30 - Friday, July 31, 1992 — North Shore News AUTOMOTIVE Photo submitted THE LEXUS SC 400 features a Nakamichi audio system with truck-mounted, 12-CD auto changer. Luxury autos showcase trends in audio systems ADVANCES IN car audio systems have a way of pig- gybacking on the success of new automobiles. Some automobiles, particularly luxury cars and sports cars, pro- vide a showcase for the latest, state-of-the-art sound systems. Bose and Audi, Alpine and Lam- borghini, Delco and General Motors are just three examples of successful car/stereo associations. With the possible exception of economy car owners, today’s buyers expect good stereo systems as part of the overal! experience of buying a car. To satisfy grow- ing expectations, automobile manufacturers and audio com- panies are working closely together to develop sound systems specifically designed for each par- ticular car, thereby maximizing the benefits and decreasing the costs. There are many examples of in- novative new audio systems in 1992 automobiles, too many to list here. As a way of sampling the latest innovations, I’ve chosen five new vehicles which offer some particularly unique audio systems. MAZDA RX-7 Mazda’s new rotary-powered sports car offers a Bose Acoustic Wave music system that was designed specifically for this car. The Acoustic Wave system pro- vides high-fidelity sound reproduction, particularly a pow- erful, deep bass. Play it softly or turn it up full-blast, the Acoustic Wave system produces no distor- tion whatsoever. The main feature of the system is a plastic “‘waveguide,’’ a plastic tube about nine feet long and 614 inches in diameter mounted in the trunk. Two 6%-inch woofers are mounted inside the waveguide along with two digital mode am- plifiers. The bass sound emanates from special grilles at the end of the waveguides behind the passen- gers. The system also includes two speaker/amplifier modules in the doors, a Bose 44-inch HVC (Helical Voice Coil) high-perfor- mance full-range driver, and a digital switching amplifier. Lastly, mounted in the top cen- tre of the dash is a Bose 2%-inch tweeter/mid-range speaker. The speaker faces the window, reflec- ting sound to prevent near-wide localization of the sound, a com- Greg Wilson AUTOMOTION mon problem in sports cars. An AM/FM tuner with cassette and CD player is mounted in the console, offering tone controls, seek and scan with automatic music search, Dolby Noise Reduc- tion and Dynamic Noise Reduc- tion, The Bose Acoustic Wave music system works so well, passengers will probably only notice how good it is when they try to speak. Played at high volume, music will easily drown out a voice without - hurting the passengers’ eardrums. MERCURY VILLAGER Mini-vans are spawning their own unigue sound systems design- ed for ease of use, a large listen- ing area, and multiple passengers. The recently introduced Mercury Villager offers three different sound systems including an op- tional ‘Super Sound’’ system for the audiophile. The Villager's sound systems were designed with families in mind. Rear passengers (read: teenagers) now have much more control over what they want to listen to. Two sets of remote con- trols in the rear seating area allow passengers to plug in a pair of headphones and switch off the speakers. They can also adjust the volume, select AM or FM, choose one of five pre-set stations, or cy- cle up and down using a ‘‘Seek”’ button. However, front passengers (read: parents) have the option of overriding or locking out the sound system controls from the front seat. Another feature parents will appreciate is an automatic volume reduction when the vehicle is turned off. The radio automatical- ly lowers the volume to a preset level, just in case the previous driver or passenger left the volume too high. The Villager’s optional CD player has a ‘‘shuffle’’ feature that randomly plays music tracks on a disc, AMS for repeating a track or seeking the next one for- ward or backward, and a feature that compresses frequency range of music to boost faint passages See Vigor's page 31 Pe ee ee ee ee Is your leaking air- — conditioner affecting the OZONE LAYER”? 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