That's very true... cost/benefit is of prime importance, particularly with something like the automotive industry, where an audio system is something people want in a car.. but it's not even close to related to the core functionality of a car.
But consider this:
Last year I had the honor and priviledge of being invited by Stephen Ponte to visit DLC labs facility in Detroit (and hang out with a group of other car audiophiles).
I didn't hesitate to drive the 6 hours it took to get there.
We had a great time...
Got to see lots of interesting things... DUMAX machine... proprietary technologies... interesting prototypes... etc.
One of the things that DLC was working on, was a project with Chrysler, using a piece of equipment developed by DLC known (if I recall correctly) as a "spectral transfer function measurement system".
The project was to give standard Chrysler vehicles a superior sound quality, without increasing the cost of the vehicles. In effect, "premium" sound, in every car.
This device was interesting:
Essentially, the hardware consisted of a head holding two microphones that was mounted on a motorized frame, with an electronic box that was a comparator.
What would happen essentially, would be that Chrysler would take a complete vehicle, and play pink noise via the vehicle's own CD player.
The motorized head would move back and forth on the frame, which was mounted in the drivers seat, it's microphones taking measurements of the sound, which were simply fed into the comparator.
The comparator would compare that measured sound to a preprogrammed EQ curve that was subjectively arrived at, representing a SQ "ideal".
The comparitor would kick out an EQ curve... the EQ curve that would be needed to correct the vehicle's sound, bringing it to roughly the shape of that "ideal" response.
Chrysler then takes that EQ curve, ands burn it into a digital EQ component that is built into the stock Chrysler head units, to give the vehicle that "ideal" response.
The end result, supposedly, is stock Chrysler vehicles that could sound better than many SQ competition vehicles that are out there... and without increasing the expense of the vehicle.
Of course, we're still talking about less than perfect speakers here.. but the end results are quite good. Lacking in the bottom octave inherently... but that's not so bad, in the grand scheme of things.
Supposedly, nearly all 2004 DaimlerChrysler products have this enhancement... I know for sure the Jeep Liberty does.
But... consider also what this means to the audio enthusiast!
I mean, this is great news for the average joe consumer..
But for the audio enthusiast?
That means, if you swapped out your head unit, looking for SQ improvements... you'd take a big step backwards, as you'd have removed that EQ that was key to the sound quality of the vehicle, inherently.
Or, if you left the head unit, and swapped out the speakers for higher end components... you'd also take a big step backwards, as the tonality of the new speakers would be bound to be smoother/better than the old speakers... and the EQ in the stock head unit is preprogrammed to compromise for the sound of the old speakers... nearly inherently, you'd have some odd peaks/dips in the response with the new speakers!
And if you did swap it all out, and start fresh... head unit, speakers, amp, etc... might you still not improve the sound, your manual efforts, vs. the factory efforts with the assistance of the DLC science-power?
..all that money spent...
Interesting stuff to ponder.
What do you think... maybe best to install an Infiniti Basslink, and call it a day? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif
