What do audiophiles listen in their cars?

If you are planning on selling auto sound systems, you must also have a competent installation shop. I don't think it would make sense to try to only sell gear. For one thing, the big money is in the labor to install the gear, not in the gear itself. With complex integrated sytems (audio, phone, navigation, etc.), it is not that easy for most people to do their own installation, which is where your shop could provide value. You don't want to become the car audio equivalent of Best Buy--a place for people to look at gear, but not purchase. Particularly bad would be offering gear for sale that you will not be installing that one can find in a Crutchfield catalogue or some online equivalent.

Most towns of decent size already have car audio shops, which will make it hard for a newcomer to be competitive. I would bet that most of the work those shops do involve installing systems that are meant to be really loud, rather than catering to audiophile concerns with quality of sound. Perhaps, you could offer a quality alternatives. I don't know what brands qualify in that department these days (Alpine, Boston Acoustics?).

As a lot of posters have noted, road noise is a big problem with car audio. Your shop should put an emphasis on sound dampening products and installation. I have a fairly quiet vehicle (2011 E350) and I still have issues with noise.

Good luck on your endeavors.

Hey Larryi, I have a 2011 E550 and the noise is from awful Continental Tires!!!!

Snofun3, no reason to get reactionary about "sniffy" attitudes. It's really simple: if you like to listen to classical music (at an overall reasonable volume) the lower dynamic range of the music is drowned out by road noise even in a quiet car. You're always turning the volume up for the quiet passages and turning it down on the crescendos, too much of a pain to bother with. Ford's OEM sound systems once had a compression switch to ameliorate this problem. Sure it detracted from the ultimate audio quality, but it made listening to classical music on the road pleasurable.

Brf,

Thanks for the tip about the tires.

Bought a 2011 Accord with the intent of installing a custom system.
Favored the Pioneer stage6 CD player DES-99 or P-9, pricey but really great. Add to that DLS speakers and Amps. Their Ultimate TA2 2x100 is a Tube Amp. Coupled that with an A2 2 channel and a yet unchosen 10" Sub/amp.

But before I figured out how I could come up with $3k needed for the system, I first did battle with the God aweful road noise in the accord, and lost. So I scrapped the idea of a high end system in a honda.
( switched to Bridgestone "serenity" tires, then even tore out the seats and carpet and lined all in dynamat, still noisy) Will never buy another honda for noise ALONE.

My 98 Ford Explorer has a very nice stock sound system and a cabin built for it, and is quiet. If it wasn't so old and beat I would consider a high end system in it.