posted on November 27, 2000 08:53:36 AM new
But I must've been one as a kid, too, because I've never "gotten" pop/rock music or ANY music, for that matter, that's played LOUD.
Obviously I'm dealing with a handicap here, so I figured I'd consult the panoply of AWers whose experience in this area is broader than mine.
What is the point of these incredibly loud, trashcan-sized speakers (woofers?) now being installed in cars and played at 150+ db? Our neighbor has one son who, when he stops by to visit, leaves the car running, which means we get to listen to the seismic throb of his stereo for a few minutes or an hour. It makes all our windows rattle; and even wakes up our deaf cat!
Anyway, what does it sound like inside a vehicle with this playing? Can you clearly hear the music, or is it just, um, a physical experience?
posted on November 27, 2000 08:57:02 AM new
There are times when I've been waiting at a stop light, and even with my windows rolled up, my ears have actually hurt from the loud bass in the music in a car next to or behind me. It HAS to be painful to the occupants in the car with the blaring music, or else they've simply become deaf. Personally, I think that they should be ticketed for
"noise pollution".
posted on November 27, 2000 08:59:10 AM new
I've always had the fantasy of installing those speakers in my car and drive around playing Mozart.
Humanity I love; it's people I can't stand
posted on November 27, 2000 09:01:51 AM new
I'll bet I'm an older fogey than you are...but I love loud music. When I play Bob Segar, the house actually vibrates...
posted on November 27, 2000 09:08:40 AM new
I have always enjoyed my music LOUD....Sometimes it's so that I can sing along without anyone hearin' me & sometimes it's just to "feel" the music!...I enjoy a wide range of music: pop, rock, country, disco, oldies, even instrumentals & classical & I like it all loud!....I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee a while back that had THE BEST sound system (factory) that I had had in years....I cruised around with the windows literally vibrating, cause the volume was turned up so high....Even had a woman approach me once, claimed she was from the "sound police" and was gonna "call her supervisor" if I didn't turn it down (it was in the middle of the afternoon, in a commercial business area)....I chuckled, and drove off with my buddies, Marshall Tucker & the Allman Bros!!...
If I'm really crankin' (read: workin' hard) around the house, the music is blasting!....
I CANNOT however, tolerate rap, hip-hop (whatever you call it)....At ANY volume it sets me on edge BIG TIME, like I'm ready to SNAP!....I walk (read:run) out of any store that is playin' it!....&...BEG my 16 year old to keep that stuff off my radios & on low volume in his room....
posted on November 27, 2000 09:12:46 AM new
Loud music is one of the joys of living in the country. Nothing like turning up the volume on Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit".
posted on November 27, 2000 09:27:34 AM newTokeYou can play Bob Segar as loud as you'd like and it would still be Bob Segar,but today's musician emphasizes too much on the bass and the louder the bass the more distortion it creates
posted on November 27, 2000 10:16:32 AM new
Well, at 45 I haven't reached that stage of old fogeyism yet (though in other areas I have) I usually have the volume up all the way in my car--though I never listen to rock music (actually, I stopped listening to modern music around 1972 or 1973, but that's another story). I blast out swing, show tunes and singers like Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin and Jimmy Durante. MY PT Cruiser is the *perfect* car for cruising to loud music!
posted on November 27, 2000 10:27:24 AM newHCQ, I suggest you buy stock in hearing aide companies. They are due for a significant increase in business as these boomers start to age.
posted on November 27, 2000 10:27:35 AM new
Gosh, some music needs to be loud. You don't listen to Motorhead, you feel it. But in your neighbors case, I'm sure he's just being a jerk.
posted on November 27, 2000 10:29:46 AM new
Speaking of aging baby boomers... Pete Townsend is pretty much deaf in one ear, and suffers from tinnitus, which means he hears a constant ringing in the other.
posted on November 27, 2000 10:48:52 AM newAgainst the Wind, I am Still the Same when it comes to Bob Segar, it's that Old Time Rock & Roll, But with most modern music, I am an old fogey Of course, I still play Segar loud and Stevie Nicks too!
Gosh, it's been ages since I've heard Shattered by the Stones, I used to love that song.
I just don't understand a lot of todays music, must be that bass.
posted on November 27, 2000 11:51:47 AM new
We tried to visit a younger couple out of state and we got along in ever way except they always had load music playing. The entire weekend we never got to sit and talk with them. Even when in the car. We also noticed they never spoke to each other over it.
My take is that is an avoidance technique
to cover the fact you don't HAVE anything to say. Sort of sad - they announced they were getting divoriced soon after we got back.
posted on November 27, 2000 12:10:10 PM new
We had a younger man working at our house recently and he liked to play Rap music while he worked. I HATE that kind of music but I bit my tongue and never said a word because I felt that if it made his work more enjoyable, it would be to my benefit.
However, by the end of the week, I had such a short fuse. I snapped at the kids and then my husband for several days until I realized what it was. It was stress and burnout from the incessant booming music. As soon as he was done and gone, I felt so much better.
Music may soothe the savage beast but it can also turn one into a beast!
posted on November 27, 2000 12:11:36 PM new
Surf music is also most excellent, turned up way loud. I can listen to Pipeline and Miserlou for hours on end. Give me the King of the Surf Guitar over Elvis any day.
You can take the boy from the beach, but you can't take the beach from the boy.
posted on November 27, 2000 12:25:29 PM new
Uh...maybe I didn't say it loudly enough. I'm glad you all enjoy - whoever, but my question wasn't "Whose music do you like to play loud?" I understand that some folks think that some music can't really be enjoyed at any volume but "loud".
We're not talking about turning up the volume loud enough to sing to, since these megawoofers don't carry melody, and I don't see anybody in these cars actually singing along - particularly our "friend". (We also have a couple folks two blocks away that like to enjoy their car stereo from inside the house. That's right: They turn on the car stereo, go inside, and leave the front door open to hear it. There's another guy who used to do this while mowing his lawn. He got shut down pretty fast.)
My question was "What is the point of these loud speakers in cars? What does it sound like inside a vehicle with this playing? Can you clearly hear the music, or is it just, um, a physical experience?" After you reach a certain decibel level you don't get "music". You get "distortion", right? So is the distortion intentional?
posted on November 27, 2000 12:30:38 PM new
Cast one vote for me in favor of banning sub woofers. There is a difference in loud music and the annoying vibrations that come from these things!
posted on November 27, 2000 12:34:26 PM new
HCQ, um, I don't know the answer to your question, but I do know that I was really embarrassed when my husband took our radio out in the yard and played loud country music while he worked. Eek!
posted on November 27, 2000 01:47:51 PM new
HCQ, I think its the physical "high" one gets from all that thumping. When Im in my car, and younguns are next to me and my whole car vibrates and hums, the windows thump in time with the beat, the tires jump up and down and my head starts to bob uncontrollably in tune with it, then it has to be the physical thing. It also gives the heathens in the car next to mine a case of the giggles to see my head boppin' along with what they are playing.
posted on November 27, 2000 02:17:50 PM new
Hi HCQ,
I understand your question. I don't know the answer. I'll admit I like LOUD music too. Learned to like or appreciate it when son turned 15 and I decided he was almost grown and I wanted us to spend the Summer together doing fun things SO I decided that we could both do something we liked and actually get something accomplished.
I wanted us to pick blackberries, raspberries and find wild flowers to transplant. He on the other hand was about to get his license and had my toyota 4X4(little) pickup all fixed up with a brand new speaker system. He was so considerate. He knew I had back trouble so he told me the advantage of my sitting in the passenger seat and be able to have a back massage at the same time. The speaker box was so large it just barely fit behind my seat. The music was so loud it vibrated up and down my back.
We took off down every old country road, lane, path and field and had a wonderful Summer. I am a little more deaf but I have grandchildren which means being a little deaf is a blessing in disquise so it is not all bad.
I would be more polite and considerate if we were living next to someone. Thank goodness we don't. I would imagine in the middle of the night I might be a little upset.
Toke and SammySue,
and I am not telling my age! I like country music, rock n roll and yes, even classical music, loud and he did blow a couple of speakers the same way.
I try also to remember what the "old people" griped at about our generation when we were "teens" and I try hard not to repeat that mistake of old foggeyism. (don't think that is a word but hopefully it will get my point across)
Automobiles used to be considered the sexual-alter egos of the men who drove them. As auto prices increased, the car stereo became and acceptable substitute. So, the LOUDER, the better, more manly, etc (I was afraid to use the term "phallic symbol"--I didn't know if the moderator would allow it).
Unfortunately, there are drawbacks. It has been conventional wisdom that sustained exposure to sound levels of 110 decibels or greater can cause permanent hearing loss. I was in one professional auto sound shop and thought that they were remodeling in back. What I thought was a jackhammer turned out to be a new car installation cranking out 140+ decibels. And the new owners were quite proud. At car audio shows, there is usually a competition for the loudest installation.
posted on November 27, 2000 02:59:51 PM new
When I was in my late teens I installed a state of the art quad system in my 66 Chrysler (like driving around in a living room, BTW). I liked really loud music and so did my friends. There was something visceral about it, a shared sensation that resonated both within and without. Those that didn't appreciate it were beneath contempt and those that did were worthy of a head nod.
I have tinnitis today as a result.
It's a teenage thing. I understand why they do it but can no longer relate to it.
I'll still crank up Johnny Winter, Hendrix, the Ventures (and even Patsy Cline) now and then, but it's just not the same sort of thrill.
HCQ - your initial assumption is apparently valid.
