Patent ID: 8160267

Claim:
Car audio equipment comprising: cabin loudspeakers which are attached to predetermined positions of a vehicle cabin and compose an output section of said car audio equipment; personal-use loudspeakers attached to a headrest or to a seat back of a driver seat and/or a navigator seat; a switching unit which switches sources of sound signals supplied to said cabin loudspeakers and to said personal-use loudspeakers, wherein said personal-use loudspeakers are designed to reproduce a first sound signal independent of a second sound signal reproduced by said cabin loudspeakers; wherein a first sound signal is produced from one of a first plurality of sound sources; wherein a second sound signal is produced from one of a second plurality of sound sources; a first selector for transmitting said first sound signal to said personal-use loudspeakers via a first decoder; a second selector for transmitting said second sound signal to said personal-use loudspeakers and cabin loudspeakers via second decoder and an A/D converter; and an operation unit, wherein said operation unit is operated so that said personal-use loudspeakers independently reproduce said first sound signal in response to an input from the driver and/or navigator while said cabin loudspeakers continue to reproduce said second sound signal.