Why does my car stereo sound so much better than my home?

And another one earns their right of passage by falling into the ancient thread trap ;)

(We've all done it - maybe the 'similar threads' should be labelled 'similar and likely very ancient threads').
I just don't know how such rubbish gets into the dedicated HiFi section. I mean car stereo sounding better than a HiFi, just give up! 🤣

This is a place for serious mocking discussions over whether expensive cables sound better or worst than a wooden coat hanger for crying out loud. 🤣
 
I just don't know how such rubbish gets into the dedicated HiFi section. I mean car stereo sounding better than a HiFi, just give up! 🤣

This is a place for serious mocking discussions over whether expensive cables sound better or worst than a wooden coat hanger for crying out loud. 🤣
Maybe the OP should just move into his car? 😜
 
I’ve spent at least 15k on a component system in our movie room, bought different components, everything... and It doesn’t compare to my car! It is technically a home theater set up but it’s tuned for 2 channel and usually used for music. At home I have def tech 9060 power towers, Marantz receiver using preouts to outlaw amplifier (tried both receiver amp only, and outlaw amp sounds way better), dual JL E112’s, and usually use Tidal on a Bluesound node 2i. The Node is set up both analog and digital, and the digital sounds better using Marantz dac. I have two base traps, some panels, and curtains for acoustics in the room. even with all that power and 4 subwoofers with 3600 watts total it’s not the same as my car! It hits hard as heck but the sound quality, clarity, balance, Room filling sound, isn’t comparable.

My car stereo is 100% stock: newer 535I M with the premium Harmon Kardon. It has two small subs under each front seat and probably 12 speakers in total. It was a 1700 option, a small fraction of what i paid at home. The sound is incredible, the base is powerful but balanced, it will rattle your chest if you crank it up with some hip hop or similar, and Tidal from an iPhone sounds unbelievably good. I also had a VW with a upgraded Fender sound system (made from Panasonic parts believe itor) that may have been better than this BMW! Both put any home system I’ve ever heard toshame. Closest I’ve heard the the clarity was Bowers &wilkins diamond 800 monitors that were 3000 each powered with thesame Marantz receiver. Maybe my JLs would make them sound better...I’m not going to keep guessing though!

what do I need to make a 500 square foot room with 10 foot ceilings sound like my car? I’ve tried a lot of things and spent a lot of money, it’s pretty frustrating..I don’t think it’s possible...I think the BMW acoustics are too good to duplicate at home. There’s not a hard surface in the car besides the windows.

Please don’t tell me why my system sucks and that i made bad purchasing decisions, I know already...I need to know what equipment will get the job done beyond a shadow of a doubt, and other useful solution based tips/responses. thoughts?
Simply put, car acoustics are much better than in a home, a vehicle is too small for any bad sound affects to happen while a home has all kinds of room for that. It took me a long time for me to get my home theater or stereo to sound just right. Even my outdoor theater has no problems with bad sound affects because there are no walls for reflections. Anyway, have a good one.
 
Simply put, car acoustics are much better than in a home, a vehicle is too small for any bad sound affects to happen while a home has all kinds of room for that. It took me a long time for me to get my home theater or stereo to sound just right. Even my outdoor theater has no problems with bad sound affects because there are no walls for reflections. Anyway, have a good one.
I would think that it really depends on the car. How solidly it's built, how much sound insulation, etc..

My 2020 Honda HR-V sounds pretty good until the bass drums or organ pedal notes kick in, then there's a weird buzzy vibration sound. When driving, I can't really listen to music with a lot of dynamic range (anything Late Romantic and beyond) because quiet passages disappear and are completely inaudible. Road noise doesn't count. If I'm sitting still, then it sounds fine.

If it were let's say a 600-series BMW, I'd expect it to sound better, a LOT better, sound system aside.

So now we can start an audiophile automotive forum. 😜
 
Simply put, car acoustics are much better than in a home, a vehicle is too small for any bad sound affects to happen while a home has all kinds of room for that. It took me a long time for me to get my home theater or stereo to sound just right. Even my outdoor theater has no problems with bad sound affects because there are no walls for reflections. Anyway, have a good one.
Its hideous.

There is no way you can avoid the reflections from the huge area of windows. If anything maybe the best thing is to embrace it and make use of the reflective surface. Often you end up with tweeters well away from mid/woofer. Then there is the time alignment between L+R (one very close, other far away). Granted that could all be improved a lot with frequency and time correction DSP for one person at least.

Then add that few cars are quiet enough inside for road/engine/exhaust noise even air fan/con noise not to be a major factor along with the many rattles/buzzs etc in many cheaper cares once you attempt to put a decent sound system in them.

Unless the car is ultra quiet, then you can end up having to have it quite loud so that quiet bits are audible with any kind of detail over other noises and in the small enclosed space of even a large SUV, I find that a bit oppressive and not good for your ears either.

I used to have a good sound system in my old BMW 3 series coupe separate powers amps, EQ, PSU etc with sub. Sure it was great for EDM etc, but no way in hell it even remotely compares to what I have in my living room and I consider what I have at home to be quite modest compared to many people here. The car itself was tight construction so no rattles, buzzes etc and when closed up even the sub was not annoying outside, but being a 'sports coupe' it was still noisey.
 
Music and soundtracks are emotional provocation. The system is emotional-transportation. One's car and one's home are contexts.

As mentioned by others above, a car has the incredible advantage of being where headphones meet nearfield -- And when driving, the music is essentially dance music whether or not you're actually slapping the wheel and bouncing in your seat. So the comparison to a car is both relevant and irrelevant.

A certain technology or overall "solution" is only as relevant as its ability to contribute to a good result. "Surround sound" is a necessary given for some, an absolute enemy to others, and in the middle are many who think they have to have surround sound without knowing that the immersion they seek might better be enabled by a 2.0 of 2.2 type system.

Unless you're hung up on having it pretend to rain in your room, and that people have to aurally enter your room from behind you, surround sound is very questionable in the home. A center channel speaker is always in the wrong place -- a virtual center is always in the right place. A virtual image, such as the "sound" of space in "Gravity" or "Midnight Sky" is bigger on a 2.0 or 2.2 system than on a multichannel system.

And, as noted above, AV receivers are the handcuffs and leg-irons of good audio -- and even more processing, Dirac Live for example, is only going farther down the rabbit hole of Bandaids.

Another time, possibly consider the best streaming integrated for $6K, best full-range speakers for $6K, the best power product and cable (for sound quality, not the silly distraction of surge suppression) for $1K, and the best speaker cables for $2K.
 

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