Seeking Car Audio Competition Feedback

[TomS]

I've been into car audio since the late 80's. I've worked in car audio since the early 90's when it reached its peak. Through the years the organized
competition aspect was fun for everyone and helped feed and promote the
industry. IASCA and USAC were kings and most big events were awesome.
Those things have now changed.

Over the past few years there has been a decline in many aspects of the car
audio industry. Many things overall are still good, but competition as of late
has had many problems. The sanctioning bodies seem to be in constant upheaval. Hosting events as a business doen't bring much if any return on the investment.

I've wanted to host a series of sound-offs again for a couple of years but the benefit doesn't seem to be there.

As automotive enthusiasts, let me know how you feel about car audio competitions. What makes those type of events fun, exciting, and ultimately make you want to spend your hard earned money on cool audio stuff?

Any serious ideas you want to throw out there are appreciated.

Talk amongst yourselves...

[riceboyler]

I'm biased, so I'll just stay out of this one.

I will make one comment: part of the reason for the reduction in attendance, etc. is that the competition has become too strong for your average joe to show up and be competitive, and that's hurt the sport...

[TomS]

part of the reason for the reduction in attendance, etc. is that the competition has become too strong for your average joe to show up and be competitive, and that's hurt the sport...

Yeah, that's definitely part of it.


I'm definitely biased too! :)

[Fastzntn]

I used to work in car stereo shops, and these sound-offs and competitions did absolutely nothing for me.

Most of the time a bunch of skinny, shaved headed guys would roll some ragged and abused looking vehicle to the judging area with a stereo system that looked like it had been hastily thrown together the night before. At least that was my experience, and there was really nothing cool about that.

[riceboyler]

You know, that's why SPL has slowly killed the sport. There's nothing to really relate to.

Of course, the problem with SQ is that so many people became scared to open up their cars and have others listen to them. It became just absolutely boring to go to shows.

[L67Fiero]

You know, that's why SPL has slowly killed the sport. There's nothing to really relate to.

Of course, the problem with SQ is that so many people became scared to open up their cars and have others listen to them. It became just absolutely boring to go to shows.


killed the sport?????? c'mon jason you know thats not true........ as far as sq and spectator sport...... go to a regular old car show, because like you said no one is going to open up their cars and show anything...

[Sean]

I used to work in car stereo shops, and these sound-offs and competitions did absolutely nothing for me.

Most of the time a bunch of skinny, shaved headed guys would roll some ragged and abused looking vehicle to the judging area with a stereo system that looked like it had been hastily thrown together the night before. At least that was my experience, and there was really nothing cool about that.

Skinny: Check
Shaved Head: Check
Abused vehical: Check
Self wired system: Check

Son of a bitch, :reef: thats me!

[dbarnes302]

Yeah, I too used to go to stereo competitions in the late 80's early 90's. HiFi Buys used to have a real good one every year in their parking lot. I think SPL vehicles had a lot to do with killing it off. Back then you could load a vehicle down with a lot of amps and a wall of subs but you still had mids and tweeters and if done right you had semi-decent to excellent sound quality. Today's SPL vehicles do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for me and a lot of people feel the same way, and this is coming from someone that has had a few "walls" in his lifetime. Complex installs with fiberglass and extensive motorization also contributed. I couldn't imagine today their being much support for the old style sound-offs, atleast not in this area( Nashville/Antioch ). Half the entries would be trucks with 295/50-15s and every conceivable add-on accessory ever made boomin hispanic music??? I don't think so.

[VaBeachbum]

Well, If your looking for the "scene" like it was back in the day, head out to Virginia Beach next summer. I really enjoy going to the ones around here. They put on one heck of a show with the ladies in... shall we say... scantly-clad clothing, sponsors, multi-class SPL, SQ, Drive-by Db, and much more. I always have a blast when I go. I know they used to class you up by the amount of watts you have, but now they are using cone surface area, so it really makes for an interesting event.