What do audiophiles do in their cars?

I Like Alpine R’s for Sound.
problem is convertible cars road noise. No matter how good the sound, the ambient noise makes you want to turn volume up to overcome it. This didn’t bother me when I was young but now when I stop after a drive and shut the music and the engine....what a relief.
best sound system I had in a car was Acura Legend base model Bose 6speaker system (upgrade was 8 speakers). I would take new CDs and sit in the driveway to hear them before listening to them on my home system. Worst sound system was the Bose in my Infinity.  One note bass and all.

In reply to “So, I couldn’t really care less how good my car system is. I don’t do any serious listening in my car anyway.”

that totally misses the point for me.
i spend quite a bit of time in my car. , so while the sound target isn’t the same  audiophile quality level as in my house, it’s certainly annoying if the sound is crappy..and similarly the ride is much more enjoyable if the sound is good.
I’m not going to focus on the sound stage or the vibrato of the cello while driving...but I do notice left/right separation.
it doesn’t take much (money/effort) to get a car system to sound decent. To improve from “decent” starts to get pricey , time and effort consuming with diminishing returns escalating quickly. Complicated electrical schemes, opening body panels to apply sound insulation, compromises in speaker location...all in a much closer than near field listening position......I thought I was smarter than the average bear when I was young and wore isolation headphones while driving. That was a $200 ticket .

reading through the various responses, the key points to this i think are

- car audio matters if one spends a lot of time in the car, even if the sound quality target cannot approach a proper in-house system
- cars themselves are used for different reasons/occasions - e.g. an exciting drive in a sports car doesn’t need music, as the car would supply its own, whereas a long cruise or commute can often benefit from some nice music
- starting with a smooth, quiet car certainly helps make the music played in it sound halfway decent
- car audio, due to its challenges and less than true hifi sound, can actually be quite enjoyable, and makes us just enjoy the music and be less ’audiophile ocd’
- music playing in cars can contribute to many a memorable moment

+1 jjss49

@rixthetrick

hi Rick, there is a right way to integrate aftermarket gear into today’s models, but it’s got to be done properly.....and you would be someone who could do that.

enjoyed meeting you and your wife, hope it happens again.

cheers,

Mike