Anyone who love audiophile car system should go with head unit mcintosh mx5000+mda5000 or mx4000+mda4000 there nothing now can compete with this two head unit,im from mlysia and we test a lot of head unit include alpine F1,ODR,Nakamichi but nothing such as mcintosh,i beliave is not the best but suitable for car sounding..upgrade burr brown ic ops to burson ops ic burr brown in DAC external, you wont leave the car.
Whew!!!
I'm really glad to have found this forum since I have been in a longstanding conundrum since my beloved 94' Acura Integra GSR got stolen a couple of years ago with all my audiophile stereo system to boot! I had a McIntosh 5-way amp(1200), ADS 300 for the Diamond MacDaddy 10"sub,Diamond top-o-da-line 6.5 seperates,and my Nakamichi TD560 and remote CD changer. ARRRGGGHHH!!!! I haven't been the same since but the good news is that I have bought another GSR and am now in the process of rebuilding my system. The reason I'm hijacking this thread is that some of you guys are very familiar with Nak car audio (and I fully intend on using my other TD560 again!) and I need to ask for some wisdom and advice since I've been out of the car audiophile business for a while now. What are the BEST current audiophile 6.5 seperates for the front and what power amps are the pinnicle in your minds? I've been through alot of gear back in the 80's/90's but need some Cliffnote catch up on what is currently the "stuff"as far as audiophile car sound is concerned. Thanx a million in advance and if the mod's feel this is in the wrong place feel free to move it or start a new thread.
I'm really glad to have found this forum since I have been in a longstanding conundrum since my beloved 94' Acura Integra GSR got stolen a couple of years ago with all my audiophile stereo system to boot! I had a McIntosh 5-way amp(1200), ADS 300 for the Diamond MacDaddy 10"sub,Diamond top-o-da-line 6.5 seperates,and my Nakamichi TD560 and remote CD changer. ARRRGGGHHH!!!! I haven't been the same since but the good news is that I have bought another GSR and am now in the process of rebuilding my system. The reason I'm hijacking this thread is that some of you guys are very familiar with Nak car audio (and I fully intend on using my other TD560 again!) and I need to ask for some wisdom and advice since I've been out of the car audiophile business for a while now. What are the BEST current audiophile 6.5 seperates for the front and what power amps are the pinnicle in your minds? I've been through alot of gear back in the 80's/90's but need some Cliffnote catch up on what is currently the "stuff"as far as audiophile car sound is concerned. Thanx a million in advance and if the mod's feel this is in the wrong place feel free to move it or start a new thread.
This is definitely a unit most users here would not be familiar with, but the original Soundstream head units (when SS was an independently owned California company) such as the TC-305/308 units were built specifically for Sound Quality and it shows. Last made around 1990 or so.
You can pick them up on eBay occasionally for around $100 or less (less now, because fewer people recognize them anymore, but if you're bidding up against someone who knows, he will be willing to pay $100 guaranteed).
Soundstream spec'd and chose components/construction as if they were home HiFi components; no "Car Audio" hijinks.
AM/FM Cassette w/Dolby B/C. The TC-305 has no provision for a CD input, but any competent DIY-er can use input switching before your amplification and treat the deck as just another input.
They also made some in-dash units more appropriate for vintage vehicles, but the TC-305/308 are DIN pull-out decks. Be sure to get the pull-out housing if you shop.
Later Soundstream was purchased by "the usual suspects" and marketed the name and reputation that was built by these decks into a conventional car stereo company. The products were not bad, by any means, but the original Soundstream philosophy went the way of the bean counter's directive.
You can pick them up on eBay occasionally for around $100 or less (less now, because fewer people recognize them anymore, but if you're bidding up against someone who knows, he will be willing to pay $100 guaranteed).
Soundstream spec'd and chose components/construction as if they were home HiFi components; no "Car Audio" hijinks.
AM/FM Cassette w/Dolby B/C. The TC-305 has no provision for a CD input, but any competent DIY-er can use input switching before your amplification and treat the deck as just another input.
They also made some in-dash units more appropriate for vintage vehicles, but the TC-305/308 are DIN pull-out decks. Be sure to get the pull-out housing if you shop.
Later Soundstream was purchased by "the usual suspects" and marketed the name and reputation that was built by these decks into a conventional car stereo company. The products were not bad, by any means, but the original Soundstream philosophy went the way of the bean counter's directive.
In the pre-CD years, Blaupunkt's German-made preamp-only cassette decks were superior to almost anything out there. Berlin and New York models. Very well built and sounded great. I've kept my eye out for a used one for years, they're hard to come by...
One more.
Nakamichi TP1200 Limited Edition Special Shop Edition... everything from above but better.
All made with upgraded parts- deleted tone controls for better signal path.
I fed this a signal from a high quality DAC...Wow...
Nakamichi TP1200 Limited Edition Special Shop Edition... everything from above but better.
All made with upgraded parts- deleted tone controls for better signal path.
I fed this a signal from a high quality DAC...Wow...
I've the Pioneer DEH-P88RS MK1-great piece of kit, out of the box one of the best around at that price, very easy to use/set up with lots of useful features/processing but still natural sounding.
I'd love any of the ODR range, previously ran a demo car with the old P9-the sound was phenominal, Dyn 342s active, Diamon D9 amps and two 10" diamonds vented in the boot-though this was run through an Alto Mobile crossover (royal PITA to set up). Unfortunately for me to go from 3-way to 4-way would have required an extra £800 on the HU another £600 amp and then two 4" mids from Dynaudio £290-something I couldn't justify!
The Panasonic tub HU is a good piece of kit, known as the Bottleneck-a friend has one of these, some Hi-spec Clarions and Mac units-I know he runs the Mac in his main SQ car, through an MS-8 and has also had the tube in the pana replaced with a better one-he's on diyma, Yuri-he won't mind you asking which he prefers.
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