cleankutazn

Since there are so many high end stock stereo systems out now, I wanna know which one you guys think is the best sound quality wise.

paomien

maybe you can add the nakamichi sound system from the older lexus cars?

skrontz

Hear, hear!

cleankutazn

How come Lexus got rid of nakamichi? I remember in the 80's it was one of the top brands.

skrontz

It wasn't Lexus. Nakamichi went under in the late 1990s; the new owners decided not to play in the car audio market.

famous550

B&O.

paomien

I loved the Nakamichi in the 91 LS400 we owned ...

cleankutazn

What a shame, look at what they're missing out on now.

s5benzo

paomien ....iv owned like 4 lexos..loved the nakamichi sound!!...no car comes close. currently have mark levinson in 03 ls430...sounds phenominal.

IDriveAnM5

I have not heard many of these, thus, I cannot really comment. If I said HK, I'd feel stupid because I know it's not really that great.
On that subject, I have an HK system in my M5, and felt it was missing something. So, I contacted a company out of Orange County, CA, who has custom designed a new system for the M5. I found out about them through the M5 board. It is really nice - they shipped the parts out to me and flew a tech to come do the install in my garage in Ohio. Very nice people, with very talented engineers. Anyway, now my M5 system is the best I've heard, but it is a hybrid, and thus does not apply here (just my $0.02 and a story). Oh, they did deactivate the "Logic7" system, claiming it was a detriment.
Don't ask me about the specs - I have no idea what they did, and it is a stealth install, so my wife has no idea it is even in there. They added speakers and amplifiers, and I know they added a speaker inside of the rearview mirror.

I also find it interesting that Bose was not mentioned here. Remember when Bose used to be awesome in cars? I know, it's hard.

way2evil

Anyone who voted H/K does not know what a sound system is. B&O is by far the best sounding STOCK system in any car.

skrontz

And now let's have a poll for how many B&O fans actually owned a car with a B&O ;-)

cleankutazn

Oh no! you just mentioned the nightmare four letter word an audiophile would never speak of in his lifetime

AsianML

A lot of the sound systems today aren't all that great. Not sure if they're worth the premium they command on the options packages. Harman has a pretty big market share with the acquisition of many of the systems out there - harman/kardon, JBL, Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Infinity, etc.

Personally not impressed with Bose (nobody should), harman/kardon, BMWs premium hi-fi systems, or Infinity. There are a lot of others out there that I'm not too impressed by. JBL in OEM form has its strengths and weaknesses, but it's not a bad system.

Mark Levinson has a great reputation but some of their products in some models are so disappointing. Bang & Olufsen has both form and function down. I haven't had a chance to hear Burmester or Bowers & Wilkins.

So glad nakamichi was brought up. Great call by paomien.

way2evil

What would the point of that be?

skrontz

Separate actual experience from brand image.

way2evil

Oh, I didn't know you needed to own a car to listen to it's sound system.

skrontz

Listening to the sound system for a few minutes is substantially different from experiencing it every day when it comes to judging quality.

way2evil

Now that depends on who is listening.

skrontz

This is why I say that some people form the opinion purely based on the brand image.

way2evil

Why is that? Because you cannot tell which speakers produce better sound from a few hours of listening?

skrontz

If provided with a set of cars to compare, my choice of music, and ample opportunity to test the various sound settings -- sure. Of course, aside from being a professional reviewer, one would typically have to purchase the cars in question. Catching a ride in a friend's car doesn't count as a legitimate test scenario in my book. Of course, to each their own.

way2evil

Professional reviewer? So are you a journalist or do you write reviews on amazon all day?

eugene22n

I voted for ML based on the choices but I think Naim (which Bentley use) is the best I've ever heard in a car.

Roupin

Right here. Yes, it's that good.