Car Audio Brands and Products: Peter Steinbacher's Opinions
Peter Steinbacher of Pssound says a brand's reputation often tells you little about how its speakers or amps will sound in your car. He judges gear by what it does once it is properly installed and tuned, and by value for money, not by price, looks, stickers or competition hype. This post covers how he sizes up a brand and what he says about the ones he uses most; these are his personal opinions, and he is open about Pssound's business ties.
The short version
Peter rates gear by how it performs once properly fitted and tuned, and by value for money, not by price, looks or stickers.
In his view many brands with a harsh or bad reputation are let down by the fitting or the tune, not by the product.
His long-running picks are Acoustic Elegance for infinite baffle (IB: a sub mounted in a sealed wall, with the boot as its box) bass, Steg for value drivers, Mundorf AMTs and Accuton for the top end and midrange, Micro Precision for musical drivers and amps, and Helix and Zapco electronics.
He is wary when a new product is called the best because it won competitions, and suggests giving it five years for reliability to show.
Some views have changed, notably on Zapco and Helix, on One Audio as an alternative to Acoustic Elegance, and on speaker cable, so use the latest.
How Peter judges a brand or product
Peter judges gear installed, tuned and in a car. In his view, very revealing drivers, such as Focal, Accuton and other low-distortion designs with metal or very stiff cones (and some soft domes), are so transparent that they expose a bad tune, and that is when people call them harsh. Softer-sounding speakers seem more laid-back, but he asks how you then get that detail into the system (watch).
Focal: he says, "Focal is not harsh, just people cannot set it up." In a tuned work van he found nothing harsh, and he says the latest tweeter is better than older ones, which tended to scream a bit more easily (watch).
Hertz and Audison: he says there is nothing seriously wrong with Hertz Mille Legend and that the shops using it struggle to get great results, while he can make it sound good. Of Audison Voce he says shops do not do it justice, which is not the speaker's fault (watch).
Competition hype: he says to be sceptical when a new product is called the best because it won competitions. He puts competition at maybe 1% of the market, and says many products did one thing well but came with too many problems to live with (watch).
Labels: he calls hi-res stickers marketing nonsense, aimed at buyers who do not know what works in a car (watch). He also warns that many makers put an automotive sticker on a home speaker.
Ties to keep in mind: Pssound has exclusive global distribution of its Mundorf AMT (since 2023), has pushed the Steg MSS3 (Steg's best-seller) hard and has access to Zapco products (ESB is Zapco's sister brand). Peter also builds Morel's demo cars in China, and said in 2020 that he had no business connection with Acoustic Elegance (watch).
The top end and midrange: Mundorf AMT and Accuton
At the top end Peter keeps coming back to two names: the Mundorf AMT (air motion transformer, a type of tweeter), which Pssound sells in its own version, and Accuton. Our tweeter guide covers tweeters in general.
Mundorf AMT
For clarity, transient speed and micro-detail he knows no other tweeter at that level. Perhaps one listener in ten is not convinced, but he says everyone they have fitted them for cannot go back. You need to hear them in a system, especially one he has tuned, to get their full potential (watch).
He says on performance it could easily be a five-grand tweeter, and some tweeters do cost more than that, yet the AMT costs maybe a half or a quarter of some fancy ones. Pssound lists the U60S-PS1.1 at £799, preferably used in a 3-way system (separate tweeter, mid and midbass drivers) (shop).
Handle the tweeter's lead (its connecting wire) with care: a snapped lead counts as mishandling and is not covered by warranty (watch).
Accuton
He says Accuton drivers are "dangerous because they show everything": they will not hide anything in the amplification, digital processing or tuning in front of them. He says nine in ten people who sit in a car with them say it sounds clean (watch).
He says he currently can't find anything else on the market with such low distortion, and the Accuton midrange is his reference level. It plays back whatever you feed it, so listeners who prefer a smoother, laid-back sound may not choose it.
The Accuton Automotive line uses stiff ceramic cones, and every driver is serial-numbered and matched to within half a decibel (dB). The cones are fragile: when unboxing, do not poke a finger under one.
The first production-line automotive 3-way cost around €6,500 in 2020. Pssound lists the C030AM tweeter at £3,000, the C100AM ceramic mid at £3,000 and the C165AM midbass at £3,600, sold only with a custom build or dealer fit (shop). Expect long waits: he once waited 6–8 months for a delivery after Accuton pushed it back twice.
Value drivers: Steg and Micro Precision
For real budgets Peter leans on Steg and Micro Precision. In his view both are great value for the money.
Steg
Steg is an Italian brand, though he says the MSS3 is made in China. He knows people complain about that, but says they are doing a good job, and he doesn't think any of the Patreon members he has sent drivers to worldwide has complained of an issue with them.
The MSS3 is a 4-inch mid despite its name. In an Amarok test against the Micro Precision Z-Studio 4-inch mid the two were very close, and he says most people would not notice the slight difference, yet the MSS3 costs a quarter of the price (watch). It was about £450 a pair in the UK in late 2023, heading for about £800, which he still thought worth it.
Downsides: its shiny trim ring reflects in the windscreen (paint it or fit a trim ring over it), and Steg has struggled to make enough, so stock can be a problem.
Micro Precision
Micro Precision, made by Thomas Hoffmann in Germany, is a small company with little marketing. Peter recommends it to audiophiles for beautiful sound and great value.
The 5 Series 6.5-inch midbass looks simple, but a tiny, super-strong magnet and very soft, linear moving parts make it very sensitive and detailed. It can audibly bottom out unless the high-pass filter (which cuts the lowest notes) is set correctly. In the Mégane, he says, it played better on 20 W than pricier midbass drivers that people keep buying.
He says the smaller 5 Series amp is just as fine quality as the big ones, though people did not want to believe him. By 2024 six Micro Precision monoblocks (single-channel amps) drove his S-Class demo car.
Subwoofers: Acoustic Elegance and the alternatives
Ask Peter which sub to use for IB and the answer has hardly changed: Acoustic Elegance (AE). He admits it has become a boring answer, but says it works until someone shows him something better. Few subs, he says, give a really refined, sensitive response: many play loud and low, but how a sub blends and how quick it is gets little attention (watch). Our subwoofer and IB guide covers the basics.
He says the IB15AU is musical, fast, digs low and is so sensitive it hardly needs any power. His own still work great after six years in three cars, and he would use AE bass even in a 50–100k system if he can.
AE against JBL 15s in trunk IB (M5 F90): he found the JBLs did not sound better. They come close but have higher moving mass and slightly lower sensitivity, so they need more power, though you feel the bass more. He calls AE the accurate car with the fastest lap and the JBL a drift car built for madness (watch).
Fi IB3 18s in his Honda were fun, with strong extension below 25 Hz, but for an ultimate sound-quality car he found them less musical and less transient, so by 2020 he was back on AE (watch). The Fi IB3 now sells as One Audio. By 2025 he called One Audio's IBM3s stunning and very accurate, an upgrade about headroom, while AE 15s still have plenty for most people.
AE is built to order with no stock, so lead times run from 1–1.5 months up to 3–4 months. Prices on Pssound's listing start at £500, and he says the drivers are worth what they cost.
When IB is not possible, he doesn't think anything beats the Helix Q12 for the money, and says the Hybrid Audio Clarus 10 plays really low in a small box. The Focal ISUB Twin (about £250 a pair in the UK) suits very tight spaces but, he says, is not sensitive: with the same power and no EQ (tone adjustment), the Micro Precision 5 Series in the kicks played 10–11 dB louder overall, though that is not quite fair, since the 5 Series is a 6.5" driver (watch).
Amplifiers and DSPs: Helix, Brax and Zapco
His electronics views have changed over the years, so note the dates. A DSP is the digital processor used to tune the system. Our amplifier guide covers amps in general.
Helix (from Audiotec Fischer): the V8, an amp with a built-in DSP, is in his view the best you can get for the money, and he will not use anything else in that price range (watch). By 2024 he preferred Helix DSPs, and calls the software probably one of the best for training, since you can mute and unmute speaker groups quickly while people sit in the driving position.
Brax (also from Audiotec Fischer): he says it is about as good as it gets, so if you want no compromise there is no need to look further.
Zapco: AP amps are what he uses when someone wants the best at an affordable price, and in 2019 he said a Zapco DSP would sound just as good as any Helix. In 2026 he said he is fully aware some current Zapco amps have issues. Pssound is looking for alternatives, though he says the AP was great value and sounds great, and the Amarok's older-stock amp has been fine (watch).
Plug-and-play kits and cables
Plug-and-play kits drop into a car's factory speaker positions. Peter says they are not a bad idea for a factory upgrade, even though people are quick to object when he says so.
In his experience Steg's BMW kits, especially the tweeters, work much better than most he has used from Focal, Audiotec Fischer and Ground Zero, because the Steg tweeters respond lower down, so there is no huge dip (watch). For Mercedes midbass he says Steg, Gladen, Audiotec Fischer's Match range, Focal and Ground Zero all perform very well.
On speaker cable his view changed. He used to be against putting too much effort into it, but in 2024 he heard something magical from silver cable in a customer's BMW E39, and now says cable may matter if the speakers can reveal it (watch).
Common mistakes to avoid
Writing off a brand by its reputation. He says bad names often come from fitting and tuning, and after one Mosconi processor had issues he took care not to condemn the brand.
Buying on hype: competition wins, hi-res stickers, or a home speaker with an automotive label.
Judging speakers in free air, outside a car. He says that makes little sense and judges what he actually installs.
Rejecting a driver for plain terminals. He prefers them to spring-loaded ones because you can solder or crimp onto them.
Planning a build around one model without checking supply: Accuton waits of 6–8 months, AE lead times of up to 3–4 months, Steg stock gaps.
Watch Peter explain it
This is an independent, plain-English summary of Peter Steinbacher's public YouTube videos, written by VA3 Car Studio. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pssound. The links jump to the moment in each video where he makes the point.
Part of our series: Car audio lessons from Pssound, start here
Comments