Zapco hopefully
To set the low pass filters on my amp I had to download a copy of Windows XP and run it on a virtual drive on my Macbook air. The software wouldnt run on Win 7/8/10. Old amp, old software.

 

There is also a point of diminishing returns with such a raw convertible. Spending serious coin on audio that is going to get drowned out the moment the car starts rolling seems like unusable overkill, for all but the most serious of audiophiles.

 

Completely disagree! I can crank this system to kingdom come without distortion. Maybe driving 75 down the highway with the top down will drown things out a bit, but how often am I doing that...10% of the time.

 

Agree. I can hear mine loud and clear at highway speeds with the top down. The S is actually not too bad of a car for a decent stereo. It does benefit massively from adding sound deadening though.

 

Being open top and not well insulated, you're still losing much of the sound quality, even though you can crank it without distortion.

I still assert the diminishing returns occur sooner in such a car.

 

And you're more than welcome to have that opinion, not all of us share your opinion though.

 

With a relatively low budget setup (system cost about what the OP spent on component speakers) I was able to put it at max volume without any distortion (to my ears, didn't check with tools) and I didn't need to put it any louder than 2/3 volume for the music to be heard clearly at freeway speeds with the top down. The biggest loss in quality was actually the lows (in my experience) and I chopped that up to the relatively low power/size subwoofer I was using. You're always going to lose some sound quality, even with the vehicle just idling, but short of having a slick top car with heavy sound deadening, you're not going to have a listening chamber for driving around in.

 

Really? Which of the following do you consider opinions that we differ on?

1. The existence of the concept of diminishing returns

2. That the location of the specific point for a diminishing return for high end audio equipment will differ between an open top minimally sound deadened sports car, and say, a fully enclosed luxury automobile

3. That the sound quality of a high end audio system looses some of its performance when utilized within an open top minimally sound deadened sports car when driven top down at speed (or even top up at speed)

 

Every car would have a point of diminishing returns. But yes I would agree it's certainly lower in an S2000 vs a 2020 BMW 5 series with plenty of sound deadening, an actual roof structure, and thicker panels.
The thing is, you can upgrade the stock system without spending an arm and a leg. An amplifier will make a bigger difference than speakers. Not necessary to buy $700 morels. $200 speakers would still make a world of difference considering what the car came with. The stock system is hardly even usable with the top down on the highway.

 

After rereading my original post in this thread, I can see where I may not have been fully clear.

I originally said:


Allow me this do over to be more explicit:

There is also a point of diminishing returns with such a raw convertible. Spending serious coin on audio that will have much of its high end SQ drowned out the moment the car starts rolling seems like unusable overkill, for all but the most serious of audiophiles.

My point is not that you can't hear the high end stereo at speed, but rather at speed, in a raw convertivle sports car, the difference in SQ between seriously high end audio and merely really decent audio, with similar power levels and speaker sensitivity, will be greatly minimized. In other words, a point of diminishing returns...