Do people really know what sound quality is?

For me at least my love for audio and SQ came after my love for music. And I think that if you look back to before CD players and way before record players, and back further before anything capable of reproducing music, there was just that, a person or group of people, with instruments and paper with notes on it, creating music. and to hear it you had to be there. And if you look at all the great companies that are known for high quality audio equipment, I'm sure in the beginning in the basement or garage of their parents house it was their love for music, not money, and wanting to hear music as if they where there, that motivated them to create the equipment that they created. And like any great musician they were never satisfied, always looking to make it better, constantly tweaking, waking up in the middle of the night because something just came to them. And I think people who care about SQ are the same type of people. There is nothing better than when you have it just right, and as near perfect that you can get it, and you can close your eyes and picture it, the bassist is over on the right, guitarist to the left, the drummer is in the middle, and so on. And if you were to ask someone who wants LOUD music, who buddy rich and max roach are, they would probably say, who?

Believe it or not, Loud systems can have great SQ as well. The head unit, sub box, and components deterimine SQ the most. My car is loud as hell, and I do like that, but at the same time while my powerful mp3 cd's with heavy bass get me going, so does listening to a real quality CD and a nice piano solo. Lately I've been throwing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas cd's in and just relaxing. Thing about the loudness is, I can lay with my girl at a park and my music will sound crystal clear from a quarter of a mile away. It just takes the time, know-how, and care.

Quality is in the eye of the beholder...if you have someone going for a spl setup, is a different quality than a true sound quality setup. To each his own. These days there aren't too many people wanting systems that are actual good sounding quality in cars, those are more in their homes. Most of the time systems in the home are truly just for surround sound and watching movies. To me a system that surrounds and envelops you with quality highs mids and lows without rattling the car to death is true sound quality. For example when your ears are almost bleeding because the highs are penetrating deep into your ears yet feel the bass that is my goal. Although it is fun sometimes to feel air being moved by the subs but that is spl not sq...

Sound quality today sure is different than it use to be. CD's were definitly a step in the right direction but sound systems have went downhill. I listened to my very first CD on a true Quad system, as we called it back then. It was totally AWESOME!!!! Nowadays, if it's loud, its considered quality. Like my dad once told me....You don't have to turn it up for it to sound good...if you can hear good seperation with the volumn down some then you have Quality!

I totally agree with you. I really appreciate quality sound systems. It's like quality HD TV, compared to an old 19" black and white. It's like McDonalds, people don't know what Kobe beef really tastes like. It's a whole different world. Same with sound quality. I've got a great home component stereo set up. However, it still could be much better. I can relate to you. Dennis B.

Rick you raise an excellent question. something i have wondered about for years.

whos to say you have a better system if its just louder? u know? i mean sure its louder, and sure thats cool, but i mean, how can you stand that? i personally could never just ride around all day with nothing but bass tracks. it would drive me nuts.

so whats the point of a all out SPL system? i mean who really cares if you the loudest? unless your building a competition car, then i just dont get the point.

i've said it before on here, and i'll say it again. pretty much any woofer can be loud. but not just any woofer can sound good. who wants sloppy unaccutare bass? i sure dont. i like tight, crisp bass. do i have the loudest car in the world? hell no. but it sounds great in there.

this was my mind set when i was buying a sub. i went with boston cause i always liked there 12.5 woofers. they sounded great, but they were not very loud, and there x-max wasnt really there.

when i bought my G5s in 05 i was about the first person in IN to buy them. boston had them on there website in late july. the closet place that sold boston was 1.5 hours away. i called them every month till december until they got 2 in. they got them on a friday, so i told them to hook 1 up, and that i was coming down.

now at this point, i all but had my heart set on a w7. i wanted a woofer that sounded great, but could push out some SPL when needed as well. the w7 fit that bill. lucky for me, this place also sold JL.

so i went in and got to hear the woofer next to a w7, and a w6. it sounded better then both of them. i was actually just amazed how good it sounded. i brought in my own cd, and i was just amazed on how accurate it was. and the bass was so tight and clean, it was like being in the recording studio. i walked out with the only 2 the got in.

but dont think i didnt preview every single woofer i could, before i finally bought a woofer. i waited for probably about 6 months to hear anything and everything i could.

but like i said my goal wasnt to be the loudest, it was to be a car that you got into, put on an actual song that people know of and like, and just awing them. mission accomplished.

Loud and SQ shouldn't even be in the same sentence, IMO.

sound quality is different for different people personally to me a good quality sound is when everything is blended together flowing like a river