I heard Richard Clarks Cadillac and his Grand National back in the early 90s on the IASCA circuit. I was gobsmacked. I haven't heard many high end systems that could come close in dynamics, accurate bass reproduction and yes, even imaging. It was two eye opening experiences.
Next to theaters, cars are the ideal speaker environment
We live in a world where lots of car brands are bragging about bespoke stereo systems from big names. From JBL to MBL.
As a hobbyist who makes speakers, and can at least sympathize with the pros I’ve been thinking that cars are probably the best single environment for speaker designers. Of course, it’s not without it’s own challenges related to noise and room acoustics, but think about it this way:
With a car audio system you are never guessing about the room acoustics. You know exactly where the user is going to sit and how the room is going to behave.
When you design a speaker system you always have to keep in mind the end user’s most likely environment, or you pick an environment. Roy Allison with his speakers, and to some extent Snell, tried to eliminate as much as possible by making speakers that went along the wall. Not 100% room control, but certainly better than nothing.
As a hobbyist who makes speakers, and can at least sympathize with the pros I’ve been thinking that cars are probably the best single environment for speaker designers. Of course, it’s not without it’s own challenges related to noise and room acoustics, but think about it this way:
With a car audio system you are never guessing about the room acoustics. You know exactly where the user is going to sit and how the room is going to behave.
When you design a speaker system you always have to keep in mind the end user’s most likely environment, or you pick an environment. Roy Allison with his speakers, and to some extent Snell, tried to eliminate as much as possible by making speakers that went along the wall. Not 100% room control, but certainly better than nothing.