[thedavidian]

im new to car audio, i know home audio very well. i just bought a 1991 mercedes benz 300se. its been well taken care of, and i wanted to put something as prestigious as the car its self (being the last hand built mercedes before they went full stream production).
not knowing anybetter, i was going to put boston acoustics and then wrap the whole car in dynamat. i live in southern california, and it gets really hot down here.
i came across a web page that spoke of denon and MAC head units. i knew Mc had head units, but i didn't know denon did.
i cannot find information on high end car audio as easily as i can for home audio (i design home theaters). I did take note that the McIntosh does not have HDradio and/Ipod connectivity. Is there a high end HU that does? if not does it do MP3 cds?
what are other high end HU that come to mind?

what system would you built for a car like this?
and i need help with setting up my audio- i don't know what to get.
i dont know what kind of speakers fits in my car.
i know i want an HU, amp, and 1 sub, but i would like the sub to be small ( i need my trunk space).

i wanted to wrap my car in dynamat, i had researched and some people said that it was the best, and most reliable- what do you guys think? i want to line the roof (i don't like southern californian heat), the floor board- to reduce road noise, and the doors for acoustics.

please help.

 

[sq_assasin]

I did take note that the McIntosh does not have HDradio and/Ipod connectivity. Is there a high end HU that does?.

Most, if not all, true high end headunits do NOT have a true ipod interface/connectivity. It's about playing a CD as accurately as possible. Not compressed data.

what system would you built for a car like this?

No one can really answer this for you. The system I would build may not be the system you would want...nor fit into your budget. In your home, do you require only the best and are you really critical? What type of sound are you interested in? Warm, smooth, just clean.....budget?

 

[Brian_smith06]

Given the decks that you are considering I'm assuming that you dont mind spending a little bit of money so I'm going to suggest this deck. It has all the processing most people would desire and has all the options you listed that you want. This is considered by many a pretty nice sq deck

http://www.crutchfield.com/s_130DEXP99R/Pioneer-Stage-4-DEX-P99RS.html



I know once I get my 04-06 GTO I will be running this deck as well

 

[TREETOP]

The McIntosh MX406/MX4000 head units will play an iPod through a Clarion iPod adapter, I want to say it's the EA1251. Control is limited, but it's a direct connect/control.
They also have Aux in, via RCAs.

 

[thedavidian]

i wouldn't mind paying out the money to get a good system- i just don't know where to start or how. i need direction.
yes- in home audio i only get the best, or close to it. i know my way around that.
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i liked the mcIntosh and denon cause of their reputation in home audio, pioneer it quite good as well; esp. elite.
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i also found that there are great car audio manufacturers as well: nakamichi, clarion amongst others.
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but i really wanted something that looked and fit aesthetically in an old mercedes. denon and Mc did just that, and quite well. the rest-- look like toys, too colorful, too flashy. i would imagine them in fast/furious movies.
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i like my sound to be smooth, i don't like warm (and don't like yamaha >:u[ )
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thanks for your input.

 

[thedavidian]

Control is limited, but it's a direct connect/control.

control from the Mc unit its self?
i was going to go direct from the ipod.

 

[thedavidian]

Most, if not all, true high end headunits do NOT have a true ipod interface/connectivity. It's about playing a CD as accurately as possible. Not compressed data.

the thing is i don't buy cd's anymore. i don't mind burning mp3 cds in lossless uncompressed format (i know how to do that)

but switching between cds every time i wanna change up tunes is so 90's.

i do thank you about the "Most, if not all, true high end headunits do NOT have a true ipod interface/connectivity."

i would like to know other brands names in the same aesthetic and performance category of denon and Mc

 

[t3sn4f2]

Most, if not all, true high end headunits do NOT have a true ipod interface/connectivity. It's about playing a CD as accurately as possible. Not compressed data.

Yes because another digital input and a different graphic user interface is very bad for quality.

And USB interfaced devices (ie iPods and thumb/hard drives) only play lossy compressed formats.

And a vibration prone car mounted transports are soooooo much better then a bit for bit rip of the original CD played back from a solid state buffered device. Not to mention the lovely sound of a disc spinning in the head unit.

 

[captainobvious]

Many high quality head units these days have an aux input (this is usually an RCA type). So at the very least, you can still connect your iPod or other MP3 player to the unit. Some units have ipod integration which enables you to search through your library and display song titles, etc. I personally dont use one of those, but instead the RCA route. Works fine for me.

Depending on your tastes, the Clarion DRZ-9255 is one unit to look at. Simplistic yet classy looking, very feature packed and EXCELLENT sound.

Do you plan on just swapping out the existing speakers with higher quality units and utilizing the factory locations, or doing some custom work to put the speakers in the locations you want them?