Drive in silence or need some noise?

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If I drive alone the radio is always on. If I have passengers It is usually off . My hearing stinks so if the radio is on it makes i harder to here them.
 
Just depends on my mood. Going to work the radio is on. The 300 is pretty quiet inside, so sometimes it's nice to just drive home and enjoy the quiet though. The tire noise combines with the engine noise to make a low, relaxing hum-like noise.
 
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Silence is boring! I always have music playing in my car. A good stereo is a must! But I don't care if the factory system is bad; I look forward to upgrading it with aftermarket stuff. I just bought a '13 Toyota Sienna and the factory system is surprisingly good. I think, for the first time ever, I just might leave the factory stereo and speakers in it.

And I hate listening to radio. It's full of crap I don't like, and I don't like someone else choosing what I'm going to listen to. I plug in my iPod Classic with over 2,000 songs that I like and I listen to that.
 
There's a voice in my head that reverberates constantly as I'm driving:

"Don't let them get too close. Don't let them get too close. Don't let them get too close. . . ."
 
Used to always have upgraded stereos with 10" or 12" subs in vehicles, amplifiers, carefully positioned tweeters, etc.
It may sound strange, but I stopped bothering with upgraded stereos in vehicles due to becoming more of an audio snob.

Between traffic noise, tire noise, engine noise, exhaust noise, even a quiet car can still be too noisy for serious listening.
And that doesn't even include passengers talking too much noise.

So now I can usually only truly appreciate music while at home.
In the car it's just news and talk radio.
 
I'll often have the radio off on a short trip, or if I've got someone with me. If the trip is on my own and it's going to be longer than five minutes or so, the radio or something gets turned on, assuming I don't have a headache.
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Originally Posted by Oily_Thing
Originally Posted by Char Baby
...Today, I like decent sound in which you can get in almost any vehicle today. Decent meaning, 6-8 speakers with good power. Most systems are pushing between 160-240 watts. I'll take just about anything these days...


Not only are car systems sounding much better these days, but as we get older our hearing range drastically declines. Being older, we don't need those crisp highs and even as good of midrange that we needed when we were teens.

Ain't that the truth!^^^
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Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by Propflux01



Yup, i remember those days...

If you were really bad broke = Kraco
If you were just broke = Sparkomatic
If you had an extra $15, = Audiovox all the way.
If you wanted to look Rich = Pyramid
If you were rich, = Pioneer or Kenwood
if you were stupid rich = Nakamichi, Yamaha, Harmon Kardon. Altec-Lansing

I have to have some music going, as tire noise really gets to me. I seem to hear the tires even when the car isn't moving!


The older your vehicle, the better the sound system has to be!

I had me an Audiovox or three.
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I also remember these le$$er expensive brands and there were others as well such as Craig, Realistic(RadioShack), Sound Design which were the K-Mart, Western Auto econo go to brands as well. And for some reason, I always had to have Jensen speakers.

One time, I installed a Craco audio system from K-Mart in a '73 Chrysler NewPort. The system came in one BIG BOX w/160 watt AM/FM/Cassette/5 Band Eq. & 2 - 6" 2way F: speakers/2 - 6x9" 3way R: speakers. $99.
R: speakers were only so-so as the magnets were 10oz & 8ohm(IDK 'bout the fronts). But, it worked!
 
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I'm finding myself listening to the radio less and less. I enjoy the quiet. And I like being able to hear what's going on outside and around me while I'm driving. People today are way too distracted while driving. Between texting and yacking with one hand on the wheel, and the other grasping a phone, or these new dashboards with more buttons and screens than a Lear Jet. Not to mention all of these mega watt stereos you can hear 2 lanes over with your windows closed, many are an accident waiting to happen.

Occasionally on a longer trip we'll have it on softly if an oldies station is available. But it's getting to be more of a rare occurrence. Most of the newer music sounds like a car with bad bearings. As they say, all of the great music has already been recorded.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite


If that " snortin whiskey, drinking cocaine" song comes FM, on Ill end up driving TOO hard and TOO fast.


I love me some Pat Travers!
 
Always listening to music. I've owned over a dozen cars... First thing I do is install a head unit with Bluetooth if it doesn't have it already.
 
Kraco, Sparkomatic, Audiovox, that takes me back! I may have kept an 8-track or two as a reminder to how much stereos siphoned before.
Depends on the vehicle. The Mustang, why bother? The STi has such nice mechanical sounds(especially the gearbox) that I usually don't. The Chevy almost always so I can mentally tune out the tailgaters, redlight runners, left-lane hogs and drivers that take 5 seconds to react to a green light because they're texting.
Going to ease up before this turns into a rant!
 
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Radio always on and iPod plugged in depending on the car. Outside of that no other noise. Passengers are forbidden to talk to me such as my son and wife. I need 100% focus out there and the radio puts me into the zone I need.
 
Originally Posted by RichR
Nothing but noise when driving by myself.
My wife hates my music.(all death metal all the time)
My son kicked me into the 21st century
by getting me Spotify.
Alot better than Xm/ Sirius.


Chris Barnes fan at all?
 
Originally Posted by xxch4osxx
Originally Posted by RichR
Nothing but noise when driving by myself.
My wife hates my music.(all death metal all the time)
My son kicked me into the 21st century
by getting me Spotify.
Alot better than Xm/ Sirius.


Chris Barnes fan at all?


Yes Sir,
I like their pre '08 music.
Love Obituary and alot of English(Bolthrower,Carcass,Godflesh) and European (Asphyx,Grave) and some local (Jungle Rot ,Broken Hope). No singing in any music listen to!
 
Silence about 75% of the time.

I have a new car that came with 4 months of free Sirius then, I extended the subscription for 3 months. It's possible I won't renew it continuously. When the radio is on, the volume is very low -just loud enough to recognize the music. I do like the idea of Sirius because the DJ's on free radio are such mutton heads, I can't stand listening to a word they utter. Free-radio commercials are equally brain damaging and outlast the music by orders of magnitude.

Ray
 
Silence can help me concentrate and I can go hours with it. When I'd groom ski trails, I rarely listened to anything other than the fantastic Mercedes turbo diesel, listening to the turbo to set my pace. I commonly operated 12-14 hours at a time. Commuting to Chicago I let the road make its own music.
 
I find myself listening to certain talk radio stations, such as the local one which carries a certain Fox News host who shall remain nameless. When his show starts to run ads, I switch to the '50s-early '80s oldies station on FM, or their new sister station focusing on the '80s.

If there's nothing there I want to hear, I switch to my eclectic music collection on USB drive. So yes, I normally have something playing 99% of the time. Though occasionally, on the rare days when the weather is decent (meaning I don't need the A/C) and there aren't too many roaring truck engines driving around me, I'll wind down the windows and listen to the engine or the rush of the wind. That usually gets old fast.
 
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