Again, you are entitled to your opinon, but i would hate to be your customer.
I cant tell how many calls i get that start out with "ive been doing car audio for 20+ years" or whatever. Appearantly in 20 years they havent learned a damn thing if they need to call me to troubleshoot.
I really do not understand how you say its a "fact" that a head unit has little to do with sound quality.If you truly into car audio SOUND QUALITY and not just slapping in radio's and 6X9's,
then you would know the audio signal ALWAYS starts with the source.
And I agree with you. But a source is either a tuner, a CD player/changer, or an ipod or MP3 player.
Standing by themselves, they make no noise at all. They all have to be Amplified.
I don't want to turn this into a "white paper" discussion, but i'll reiterate so as to make my point plain and simple. I'll keep it to mini-white paper standards.
Lets talk about reputable car audio manufacturers: Sony, Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood, Blaupunkt , Alpine (take your pick). When comparing mid-line products in and around the 200-300.00 price point, I say that you'll not be able to hear the difference between them. Given the benefit of playback through the use of the best SOURCE available ( a CD) The difference between them would be so insignificant that it wouldn't matter what brand name was on the face plate.
I also stand by the belief that the average joe thinks that because his speaker is rated to
handle xyz power, his true belief is that the same speaker "puts out" that much power. That, coupled to what typically gets thrown together usually ends up in a combo that is poorly matched, with no regard for the acoustic "side effects" that come from installing speakers w/o any sound dampening, and the whole thing sounds like pure bloody hell.
Now add the fact that Dude thinks because his Jensen radio is rated at
200 watts (
max power x 4 channels driven, probably really only15- 20 watts per channel RMS w/ some audible THD) That he has more than enough power to crank it, and you get a system that is only 24 hours away from something being blown to hell.
If That Jensen had preamp out puts, and he put a decent AMP in place of the internal amp it came with, he'd be leaps and bounds ahead and would finally get enough clean power to the speakers to insure that they'd live after dirty deeds were done dirt cheap at 110+DB for a little while at least.
The fact that the 4" speakers installed in the kicks, and the 6 x 9's hanging from the package tray were the 29.00 and 49.00 dollar specials still guaranteed that ears were bleeding in both lanes beside him.
( I'm using those sizes because it is after all, a classic mustang forum)
The key to a good system by my design criteria is to build a budget to allow you to buy the best speakers that fit your car, a decent headunit to drive them, Amplify the system to meet the needs of the user, and consider the effects of negative, unwanted rattles by using some sort sound dampening material.
And I don't just slap in a radio and 6 x9's. I was referring to the 80's when I made reference to Jensen Triaxs