Thoughts from the Curb

Oct 28, 2008 - Audio Appreciation Class

I've now been at Edmunds for 20 months, and in that time my automotive knowledge and driving skill have dramatically grown. Yet, out of all automotive components, my opinion of audio systems has changed the most dramatically. Before, I sort of shrugged off optional "premium" sound systems as wastes of money people buy to brag about to their friends. "Hear that, it's a Harman Kardon." I didn't think I'd care much whether my CDs played through 200W or 600W.

But now I do. There were two cars that really opened my eyes. The first was our long-term Mini Cooper S, which as I described on the LT blog, featured one of the worst stereos I'd ever heard. It was absolutely awful and it dawned on me, "hey, maybe those stereo upgrade people have a point sometimes." But that just meant that some base stereos suck. The second car was the Jaguar XF. Its Bowers & Wilkins system blew my socks off. Even with the less-than-spectacular quality of iTunes files, the B&W was crisp, clear and powerful.

After successive weekends with the phenomenal sound systems in the Acura TL w/ Tech Package and the Volkswagen CC VR6, I'm pretty sure I'm now a premium audio snob. Sure, I'm no expert and I couldn't really write an in-depth audio review, but I'm now carrying around my giant CD case in order to get the best possible sound quality rather than just iPod convenience (I made sure to go back and forth between CD and iPod with the same song in the TL in order to see the difference).

If I were to actually buy a new car today, the premium upgrade would have to be selected. Twasn't so 20 months ago.

-James Riswick

8:47 am | Categories: car reviews Permalink | Alert Administrator

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