How Far Down is or going Car Audio

[zierbox 10+ year member]

I keep hearing and seeing the Car Audio scene is “DOWN” way down

However the traffic and interest on this forum seem to be steady

The Economy has effected everything, all thou I think people are fixing up their older cars instead of buying new ones

Today’s Younger crowd dose not seem as interested in Cars or Audio

A lot of local authorities have cracked down on all types of Cruz zones or car hang-outs areas for Performance, Speed and/or Audio

I feel Car Audio has a real image and public awareness problem, the common public is just so unaware or educated in regards to the Industry

The public has disregarded or neglected the Quality and Experience of Sound for convenience; just cram 5,000 songs on a device make it play anywhere on anything regardless what it sounds like (on some 5.00 ear buds) most have tone deafed their hearing with constant bad quality sound (not necessary loud volume just really bad sound)

When I sit some one down in one of my SQ vehicles and Explain the Sound, Imaging and Staging Quality; have them close their eyes and See and Feel with their Ears (Experience the Music) they cant believe Music could be Experienced in this way especially in a vehicle

Click to read more...

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

ok...

 

[vehementSPL 10+ year member]

Honestly I am not sure of a percent but yes it does seem to be down. Honestly I love how much they are cracking down on stereos with their impounds in certain states and 500 to 1000 dollar fines..... They don't realize how idiotic they look. They give a kid with a system a 1000 dollar ticket (annoyance) yet somebody speeding gets a 200 dollar ticket(endangering lives) .... Man wow last time I checked saving lives was less important than getting rid of annoyances... Fcking biased idiots

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

I got confused reading the title

 

[duece212 5,000+ posts]

repoast, it is what it is

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

What exactly is your question? Is car audio 'down'? Obviously. Hell electronics in general are down... look at Circuit City. How much exactly? Who knows.

Car audio getting bad reputation? No way! Its not like we have a whole bunch of enthusiasts who think it makes them look really cool to sit at traffic lights pounding their shit, or while cruising down residential neighborhoods in the middle of the night. Now if we had that type of person in this hobby, Id understand the backlash. But gosh.... nobody does that stuff.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Around here, there have been more shows as ever, and the number of people I see getting into SQ competition has actually gone up over the last couple years. People getting hooked, and getting better at it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

When I sit some one down in one of my SQ vehicles and Explain the Sound, Imaging and Staging Quality; have them close their eyes and See and Feel with their Ears (Experience the Music) they cant believe Music could be Experienced in this way especially in a vehicle

You'd be amazed at how many people who are into high-end home audio refuse to believe that it's possible in a vehicle. Of course, when asked what their reference is, the truth usually comes out as a Bose stock setup //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I feel Car Audio has a real image and public awareness problem, the common public is just so unaware or educated in regards to the Industry

The image problem comes from these kids on here who don't really care if they're annoying other people or not, so the stereotype of all car audio as teenagers or 20somethings with rattling trunks and rap music stays...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

If this thread is going to turn into a home versus car audio debate... Im not into home audio nearly as much as car audio and even I will admit a vehicle's acoustics simply cant compare with a symmetrical and properly setup listening room in your home. As good as we can make our cars sound (some of us), a room in our home would sound that much better.

 

[Cravingbass123]

im listening to the home system right now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif vintage altec/denon/paradigm/PSB/krell

lets just say it sounds much better than my jeep!

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I didn't mean to go that direction, I was just using that as an example of a facet of the car audio hobby that's usually overlooked because the hood-rat side of things is the usual perception //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

vintage altec/denon/paradigm/PSB/krell

Hmmm...I have to admit, I like your taste in equipment a lot better than your choices in wheels //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[Cravingbass123]

I didn't mean to go that direction, I was just using that as an example of a facet of the car audio hobby that's usually overlooked because the hood-rat side of things is the usual perception //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I used the hood-rat defense in court to protest my loud music ticket and it got dismissed //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif i said i quote "I'm am not the typical hoodrat who blares their gangster at every stop light, I am an enthusiast!"

 

[Cravingbass123]

Hmmm...I have to admit, I like your taste in equipment a lot better than your choices in wheels //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

haha.

ironic as im playing gucci mane through it. but the song echo has this exquisite high freq definition and spectrum, i love the song.

 

[LaserRed38 10+ year member]

Well, I'm a senior in college, about to enter the real world with a grown man job. Let me tell you, once I get that steady salary and a place to live (not at mom's and dad's) I can't wait to start really collecting audio stuff. I scrape pennies together now to change my set up every now and then. That being said, I'm still going to look for deals on used stuff and go for the performance of the "underground" brands versus paying thousands of dollars for Audison amps etc. I've gone that route already, and thankfully learned early that I can make a set of $90 mids sound just as good as $500 mids. So yes I agree people aren't buying stuff as much, but I think you mean that the Car Audio brands in general aren't what they used to be.

Well, blame technology and people's hunger for instant gratification. "You mean I can just plug this box in and it will make my system sound just above adequate and I don't have to adjust ANYthing ever again?!?!?!? ZOMGS!!"....instead of people actually sitting in their cars listening to their system and tuning it correctly. I wish I could get an old SQ head unit that supported iPod though. There are ways of converting your files to achieve real SQ. But the newer head units either don't have the quality or features/controls as the older units, or the old units don't support iPods. I hate how slow my iPod connection is on my 9835, but I love the adjustable lights that match my dash and don't scream AFTERMARKET HEAD UNIT!!! and the active Xovers built in. So I'm stuck until someone makes a DD DVD unit with adjustable lighting and built in active Xovers and an iPod interface that is as good as the Alpine iDA series.

 

[Crimson Boom 10+ year member]

But really it seems the better the equipment I get, the less likely I am to go about blaring my music like a douche(though I still do on the weekends or if I'm pissed).