I’ve been AWOL from the board the last few weeks due to an increasing issue with tinnitus (ringing in the ears). As you might imagine, anyone with a large investment in audio, along with superb Martin Logans, would not be amused by ear problems. I’m worried sick…
So I started looking around at what might be the root cause. Playing music too loud? Maybe, but I do that very rarely, if anything most people ask me to turn it up when watching TV or a movie. So I don’t think that was the main culprit. So it had to be the 3 hours a day I spend in a car commuting the 50 miles each way to work. This is mostly secondary roads, so I maintain a decent clip during most of the commute.
The trouble is, the car I’ve been driving for the past 2 years is substantially noisier than what I had before (Audi A6). The 2005 Subaru Legacy GT is wonderful car, handles like a sports car and out-drags many of them, and sure beats any 2wd car in the rain
But, a rigid body, low profile tires, hard suspension and rough road surfaces all combine to generate incredible low frequency noise in the cabin, and to make matters worse, there was a standing wave at something below 20hz right at my left ear. 3 hours a day of that and no wonder they ring.
So in December I decided it was time to consider alternatives, and while ear plugs were tried for a week, they a) don’t work that great at VLF and b) are illegal to use while driving. Frankly, it was time to find a quiet car again.
The challenge is that quiet = heavy, as most ‘sport sedans’ in the luxury bracket all weigh in at around 4K pounds.
My requirements are for AWD and reasonable performance, so that limited the field somewhat, but you’d be surprised how many $40 to $50K cars now have those features.
I considered Lexus GS350 (w/AWD), Infinity G35x, BMW 3 and 5 series with AWD and the Acura RL. No Audi’s this time around.
In the end,
Acura RL won out with its fabulous new (introduced in ’05) RL with SuperHandling-AWD.
I got an ’07 with the Tech Package (Navi, and tons of other gizmos).
It definitely is very quiet. It even features active noise cancellation in the cabin. The system uses two microphones and the audio system to actively cancel noise inside the cabin. Very effective.
My ears are no longer being pummeled, so hopefully in a few months, the tinnitus will decrease.
Now, that grin on my face when I drive, that’s not going away anytime soon
A cure for my tinnitus
Hybrid Mode
