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Hi folks,
The idea behind a premium audio system is that it should mimic the actual sound distribution of a concert hall, where the sound is basically in front of you, with voice in the middle, bass on the right and higher notes on the left. As for deep bass (boom), it can come from anywhere as the sound from a subwoofer is not directional (which is why it is typically out of sight in the trunk of the car.) Also, good bass should be "dry", not boomy or resounding. The 9-5 is pretty explemplary in this case, although those who like to rattle their mirrors with bass will find it particularly lacking...
The 9-5 HK system is among the best I've heard, with the Volvo S80 premium system being better and the 9000 Aero HK being perhaps a bit crisper in mid and high pitch (but the bass was overly boomy). Overall, it is very well balanced. If you listen to classical music, jazz and accoustic pop, it's really the ideal setup. If you listen to rock/pop, rap or hip hop, it won't be great, because it reproduces best the most natural sounds (i.e. human voice and accoustic instruments). Those speakers in the rear doors, close to the front seat, are actually part of the front speaker arangement and aren't for the rear... they are sort of like surround speakers in a home movie system, there for echo and to fill in the sound.
Many cars have more speakers, and many systems have much more of a rear bias (The Bose systems in Audis and Acuras come to mind) and are ok for sending good volume to all places, but as for proper sound stage distribution, I can't think of a worse example than Bose in "premium" systems.
The old Clario head unit in my '95 900SE was pretty good, nice and clear, but all the base came from both front door bottoms and the rear hatch area and with only 2 higher frequency up front, did not have the same separation of sounds as the 9-5. The "updated" system in the old model 9-3 was worse, with the Pioneer head unit lacking clarity and having a greasy bass, with no loudness function to clean things up.
Just my 2 cents...
Richard
'00 9-5 Aero
Had amongst the family:
'95 900 SE-T
'96 9000 Aero
'97 900 SE-T Talladega
'99 9-3 SE Convert.
posted by 66.46.7...
, Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:52:00
, Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:30:31, Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:43:47
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