well admittedly i've never been in a demo car ... but i've been to most shops and talked to many friends who are audiophiles .. i got one friend with probably 4k of sound system in his integra ... i have not had one of them recommend pioneer except for head units so i can only go by what i've been recommended .. also of all the speakers i've auditioned in the shops .. i have to say that none of them has impressed me ... nothing like focals or eclipse ... i was lookin at a hot 4s magazine the other day and i saw some review of splits which costs from 1.5k to 3k .. WTF?? i guess everyone has their own tastes ...