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

[edisonbaggins]

Can anyone vouch for a particular model of Hyundai Genesis?

 

[amontass]

I have a 2008 Acura RL who's CD player uses Quad CDs. In fact the car came new with a surround sound demo CD.

 

[shokhead]

I can Play DVD-A and DVD's on my 14 Audi SQ5 with Bang & Olufsen. Love it!

 

[jaybird100]

I had surround in a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback with a Soundstream 308 head unit, Precision Power 4 channel amp, Fosgate "Gavotte II" surround processor, and MB Quart and JL Audio speakers. It sounded amazing! My question is, does anyone still offer a head unit that plays DVD-A and SACD in multichannel?

 

[shokhead]

I had surround in a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback with a Soundstream 308 head unit, Precision Power 4 channel amp, Fosgate "Gavotte II" surround processor, and MB Quart and JL Audio speakers. It sounded amazing! My question is, does anyone still offer a head unit that plays DVD-A and SACD in multichannel?

Factory, plenty. After market, don't know. Oddly mine plays DVD-A and DVD's but NOT my DTS disc's.

 

[tarkusnj]

I had surround in a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback with a Soundstream 308 head unit, Precision Power 4 channel amp, Fosgate "Gavotte II" surround processor, and MB Quart and JL Audio speakers. It sounded amazing! My question is, does anyone still offer a head unit that plays DVD-A and SACD in multichannel?

The only player I have seen that will handle both formats is the Bose in my Ferrari...ok, not my car but there is a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti that contained a custom Bose universal head unit around 10-15 years ago

 

[tarkusnj]

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: 2010 Hyundai Elantra, 2010 Toyota Tercel, 1999 Honda CR-V, 2001 Audi TT, 2012 Hyundai Elantra

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

What surround formats can you play: DTS, Dolby Digital, DVD-Audio, DTS cd, Dual Disc, divx, Dolby PLII movie or music

How would you rate the system, and would you recommend it to others: System can play everything except SACD


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!

 

[jaybird100]

Factory, plenty. After market, don't know. Oddly mine plays DVD-A and DVD's but NOT my DTS disc's.

I'd be looking for aftermarket. I'd even settle for another surround processor, similar to the one I had, to use with my existing head unit.

 

[Infomas]

I have a 2015 Acura TLX with the factory installed system. It plays DTS CDs, but that's it for multi channel. It does run the DTS upmix, which can sound pretty good, if your source has some dynamics to it. It's recommended that if you're listening to Sirius XM music channels, turn the upmix off. I believe the system is basically a Pioneer and it sounds pretty good. My problem is that I'm tired of discs. All of my multi channel music has been converted to files and I'd love to just plug a drive in and have hundreds of albums to choose from.

 

[elmer]

Just completed the install of the Sony MEXDV2200 head unit into my Toyota Avalon. Plays SACD, DTS/Dolby, DPLll for CD & DVD & aux in (front panel) for MP3 (Zune player). Using the existing speaker system (9 speaker factory set-up) - just added an 8" Kicker Sub installed under the rear deck as an "infinite baffle" - powered by a Kenwood 350W amp (using the Sony's built amp for the rest). The only real difficulty with the install was figuring out the wiring of the Metra adapter cable to maintain the temperature controls/display via the old head unit (now tucked away in the trunk wheel well). Everything works exactly as it should (to my surprise). I'm very pleased with the sound - a major upgrade with a minimum of modification to my vehicle - and quite reasonable from a cost perpective too!

One of the pleasures of being a member of this forum (since 2005), is the occasional visit to your old self to get a perspective on the present (and possibly the future), courtesy of the past. At the time of my original install (Sony MEXDV2200), my 2006 Toyota Avalon was 1 yrs old - AND I was using a Microsoft Zune player to boot! 13 years later through thick and thin, it’s still humming (not the Zune). The end is near though, but I think/hope I can squeeze out a few more years. I mainly play DTS DVD (conversions from my collection) as I find road noise and the basic limitations of mobile audio not worth the risk of the wear on my SACD collection. So 14 years and counting of driving pleasure for a less than $500 investment is a pretty good deal. The current mobile surround market doesn’t look promising but if you’re a member here you should should know never to say never.

 

[CRWSurround]

I own a 2008 Acura TL Type S with the factory installed ELS system. It is a true 5.1 system which plays DVD Audio discs, DTS discs, Dual Discs, etc. It does NOT play SACD Multichannel and it will not play Super Discs produced my Monster. As another respondent referenced there was an Acura ELS Demonstration Disc included which had some very good demonstration tracks narrated by Elliot Scheiner, who supposedly designed the system for Acura and also had an excellent collection of musical selections with all types of music, but featuring his surround mixes on the pop/rock tracks. These demo discs are still in high demand on Ebay. This system is still working great. I love it and it actually is one of the main reasons I purchased the car in 2010 along with the rareness of the Type S. As an Acura owner, I always get a new Acura as a loaner when mine is in for service. Speaker systems in newer Acuras have improved significantly since mine was produced BUT I must report that what passes as an ELS installation in today’s new Acuras is NOT a full surround system. The only surround discs I could get to play on the new system were my DTS discs and those did not sound as if they were 100% discrete channel decodings. I had planned to get a new Acura with the ELS unit if I ever decided to get rid of my Type S but that plan is scrapped now. Given that they already had a great system, it seems bizarre they would dump it. In the early days of the original ELS installation they would heavily promote it, including special demonstration booths at the major auto shows. Bottom line it died because those of us on this forum are a rare breed as compared to the general populace and there are not enough of us to buy factory installed surround systems that we would demand them in numbers that would keep them produced.

I have been a surround sound fan going back to when I was a kid and first discovered an article that explained how I could create a surround effect on many albums just by wiring a single speaker into a “difference” channel in the rear. The rest is history as they say. My DVD Audio and SACD Multichannel disc collections are among my favorite possessions and I still add good specimens when available.

 

[shokhead]

There must be few and far between car that will play SACD let along SACD surround.

 

[Infomas]

I own a 2008 Acura TL Type S with the factory installed ELS system. It is a true 5.1 system which plays DVD Audio discs, DTS discs, Dual Discs, etc. It does NOT play SACD Multichannel and it will not play Super Discs produced my Monster. As another respondent referenced there was an Acura ELS Demonstration Disc included which had some very good demonstration tracks narrated by Elliot Scheiner, who supposedly designed the system for Acura and also had an excellent collection of musical selections with all types of music, but featuring his surround mixes on the pop/rock tracks. These demo discs are still in high demand on Ebay. This system is still working great. I love it and it actually is one of the main reasons I purchased the car in 2010 along with the rareness of the Type S. As an Acura owner, I always get a new Acura as a loaner when mine is in for service. Speaker systems in newer Acuras have improved significantly since mine was produced BUT I must report that what passes as an ELS installation in today’s new Acuras is NOT a full surround system. The only surround discs I could get to play on the new system were my DTS discs and those did not sound as if they were 100% discrete channel decodings. I had planned to get a new Acura with the ELS unit if I ever decided to get rid of my Type S but that plan is scrapped now. Given that they already had a great system, it seems bizarre they would dump it. In the early days of the original ELS installation they would heavily promote it, including special demonstration booths at the major auto shows. Bottom line it died because those of us on this forum are a rare breed as compared to the general populace and there are not enough of us to buy factory installed surround systems that we would demand them in numbers that would keep them produced.

I have been a surround sound fan going back to when I was a kid and first discovered an article that explained how I could create a surround effect on many albums just by wiring a single speaker into a “difference” channel in the rear. The rest is history as they say. My DVD Audio and SACD Multichannel disc collections are among my favorite possessions and I still add good specimens when available.

I've got to say that my 2015 TLX sounds very discrete. They are still using similar equipment, as best as I can tell, they just don't support the DVD-A format anymore. I make my own DTS CDs and, to me, they sound similar enough to the sound in my 2010 TL that I no longer miss the DVD-A support.

 

[timbre4]

I had surround in a 1986 Honda Civic hatchback with a Soundstream 308 head unit, Precision Power 4 channel amp, Fosgate "Gavotte II" surround processor, and MB Quart and JL Audio speakers. It sounded amazing! My question is, does anyone still offer a head unit that plays DVD-A and SACD in multichannel?

We all dreamed of having one of those!

Have a 2004 Acura TL with the factory DVD-A ELS system which is pretty good. I'm a little happier with the DVD-A rig in my 1988 Civic LX sedan here: Pioneer AVH-P7600 DVD-A head unit, Cambridge Soundworks component speakers in front doors, CSW III center on dash and CSW III for rears. Two 10" Pyle subs in truck boxes behind seats. Amps are Advent 4 channel for mains, Jensen 2000 for center, Proton DPD 275 amp for the subs. Still a sweet ride on nice days on the backroads.

 

[tarkusnj]

I can Play DVD-A and DVD's on my 14 Audi SQ5 with Bang & Olufsen. Love it!

Just curious...is your B&O accessing the MLP layer or just the DD? Wondering because I have never heard of any B&O dvd-a players.

 

[sjcorne]

Speaker systems in newer Acuras have improved significantly since mine was produced BUT I must report that what passes as an ELS installation in today’s new Acuras is NOT a full surround system. The only surround discs I could get to play on the new system were my DTS discs and those did not sound as if they were 100% discrete channel decodings.

I've had two TLX's now (2015 and 2018) with the ELS system and can absolutely confirm that playback of both official and burned DTS-CDs is 100% discrete. I do find it a bit odd that the speakers in the back doors appear to be playing content meant for the front channels, but the actual rear speakers (behind the back seat) definitely get discrete rear channel content.

 

[Quadwreck]

I don't presently have a working sound system in my '87 VW Vanagon, but it does have a speaker in each corner, I presume factory-installed.

 

[Ninecats]

Nope, not even my Volvo XC60 which is fully equipped otherwise. Noticed that all speakers are Harman Kardon but stereo only. Apparently you can add surround if you buy it completely new. Other models (V90) come with B&W system.

 

[Steve Schoultz]

Not sure if you Acura RDX 2019-2020 owners are aware of the simple fix for the initialization problem. If you turn the audio system off before exiting the car, then turn it on after you start the car, no initialization delay occurs. I assumed the system was going through some type database build each time the car started. However, I followed the same procedure and removed the USB drive after the system was turned off. Then I added new titles to the drive. I plugged the USB drive back in and started the car. Then I turned on the audio system. Viola! No initialization. Sorry to go off topic for all you that don’t have this system, but thought I should pass it on.

 

[JonUrban]

I've had two TLX's now (2015 and 2018) with the ELS system and can absolutely confirm that playback of both official and burned DTS-CDs is 100% discrete. I do find it a bit odd that the speakers in the back doors appear to be playing content meant for the front channels, but the actual rear speakers (behind the back seat) definitely get discrete rear channel content.

This drove me crazy at first back in my Acura DVD-A days. I thought I was authoring DVD-A's wrong. I ended up creating a test disc ("Front Left Channel", "Front Right Channel", ...etc) You know, like the old quad demo discs. I then looped it and put my ear to all of the speakers one at a time. And yes, the fronts were in fact playing in the rear door speakers. It appears that they wanted the rear seat passengers to hear what the front passengers heard. Really wacky.

I don't think the ELS 3D system does this, although I haven't specifically tried it. I will do that once it gets over 20 degrees out here!