ROLL CALL: Who has surround sound in their car(s)?

[JonUrban]

if you have a car with a factory installed surround system or one you installed yourself (DVD-Audio, SACD, DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Q8 or something else), please respond to this thread and tell us:

What year, make and model of car:

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed):

What surround formats can you play:

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:


If you have more than one car with a surround system, please respond twice (you can keep it in the same post or a second post).

If it's a system you installed yourself, let us know what you used for equipment and the details of the head end.

THANKS!

 

[JonUrban]

What year, make and model of car: Acura 2005 RL

Did you install it yourself? (if not factory installed): No - Factory Installed

What surround formats can you play: DVD-Audio, DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: System is excellent. It's not a "mirror shaker", but it has punch. Great surround. The 6 disc changer allows mixing of CDs, DVD-As, and DTS CDs, with a visual indication of what is playing. Some DTS CD-Rs have problems playing, so that part is a crap shoot. Still, a great system. NOTE: This is a BOSE system, not an ELS system like other Acuras.

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What year, make and model of car: Acura 2007 RDX

Did you install it yourself? (if not factory installed): No - Factory Installed

What surround formats can you play: DVD-Audio, DTS, DPLII

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: System is excellent. I like this one better than my RL. The inclusion of DPLII for stereo CDs is great. The seperation from the DPLII is startling. The 6 disc changer allows mixing of CDs, DVD-As, and DTS CDs, with a visual indication of what is playing. Some DTS CD-Rs have problems playing, so that part is a crap shoot. This is an ELS Surround System, designed by Elliot Schiener and manufactured by Panasonic. It's worth the option price, which also includes XM and a Navigation System, among other things.

 

[Cai Campbell]

What year, make and model of car: 2000 Honda Civic Si

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): Yes

What surround formats can you play: DTS, DPLII

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: I'm very happy with the system. It is a Clarion deck with a separate surround processor and six-disc changer. I use a Fosgate four channel amp and a Fosgate mono amp for the subwoofer in the trunk. The front and rear speakers are identical. All speakers are by Diamond Audio and sound fantastic. The only drawback to the system is that DTS discs will not play where they left off when I restart the ignition so I have to restart them and ffw to where I left off. DPLII for stereo discs is a real treat!

 

[Larry Geller]

What year, make and model of car: 2005 Acura TL

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): Factory

What surround formats can you play: DVD-A, DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: Awesome, would recommend it to anyone!

 

[winopener]

What year, make and model of car: Fiat Grande Punto, 2006

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): Installed by myself: Fosgate head unit

What surround formats can you play: DD and DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:
Nice system, it does have a nice sense of ambience when cranked up with some old quad good stuff. It's not a car with a decent acoustic by itself but for trippy kilometers it's good enough.
About recommending to others: as a audio system, yes; as a car, no.

 

[elroy]

What year, make and model of car: 2004 Acura TL

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed):

What surround formats can you play: DVD-A and DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:
Excellent. It is what first turned me on to surround, and I think it is the best feature in a car that has a lot to recommend it.

 

[Bob Romano]

I have the same cars as Jon except my RL is a 2006

What year, make and model of car: Acura 2006 RL

Did you install it yourself? (if not factory installed): No - Factory Installed

What surround formats can you play: DVD-Audio, DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: System is excellent. It's not a "mirror shaker", but it has punch. Great surround. The 6 disc changer allows mixing of CDs, DVD-As, and DTS CDs, with a visual indication of what is playing. Some DTS CD-Rs have problems playing, so that part is a crap shoot. Still, a great system. NOTE: This is a BOSE system, not an ELS system like other Acuras.

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What year, make and model of car: Acura 2007 RDX

Did you install it yourself? (if not factory installed): No - Factory Installed

What surround formats can you play: DVD-Audio, DTS, DPLII

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: System is excellent. I like this one better than my RL. The inclusion of DPLII for stereo CDs is great. The seperation from the DPLII is startling. The 6 disc changer allows mixing of CDs, DVD-As, and DTS CDs, with a visual indication of what is playing. Some DTS CD-Rs have problems playing, so that part is a crap shoot. This is an ELS Surround System, designed by Elliot Schiener and manufactured by Panasonic. It's worth the option price, which also includes XM and a Navigation System, among other things. The DPLII also works with the radio and XM as well.

I love em both!!!!
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[MC Maniac]

What year, make and model of car: 2002 Corvette

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): Yes - unit is the JVC KD-AVX2

What surround formats can you play: DVD-A, DTS, DPLII

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:

Just love it! Only regret is that I didn't get one sooner - The unit is staying with me when the car goes...

 

[kvsawilson]

What year, make and model of car: 2005 Toyota Matrix

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): Self installed

What surround formats can you play: DD/DTS

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: I've got a Rockford Fosgate RAVDVD1 head with a 4 channel amp. It's a 4.0 setup with the stock speakers. The car is way too loud to really do any critical listening. My biggest goal was to allow me to play my dts cd's and music dvd's as I don't find enough time at home to listen to them and spend many hours in my car each week. In fact, I average over 40K miles/ year. The RF head unit is not great. Wouldn't recommend it except that it was by far the cheapest rig I could find that would do what I was looking for.

K

 

[quadtrade]

KW-AVX706


What year, make and model of car: 2006 Ford Explorer

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): self installed

What surround formats can you play: DTS , dvd-a, dvd video

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:
Wonderful unit, can be bought way under retail on ebay or Amazon. Full screen allows for easy menu sight when traveling down the road. Can even watch a dvd if desired and change the screen with a button push if needed!!

 

[Dylan Berichon]

I don't know if mine really counts, At the moment I have a single speaker in the rear of my car that has the out of phase info in it. It does create a bit of a "surround" effect, but it's not much of anything.

I'm going to likely buy a DVD-A player soon.

 

[Q-Eight]

What year, make and model of car: 1970 AMC Gremlin

Did you install it yourself (if not factory installed): self installed

What surround formats can you play: Q8

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:
Craig/Pioneer Floor Mount FM Quad/Stereo Deck. Good Clarity, Good power considering it's age. Even have the home base unit for when removing the deck from the car. Good Solid tape latch, healthy motor power. Very low noise. Only downside to the unit was I had to cut a notch out of the package tray to make the unit fit the floor.[/QUOTE]

 

[Frantic]

I don't know if mine really counts, At the moment I have a single speaker in the rear of my car that has the out of phase info in it. It does create a bit of a "surround" effect, but it's not much of anything.

I'm going to likely buy a DVD-A player soon.

I love it!!

I have the same speaker in the rear of my "65" Mustang, but my stereo Flowmasters cancel out the "Out of Phase info."

I guess I'll have to buy an Acura

 

[Dr. AIX]

I purchased a 2005 6-speed manual Acura TL primarily because of the terrific Panasonic DVD-Audio system...and I listen mostly to my own AIX Records discs in the car.

I'm wondering whether anyone on this list has a copy of the "GIft of Music" disc that we created for the Acura RL last year. It contains 7 tracks, including a sort of "assemble a 5.1 mix" presentation that I thought was useful and informative.

I'm not really supposed to talk about our involvement in the program but thought the list was a good place to ask about the GOF disc.

 

[JonUrban]

I purchased a 2005 6-speed manual Acura TL primarily because of the terrific Panasonic DVD-Audio system...and I listen mostly to my own AIX Records discs in the car.

I'm wondering whether anyone on this list has a copy of the "GIft of Music" disc that we created for the Acura RL last year. It contains 7 tracks, including a sort of "assemble a 5.1 mix" presentation that I thought was useful and informative.

I'm not really supposed to talk about our involvement in the program but thought the list was a good place to ask about the GOF disc.

Congrats on the TL. A great car, I must say. Unfortunately for me, I have a 2005 RL, and it came with a crappy Bose demo DVD-A instead of the 2006 AIX version.

It's the most underwhelming DVD-A I have that is not a Silverline or a disc with Bugs Bunny on the front!

 

[mtgc]

Re: ROLL CALL: Who has surround sound in their car(s)?

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What year, make and model of car: 1977 Chevrolet Corvette

Audiovox 8 track and AM/FM
Did you install it yourself: yes

What surround formats can you play: Quad 8 track

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others:
I would recommend this unit to others, if they can find it.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[jarofclay73]

1. 2006 Acura TL

2. Factory-installed

3. DVD-A/DTS-CD

4. 9.5/10 - Would have given it a 10 if it also played DVD-V.

 

[jarofclay73]

It's the most underwhelming DVD-A I have that is not a Silverline or a disc with Bugs Bunny on the front!

There's a DVD-A with Bugs Bunny on the front? Oooo... Must Get!

 

[EPuccio]

Who first had surround sound in their cars or on a bike! In 1968 I had a Chevy Nova with a Roberts 770X R/R deck powered by a Terado Inverter. Using woofers & tweeters with Dynaco quad .Moved to Quad 8 Tracks in car and on a bike, 3 wheel delivering newspapers.

 

[CPR]

'05 Acura TL
ELS Surround DVD Audio
I own about 25 DVD A's
Favorites are LOVE; Brothers in Arms; Black & White Night; Tommy; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Hotel California; & Rumors
Sound in the car is great
It could use a bit more power
When the windows are open, the sound dissipates