What do Audiophiles like and buy for their cars?

I'm not too sure if I would consider "recomendations" as the absolute truth. They certainly are a guideline (especially when it comes to finding out how reliable a product is e.g. if the firmware is buggy). But when it comes to acoustics...the only recommendation I heed to is that of my own ears. Over 3 months I had tried:
RF, Velocity, BA, Alpine, LA.

My personal favourite are a brand called helix and audison which I didnt find in the country at that time. The other reason I picked MTX was due its small form factor.

I dont like them too but thats only when it comes to stereo setup that I have @ home as they can play in a more acoustically friendly environment and not amidst glass, metal and what not.
In the car I needed to suppress certain frequencies (reverse base) that caused a rattle.

And about dhik-chik, I was surpised at how awefully bad some of the very well known brands sounded.

Equalization was also important because I load the K2 Power with LFs and UBs with mids and highs.

I have used plane chants thruout the body of the car doors. I have tuned the setup to play pristine at a particular (prefered) volume beyond which they do rattle... but I dont listen at that volume...so doesn't concern me...


In short: Amongst my priorities was to keep my car as a cozy little car and not transform it into a soundmachine. Many decisions I made were in line with this principle.

Its all about listening preference at the end of the day but to be honest one of the best HU's i have come across and finally put in our cars are all Japanese and made in Japan.

McIntosh MX-5000
Clarion DRZ-9255
Panasonic CQ-TX5500
Kenwood K-CD01

Maybe Bremen is excellent in radio reception. I cannot comment on that as I have not compared the radio section.

All of the above are reference units from the respective companies and nothing comes closer in their respective price range in CD playback and sound quality.

Also its very important to have a good quality amplifier to get the best out of quality speakers like Focal along with good cables.

Now thats subjective, but more importantly I'm happy to know that there are folks who consider the japs to be outstanding in music playback. To me, they in general are "all frills and no thrills".


So what to you would have been the most recomended equipments to power the focals?

It would be wrong to generalize all Japanese brands like that. Although I'm sure you are referring here to very mass-market brands. High-end Jap brands can pack in a lot. No way I'd rule out the Japs.

You said you don't believe in recommendations, but anyway here goes

For the Focal Utopias:

Focal's new power amps
Luxman
Sinfoni
Steg
Brax

Not in any particular order. (Although it did fall in order of decreasing alphabet count)

MTX dilutes the experience. No RF, Velocity, BA, Alpine, LA (I mean LA?!?!) either.

I would. I never considered them even while setting up my home A/V; despite the fact there were some reasonably decent ones Denon, Marantz etc. I absolutely detest Yamaha and Nakamichi. Same goes for some of the US brands like BA, JBL, Bose etc.

Focal UB in home A/V section is way beyond my budget

Finally we have more of an agreement. Out of the 5 brands you have listed down, 4 are european (except Luxman). MTX amps are certainly not in the same league as the others you have mentioned, and I never did vouch for their fidelity. But they, I feel are a better lot amongst the US brands. Fischer audio amplifiers (my personal favourites) that include Brax and Helix brands weren't available in India at that point in time. Focal amps are a new release.

I would be moving to a Helix soon; infact I have already ordered a Helix A4 competetion. MTX was a stop gap selected for its small form factor

So what electronics did you get finally for home? Denon and Pioneer both make good high-end A/V products. Teac too. What speakers, if you didnt get JM Labs?

MTX is certainly the best amongst the brands listed. Nice robust stuff. But still not really up there. I agree.

I favor Brax.

My final HT Setup:

ELECTRONICS: ARCAM: DV 137 / AVR 350
SPEAKERS: ProAC Studio 140 (Front) / ProAc CC1 (Center) / ProAc Studio 110 (Surrounds)
SUB-WOOFER: ProAc ER1
CABLES:
Front: QED Genesis Silver & QED X-Tube (Bi-Amped)
Center: QED X-Tube (Bi-Wired)
Surrounds: QED Silver Anniversary XT (Bi-Wired)
SubWoofer: QED Quenex SE-SW
INTERCONNECTS:
Audio:Merlin Choppin (both Analog & Digital)
Video: QED HDMi
PROJECTOR: Not-decided (The New Optoma HD81 looks enticing)


I think we should start a different thread for this and not dilute this one...what say you

Like Ajay said not all Japanese companies are bad. In car audio the max HU manufacturers are based in Japan only. Sound Monitor, McIntosh, Denon, Alpine, JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine, Clarion, Panasonic etc. Blaupunkt is the only exception from Europe.

Moreover for focals I would recommend a good class AB design like the following amps :

Audison
McIntosh
Sinfoni
Genesis
Luxman

Out of the above mentioned brands. Audison is officially available in India.

Well, I have nothing against folks who like or prefer japanese brands, its their personal choice. However, to me (and many more I know) they mostly dont even exist.

To me, you can pick any product from any Japanese brand, you'll always find that there are products from the European counterpart that are a league ahead. Not viceversa. In terms of A/V, european brands beat the hell out of japs in competetion. Yes I certainly do admit that to afford an european brand, one needs a deeper pocket , but before that awareness.

Forget, car audio (they are sophisticated equipments), I have a normal 29" Grundig CRT TV that I use in my bedroom and I haven't yet found any Jap brand till date that even came close to it in picture quality/ sound quality / and ease of use.

I maintain: japs are all frills and hype. They could be compared amongst each other but not to good european brands and models

With the exception of drive-units and loudspeaker cabinets, almost 90% of electronic components used for making 'European' high-end electronics is sourced from Asia, most with their origin in Japan. And by 90%, I mean 90% of the most critical components, the ones that lend the most to the end result.

'Don't even exist' can be explained as 'Don't even know that they exist' with most people. But that's excusable, a better company is always one that markets itself better.

That's again a mass market story. Europeans use Japanese components, use it to their benefit, and do it well. They can also tell better stories than the Japs. That sure goes a longer way.

Cannot comment about TVs. I'll stay out of this. Although I'd wonder where the CR-Tube and loudspeaker drive-uinits for the Grundig came from anyway!

If you insist, kind sir. By the way, where is your MTX amp made? Clue: It's not even Japan!

Disclaimer: I personally don't have any affilation with a single Japanese brand(s), but I have been dazzled by enough to outright outrule them. There are far more European brands that have managed the same, and I do very loyally represent a few of them in India, but I would not let this business aspect of mine stand in the way of justice to the Japs.