You get what you pay for.

I can no longer afford a BMW.  Not a new one anyway.  Which is probably why I
continued to drive the old one.  Funny the little things you don’t notice. 
Like the quality of the carpet.  And the lack of road noise.  Just pop for the
Japanese econobox and see what you’ve been missing.  All the little things
that can bug you that you didn’t even contemplate.

Yes, the car I bought is a Saab.  But really, it’s a Subaru.  It’s a Subaru
WRX.  Rebadged as a Saab 9-2X.  Buy them while you can, because they’re not
gonna make them much longer.  Since GM sold its stake in Subaru to Toyota.

You see they stop the Subaru line.  Whip off a bunch of Saabs.  And then
start making Subarus again.

Not that they’re COMPLETELY identical.  First and foremost there’s different
sheet metal.  The Subaru’s been SABBERIZED.  In the front and back anyway. 
And the 9-2X has the steering from the WRX STi.  Which is a $35,000 Subaru
equivalent to a race car.  And there’s a bit of sound insulation.  And, a slightly
softer suspension.  Which the car magazines say gives you BETTER performance. 
Which is a conundrum to me.  But it was enough of a change that I decided to
buy the Saab.

You see, after driving BMWs for thirty years, you become inured to handling. 
You don’t want no front wheel drive puller, you want something that corners
like it’s glued on rails.  Like you’re on a roller coaster.  And the four wheel
drive Saabaru delivers this.

But not much else.

Oh, it’s DEADLY fast.  0-60 in the middle 6’s.  But there’s no trip computer.
 No extras.  It’s BUILT for speed.

I could do without the 17" wheels.  They’re no fun on the highway.  But they
came with the sunroof.

Actually, the only option I didn’t get was the Cold Weather package.  Heated
seats, windshield wipers and mirrors.  Which I would have liked, being a
skier, but I was lucky to get a car at all.  Because of the discount.

Yes, here’s the kicker.  I got my Saabaru for $9500 off.

Oh, I had to pay $1000 to get it here.  From Florida of all places.  But
still, that’s a deal.  A percentage of which was offered to everybody, but I got
even more.  I couldn’t turn it down.  A brand new car with a no pay four year
warranty?  For the elimination of headaches to BEGIN with it was worth it. 
AND, being a JAPANESE car, not an American or European one, it’ll probably last
longer than I want to drive it ANYWAY!

But, even though I paid for an upgraded stereo, it sounded like shit.  Well,
not shit, but in comparison to the system in my BMW…

Actually, the first journey I took in my BMW was to the car stereo emporium. 
I loaded it up with $2600 of gear (including the alarm).  I was having a hard
time rationalizing it but my shrink told me it was an extravagance for most
people, but for me it was a NECESSITY!  Since what I liked to do most was to
drive around and listen to music.

He was right.  To the degree where I was reluctant to get a new car.  This
was really the kicker.

I drove the Saabaru for a month, trying to live with the factory gear.  But
the buzz in the speakers, I just couldn’t handle it.  So I drove over to
Automotive Entertainment.

Cheap they’re not.  But the work they do is PHENOMENAL!  And that’s what
someone like me with OCD needs.  I put myself in their hands.

Oh, I tried to cheap out.  Go with the less-expensive amp and speakers.  But
then Richard told me I wouldn’t be happy.  He’d sell me the shit, but I
wouldn’t like it.  Had I listened to the stuff?

One note and I knew my wallet would be lighter.  You can hear the difference.
 So, even though I have a cheap car, I’ve got an EXPENSIVE stereo.

After dropping all that dough I tried to live without a subwoofer.

But unlike the BMW, there’s no trunk.  Nowhere for the rear speakers to
resonate.  So, I took the car back.  It was ready today.

The installation was better than they do at the factory.  And the SOUND!!!

Not that I have the thing yet.  Turns out they’ve got to insulate the doors
more.  There’s a buzz.  Pay this much and you want no buzz.  You want PRISTINE
sound.

And that’s what I’m getting.

It’s so funny.  Places like Automotive Entertainment are the last bastion of
high end stereo.  It’s like all the guys have been driven from their homes and
can only turn it up in their cars.  And the sky’s the limit.

I felt like a pauper.  They were outfitting two brand new Rolls Royces.  And
a Hummer.

Still, I have better sound.  Because unlike the those driving the high end
jobs, I could rip out the complete factory system.  There were no fiber-optics. 
All the electronics weren’t jumbled together.

It’s so weird putting your brand new car in the hands of these guys.

But I learned today they were experts.

They wired my subwoofer 180 degrees out of phase.  So I wouldn’t get thumped
in the head, so it would mesh with the front speakers properly after the sound
traveled up front.

God, you should see the head unit I’ve got.  You SLIDE YOUR FINGER to change
the controls.  Fuck, I can barely understand it.  But Tommy gave me a lesson.

There are a variety of factory EQ settings.  Then there’s a graphic
equalizer.  And a parametric equalizer.  And TIME DELAY!  He was showing me the time delay.  How you can set the unit so the music is centered if you’re the DRIVER!

And to demonstrate, he turned on the jazz channel.

Yup, this car stereo tuner is a JAZZ freak.

They listen to XM in the shop.  They’ve got a SkyFi right there.  But he said
Sirius’ jazz channel sounded MUCH better.  He put on XM 70, and sure as shit,
it SOUNDED like shit.  Even though the modern jazz station, 71, sounded great.

Then Richard showed me what he was doing to HIS Mercedes.  Three Audison
amps.  AVIs all around.  But, even though he’s not even paying for the gear, he
couldn’t listen yet.  Because it’s not fully tweaked, it sounds like shit.  This
is MY KIND OF GUY!

Then Richard said he wanted to talk to Sirius.  Since he sells their service.
 He anticipates a huge backlash.  He’s getting it already.  You see, Sirius
keeps DROPPING OUT!  You can put the antenna for XM INSIDE, but even with the
Sirius antenna on the roof of your car, you’re constantly losing signal.

I could have hung out there all afternoon.  You see, it’s a business, but
they’re into the SOUND!  They believe in their WORK!  They’re tech-savvy.  It’s
the way it was in the seventies.

Except for the fact there are a few more zeros on the bill!!

(Go to Build Your Saab Choose the 9-2X in the
upper left-hand corner.  Select the Aero on the next page.  My car is midnight
black just like the one on the site.  Choose the Sport Package and the Premium
Package and you’ve got my car.)