When did car audio die?

[stuckinok 5,000+ posts]

It died with Hip-Hop //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

It's not dead. In fact, it's better than ever, imo.

Why? The speakers are louder, the amps more powerful, the woofers are more brutal. Things are being done that people thought impossible. New innovations are paving the way for more powerful systems in less space. All this and more is being made possible for lest cost to the consumer.

Yes, it's unfortunate that American-made audio is dead-ish, but at the same time, it's becoming more widely known to the consumer. Which is why there are more idiots out there. But, there's idiots in every field, and it at least gives me someone to laugh at.

And I don't think there's any less systems bumping. It's just nostalgia that floods the streets of the 90s with thumping cars.

 

[rasta4life 10+ year member]

It's not dead. In fact, it's better than ever, imo.
Why? The speakers are louder, the amps more powerful, the woofers are more brutal. Things are being done that people thought impossible. New innovations are paving the way for more powerful systems in less space. All this and more is being made possible for lest cost to the consumer.

Yes, it's unfortunate that American-made audio is dead-ish, but at the same time, it's becoming more widely known to the consumer. Which is why there are more idiots out there. But, there's idiots in every field, and it at least gives me someone to laugh at.

And I don't think there's any less systems bumping. It's just nostalgia that floods the streets of the 90s with thumping cars.

also not enough true CAR AUDIO Events,Not just SPL but SQ.Sound ordinance is a problem.If more car audio shows appeared I think more people would be interested in it and also more exposure.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

only in residential areas after 10, any other time, its fair game(unless someones on the phone) IMHO
do you know everything?

Nope, I'm just saying I don't have a need to have others hear me.

 

[JEXTEL 10+ year member]

"i am car audio" "and im not dead im alive"

 

[Ford302Redneck 10+ year member]

Like stated before, its not totally dead, yet.

Is it as big as it once was? No.

Will it survive and come back? I hope so.

Thing is going to have to change before they do.

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

Car audio hasn't really died, but internet stores have killed car audio competitions for sure. It used to be that car audio stores would pay a fee to groups like IASCA, USACi and others to come out and run a show at their shop in hopes that it would bring in sales. Now that non-factory authorized internet car audio stores have popped up everywhere and started selling gear at really low prices the car audio shops are losing business and don't see a point in paying someone to come out and run a competition at their shop when they won't see any money from it. Even 5 years ago I remember going to comps for Slapshow and they had a couple hundred cars at their regional events, now they pretty much don't even exist anymore. IASCA used to hold comps up here in New England, but not in a few years. USACI has been bringing more shows around, I've been hosting dB Drags shows and my own NESPL events here in hopes of bringing back SPL competition attendance to the levels we used to see years ago. Compared to years ago, we now struggle to find shops willing to host a show, let alone pay a fee to host one. Our best shot now id finding a shop owner that competes and is willing to have them at their shop. If internet car audio stores were given high standards like the real stores then things would be different for the car audio scene.

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

The slow death of car audio:

(I am sure there are a few behind the scenes things I know nothing about)

IASCA was a VERY, EXTREMELY, completely RUTHLESS monlolithic power that was so consumed with it's own power that it corrupted itself from within. There were 3 participants in these contests ... manufacturers, shops and competitors. Of the 3, the competitors (you know, the ones spending the money) had absolutely NO sayso in the rules making. The rules were deliberately written to make it EXTREMELY difficult for a guy in his garage to win a reaql contest, they absolutely refused .... no way, no how to have a "DIY" category. I won't even go into all of the stolen money and stuff at IASCA HQ.

Another thing that may have been forgotten (or some of you younger guys never knew) is that in days of old there was serious prize money. This brought out the big hitters. The masters tournament had a $25,000 payout (yep that's 3 0's behind the 25).

SPL - was originally designed to test the system's durability at or near full output. When you entered the lane, you were judged on sound quality, RTA curve and SPL, all in a row. There absolutley NO adjustments made between judged sections. Once the computerized signal processing appeared, cheating was so rampant they just threw up their hands. The current SPL comps are such a complete bastardization of the original intention that it has changed the comp scene forever. The biggest change is that instead of people with real money buying nice systems, you have teenagers with very little money buying the cheapest stuff they can and installs that are awful to look at and often dangerous. The other negative effect was that teenagers playing loud bass music have pretty much turned mos communities against people with custom car audio installs.

The result for the manufacturers is that they started to respond to the demands they saw, which was mostly the $100 subs and $150 1000 watt amps. If they really want to make money, they need to stop marketing strictly to teenagers. The car companies have also taken their bite. On some cars you can't even replace the radio or it won't run, others are so styled into the vehicle it would be very difficult to fabricate something that looks like it belongs there. Too many people hear a factory system and think and can't get any better than this.

Another death nail has been the internet. I can often times buy stuff over the net for less than the local shop can get it from their authorized middleman. Honestly, if the car audio dealers want their shops to survive they will have to change the way they do business. Sorry but 1980's business models just don't cut it anymore.

Then there's the music .... ever notice that most of the new music sux, and sound quality is dismal at best. Again, teens rule here. Most record companies have done away with recording engineers and after mixing they set it to sound decent in mp3 format on an ipod. I guess a logical choice since this is where most if it will end up anyway. Sound quality has taken a MAJOR hit in the last 5-10 years.

For the future I see that some things could return. I have seen a few bigger contests have fair payouts. MECA has a sound quality only division (NO SPL and install is optional as a seperate contest) and USAC seems to have followed suit. Shops will have to come up with a different business model (as opposed to 80's model where they controlled everything from on high, including pricing) to be competive but it CAN be done. Support for comps starts at the bottom, that means you have to show up if shops within an hour or two have a contest and bring a friend along. If the manufacturers start seeing a demand for higher quality stuff they will deliver it. Ok, I guess I have rambled on enough.

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

its slowly dieing for me because i don't know any one who is into it any more. or the people that are have best buy systems and think they are so good. Also it gets annoying when poeple come up to me asking about my subs and respond with well yea i got 1000watt sony's so my system is nicer.

My god, I hate that. And then I reply with the fact that its 1k watts max power, not RMS. And then I usually get a blank face, and more rambling on about their killer power running on 8 gauge wires.

Car Audio has died a bit.. Sad, because I'm just getting into it. Well, I'm just going to enjoy it myself. Maybe I can spark some interest around my school when I get my system completed, and actually show the difference between RE Audio and Duals, for an example. And a good comp set vs sony coaxials.

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

My god, I hate that. And then I reply with the fact that its 1k watts max power, not RMS. And then I usually get a blank face, and more rambling on about their killer power running on 8 gauge wires.

I can normally show a few of the 0/1 ga wires in my set up, or the Kinetik 2400 in the rear and most guys just shut up cause they have no clue about stuff on this level. I told one guy about my amp having a 400 amp current draw and he thought I was lying cause it's more amperage than a house.

Car audio will continue to drop off as long as people let it drop. The big thing around here is SPL and having the loudest systems. SQ used to have a decent number of people, but that has dropped quite a bit. I run a couple shows in the summer for a local shop, the shop runs the SQ portion while I run all the SPL metering. SQ is coming back slowly, slower than SPL, but it is coming back. I can handle SPL and running a Termlab, but have never had any experience with an RTA, so I can't help with SQ metering or adding it to any of my shows.

I hear that MidWest SPL has cash prizes at their Finals, so thats back to what was done years ago. I wish I could pull that off around here too, but again I run into the problem of shops not being willing to spend any money for a comp.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Ok, I guess I have rambled on enough.

Nah, you haven't, it's rare to see a well-thought out response around here lately //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

The result for the manufacturers is that they started to respond to the demands they saw, which was mostly the $100 subs and $150 1000 watt amps.

I agree, but at the same time, organizations such as dBDrag are breeding grounds for some very high-priced installations in order to be competitive. Yes, equipment will never substitute skill and experimentation, but for someone getting started in the hobby, it may be difficult for them to justify continuing if they get slapped in Street A by someone who has $20,000 invested in a CRX. I don't know how anyone would enforce it, but putting a price limit on things in certain classes would definitely bring out people's creativity //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Not that I have anything against the price-is-no-object way of doing things, either...

Too many people hear a factory system and think and can't get any better than this.

I always thought it was amazing how people who are in to very high-quality home setups can be utterly unaware of how good mobile audio can sound...to the point of derision. Ignorance at its finest, I guess, but with the typical demographic of forums like this one I can see where a misconception like that is formed...

Then there's the music .... ever notice that most of the new music sux, and sound quality is dismal at best. Again, teens rule here. Most record companies have done away with recording engineers and after mixing they set it to sound decent in mp3 format on an ipod. I guess a logical choice since this is where most if it will end up anyway. Sound quality has taken a MAJOR hit in the last 5-10 years.

Music that's unaffected by the loudness wars is out there, and still being made, but it's gone underground. With some of the things being released into the mainstream now, I'd be embarrassed if it had my name on it...

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

I agree, but at the same time, organizations such as dBDrag are breeding grounds for some very high-priced installations in order to be competitive. Yes, equipment will never substitute skill and experimentation, but for someone getting started in the hobby, it may be difficult for them to justify continuing if they get slapped in Street A by someone who has $20,000 invested in a CRX. I don't know how anyone would enforce it, but putting a price limit on things in certain classes would definitely bring out people's creativity //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

dB Drags has taken a step in the right direction with competitions for the beginners. The new Freestyle and Street Stock classes are a good starting place, no Panda's or crx's allowed, 1000 watts max?, and only certain types of mainstream amps and subs are allowed. And it's all on music only, no test tones.The classes are a work in progress, but it does make it more fair to the beginner.

With NESPL we're trying the same type thing, 1500 watt limit with no limit on subs and they also have to play music. If someone comes up with some Atomics or RE's they won't be allowed in that class, just a way to keep it fair and bring out some new competitors.

 

[Plutoman 10+ year member]

I can normally show a few of the 0/1 ga wires in my set up, or the Kinetik 2400 in the rear and most guys just shut up cause they have no clue about stuff on this level. I told one guy about my amp having a 400 amp current draw and he thought I was lying cause it's more amperage than a house.

Quite, that'd be fun. Can't do that myself, but some day I'm planning too. In the meantime, I can actually just turn up my by9's and get enough bass to nearly match what they have in their trunks. That usually gets them to start thinking that *maybe* I know more about it.

Also, to stave off a comment about the by9's, those are my current rear fill >_>

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

It is not dead, but not looking good either.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

In response to negative perception internet sales on the market, I posted this on another forum:

 

As from experience of managing a shop for a few years, and now owning an online shop for almost as long, I have seen it from both sides. Online sales are not killing the industry, it is an evolutionary step. The internet has provided people with access to much more information (be it positive or way wrong, but it still gives a much greater wealth of choices and information then a few mom & pop shops or even the all mighty best buy).

 

The quality of information and install provided in brick and mortar shops have dropped a great deal. Is it the fault of the internet? I am sure plenty believe that, and it can be debated, but it cannot be proven because of too many factors as the industry changes and grows. In a way, online shops may force people to learn more because they want to do the install on their own, and the negative visa-versa POV is true.

 

More and more companies are moving to over seas build houses to either increase margins or keep margins based on rising material costs. Not sure if the metaphor was mentioned before, but do people think places like Autotrader.com has killed used car dealer ships?

 

It is the next step, it is the nature of many facets of life, evolve to survive.