Mo'Stereo

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

> From: fjbauer@dsavm.e-mail.com
                                                 
>> unka bart sez:                                                                  
> > Call me wierd, but it is my humble opinion that having a top 
> > end sound  system in an automobile, at least, in one moving at 
> > the rate Yer Kindly ol' Unka Bart  normally moves, is either a 
> >complete waste of money, or a serious threat to  the safety of all.                                                                 
> 
> and a system that sounds screechy and horrible if you turn it up loud enough    
> to hear over the engine and road is much safer, right?                          
> bart, imho you're wierd!  =8)                                                   
> maybe that top end sound system is loud enough to drown out the kids -          
> now that's a safety feature!  =8)                                               

Frank was, of course, writing with tongue firmly in cheek.....

But the fact is, folks, that stereo quality is an incredibly 
subjective choice.  In many cases, people not only prefer certain 
sounds, but they may choose them because they EXPECT them to sound 
"better", and therefore perceive them to sound "better".  The human 
mind is fully capable of perceiving things in many different ways, 
some of them based not on auditory evidence, but on expectation.

Once I assert that sound quality is a highly personal and variable 
judgement, NOT something which is easy to measure in Capital 
"T-Truth", let me complicate it further.  PRIORITIES.

Regardless of how I think the stereo in my wife's Audi 200 sounds, it 
has been operating for six months with a Sony head unit and Bose 
speakers - but the speaker amps have been disconnected.  The sound 
is, to my ear, inferior.  It is also, to my ear, no worse than when 
the Bose system was intact - just differently inferior.  But I have 
had much better things to do with my money than to fix it.  Period.  
And for now, it makes sound and music which my wife finds acceptable.

When I do finish working on it, the absolute-outer-end-top-dollar 
stratospheric money I will spend for a AM/FM/CD changer stereo with 
at least four two new speakers (for the dash, which has none) and a 
small amp (for the back speakers, as I will use the radio to drive 
the dash and door speakers...) is about $600.  That's right, $600.  
Because regardless of sound, no car stereo is worth more than that 
to me!  And believe it or not, with good selection, a good mid price 
range stereo can be done for that money.  This is Priorities at work. 
Yes, I can discern better sound.  No, it's not worth it to me to 
blow a grand or more on a car stereo.  (I love my Damark catalog..)

So if you like your Bose system, cool.  You are not alone.  I may not 
prefer it, but it ain't my car.  And although I will try to talk 
someone OUT of buying a Bose system and retrofitting it into a car, 
because I think it is a poor investment, I realize they might like 
that system just fine.  


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Al Powell                        Voice:  409/845-2807
107 Reed McDonald Bldg.          Fax:    409/862-1202
College Station, TX 77843      
Http://agcomwww.tamu.edu/agcom/satellit/alpage.htm

Saunders' Slant: "If it's worth doing, it's worth hiring someone
 who knows how to do it."