whats too much eq?

^^^ I think I more or less agree with you; I just really think most people (including myself) are simply used to listening to clipped, over EQ'd music to begin with - as you stated. This leaves one with a sense that something is "lacking" when they listen to a flat-tuned system...

But still I maintain; I do not like the sound of a flat system. My initial statement that a stereo system tuned flat with an RTA will not sound good was perhaps a little forward, if not blatently wrong; as we all have different listening tastes. Maybe playing classical music or something flat may sound nice, but still I think part of what makes rock/rap fun to listen to is the "peakyness", "hit", etc. of the music itself - somethign which I believe a RTA'd flat system lacks.  

And as adding too much EQ boost can cause overdriving of an amplifier; IMHO if you have to add more than a few db of boost or cut in a single band, you probably have an install issue and the trying to EQ out to problem is not the proper fix. I too believe in headroom - I have 350w rms going to each DLS Iridium midbass in my front doors, and currently am trying out some Blaupunkt vc100 tweeters w/ 100w rms. After I give those some time to grow on me, I'll put my Seas neo aluminums in and see how they work out with the 100w rms. So yes, headroom is absolutley your friend.

-Matt

Well, just my $.02 here, and will probably in no way contribute to the proceedings here, but really the only thing I listen to in my car is opera, classical music, and DCI, i.e. Puccini, Pavaratti, Gustav Holst, Tolstoy, and pretty much every show by Carolina Crown or Phantom Regiment. And I have to adjust the EQ, mine usually ends up looking like what I could only call a suspension bridge, to get anything that sounds like a "live" performance. Obviously there's just no way to match the acoustics of a perfomance hall in a car (at least my car ). When I was in Atlanta last summer I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ride in a 2006 Maybach 57 S, and even in a car designed purely for luxury, Dvorzaks New World Symphony just couldn't compare with hearing it live as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I may be wrong, and in fact, I probably am, in saying that, there's no way microphones right up by the stage can capture the depth of what you hear from 100 yards away, in a real concert hall.