I can't really say what order I prefer. I know that when I get in a car, I've been trained from years of IASCA competition to look how the system images first, soundstage second and then how it is tonally. First thing I listen for is if the system has a center, then where the height is, then how the width is and then I can 'relax' and settle into how the tone is.

I would say I could enjoy the tonality the most from any position in the car but the image and stage you have to be in the sweet spot for or consciously/subconciously move your head and body around to find that sweet spot. It's kinda like the image and stage are the mechanics of the system and the tonality is the romance of the system.

If I know the car can't stage, or if it can't image, I'll tune myself out of looking for that and just listen to the tone of it. If it does that well, I can enjoy it if I hang my head and just listen to the music instead of where it's coming from.

I agree with what DWVW said about imaging and that it's difficult to say where the placement of instruments and singers are if you don't really know by not having a sound map. You could take a darn good guess if the system is set up well but you'll still be guessing.

I sometimes get a real kick out of what people can claim they hear. I swear some day someone is gonna claim they know what color of shirt the bass player has on

 

Then throw into the mix this.......... for the most part, no two people hear things the same way with regards to those three things. There are subtile differences in what we all will hear. What I think may sound good to me, Dukk may think sounds like azz-wind. [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]

Funny thing is all three of those items interact with each other to some degree. So while you may be kickin' azz with one while tuning, you may have monkeyed up another. GAwd I love car audio

 

I got a little curious, and moved my tweeters. I mounted them so that I can pivot and swivel them easily by hand, yet they hold the possition I set them in.

Result: I have no F'n clue. It's winter, and every time I get in the car the system sounds different because of temperature variations. I feel like I'm chasing a moving target at this point, because every time I get somewhere, I can't replicate it the next time I'm tuning.

Winter sucks.

 

Move to the wet I mean West Coast...No shovellin', and it's pretty warm considering it's winter, heh!

 

I used to be a musician (trumpet player) and had plenty of opportunities to play in all kinds of environments. It helped me understand how sound (music, noise) is produced, how it is amplified (naturally and electronically) and how it is recorded. I've player in small ensembles, large orchestras, marching bands (yuck), jazz/dance bands, and in musicals (theatre). Nothing beats live music, but most of us can't make it to Carnegie Hall to hear Yo Yo Ma or Wynton Marsalis. Why does a trumpet sound different from a fluglehorn from a clarinet from an oboe? Why does a piano sound different in an orchestra pit as opposed to a night club?

Having said all that, I prefer tonality (what sounds natural) over the rest. I haven't competed in IASCA events for close to 15 years now, but I loved competing because of all the different things the judges were looking (hearing) for - imaging, soundstage, clarity, response, levels, etc. I always achieved high SQ scores but sucked because of my lack in install skills. I remember meeting this one guy who was like a human RTA. He could listen to pink noise in a vehicle and tell you what frequencies were down or up (Gord was his name).

Back when I was a musician, imaging was something I never really thought about - being "in" the band as opposed to listening from "out there". On top of that, each band had its own way of setting up. The drums were not always left of center. Only in recording studios was there some kind of standard - even then, the dude in the booth decided what sounded right.

I'm just rambling on about nothing really......... too much time on my hands. Just happy I found a site devoted to car stereo and even happier that it is CANADIAN!!!

 

Yeah, forgot to mention the real reason for posting. I want to stop being a BACK BACON. I want to be a Platinum Toque - or is becoming something other than a piece of cured lard more to do with a rating the admins give you and not the amount of posts you make. I can be a post , you know. If age has anything to do with it I'm over 45. If the amount of women I've slept with in those 45 plus years of being alive accounts for anything, I might as well give up right now and stay "Back Bacon".


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most people pray for a painless death
me, I just want to die with a clear conscience

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From the time this thread started I have had the opportunity to see 3 live performances, mostly jazz bands in t.o. I have sat there, closed my eyes and let my ears work trying to resolve the subtle nuances of the imaging and soundstage. I can't do it. Those amplified speakers at the corners of the stage give me all the information when my eyes are closed. It sounds like a good home stereo or my car. Once I open my eyes, then I seem to hear where everything is. As far as I'm concerned, in a music system, fidelity is paramount. Does this system accurately reproduce what is on the source disc, tape, hard drive or whatever. That is the true measure of a good system, and that is all it should be expected to do. Anything else is distortion and not true to the original. When I closed my eyes at those venues, I heard good, clear, dynamic music and I had no idea where any of the instruments were. In my car I can't tell either. All I know is that it sounds really good and everyday I can't wait to get in the car and turn on the tunes.

 

WTF Dukk, where's my Platinum Toque?