Look, I’m going to turn my radio up as loud as I like in traffic.
And if people in other cars can’t deal with hearing Michele Norris, Robert Siegel, and Melissa Block at volume, that’s their damn problem.
I saw a commercial for the VW Jetta (I think) today that made me think of this thread. See, there’s these two Bright Young Things jamming out and dancing around in their upstairs apartment, which quite naturally annoys the gentleman living downstairs, who comes up and tells them to turn it down. Do these erring young people hang their heads in shame and apologize meekly and profusely, as by all rights they should? Oh, nay! They roll their eyes, hop into their VW Jetta, race over to the electronics store, and bring home the biggest subwoofer that will fit in the backseat. The last scene in the commercial is of them stomping up and down on the floor while the subwoofer thumps; the downstairs apartment is dark and there is a “for rent” sign out front. Whether the gentleman moved away or keeled over from a heart attack is left unclear.
I guess Volkswagon is eager to market to the clueless selfish inconsiderate immature asshole demographic.
Nothing sends me into a seething rage faster than some moron’s thumping bass; I don’t care if it’s coming from a house, a car, or a UFO, I don’t want to hear it. I dealt with that crap enough when I was a kid living with my mom and that thing she’s wasted the last 18 years of her life being married to. That stereo was on 24/7, shaking the nails out of the drywall. He even ran the TV through his stupid system so he could watch “Hunter” in stereo, and to hell with anyone trying to sleep, study, read, or talk. Yeah, I got issues.
Solutions? Most of the ones I like are illegal. A friend of mine used to drown out other people’s music with the Wizard of Oz soundtrack. I usually just call the cops if it’s coming from a neighbor’s house or a parked car. I work nights and sleep in the daytime; if these honyocks want to blow their eardrums out, let them use headphones and quit waking me up.
Actually, the sign in the front of the house says “Sold.” They went out and bought awesome stereo equipment to take to their new house. They are jumping up and down on their floor in their own home. Thus the words at the end of the ad, “VW Jetta, all grown up. Sort of.” Way to completely miss the point of the commercial.
And, when the old dude comes up to complain, the girl bites her lip as if she feels bad and looks over at her boyfriend. So much for your interpretation. :rolleyes:
More like they are targeting a young demographic with money who aren’t quite ready to resign themselves to a life of Yanni and Kenny G.
Well, I got my butt kicked in GD. I’m going to declare my friend’s theory dead, until someone comes along with a little proof.
A couple solutions:
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Super Soaker, filled with urine or liquid chicken manure. Make sure the Super Soaker is expendable.
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Marine compressed R134a horns. Supposedly about 130dB at six feet. Make sure you wear earplugs.
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Just unzip at the stoplight. If you’ve got any aim and pressure you’ll get a direct hit.
I had a guy wake me up a few mornings back because he parked his fucking car right out in front of my house and proceeded to demonstrate his nifty stereo to his equally stupid buddy. When I came out I had to shout to make myself heard. Then they got snotty with me because I was shouting. Uh, dude? Your bass is rattling my windows and I have to shout to be heard over it. Dumbfuck.
We get this all the time in my neighborhood, but the cops are pretty good about it. That said, it’s the same damned people over and over again—they always whine about how their rights are being infringed upon. Uh, dude? Your music is in my house. Pay me rent.
Those of us that actually work on those cars, making them fast hate that too.
And picker, for what it’s worth, the reason I haven’t installed my 15" sub in my Civic is because I can’t afford the amp, let alone the crossover and other stuff that goes with it.
As with any hobby, it’s idiots who have no respect and little knowledge messing it up for everyone else.
One question for everyone though: Would you complain as loudly if it were your favorite piece of music?
Er, make that "Those of us that actually work on those cars, making them go fast**,**
If the music is loud enough to distract your driving and you have a cell phone I say casually fall behind, get the license plate number and call 911, you’ll be glad you did. If they appear to be weaving a little that is worth a mention. Especially if they have their car rigged with lights or etc that are not legal in your state. That might be worth a mention too. While it is true that it is easy to turn down the sound when you see a squad car, some have mastered the art of not being seen. So if your call is well timed you might just get relief. And there is just the possibility that the driver say, does not have a license of spent his insurance money on his stereo. Win/win. This can be especially true late at night when on city streets and a police car can hang out on a cross street out of site. Yes, they can turn it down, but its too late if they could be heard coming from a block or two away after 10 pm a time most cities deign too late for that kind of noise. In some cities and towns it is earlier. So my take is never hesitate to call something like that in. For all you know they are on the way to knock someone off.
O.K. they may just be a nice person with a loud stereo, but you’re not going to call someone in just because you can hear their music from your car right? We’re talking bone rattling, noise beyond the threshold of pain here to the poing where you wish you had photon torpedos or those things on Ben Hur’s chariots. Or a few Ninja spikes to drop behind you. All of which would be totally wrong. Bad bad bad things to do. But thinking about them might make you laugh and relieve your tension.
Here’s the God’s honest truth. Most people never think of this. Dropping back 10 or 20 car lenghts costs you maybe, maybe 10 seconds on your total trip time, and if you catch one light you make that up in spades. So the easiest and safest strategy by far is to just fall back out of hearing range. Don’t believe me? Do it sometime when you are running early just for the heck of it and report back. Really.
Most of that time, all that lane changing and hard driving makes absolutely no real difference in our commute time in the long run. All it does is make us maniac drivers, give us the illusion, the illusion of control, make us prone to accidents, or cause accidents, and make our health worse from the added stress.
Important: If you choose the writing down the license option, for your own safety do not make it obvious to the occupants that you are doing so. Often those with disregard for others, express that disregard in more than one way.
In college this was so much easier. I would just call the room down the hall and they would turn down the music to answer the phone. After 9 or 10 times they got the message. No words were exchanged. None needed. And in an all male dorm they HAD to answer the phone - what if it was a woman! LOL
One of my associates was so annoyed by this, and I do not advise this, that he jury rigged his right windhield wiper spray so that rather than spraying onto his window it sprayed out into traffic to the right. The left spray was set to center. Then when confronted with this problem he would just pull up along side and turn on the spray - frustration, anger, and instant windows shut.
This was years ago, today that could get you shot in some cities. So, regretfully, don’t try this at home kids. Once he even set both sprays so he could shoot off in both directions at once.
Well I hope you have enjoyed this post and the sense of humor that I brought to it. 
Hope this helps someone!
Peter
Good audio gear ain’t cheap, that’s for sure. It’s the crappy systems that piss me off the most - not only is it loud, it sounds horrible. And the people that install those kind of systems generally equate ‘killer system’ with insane amounts of bass and little to nothing in the way of preamps, eq’s, or quality crossovers, horns or tweeters.
As to your question, yes. It’s not the style, it’s the volume. Period. And bluegrass doesn’t really sound very good at 90 db. 
I’m not in the mood for my favorite piece of music all the time, but especially not at ear-distorting level. If I want to hear it, I’ll either play it myself or ask.
As loudly? Yes… if I wanted to be heard.
Music? See, it’s no longer music. It’s a
TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM TWHUUUUMP BABABAAAAMMMM
ad nausem that either spoils what I’m listening to or makes my chest hurt. What’s to like?
I don’t shine spotlights into their car. I don’t fill their vehicle with the smell of badger scat. I don’t pour December’s sour cream into their mouth. Yet they relish the opportunity to assault my sense of hearing and then suggest I “get over it.”
In the complete absence of common decency, what’s one to do?
Jeez, Marlitharn, sounds like my ex-husband. Coming home every day after work was like walking into a bar; you’d open the door and be forcefully struck by a wall of sound. I feel your pain.
The line is crossed when these inconsiderate fucks wake up my 4 year old at 10pm while slowly driving down my street. If I could do violence to them and get away with it I would in a heartbeat. Stupid peacock behavior.
Not to hijack but I have the same problem with “assholes” who drive their ungodly noisy motorcycles down residential streets at midnight. I’m convinced these people are just attention-seeking scum.
Most of the music content is contained in the mid-range. If the stereos were configured to where as much effort was given to amplifying the mid-range instead of just the easily driven bass, then we could have some really loud music and the associated bleeding eardrums that go along with it. Thrashing out loads of bass is just a cop out.
I have a buddy with an car audio store, and one of the demo vans was in town (this was a few years ago, I’m sure things have improved since then). We sat in it while he cranked it up, and it was thumping mightily. And I could shout over the “music”, that shit ain’t loud. Just a bunch of bass.
And I honestly believe that the whole thing has more to do with expression than love of music. That’s why it’s necessary to leave it cranked when you go into the store, or while parked out in the street while you go in to visit. If it’s too loud, you’re too old/uptight/un-hip, whatever. A new method to piss off society has been discovered, and if you ain’t down with it, then you are why it’s loud.
And I love loud music. I just don’t expect everybody within a 1/4 mile radius to share my love of loud music.
To those getting defensive. There is a big difference between just loud music and that booming bass that rattles windows and makes the earth move and your chest hurt. Loud music can be somewhat tolerable for a few seconds at a stop light or passing by your home at reasonable daytime hours. Sure it’s annoying if I’m listening to something I want to hear when someone with their music on too loud pulls up next to me but it is not even on the same level of offensive as the BOOM BOOM BOOM that many people insist on having at the maximum setting. That is physically uncomfortable to experience and I think that is what most people here are referring to needing some sort of prevention or legisltation. However there are noise ordinances and if you music is extremely loud you may already be breaking some laws.
Then again there really is no reason to have your music so loud that people a couple cars away can’t even hear their own stereo system or people in their own homes can hear it as you go by on the street. If it is that loud how do you hear emergency vehicles?
To those advocating headphones, I think that is also illegal. Again, there is the safety issue of not being able to hear emergency vehicles.
[QUOTE= If it’s too loud, you’re too old/uptight/un-hip, whatever.
And I love loud music. I just don’t expect everybody within a 1/4 mile radius to share my love of loud music.[/QUOTE]
If it’s that loud, your dick must be that small.
Overcompensation. Sorry. These guys are just showing off for other men. Show me a guy who drives a Toyota. Oh, baby.
Can I do this to your kids when I want peace and quiet?
I guess I should have noted that I have the original stereo with no added speakers in my ride, two 4" speakers in the doors. I’m quite happy with my dick, thanks for caring enough to ask. I do have a home stereo that is capable of reproducing music at quite loud levels, not just the bass. I also own a couple of set of head phones.