"Boomers" vs. Hi-Fi Builders?

[David Z. Morris]

Hey folks, I'm writing about car audio and car culture, and have been asking for help and opinions on the forum a bit (more info on who I am and what I'm doing here: http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/146408-looking-for-old-tunercar-magazines/). Everyone has been really helpful so far.

I had a question about something I've come across in my reading. It seems there's a quite large divide in the audio world between "Boomers" - people who go to SPL competitions, have racks of subs in their trunks, and want big bass over everything - and people who are more like straight hi-fi builders. Particularly in old articles from the '80s and '90s in magazines like Car Audio and Electronics (a really cool archive here: http://www.mobilesoundscience.com/f30/index2.html) there are some offhand insults to 'boomers' and the focus seems more on sound quality across all frequencies, and on a more subtle style of installation.

Does this seem like a fair distinction? Are there competing ideas about what 'good' car audio is? Do people in the different camps get along?

And does anyone know if there were magazines in the 80s and 90s that catered more to the boomer crowd? I guess Lowrider and Dub would be the representatives today, but if there were less well known publications I'd love to hear about them, or see them if anyone can help me get my hands on them.

Thanks,

David

[Tim Lam]

id say this is definitely a fair distinction.

if you ever go to any bass competitions they even have different classes to compete.

"boomers" as you refer to is the SPL league

and the "hi-fi" i guess is the SQ league.

never really seen anyone from these two "camps" fight or anything. we usually just pick the stuff we talk about.

it is interesting but i have never really looked into past car audio scenes.

[TeamHT]

How does the daily system, not built for numbers or SQ, compete? I build pretty decent groundpounders, that I can listen to all day every day, get low, and create air movement...

Where is the competitor scene for that? Even if there was one, I obviously don't have a desire to compete, why would I go when that's not a goal?

Point being, of course the competition scene is split between SQ reproduction and SPL scores....those are the two aspects to logically measure. How do you measure how much fun I have just demoing?

[Tim Lam]

How does the daily system, not built for numbers or SQ, compete? I build pretty decent groundpounders, that I can listen to all day every day, get low, and create air movement...

Where is the competitor scene for that? Even if there was one, I obviously don't have a desire to compete, why would I go when that's not a goal?

Point being, of course the competition scene is split between SQ reproduction and SPL scores....those are the two aspects to logically measure. How do you measure how much fun I have just demoing?

dont ask me, but they have it. technically SQL but still an SQ competition...

http://www.mecacaraudio.com/flyers/7-29-12TN.jpg

[Omega5002]

What you refer as "Boomers" are simply people looking to get the highest numbers, and they usually use pro audio since they are efficient, and have a high power handling so they can hear the mids and highs clearly over the bass, whether it has good sq or not, that isn't the point, they are looking for numbers. Sometimes, mids and highs aren't even used for burps.

The "Hi fi" guys though look at Car Audio from a different angle, their goal is acheive the best fidelity (sq) possible, they are trying to paint picture for your ears, where you feel you're just not listening to the song, your ears feel whatever is playing, is right there in front of you, where the speakers disappear, and you're taken into magical journey.

And then there's in the in between which is either the Ground Pounders, or the simple Daily Drivers

Though the "boomers" ,and "hi fi" guys don't really have conflicts, cause they are both trying to achieve completely different goals.