The Best Solution to Playing CDs in a C7 Corvette
The Best Solution to Playing CDs in a C7 Corvette
Building a modern car that’s mostly purchased by an older generation can sometimes come with its own unique issues.
The mighty, magical compact disc — a wonderful recreation of the vintage vinyl record, made modern thanks to lasers and microprocessors. If you have a Corvette C7, these slabs of plastic are little more than shiny coasters, and that has quite a few Corvette Forum members upset. And to be honest, I can’t understand why.
Personally, I wasn’t even aware that the lack of a CD player in the C7 was an issue until I stumbled upon a thread by sprirtof67 over in the C7 section. He decided the best solution to play his old CDs in his C7 involved a Walkman, some duct tape, and an aux cord. And no, he doesn’t want to swap over to a digital library. The thread has been a mishmash of suggestions, accusations, and arguments. With that said, I decided I would throw this up to the front page, and chime in with my two-cents while I was at it.
Buckle up, boys. I’m about to get internet-righteous over here.
Let’s start with the obvious one for me: maintaining and protecting your collection. In the world we live in today, there is ZERO reason you should not have every single CD you own saved in some digital form. CDs are easily damaged, and will degrade over time. If you want to actually keep the music you paid for, you should have it backed up on your computer. Period. Once you have that backup, the act of moving a huge pile of songs onto a thumb drive is little more than a few clicks.
But what about musical quality?
Well, if you think plugging a portable CD player into your aux jack is getting you audiophile-quality sound, you are delusional. Yes, in most settings, a CD will have superior sound when compared to a compressed MP3. But with every step in an audio chain, you are increasing deterioration of the signal. I can promise that the amount of quality you are losing between what is certainly a mediocre output on that portable CD player and the mediocre input wiring on the C7 destroys the benefit of a CD. A high-quality digital copy will sound just as good, if not better.
And let’s not forget that the actual stereo in the C7 is just “okay” at best. When it comes to other high-end audio systems available from the competition, the Bose system GM offers is not great.
And finally, who in their right mind thinks carrying a huge box of plastic discs around is a superior way of enjoying entertainment in your car? I certainly don’t miss the huge visor mounted CD holders, or the dozens of various cases and flimsy sleeves needed to house a CD collection. There are thousands and thousands of Corvette owners who work insanely hard to keep their cars cleaned, polished, and waxed, so they look better than they did in the showroom. And you want to ruin all that hard work by setting a giant box of plastic garbage in the passenger seat?
Long story short, it may take some effort and time to start with, but going digital can not only provide you a better experience in your C7, it can save you money and hassle in the long run by protecting your investment in the music you bought in the first place.
