Car Audio attracts the most ignorant people/RANT

[VR3]

Or maybe, "subwoofers" have.

I was talking to a friend today in Science class about my stereo because he wants something similar. I told him I would sell him the ones he heard in my room for $400.

This guy across the room goes "Man, for 400 bucks I could get you something that would bump that!"

This other guy goes...
"What size are the drivers?"

Im like, dual 6.5" - He goes "Man, I dunno - I'd have to see it.)

The guy who I was originally talked to was like "But yeah, for them things thats a bargain - they are some awesome speakers."

Seriously, are people really this dumb.

Ill ask someone what they have in their car... They wont even say the brand or anything - they'll just say "Oh, I got some 12s!"

These people, self educated in the art of boom - annoy me to no end. This guy came over to hear my stereo and was fairly impressed by the SVS - he asked the driver size and I said a 12" - and he goes, just one (In astonishment) Im like, yeah man...

Oh well... it just annoys me...

[DarqueKnight]

After a year or so of blasting rap music through the dual 20" subwoofers in their cars, they'll be ignorant and deaf.

[Dennis Gardner]

Their answer..."Oh, I got some 12s" is the same as your "Get an SVS" for everyone that asks about a HT sub.

One track minds..........;)



You know you've crossed the bridge when their ignorance is simply a source of amusement and not annoyance or frustration. Let them suffer in their ignorance.:D

[Schris22]

i want spinna grills on my subs...

not sure if they exist...but I could make a lot of money...I guess the air from the huge subs would have to spin them.


Chris

[VR3]

The difference between my one track answer is I can back it up.

When some lil punk can argue why his 12's that move 3MM is so good, Ill give him credit.

[PolkThug]

Polk 15's FTW!

[ohskigod]

audio ignorance isnt limited to car audio. both home and car audio have there knowlegable folks, and complete retards. the home audio ignorant is the sole source of Bose's immense revenue. And a Car audio noob is gonna buy the cheapest 12 he can get his hands on and swear he has the most rockin rig on the planet.

cant let it bother ya dude.

[brettw22]

And a Car audio noob is gonna buy the cheapest 12 he can get his hands on and swear he has the most rockin rig on the planet.

This is not true.......i'm in the process of putting 2 SR12DVC's in my trunk by next weekend. :D

[1996blackmax]

Car Audio attracts the most ignorant people/RANT

That can go on both sides as stated earlier. I tell people about my system in my car (some of these people are into their HT), including brands and model numbers, and all they say is "it must really boom" . One quick glimpse at my equipment should tell anyone that it is not for boom, but I guess those particular HT guys are ignorant to that..... ;)

[PolkThug]

Nothing wrong with being ignorant. You have to be ignorant before you become knowledgeable.

Now, dumb, on the other hand...

Polished rocks for only $129
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina17.htm

[DarqueKnight]

Polished rocks for only $129

Those prices are very reasonable for polished rocks. I have heard of people spending hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars for polished rocks. You know what I'm talking about....those...bright...sparkly...diamonds.

[1996blackmax]

The Russians should have flooded the market with those things years back.....

[bobman1235]

Those prices are very reasonable for polished rocks. I have heard of people spending hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars for polished rocks. You know what I'm talking about....those...bright...sparkly...diamonds.

I think those are COMPRESSED rocks :D

[DarqueKnight]

Nature compresses the carbon into an ugly lump of rock. Man digs it out of the ground and polishes it into a thing of beauty and joy forever.

[swerve]

and this is why i took my stuff out.

that and i was going deaf.

[Zen Dragon]

Some people "get" audio and some don't. It has a lot to do with where your passions lie. While I'm fairly knowledgeable about computers I'd be lost in a discussion with a hardcore gamer who rebuilds his system every 3 months. My knowlege level is where I need it to be for my level of interest.
I recently had a discussion with the new boyfriend of a female friend of mine. They were over at the house and he was commenting on my stereo. Now this guy isn't the brightest penny in the jar by any account.
When I told him my B&K amp was putting somewhere around 250 watts into my 6 ohm speakers, he was like, well I looked at my girlfriends unit and it is like 350 watts. I bet it would blow the windows out on your house.
Now I know she has a mid grade sony AVR that is like 60W per channel. I'm sure he was looking at the power consumption number on the rear. I also knew I was never going to be able to explain the difference to him, and he would just argue more and become confused and upset.
So I just said, wow..I had no idea, rock on brother. It just isn't his passion. His girlfriend was rolling her eyes LOL.
Anyway the best way to deal with it is let them beleive what they want, and everyone is happy. It doesn't take long to figure out someone who really gets it and has a desire to learn. Those are the people you can have the discussions with.
Let everyone else believe their JBL sub is kickin your systems butt. It's not worth the arguement.

[Mazeroth]

Some people "get" audio and some don't. It has a lot to do with where your passions lie. While I'm fairly knowledgeable about computers I'd be lost in a discussion with a hardcore gamer who rebuilds his system every 3 months. My knowlege level is where I need it to be for my level of interest.
I recently had a discussion with the new boyfriend of a female friend of mine. They were over at the house and he was commenting on my stereo. Now this guy isn't the brightest penny in the jar by any account.
When I told him my B&K amp was putting somewhere around 250 watts into my 6 ohm speakers, he was like, well I looked at my girlfriends unit and it is like 350 watts. I bet it would blow the windows out on your house.
Now I know she has a mid grade sony AVR that is like 60W per channel. I'm sure he was looking at the power consumption number on the rear. I also knew I was never going to be able to explain the difference to him, and he would just argue more and become confused and upset.
So I just said, wow..I had no idea, rock on brother. It just isn't his passion. His girlfriend was rolling her eyes LOL.
Anyway the best way to deal with it is let them beleive what they want, and everyone is happy. It doesn't take long to figure out someone who really gets it and has a desire to learn. Those are the people you can have the discussions with.
Let everyone else believe their JBL sub is kickin your systems butt. It's not worth the arguement.

EXACTLY! I've learned to do this. Working in retail for five years taught me to swallow my pride.

[michael_w]

I gave up trying to explain things to the 'boom' crowd a long time ago...

The same principal goes for home audio people but it tends to be less common or better hidden. The general public has developed this view of how car audio is all about subs and how loud you can go. I think this has been set up by all the people that run a cheapo headunit, stock speakers and the loudest subs they can find.

How often do you notice a car setup designed for sq? It rarely happens because they're not the ones attracting tons of attention by crusing the neighbourhood listening to easy e bumpin their 12's ;)

[Fireman32]

I'm new to the whole audio think and just not to long ago i though it was all about the wattage untill ohskigod started teaching me about everything, most of which is still greek to me but im eager to learn. As far as car audio my car has the stock system and im happy with it for now but i cant wait to get a bigger place to expand my audio system. Right now my living room is my couch my 2 polk speakers and my big screen and i have no more room. Hopefully with some expert advise from everyone in the forum and ohskigod i will not be as ignorant as i am now

[RoosterD]

I had a related experience with this discussion recently, but from a different angle. A friend of mine has a 720P 56" mitsubishi tv and a decent 7.1 setup. I brought my AVIA (picture/sound calibration for HT) disc in order to help him with his setup because I remembered the last time I was over that the picture needed some serious adjustment. I didn't do the whole calibration, just blacker than black etc, but when I got to testing colors, i notice the display wasn't showing blue. I mean not at all! I knew something was off, but I soon realised that it wasn't the tv. It was the dvd player. I didn't have the heart to tell him what I had found because I know that's not his hobby/passion. He would probably take offense to it in a "my tv is better than yours" sort of way. He's completely happy with his setup, so I left him that way :). I may eventually test the connectors etc, but I'm sure it's his old Apex dvd player.

[Dennis Gardner]

I always kinda figure.........why educate someone that doesn't know any difference, when knowin' the difference will only make them want to steal your stuff.

Personally, my conversations about audio, cars, boats, bikes, etc. are usually kept among those that either have or desire to have, a similar level of understandiing, interest, and appreciation for the hobby or my time is considered wasted. My time isn't really that valuable, but then again it is something that I prefer to choose how I waste.:D

[steveinaz]

It's a generation of mp3's, ipods, and seriously distorting 45Hz sub woofers...whatja expect? Quantity over quality.

[MacLeod]

The problem is 2 things.

First off, car audio is no longer about improving the cars stereo but instead has turned into a cosmetic upgrade to go with the 6" mufflers and 747 wings on the back. Not to mention, that thanks to hip hop, its a status symbol now. Ive seen several cars with 2-4 subs in the back with 1000 or more watts and factory speakers!

Second, the kids that are drawn to this are still too young to own a home or apartment and so their car is their castle and its where they put all their emphasis on improving. Plus, because of the "status symbol" thing its even more important than home audio because a 16 year old cant drive his bedroom to the local hang out spot and show off his gear.

I admit to being guilty of this too when I was 17 and first got into car audio. I had a system that was very loud. Sounded like **** but was very loud. Id drive thru the school parking lot thinking I was the man because I had a loud noise coming from my car. I dont think its so much a car audio thing as it is a teeneager thing and we've all gone thru it in some way or another.

[faster100]

Its not all a bag thing, Mac is pretty much right... Its a teenage thing. enjoy it while ya can Trey, or hang out with older people :)

[nesticle]

Hey... nothin wrong about having stock speakers when it was the 8 speaker premium system to begin with! But yeah, I upgraded my VW system with a Blaupunkt head unit and 2 10" JBL subs in a bandpass box. I'm thoroughly disappointed with the bandpass box, as its got a big drop off around 100hz and a huge hump around 50-70hz. I've opted to take those out and put in one little Image Dynamics (company out of California) 10" DVC sub. The damn thing weighs like 13lbs and has an Xmax of 17mm! Cant wait to build the box for it.

What do you guys think? Ported or Sealed?

[WilliamM2]

I have my IDQ10 DVC in a sealed bax, SQ is fantastic.

[1996blackmax]

Those are nice subs.

[sucks2beme]

Car audio is a lot like performance tuning. A loud fart pipe on a Honda doesn't make it faster! Loud is not equal to good.
When I was young, everyone put on Cherry Bomb mufflers and big tires in the back. Same concept. Each generation has it's own stupid trends. We just didn't have access to the current cheap electronics, or we would of done the same thing. Thump thumping bass to Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple would of been the order of the day, and the music industry would of shifted over to
to more loud bass tracks in the mix.
10 years from now it will be just be an embarrassing memory, like mullets.

[Mazeroth]

nesticle, go sealed. The cabin gain will make up for the sealed sub's response drop and give you a pretty flat response. A ported sub's tuning frequency will get overcompensated with the cabin gain and sound like poo poo.

[noimposse]

I personally disklike the kids that spend $200 on an awful Sony head-unit at Walmart, then another $2000 on a custom install of 4 12's in the back of their Geo Metro they got for $500.

Im not saying don't spend any money on car audio, but keep the value way below your car value. I drive a 98 Neon (awful car), and I've done some upgrades to the audio system, but its nothing more than $500 worth of equipment. Alpine deck, some decent(but free) sony 6.5's in the front, stock premiums in the back and a 10" rockford in the trunk with a (again, free) kenwood bridged two channel amp. The box is homemade and the mdf was also free. And I was only 17 when I put this in, not for attention, but for enjoyment when driving....I dont listen to rap, I just felt like I needed a fuller sound.

I like the sound, I could certainly use some new 6x9's in the back and better wiring, but for a car that keeps depreciating in value exponentially, it isnt worth it. I probably won't put anything but a deck in my next car for mp3 CD's.