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What is a esoteric HiFi upgrade? Just seen it listed as an option on a car coming up for sale at allvehicles and i havent heard of it before
 
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T23PHY said:
What is a esoteric HiFi upgrade? Just seen it listed as an option on a car coming up for sale at allvehicles and i havent heard of it before

A HI-FI upgrade that's intended for or only likely to be understood by a small number of people with specialised knowledge.

Steve at alltrophys being random again probably. :lol:
 
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stevegunnis said:
T23PHY said:
What is a esoteric HiFi upgrade? Just seen it listed as an option on a car coming up for sale at allvehicles and i havent heard of it before

A HI-FI upgrade that's intended for or only likely to be understood by a small number of people with specialised knowledge.

Steve at alltrophys being random again probably. :lol:

ha ha, see if the man himself can explain what it is!
 
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Dsturbed said:
estoric = specialized, for those in the know/Hi end/etc

cheers fella! was there a stereo upgrade available then from Renault or is this likely to be aftermarket jobbie?
 
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I looked up esoteric about 25 years ago when I saw it in Car magazine - probably in relation to a Bristol article by LJK Setright!

Actually, it's an Alpine head unit (not unusual), but I have yet to get to grips with the amps, speakers and cables. Will have the car in a few days.The fingertip controls will be inactive, which is a shame. I will have the original kit to go back in if necc. Nice low mileage car though.

This post reminds me of a Mk 1 BMW 323i (still one of my favourite ever cars, with BMW Sports seats, short centre silencers and Getrag close ratio gearbox of course!) i used to work on. It was run by B&W loudspeakers and had a huge Hi-FI set up which in the 80's was quite something. Nakamichi Radio Cassette, with bi-azimuth head I recall and Dolby. Proper cabling, all that cost a fortune in those days. Boot full of amps and fabulous speakers. I took it on an extended test drive to listen to Tommy by The Who , and Sting, Ten Summoners tales, which had just come out. That car had the most memorable esoteric HiFi from that era I remember. Even had these flat 6x3 tweeters built into sun visors.
 
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allvehicles said:
I looked up esoteric about 25 years ago when I saw it in Car magazine - probably in relation to a Bristol article by LJK Setright!

Actually, it's an Alpine head unit (not unusual), but I have yet to get to grips with the amps, speakers and cables. Will have the car in a few days.The fingertip controls will be inactive, which is a shame. I will have the original kit to go back in if necc. Nice low mileage car though.

This post reminds me of a Mk 1 BMW 323i (still one of my favourite ever cars, with BMW Sports seats, short centre silencers and Getrag close ratio gearbox of course!) i used to work on. It was run by B&W loudspeakers and had a huge Hi-FI set up which in the 80's was quite something. Nakamichi Radio Cassette, with bi-azimuth head I recall and Dolby. Proper cabling, all that cost a fortune in those days. Boot full of amps and fabulous speakers. I took it on an extended test drive to listen to Tommy by The Who , and Sting, Ten Summoners tales, which had just come out. That car had the most memorable esoteric HiFi from that era I remember. Even had these flat 6x3 tweeters built into sun visors.

thanks for clearing that one up. posh car trader talk then :wink:

sounds like quite an ICE setup the previous owner had put together there then, surprised they've left it all in though
 
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allvehicles said:
I looked up esoteric about 25 years ago when I saw it in Car magazine - probably in relation to a Bristol article by LJK Setright!

Actually, it's an Alpine head unit (not unusual), but I have yet to get to grips with the amps, speakers and cables. Will have the car in a few days.The fingertip controls will be inactive, which is a shame. I will have the original kit to go back in if necc. Nice low mileage car though.

This post reminds me of a Mk 1 BMW 323i (still one of my favourite ever cars, with BMW Sports seats, short centre silencers and Getrag close ratio gearbox of course!) i used to work on. It was run by B&W loudspeakers and had a huge Hi-FI set up which in the 80's was quite something. Nakamichi Radio Cassette, with bi-azimuth head I recall and Dolby. Proper cabling, all that cost a fortune in those days. Boot full of amps and fabulous speakers. I took it on an extended test drive to listen to Tommy by The Who , and Sting, Ten Summoners tales, which had just come out. That car had the most memorable esoteric HiFi from that era I remember. Even had these flat 6x3 tweeters built into sun visors.

So it's just an after market ICE upgrade then!?!?
 
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I think I might just take it out and keep it for another car. It kinda makes it into a Full Fat Trophy otherwise. Esoteric, In the same way that Steve's sister said his car was stupid and pointless, the same could be said by some to spend £1500 on changing the stereo. Enough of the semantics, time to move on.
 
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allvehicles said:
I think I might just take it out and keep it for another car. It kinda makes it into a Full Fat Trophy otherwise. Esoteric, In the same way that Steve's sister said his car was stupid and pointless, the same could be said by some to spend £1500 on changing the stereo. Enough of the semantics, time to move on.

an upgraded headunit and decent speakers i think is probably essential, especially if you spend a lot of time in the car. not sure about anything more though in a car that has essentially undergone a weightloss exercise
 
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T23PHY said:
allvehicles said:
I think I might just take it out and keep it for another car. It kinda makes it into a Full Fat Trophy otherwise. Esoteric, In the same way that Steve's sister said his car was stupid and pointless, the same could be said by some to spend £1500 on changing the stereo. Enough of the semantics, time to move on.

an upgraded headunit and decent speakers i think is probably essential, especially if you spend a lot of time in the car. not sure about anything more though in a car that has essentially undergone a weightloss exercise

Unless you balance the addition of the weight with loss of weight... e.g. an exhaust system, lack of rear seats etc.

I have gone down this route and have actually ended up with a lighter car despite the addition of amps, subs etc. (however not your normal Halfords ICE crap!) as a result of new exhaust, losing rear seats etc etc.

Ok, so it's only 5kg lighter but still better than adding weight for no good reason! My 20k miles in 7 months means that an upgraded stereo is more than warranted... and it easily comes out when the track beckons ;) Nurburgring in two weeks... woohoo!

Cheers
O.
 

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I have the car now and the kit includes Alpine headunit, proper cabling, 2x JL Audio amps and a removable subwoofer. Also JL Audio speakers and silk domed replacement tweeters. The sound is of biblical proportion. I listened to Muse, QOTSA, PJ Harvey, British Sea Power, Cooper Temple Clause and The Strokes albums, they all sounded fantastic on it. I would however have spent my own money putting the kit in something silky smooth and quiet to enjoy the hifi, and not a car with half the soundproofing thrown away! But it's a worthy system for the car.
 
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allvehicles said:
I listened to QOTSA, PJ Harvey, British Sea Power, Cooper Temple and Clause albums, they all sounded fantastic on it

can't say i've heard of any of them artists!! :roll: :lol:
 
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About time you did then 8) Clarkson would describe the sound from the system as 'Biblical'.

I am about to advertise the kit as it's been removed from the car to make it all original again. It will go straight into a Clio if anyone is interested. Fitted value new with expensive cabling £1500. If anyone wants to make an offer for 6m old equipment that looks and sounds as new via a pm feel free.

ps: You added an 'and' between Cooper Temple Clause. tut tut.
 
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T23PHY said:
allvehicles said:
I listened to QOTSA, PJ Harvey, British Sea Power, Cooper Temple and Clause albums, they all sounded fantastic on it

can't say i've heard of any of them artists!! :roll: :lol:

Ah :) 'Go with the Flow' and 'Reptilia' are too of my favorite go faster singles! Of course with the Trophy's stock stereo there's no difference between listening to them on CD or on the radio :wink:
 
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lol I like all their stuff including Josh Homme's Desert Sessions albums. I'd say they are about as good as it gets at the min, most RnR is pretty mundane nowadays.
 
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