Car stereos

[Malc]

We limit the engine capacity/speed of cars, i.e. not all are capable of travelling at 120m.p.h. but should we limit the capacity of in-car stereos to blast our f*cking ears off?

[Vulture]

We limit the engine capacity/speed of cars, i.e. not all are capable of travelling at 120m.p.h. but should we limit the capacity of in-car stereos to blast our f*cking ears off?

I suppose this is where the 'die hard' (pardon the pun) contingent of American drivers go armed with machine guns; either to protect their right to play as loud as they want, or to dispute someone else's right to do so!

[Joan]

What a great idea Malc!  Every time I get into the car my son drives I nearly hit the roof when I turn it on, literally. The music (if you can call it that) is so loud I jump up, and it's a low roofed car.  I don't know why he isn't stone deaf.

[Malc]

He might get to be stone deaf in his dotage much earlier than normal because of his noisy in-car environment, Joan. I know couple of people who played in big name bands who are now hard of hearing (in their fifties) because they spent a number of hours per week practising and playing in front of huge Marshall speakers.

One of the great lessons I learned was when I went to see Doctor Feelgood in Glasgow. They had NO huge banks of speakers a la Led Zep or Deep Purple, just a couple of small (maybe 70W) combos about the size of suitcases, set on chairs. These were miked up to the house PA system, and the sound was perfect. You didn't come away with your ears buzzing.

I'm with Spike Milligan in believing that noise, not drugs, is the curse of modern life.

[The Peepmaster]

I'm with Spike Milligan in believing that noise, not drugs, is the curse of modern life.

He died in 2002, sadly.  :'(

[Sandy Buttcheeks]

I'm with Spike Milligan in believing that noise, not drugs, is the curse of modern life.

He died in 2002, sadly.  :'(

Good old Spike, I think his war memoirs were one of the first "series" of books I read. I've never laughed more at any book. Sheer class.

One of the great lessons I learned was when I went to see Doctor Feelgood in Glasgow. They had NO huge banks of speakers a la Led Zep or Deep Purple, just a couple of small (maybe 70W) combos about the size of suitcases, set on chairs. These were miked up to the house PA system, and the sound was perfect. You didn't come away with your ears buzzing.

I went to a Manic Street Preachers gig a few years back, ended up deaf in one ear for a week. Brilliant. Not that my hearing is great anyway, a couple of decades of playing guitar at high volume through headphones, has rendered me unable to hear the wife at certain times. Once again...brilliant. 

[Jack]

My car stereo comes on at the same ridiculously loud volume by default, no matter what the volume was set at when I switched it off. It's become something of a ritual to turn the keys and then quickly turn the volume knob down as the radio is starting up.

So you never know, Joan - perhaps the same thing happens with your son's car, and he's really very conscientious about his hearing. 

[Malc]

Bloody hell, a resurrected thread from 2008!! 

[The Peepmaster]

I didn't want to be too hasty in my reply.