The Great Speaker decision Is NOW within reach.

[Florian]

And the winner is Apogee Acoustics rising from the grave with the new supersound booster

By the way, the article is quite good.

[GMichael]

By the way, the article is quite good.

I read it. I agree. It covered everything very well. But a Bose lover would never get past the begining.

By the way, I do really have a Bose system in my car, and I really do like it. But I can also tell that it's not the ultimate in sound. It's good. But that's it. My Infinity's sound much better, and they are only "good."

[SlumpBuster]

By the way, I do really have a Bose system in my car, and I really do like it. But I can also tell that it's not the ultimate in sound. It's good. But that's it. My Infinity's sound much better, and they are only "good."

You're right. I had an Audi A6 with the Bose/Navigation system. It was very nice. Certainly the best factory system I've ever had. But, I know some car company recently started putting Mark Levinson products in, and I think Chyrsler is using Boston Acoustics. I haven't heard those. But the Bose car systems do seem to be a different animal from their home audio counterparts.

[topspeed]

You're right. I had an Audi A6 with the Bose/Navigation system. It was very nice. Certainly the best factory system I've ever had. But, I know some car company recently started putting Mark Levinson products in, and I think Chyrsler is using Boston Acoustics. I haven't heard those. But the Bose car systems do seem to be a different animal from their home audio counterparts.

Our cars are whole different animals and come with an entirely different set of expectations. Wind roar, tire noise, and exhaust thrum combined with hellish acoustics all conspire to make the interior of a car one of the most difficult places to achieve good sound. My wife has a Bose system in her SUV and it sounds pretty good...for an OEM system. It has decent, if boomy, bass but still lacks clarity in the upper mids and treble. You know, typical Bose. Honestly, the Infinity Gold system I had in my Jeep GC back in the '90's killed it. That said, both are still worlds better than the travesty of a stereo BMW somehow deemed worthy for my current car. It is, in a word, sh!t.

Lexus has offered ML systems in their cars from the brand's inception in the early '90's. I've heard it in the LS430, SC430, and the latest GS430 (I have a lot of friends into Lexus). It's quite good, although every one seems tipped a bit hot to me. Odd, considering Lexus' rep for coffin quiet interiors. Volvo offers Dynaudio systems which are superb and Aston Martin now has Linn systems for a mere $4750(!) upgrade. To date, the best OEM car system I've heard is the ESL/Panny DVD-A system in the Acura TL. To me, it has the best balance combined with the most cohesive presentation. To this day I can't understand why they have the ESL in the TL yet put a Bose in the flagship RL .

One last thing, while I despise DSP in home audio, it is almost mandatory to correctly deal with the wacko acoustics inside a car.

[MrClean]

One last thing, while I despise DSP in home audio, it is almost mandatory to correctly deal with the wacko acoustics inside a car.

You need to hear the new NHT Xd system, with an open mind, before you categorically dismiss prudent use of DSP. These are amazing speakers...

J

[Florian]

Digital room correction can improve the sound in a home audio system. But DSP can not make a bad speaker sound good. Some speakers are very difficult to work with and correct dips, but you can squeeze some good sound out of them. I had a Digital Room Correction device myself from Tact Audio.

-Flo

[MrClean]

Hi Flo,

DSP can probably improve a bad design, but it can really optimize an already excellent design when used with discretion. There are some things that just cannot be achieved with conventional means.

However, DSP is just one component of the Xds. Probably most importantly is the digital filtering, which eliminates the conventional crossover network. NHT was able to choose drivers with extremely low distortion over very specific portions of the audio spectrum, because with steep digital "brick wall" filtering, they can control precisely what goes to each driver. And each driver gets its own 150 watt amp (except for the sub - each of its drivers get 250). They have been able to virtually eliminate all lobing, producing a huge, stable and precise stereo image that does not collapse "off axis".

In the future, NHT will make available user-accessible room correction (the microphone input is already on the back of the processor) wherein each owner can optimize the output for their specific room. They already sound phenomenal, but this should make them even better.

If you can get a chance, I encourage you to listen to the NHTs. They are in very short supply right now, so finding a pair to hear may be difficult, but definitely worth the effort.

http://forum.adnm.com/viewtopic.php?t=381

J

[topspeed]

You need to hear the new NHT Xd system, with an open mind, before you categorically dismiss prudent use of DSP. These are amazing speakers...

J

Allow me to clarify: DSP for room (or the interior of the car) correction is good. DSP for "recreating" the acoustics of the 3rd stall in the men's restroom of Yankee Stadium is bad.

Capeesh?

[MrClean]

Allow me to clarify: DSP for room (or the interior of the car) correction is good. DSP for "recreating" the acoustics of the 3rd stall in the men's restroom of Yankee Stadium is bad.

Capeesh?

No argument here, although you shouldn't judge the 3rd stall in the men's room of Yankee Stadium until you've heard the Divas set up in there.