Great sound alternative (no wiring required!)

In L.A. I've seen people knitting too. I just don't like the hypocrisy that I used to be able to look at a paper map while I was driving and it was legal and looking at the same map on my laptop is against the law...
 
Doug Dolan said:
Stan, is that the dual cupholder for the E32 7 series? Did you have to do anything to make it securely grip the e-brake handle?
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Search "cup holders" for my thread. Part # : 82 11 1 468 721 $ 25.95
From a 5 series and yes, like Steve, I used some material to take up the bit of extra space.
I always use my BMW travel cup in the car. It has a lid. Never spilled a drop!
 
TodB said:
I expect BFeng will be chiming in soon with an alternative option. John?
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Any of the good bluetooth speakers can be used in the car successfully, depending on what your expectations. My 9 year old nephew uses a very small bluetooth speaker in the backseat and it's more than enough for us to 'enjoy' his music from the front seat. Has anyone tried the Jawbone as a handfree phone interface in the car? If yes, I think that'd be a great feature to have.

Headphones in a car ... I tried some ER4's in a car and there was way too much isolation to be safe. I'd say the same is true for well performing ANC headsets, unless they have a mode that allows a reasonable amount of external noise come through (like those from my employer). The sticky point is how much of that ambient should be passed thru to the listener.

Of course, there is a philosophical argument that ANR headsets, if properly designed, could actually improve safety. I have 2 old cars that are loud enough, even at idle, to drown out everthing from a cellphone ringing to an approaching emergency vehicle (until it's pretty close). Any reduction in the sound of the car that improves detection margin for those warning sounds is a good thing. But what if you used the noise reduction to listen to music? Then the benefit wrt safety isn't so clear anymore. But it's not that different than cranking it up in your Audi A8 (which is a really quiet car to begin with). And, in practice the cop who's pulled you over probably isn't interested in this debate.

So, the safe approach is to install a discrete audio system or use a portable speaker.

My personal solutions range from noise reduction ear plugs (Etymotic ER20's or Alpine's ear plugs) to mobile speakers, to a set of ANR earbuds that pass a preset amount of speech-range energy but provide a large reduction outside of that range.
 
Just a follow up, I tested the car yesterday on a 1 hour drive and although the placement of the tablet and speaker is rather "Frankensteinish" it works well. Since the speaker is close to the driver it is audible even with the windows open at 70 mph. The JBL has a phone button so you can make and receive calls hands free and the tablet has nav., etc. Also kind of cool is that I can keep my insurance card on the tablet and if I get stuck I can use the web to entertain myself while I wait for AAA. If I ever find a complete dash for my coupe I think I will use the old one to experiment imbedding some of this type of equipment. Currently there are no extra holes drilled anywhere as I used the hole in the dash designed for the shift selector lights to mount the tablet stand and the speaker cradle just hangs on the dash (kind of "clips in"). Also the whole thing unplugs and can get thrown in the trunk if need be.
 
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