Common car audio myths

I was just thinking it'd be good if everyone could share the funny myths they've heard from customers, or manufacturers, or even believed themselves.  Here's a couple to get started.

1. Size is the only determinant of how loud a subwoofer is.  A 10" Kicker CompVR can't possibly make as much bass as a Comp 12, because it's smaller, for example.

2. Amps that have boldly printed output ratings on the outside actually produce that much power.  For instance, a Pyramid amp with 18-gauge power and ground inputs can somehow get enough current through to make 300 watts.

3. Capacitors will give you pounding bass and non-dimming lights regardless of the components of the system, the quality of the install, and the amount of current that the vehicle's charging system can maintain.

Hate to burst your bubble, but the12volt himself, as well as many of us other board members, are "profit-seeking scum".  Most of us have found out that the best way to make money is to sell something a customer can use that does what its maker claims, and to show them how to use it.  Oh, and have product knowledge too. 

BTW, here's another common myth I thought of (this one is unfortunately promoted by some otherwise respectable manufacturers).

4. A real subwoofer can be driven by the speaker outputs from a deck.

I like this one....... " I think I blew up my speakers because I gave it too much power " He was using deck power and the speakers crackled when it played loud. I told him that he was under powering the speakers and he looked at me like I had a third eye. He then proceeded to tell me that that's impossible because the deck is a high power deck that produces 50 watts per channel..... I had to laugh again. He ended up buying a 4 channel amp ( from me.... a profit seeking scum  ) and it sounded great.

my all time favorite is the power that they are rating the decks at these days.. christ.. 60x4? holy crap.. try explaining to some illiterate customer why this Alpine f340 which sells for X amount at 65 a channel just kicks the sh*t out of his 60x4 pyramid deck.. 'why do I need to buy that amp, my radio has just as much power!!!!!!!' (I'm profit seeking scum also!)

Also, something else that I thought would make a pretty good topic.. when I got into this some years ago, it was mostly a younger persons job.. I was 16 or 17 and now I'm 35 and doing it on a consistant basis.. except for about 6 months at avondale shipyards in New Orleans before I went to work for Mobile One Autosound.. Anyway, my question, it is still a mostly younger guys installing?  I have in my shop a 22 year old and one 32 year old.. Are the guys that started over 15 years ago still going installs?  I love what I do.. Stayed with it..

I work at circuit city, and out of about 20 or so installers in our area, I think 2 are over 25.  That's just installers though; there are plenty of older managers and sales guys.

hehe   here is the one I love.....My 15 inch super blue's handle 1000 watts....it says it right on the speaker...but my 800 watt pyramid blew them up       why?

no one seams to understand distortion levels....

i used to have fun when I would have people ask me about my system in my work truck....an 84 dodge that you can see through the passenger floor. I had (2) 10 inch Type E alpine subs with a alpine MRV 100m   the amp is only 50x2    but my system was known to out do people with there 15 inch super blues and their legacy amps...

Here's another funny myth.  

The customer is entitled to have the shop diagnose and fix any type of install they or their boyz were not able to do properly, at no cost to them, because the fuse that the shop sold them blew.

Hehe, I had a friend that bolted his amp down in the trunk of his Neon. Well he drilled the bolt straight through the gas tank and had gas leaking all over his carpet and inside the car.

Also, why do so many people think that the bigger the magnet is, the louder the sub will be?

Charging $35 for Installing a $35 wallyworld CD into their $35 ford escort.

Does not mean that I am going to hunt down all your other electrical problems.

And yes that extra noise you hear when the engine is running that comes through your $35 CD stereo is a design fault of your stereo, the company that sold it and the people that shop there.

Remember  if its from Wallymart it will fall apart.

Heres one...who knows the Bazooka and Kicker line of products???  who is Bazooka and well kicker used to be a good company.  Since when did a triangle or square sub have higher potential than a round one?  I have 10" Alpine Type Rs that will out perform them!

oooooooooh no. you didn't. ever heard of a 15" Kicker L7, look it up.

10" Kicker Comp VR's could probably out do Type R's, sorry, just my opinion, a few of my friends have 12" Type S's, and yea, i respect them, but personaly i think kicker would run thier show.

Actually a few buddies of mine are heavy into MTX and Kicker gear yeah they sound good but its also in what they are run off.  A lot of guys dont run their gear to full potential, before I got my 15" type R I BD'syncd both of my BD 1000.1 (on paper each amp was certified at 1152 watts, dont know how close that is) amps and the sound from two 10" was huge, rattled my exhaust off 3 times and my car is brand new.  Do you remember the 32" clarion THUNDERDOME, well I used to run one of those in a 91 Jetta GTX, it was only for looks because it sounded like sh*t.  Alpine's Type S subs suck so no loss here.

ih8tktz 

I dont know how many people here have kids, but I have a 10 month old little boy, and everyone said you have to get rid of the car stereo now noise isnt good for the baby..  well screw that he loves loud music more than I do. 

Many chain-stores have crappy installers and shops, and some of the supervisors and managers think they know everything but they don't know jack.  BUT not all are this way.  It all depends on the particular shop, not on what company owns it.  And also, as was pointed out by several others in this post, even the most experienced installers have their bad days and make mistakes.

I don't think it has a whole lot to do with age necessarily, unless you directly associate older installers with more experience.   I guess that's a fair generalization, but at the same time it must be said that there are plenty of very good installers who are under 25.  I would say that someone just being older in and of itself does not mean they are necessarily less prone to making errors or screwing things up than someone ten years younger.

Oh and for people who say that the chain stores like Best Buy and Circuit City don't have "real" install shops because we don't make boxes and do heavy custom stuff, that's really not a fair statement  I agree, many of the shops as I said suck and don't know how to do any custom work, but there are plenty good ones that know how to, but it's frowned on by the companies.  This is because warranties have to be valid at all store locations, and to do so means a customer has to be able to take their vehicle to any store/shop location and get their stuff checked out if something is messed up, and the unfortunate reality is that not all locations are equipped--or have the knowledge--to work with these custom jobs.  The company's solution therefore is to only do work that all shops are supposed to be able to handle.   Rules can obviously be bent depending on the circumstances, but that's generally the way things work.The obvious side effect is that many very talented and experienced installers have much of their expertise and skills largely wasted on radio and speaker installs.   

That's just my two sense, and yes I do work at Best Buy but we have some very good installers who can do it all--can't say the same for most of the other chain shops (including some of the other Best Buys) around here though... sorry I guess I got a lil off the post topic