Re: Stinkin' lousy radios

[Michael_Bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Michiel van Wessem writes:
>I disagree with you completely. I really love the sound in my 87 325es.
Way
>better that in my wife's 98 Civic. I like that. But beyond that, I
>appreciate the music that I hear more then the quality of the reproduction
>and some of the ultra-super-hifi stuff seems a little silly. You don't
need
>it to hear the music.     <snip>   he wrote that in response to:
Steve Foster:
>Just bought my fourth BMW since 1985, and they all have had one thing
>in common.  The sound systems STINK.  Virtually any rental car I've
>been in has a better sounding radio than my new 540i.  A Taurus' is
>better, and a Maxima (with the Bose system) ia in another league
>entirely.  I'm 52 and don't do all that much listening anymore;  but
>when I do I expect more than constricted mids, papery highs, and a
>total absence of lows.

Well, since Michiel has chosen to publicly disagree with Steve, I must
rally in his defense.  Come on, man!   You compare a BMW to a Civic?   And
the Civic lost?  My, my, what a surprise!    I think you are missing
Steve's point.   His point is that the BMW sound systems stink.   Is that
so hard to understand?   You say that you love the sound in your car, and
then point out that the sound quality doesn't matter?   I don't get your
convoluted point.   Secondly, Steve paid a heck of a lot of money for his
540 and thinks that for 50 large, the system should sound good.   I agree.
I have a 99 528, and although it is world's better than my 88 5 car, it
still leaves a lot to be desired.   The E28 has, by far, the worst sound
since my 71 Pontiac with it's one speaker AM radio, that I have ever heard.
And I have owned two E28's... And while I'm on a rant here (Hey, anyone
from BMW NA reading this?) where the hell is my weather band?   How 'come I
ain't got no weather band no more?   You damn cheap bastards.   You don't
have weather in New Jersey?   Some damn bean counter somewhere figured that
we don't need to know if it's going to snow, so they dropped it.

In my extensive studies, I have determined that in the late model 5 and 7
series cars, the DSP enhanced stereo systems sound far worse than the
standard system.    Unfortunately, most people don't realize that until
after they've spent the extra $1500.   Secondly, BMW has decided to replace
the standard DIN size radio with some huge computer-integrated monstrosity
that cannot be replaced with an after-market unit in these cars.  So, we
are limited to replacing speakers and maybe an amplifier somewhere.  That's
until the damn things stop working entirely (but that's another rant).

So Steve, I don't know what to tell you.   We could try swapping speakers,
that shouldn't mess up the car (if you can get the same size) and should
help the sound, but don't expect a huge improvement.    Let me know what,
if anything, you end up doing that works.

BTW, my E36 with HK upgrade sounded decent.   My (POS) Infiniti with the
Bose system sounded good, but nothing beat my old Buick G/N with a $2000
Nakamichi system.    While it worked...  can't get the Jap stuff to last.

Is there anyone left out there that I haven't insulted?   My apologies for
leaving you out.

Michael

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