Methods for assessment of car audio systems

In the construction of high quality audio equipment the aim is often a situation where the listener is positioned in a relatively large room e.g. a living room. The listener is supposed to be seated in an ideal listening position with the loudspeakers in a symmetrical setup, and it is assumed that the room is more or less quiet. A very special type of listening room, that becomes relevant in connection with the development of high quality audio systems, is the car cabin. It has some distinct differences from the reference listening situation: It is relatively small, a number of listeners are seated quite closely, and there are a few more or less pronounced noise sources such as: Wind-, engine- and tire noise. It is evident that such a listening environment brings other aspects to the assessment of audio systems than the reference situation. The project aims at finding methods as well as metrics for the controlled assessment of audio systems in cars.