FOURSPEEDVETTE

I"m a little out of touch I guess so I thought I'd ask you guys about your impressions of this. It's not neccessarily a Corvette thing. What are people trying to say or prove to others when they put a stereo set up in their car that is so loud and powerful? Can they really listen to that when they drive without going deaf? Do they feel they are impressing ALL the other people at red lights vibrating everything within 100 yards? It's extremely annoying to me to have to listen to some of that bass pounding (rap) trash that they are forcing me to listen to at 2:00 AM driving down my street at 10mph. Most of the true car show guys here know what I'm saying when someone enters are a car show with extremely loud systems. DON'T PARK NEXT TO ME!! I live in a very nice quiet neighborhood and can't figure out what they are thinking when they don't care about bothering the neighbors. I like nice systems, don't get me wrong, but do they have to have speakers so big they take up all the storage space in a car? I thought this trend was dying off, but as it seems in my area it's being started all over again. It's cool how some of the guys with custom exhaust sytems are more than polite when it comes to keeping it quiet when they should. I wish the same could be said about some of these stereo system owners.

Midnight 85

100% It's really something when a person, (not me ,this is hypothetical) can be pulled over for loud mufflers while some kid goes by with that crap shaking my windows in my car followed by a Harley with no mufflers that rattles my fillings. Don't get me wrong, I used to ride too so I don't have a thing against Harleys and I have a nice stereo system in my car too, but fair is fair.

socalman

rapcrap no. Led Zep, yes, it's perfectly ok

Frizlefrak

If I wanted to live in the ghetto, I would move there. I like a good system, I like my classic rock, and I still like it loud. But there comes a point where something is overkill....particularly when it's annoying others. Honestly, a properly working Bose or aftermarket Pioneer or Sony head unit will get it loud enough for me these days. I see no need for 1200 watt amps and 14 12" subs.

Funny sidebar.....a couple of years ago, when gas was $4.25 a gallon, this young hip hopper that worked for me complained incessanty how the price of gas was killing him, and how he could no longer hotrod his Hawwwnda around like he wanted. Just for grins, I put a tire gauge on all four of his tires....all were below 30 lbs....one was at 23 psi. He had no explanation.....I then peaked in his trunk....he had a sub box that took up the whole trunk....one that I couldn't lift without help. I asked him if he knew what the word "irony" meant. Not surprisingly, he didn't. He asked "what does my system have to do with gas mileage?". I didn't bother explaining it.

I understand about loud exhausts, etc.....I'm a car guy too. But if I'm coming home at 3 AM in my V8 Fiero, I don't race the engine in a neighborhood where people are trying to sleep. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Frizlefrak

Well put. Amazingly, some of the young 'uns are into classic rock too.

CRUZN C4

You can't go wrong with Zeppelin.

astepup

I think a lot of it is the "Look at me! Look at me!" factor...they need to draw attention to their cars and themselves otherwise nobody would give them a second glance...now if they were driving a vette of course they'd get looks even with no stereo blasting A few years ago two younger guys were in a smaller truck with the windows up and stereo BLASTING to the point you could still hear it 1/2 a block away. I know because I was at my mom's and saw them. I left town and later found out that within 10 minutes of me seeing/hearing them, they went through a railroad crossing with...you guessed it...an oncoming train!!! The driver was basically decapitated and I think the passenger survived. Everybody was like "Oh how could this have happened?" etc etc. Some even went so far as to of course blame the railroad for the collision. I guess sometimes in life you live and learn...at other times you don't learn and don't live. Yes it's a sad story but had either of them used just a small amount of common sense it wouldn't have happened.

astepup said that

Loby 1

Common sense these days is as illusive as a winning lottery ticket.

Illini Al

With some of these drivers, their "music" drowns out my music even with my windows rolled up. There's no way they can hear emergency vehicles coming. With the music being so loud, I doubt they can fully concentrate on their driving. I can't decide if they're worse then texters.

rithsleeper

Well I love loud stuff. I think it's annoying most of the time like you say w/ subs blasting... however... I have one of the most rediculous daily drivers.

It's a hurse w/ train horns on the top. I also have subs that I just patched together from other conservative systems in the past and I can thump them just like the Brovas. If you've never been in a car w/ a system like that it is pretty awesome and gives me a rush. My nose starts itching and your vision goes blurry sometimes. I only do this like once a month for like 5 minutes because I get a headache and don't want to cause damage.

I have a legitamate use for these subs. I teach at an rural school that is 99.5% minority (I myself am white as a paper plate). These kids don't respect whity very easily, but when I show them my system and train horns they respond and I gain instant street credit! Then all of a sudden in their eyes they don't see some white guy telling them what to do like their parents have taught them to rebel against.

Also, if I go for a part in autozone, williams corvette, lowes etc and try to get info from someone they don't want to talk too long. However, if I somehow weasle in that I drive "The Hearse w/ train horns" they know me immediatly and I can develope a relationship.

Sum it up, its a cultural thing that took me a long time to understand. Noise is a cultural rule in poverty that us middle class don't understand. If you want a good book that is really interesting read "Framework for understanding poverty - Ruby Payne" She talks about how noise is part of poverty because body language is more important than words (most uneducated don't have a big vocabulary), as middle class words are more important than how you look when you say them.

You may not understand (I frankly still don't see the point of spending all the money), but it's there.

Read the book, I promise you won't be dissappointed.

RedLS1GTO

So.... you think people with loud exhausts are polite but at the same time you are saying that every "stereo system owner" goes around with the volume cranked up rattling windows? Have you ever stopped to think for a second that there are a lot of people that you DON'T hear?

I have one of those stereos that you are talking about in my C5. It is far from the biggest out there but you could hear it from a long way away if I ever felt the need to crank it up. I have it because I spend a LOT of time in the car, I love music, and I like hearing it at the highest quality possible which requires deep bass and crisp highs. The factory Blose stereo simply isn't going to do it. There is plenty of room in the C5, and I designed the system entirely with quick disconnects so I could take it out if I ever needed the extra trunk space or want the weight gone at the track. I could have it completely out in less time than you guys could put the roof on. There is also not a single rattle if I do crank it up. I can't speak for everybody else but I built my car (including the stereo) for me... I couldn't care less about impressing somebody else with it.







So do I... I like to listen to my music with the highest quality sound possible.

06_LT1

I turn it down when I'm in residential areas - but I do love a loud stereo.

Maybe it's time you trade in your 'Vette for an Oldsmobile or a Prius.

Kidding!

FOURSPEEDVETTE

[QUOTE=RedLS1GTO;1576393466]I have one of those stereos that you are talking about in my C5. You could hear it from a long way away if I ever felt the need to crank it up.


My thought is why would anyone ever even feel the need to crank it up on general public streets or quiet neighborhoods other than to try to draw attention to themselves. To some this makes them feel like they're cool. I imagine it's just an age related thing. When I was a young kid I used to listen to loud music in my car too and I used to feel that way. Then a funny thing happened. I grew up! That doesn't seem to be happening with todays younger people. Lots of over 25 year olds still need that type attention. Being an emergency service worker, I can't tell you how many times we've been stuck sitting at intersections while responding because some idiot has his system so loud he can't hear us directly behind him and they're leaning down so low on their center armrest they can't see us behind them. There probably is a good time to listen to them so loud, but I don't think it's while they're in traffic or driving through neighborhoods. That's all. By the way, I said some system owners, not all, go around with their systems too loud. Don't twist this so you can have something to argue about.

Phuncky Feel One

RedLS1GTO

A properly matched 400W amp and 12" sub with the exact right amount of airspace can blow the roof off of a C5.

Funny story along these same lines... I was listening to my ipod one day this summer cruising around in the Z06. I had it turned up louder than I should (not to window rattling level) when some Theory of a Deadman came on. I pulled into a gas station right as the song was ending. My ipod, on random, decided that Belinda Carlisle would be a good song to come on next. Lots of heads turned to look at the moron with "Heaven is a Place on Earth" blasting out of the Corvette. :o


**Before anybody chimes in bringing up my previous argument about sound quality, I am fully aware that MP3s out of an ipod are usually not the greatest.

I understand the frustration with 2am window rattling. My only issue with the original statement was the implication that everybody with a big power stereo in a car was one of those inconsiderate jackasses.

read what you said again. You said that some of the loud exhaust owners were polite but that the same couldn't be said about stereo owners. No twisting involved.

On a side note, A C4 owner has no place judging somebody else on storage space in a car. Even with the sub box in the car I still have more room in the Z06 than in a C4.

93Rubie

I just let my pipes do the talking....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZVpL6K2cJw, when some bone head has his system cranked up.

FYI, Classic Rock is the only way to roll and I'm 23.

1Asterisk

Here it's about a $350 ticket to play your radio at a volume that can be heard in excess of 25 ft.

I've written many of them. Though typically if I write you I heard you well before I saw you, and in residential areas. The 25 ft thing is kind of bs to me as a lawnmower can be more annoying than a car passing by.

It's the big bass filled things that get tickets. Though I've not heard of people writing loud exhausts here. I've never written a ticket for exhaust.

FOURSPEEDVETTE

OK....I'll try this once more... just for you. Read the last line in my original post. Does the word "some" not appear on your screen? I was never concerned about or even mentioned storage space in a Corvette or which year Corvette could haul more. It's not even really directed at Corvettes. Just cars in general. If someone has to haul lots of things, NO Corvette is ideal for that. Even your C5. Lets try to keep this post related to what I intended it to be. Not another C5 vs C4 thread.

RedLS1GTO

I have no intention of turning it into C5 vs. C4. The point of saying that was that you brought up storage space...

...as a negative point for having a big stereo (Corvette or not), yet you have no problem in yourself owning Corvettes which have almost zero storage space.

If I misinterpreted what you meant... great. Thanks for the clarification. One of the wonderful things about reading vs. listening is that when you can't hear voice inflections, etc most things can very easily be taken in multiple ways. Surely somebody as mature and grown up as you can figure that one out.

Chuck Tribolet

There are times I wish I had a Stinger missile with a
low-frequency sound-seeking head. I don't share my
music with you, please don't share yours with me.


Chuck