Whats needed for an SQ car to be competitive?

[VQXTC]

This may seem like a stupid post but I am curious..... What is really needed for Sound Quality comps??

Does it really matter about how much u spend on your equipment or is it just the way it's setup that matters......cheers

 

[semi]

Once you get up into serious SQ, both equipment and setup play a huge role in it. You cant really get away with cheap gear, nor can you get away with a cheap install

 

[Tasmaniak]

Setup is probably the biggest part of the game but on that same hand if you ain't got **** then you aint got ****.

Careful selection of equipment is necessary. Don't just buy a pair of splits because they were the most expensive brand on the shelf. Do the specs line up with the style of music intended to be played through them?

Do you listen to various styles of music? If so....forget about high end SQ.

 

[davey g-force]

Do you listen to various styles of music? If so....forget about high end SQ.

What makes you say that?

 

[Tasmaniak]

Different styles of music require different Eq settings and often times wiser speaker selection.

It's not a case of "Close enough is good enough" it has to be spot on.

For instance, if I was to listen to classical music all the time then I would have a set-up consisting mainly of 1", 3", 5" 8" and a 10" subwoofer. Yet, if I was to listen to electronic music then I would probably use a set up like... 1" 6" and use a 10" or perhaps a 12"

Lets put it into other terms. Lets say you like driving tight twisty corners. Would you buy a 800Kw monster or are you going to go for a Subaru with AWD? Now reverse the situation, if you live to drag....why would you buy the Subaru when you have the 800Kw option?

Both vehicles can do both jobs. But one can exceed in an area that the other one can't.

So, if we tune the Subaru to handle extremely well then when we want to drive the straight line as fast as possible it's not really doing it to the best of it's ability if it had've been tuned for drag then it would be a different story.

 

[davey g-force]

Yeah I understand all that, but why can't you setup and tune your system for say electronic music and then play that style of music at the SQ comp? Or do they make you play different styles?

 

[semi]

For instance, if I was to listen to classical music all the time then I would have a set-up consisting mainly of 1", 3", 5" 8" and a 10" subwoofer. Yet, if I was to listen to electronic music then I would probably use a set up like... 1" 6" and use a 10" or perhaps a 12"

read that and see if you can figure it out

 

[garfa]

Yeah I understand all that, but why can't you setup and tune your system for say electronic music and then play that style of music at the SQ comp? Or do they make you play different styles?

no its not that, its just that a system setup for classical will have different speakers (sizes and just plain different models/brands) to something for synethesised music.
also box volumes, x-over points (the type of x-overs) and the whole frequency curve would all be different, not to mention heaps of other things.
sure you can take the car to a sq comp and play your selected music to show the system off to its best BUT if you listen to a different style of music on the weekends or while driving then the SQ will be worse than the sq of the system when its playing music it was designed for.

 

[davey g-force]

Aaaah ok. Thanks garfa! :thumbsup:

 

[StoneX]

Also, they have a reference test CD that they use to assess your system.