the resistance (loss) when extended lengths must be used but only to power an amp, NEVER for speaker connections! Like an Amp in the trunk of the car powered by a stock battery located in the front. This only helps a tad in the end tho, as even most 4-6 gauge cable is perfectly fine and they should have a seperate battery very near the amp's location anyway for best results.

(don't get me started on the use of these 1 farad caps they sell for ~$150-200 a pop! (it's not that large caps don't help, but the price they charge for them!)

Kindness, I hope you'll never use that LCD monitor while driving.

That placement ie use should be outlawed.

(I get hopping mad when I see truckers driving the highway while watching TV. Errrr)

BTW nice setup otherwise

[DentyCracker]

Couldn't have said it better. The sad thing is that some consumers believe the hype.

[Pneumatic]

I have to admit that we used the front screen on a trip over the 4th of july. We had Gladiator and a few other movies on in the front while the kids were watching The Little Mermaid and other Disney films in the back (throught the headphones). I did more listening than watching but my wife was able to watch the movies and it really made the 12 hour trip more tolerable. The majority of the trip was spent with us listening to CD's and the kids watching movies on the back monitor.

I am not real sure about the laws. I have heard from some that it is flat out illegal to have full motion in the front compartment Just as many others say that while not illegal it is frowned upon by the police and they could ticket you for something. I suppose that you would have to give them a reason (ie: weaving or other reckless driving). In any event, a simple press of a button retracts the screen into the dash and unless you KNOW that it is there you would never know that there was a screen up front. It slides out and flips up when you start the car and retracts when you shut it off. It does (in its defense) display the info for of the radio, CD changer, and navigation system so even if we aren't watching movies it is always up and running. Even just listening to the radio the graphisc equalizer is bouncing around so there is ALWAYS motion on the screen.

The most dangerous part about the trip was other drivers trying to see what was going on in our car. They would pass us (or I would pass them), then they would slow down or speed up and crowd the line to try and see what we were watching. There was one occasion that I shut the front monitor down, and stopped the movie in the back to get a guy to move on. But, most of the time it was just us and a LONG straight highway with nobody else on it. When we were in traffic (going through major cities) I turned off the movies in the front. I do my best to stay safe. Having my kids in the car make safety way more imputant than playing with toys.