What makes a SQ car sound "good?"

[captaincheesey 10+ year member]

Ok, so I was driving home today and was wondering what exactly in an install makes the SQ system what it is. Firstly, we all know that is is a pretty subjective thing when you are being judged on SQ, each judge will have a different opinion of each system.... But, is it the HU? The processor? Speakers? Speaker placement and aiming? The amp? The tuning capabilities of the installer/owner of said system? I think that if any one thing overpowers the rest of them that you could essentially fool people into thinking that you have something you don't..

Example: If we are looking at it from a equipment standpoint, and you can use your HU to make up for everything else, you can feasibly run some off brand amp and some cheap-o speakers that are just aimed right and the EQ, Crossovers, and time alignment are perfect, you could say that you have any amp on the market and a judge wouldn't know any difference.

My main thought behind this was look at the SQ speakers, Zapco, Focal, DLS, Hybrid, etc. What makes their speakers more superior than your every day best buy pioneer or alpine speaker? The materials are extremely similar, power handling obviously isn't a big factor, why do they sound so "good" and whenever you hear that someone has a set of 4-way 6x9s that they got from wal-mart they sound like "poop?"

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[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

An sq car i think is a car that can reproduce all frequency's at the same level, nothing overpowers so your recording sounds how it's supposed to. Staging has a lot to do with it. Your inputs also have to be very well recorded. If you compare cheap speakers to expensive speakers, it's mostly build materials and r/d behind the speaker. Most good ones are "hand-built" also with passive crossovers, the actual crossover materials are cheaper, higher tolerances. SQ doesn't have to be loud either.

An sq car is mostly the set-up, also sounding good seems to cost more money too.

 

[captaincheesey 10+ year member]

An sq car i think is a car that can reproduce all frequency's at the same level, nothing overpowers so your recording sounds how it's supposed to. Staging has a lot to do with it. Your inputs also have to be very well recorded. If you compare cheap speakers to expensive speakers, it's mostly build materials and r/d behind the speaker. Most good ones are "hand-built" also with passive crossovers, the actual crossover materials are cheaper, higher tolerances. SQ doesn't have to be loud either. An sq car is mostly the set-up, also sounding good seems to cost more money too.

Right, sounding good costs more money. What is the majority of SQ competitor's running for amps? A SQ geared amp right? What if everything else you had was SQ geared though and you just switched out amps with something less SQ geared? I have seen it happen in MECA where a competitor was running Hypnotiq amps, the clarion 99dx or whatever HU, and dynaudio speakers. Obviously those aren't amps you would often see in a SQ car, but he was scoring in the low to mid 80s consistently because everything else was on point.

And usually don't you ideally wanna run active if you are competing in SQ? If so, crossovers would be irrelevant. I am not trying to be an ******* or anything, and I apologize if I am coming off as such, I am just trying to find justification for the 1000 dollar speaker sets when you could feasibly get away with something half the price.

Let's switch topics for a second, SPL, doesn't everyone say that it's all install dependent, not the equipment? Equipement does make an impact, but if your install is on point, you can make anything loud or make anything sound good. And hell, with SPL, if you can't afford the subs that handle gobs of power and have the space, it's all about cone area.

 

[Linkz 10+ year member]

I would say that the sq amps, and speakers etc have less distortion and noise that the cheaper stuff. A high SNR and even bandwidth(ex +0/-0.1 on some pro amps I have) on the amps and a low 2nd and third order harmonic distortion in the speakers has a measurable difference.

 

[misfit138 5,000+ posts]

Can I have your cd player, OP?

 

[Linkz 10+ year member]

More than you can afford pal.

 

[captaincheesey 10+ year member]

Can I have your cd player, OP?

If I wasn't using it or could find a the clarion I mentioned, or maybe even an older eclipse in good condition, maybe. Lol. But I do love my 7200, and I used to compete in SQ and my old boss was the one who was doing 80s consistently so I know what a good sounding car sounds like. I just feel like if judges couldn't see certain parts of your install, you could surprise them. Nothing against SQ brands though, as it is evident by my sig and I just dropped cash on two new sets of Hybrid claruses.

 

[captaincheesey 10+ year member]

I would say that the sq amps, and speakers etc have less distortion and noise that the cheaper stuff. A high SNR and even bandwidth(ex +0/-0.1 on some pro amps I have) on the amps and a low 2nd and third order harmonic distortion in the speakers has a measurable difference.

Could a lot of that not be made up for with a good HU/processor combo?

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Name's don't really strike me as the main goal. Install is CRUCIAL. Imaging and other varying effects make an SQ system shine. Equipment can limit what can be done. Such as certain processors and H/U's having more detailed features. Certain woofers having more linear capabilities, different tweeters and how they interact with the car, etc. But if these features are not used "correctly" and appropriately with the corresponding environment then it is all for nothing.

It is a subjective hobby. To me, the main goal is the ability to reproduce every frequency at the same level with the audience unable to identify the lateraland vertical location of the sources.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

im thinking home audio, i've ran passive with home audio and it sounds **** good lol. if you were to run a cheap speaker vs a good one chances are your good one will last longer, which to me is big issue. I would agree on running active but most comp sets are passive and for most people sound good. I think eq'ing helps out the most as far as sq, i've never messed with time alignment but i would like to.

For spl you can't go with cheap because it's being pushed and must be made to handle the power. I've never had a speaker blow on me, i tend to push them, my mids sometimes get hotter than my sub, but they way i feel is "i paid for this, so it should last" and it has.

Then again, some people dont do it to impress anyone, like me. So you could just say it's personal taste sometimes.

 

[captaincheesey 10+ year member]

Name's don't really strike me as the main goal. Install is CRUCIAL. Imaging and other varying effects make an SQ system shine. Equipment can limit what can be done. Such as certain processors and H/U's having more detailed features. Certain woofers having more linear capabilities' date=' different tweeters and how they interact with the car, etc. But if these features are not used "correctly" and appropriately with the corresponding environment then it is all for nothing.
It is a subjective hobby. To me, the main goal is the ability to reproduce every frequency at the same level with the audience unable to identify the lateraland vertical location of the sources.[/quote']

Thank you to you and to supermaxx and link. You have been very helpful. Anyone else who wants to jump in is more than welcome.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

I would like to put, SQ car=RTA testing. it's a very helpful tool.

 

[Bumpin' Goalie 10+ year member]

Thank you to you and to supermaxx and link. You have been very helpful. Anyone else who wants to jump in is more than welcome.

Not a problem. Oh, and as far more money equaling better sound; getting a car environment to accommodate this kind of response is not cheap //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif materials add up. That's the main reason I stick with my daily bargain-beater haha. I don't feel obligated to improve drastically when I don't expect much except "A to B" tunes.

 

[Linkz 10+ year member]

Could a lot of that not be made up for with a good HU/processor combo?

You can't make up for noise. it is an unavoidable part of amplifiers. The higher the snr the less noise there is. Then there is also distortion to take into consideration. An amp may make x amount of watts. But can it do so with less than 0.005% distortion? 0.1% 1%? Some amps especially cheap amps can claim a high amount of wattage but really only make clean power for half of their rated output or less.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Install, install, install, tuning, equipment. You do not need the best of everything to sound good or near the best it is how it is used. Proof? Memphis syncs, mtx, jbl, JL and kicker systems have all won sq world finals. Heck my teammate from 1997 took home a top 5 at IASCA finals with alpine DDdrive components back when there were 15+ cars per class.