MOSFET wrote:
Look at the tuner craze -- why's it work and why has it grown in
popularity while the pursuit of SQ has all but dissappeared? K&N tells
you what the HP boost is from their cold air intakes, the power
programmer companies tell you exactly how many horsies you get by using
their product, it's easy to see the asthetic 'gains' from a set of
rims, and it's really easy to determine how much power is 'created' by
dropping weight. The public likes 'easy'.
Yes, but the ENTIRE audio industry is like that, just look at the home audio
industry. For instance, they sell these $250 Shakti stones (and they REALLY
ARE just small rocks) that when put on top of stereo gear, will APPARENTLY
make your stuff sound better. People buy these stones, LOTS OF PEOPLE.
This is just one small example. There is so much myth when it comes to
high-end home audio, it's ridiculous. People happily spend THOUSANDS on a
pair of interconnects or speaker cables and will tell you that one pair of
interconnects sound more "open" than another pair.
My point is that there has ALWAYS been a certain amount of subjectivity and
"art" to the world of audio. People like it that way. You really can't
compare audio products to car performance enhancement products for this
reason.
Now, I am NOT saying that I buy into all the high-end audio lore (I don't
use tube-traps, or Margio Dots, and I most certainly DO NOT USE A TURNTABLE,
THEY DO NOT SOUND BETTER THAN CD, NO WAY!!!). I agree that some
standardization in the car audio industry would help. But the problem with
that is (unlike HP, which all would agree is important) not everyone can
agree what is truly important in the world of audio. Again, I use the
high-end home audio world as an example, many people say that single-ended
triode tube amps are the VERY BEST SOUNDING AMPLIFIERS IN THE WORLD. Yet,
their THD and power ratings generally ALWAYS SUCK. We see this to a lesser
degree in the car audio world. Some think that this parameter is important
while others think this other parameter is important. There is no
universally agreed upon standard. There is no universally agreed upon
"REALLY GOOD SOUND". What sounds good to one person might sound terrible to
another. This makes any kind of rating or standardization difficult if not
impossible.
Again, it really boils down to the "art" factor that is involved in audio.
With cars, it's HP and MPH, THAT'S IT.
MOSFET
Mosfet -- you and I never agree
.
Obviously there is more to building a car than HP, and MPH. Saying
otherwise is like saying that there's nothing more to a stereo system
than DBs.
The thing is, though, that you only need to concern yourself with all
the rest of the automotive stuff (dome top pistons or flat tops?
Roller lifters? What Trans to match to that engine?) if you are trying
to build a trully fast car (-11 sec). That is when the "art" of
building cars comes in to play.
The difference for entry-level guys (in both worlds), is that it's very
easy to bring a 17 second stock automobile down to a 12 second street
racer that will even kick some ass at grudge night, because the
manufacturers have made their products mindlessly easy to choose and to
use. It is that level of user that the car audio industry is missing
out on. Here, we have guys who know nothing and have a hard time
getting anything done because of it, and guys who are semi-pros -- no
in-between.
The reason I focused on car audio is that I think that the same problem
doesn't exist for home audio. If a guy wants an entry level home audio
system, he can get a good "surround sound in a box" set up from Yamaha,
Bose, and cheaper versions from JVC, Pioneer and Sony (...). There is
no similar entry level scheme for car audio (that I'm aware of).
I'm not completely interested in the 'industry' settling this issue --
because this is where an enterprising retailer can set himself apart
from the competition by putting together his own 'packages' to take the
guess work out of putting together systems for the most commonly
desired affects.