Next to theaters, cars are the ideal speaker environment

i am not fond of listening in my car save for long trip....

Car is midway between an headphone box around your ears and a small room....

The imbalance between reflective surface and other absorbent and diffusive surface is extreme not unlike a nude room...No uniformity here except the uniformity of reflective surface all around......

In a car source is most of the times problematic, external and internal noises, listening position is unbalanced in regard to speakers and speakers have generally drastic limitations of their own.......

I can understand that a speaker designer want to begins with precise measurement from one specific room or car tough and can create a work of acoustic art for sure...


BUT,


A thing i know is ALL speakers need room controls, a pair of speaker cannot replace the room settings by a miracle in the design....They can be designed to accomadate particular room or position for sure...

The speakers are often a box and the room is a box.....These 2 boxes interact one with another but not only and always in a destructive way, the room impeding the speakers.... By the way that explain why some people falsely claims that near listening free us from room controls...This is not true at all in any small room...

These 2 boxes interact also constructively and the room may add and must add something essential to the speakers....This is the reason why acoustical setting of the room is so fundamental in ALL case....

My main point is that the room or the car are not mainly a source of passive obstacle to be taken care but active player with advantages of their own that may work their part with the speakers..... Acoustical art is the art of balancing this passive deficit with the potential active credit of ANY room...

Controls and treatment are not there to nullify the room and make it like an anechoic chamber, in the opposite, they are there to make the room glorifying the speakers and the speakers glorifying the room... Producing then a unique synergetical room/speakers sound phenomenon...


I suppose then that we can apply the same recipe in a car and create an acoustical marvel in a car like in a specific room....

Room/speakers interaction is UNIQUE phenomenon each time...The same goes with car/speakers.....

Nothing is more powerful in my experience and experiments in audio....

Much less than 'Ideal' but certainly another environment with which to play with EQ.

I heard Richard Clarks Cadillac and his Grand National back in the early 90s on the IASCA circuit. I was gobsmacked. I haven't heard many high end systems that could come close in dynamics, accurate bass reproduction and yes, even imaging. It was two eye opening experiences.

Good example, acoustically room or car are the same problem that can be solved....

The speakers are often a box and the room is a box.....These 2 boxes interact one with another but not only and always in a destructive way.

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Roll down the windows and port the second box. It reduced EAR sound pressure, and some nasty reflective surfaces right by your Left or right ear depending where you set.. I’m the driver. BUT I don’t listen at any volume when I’m driving.. Setting still, oh yea I’ll swing the doors out. We’ll have a pound off, every now and then with the oldhvymec, and the KIDs. Under 35 mph at least one window down, with any volume.

I don’t use any OB stuff either. All the drivers are in tuning pockets, or self enclosed. AMT..

Oh I forgot.. For peanuts, too. I've done a LOT of cabs in my time.  All part of the job.. Cassette and CD in that Alpine head unit. YUP... I wire straight to my phone...NO WiFi..  BAMB...

Regards