bigger ain’t always better

Really I just wanna vent, and maybe find some insight on why people think like this...

So I was at my local car stereo shop today, and a guy was standing outside while my buddy was listening to my stereo. Like stereo oriented people do, he came over to see what I had that was makin so much racket...

And then of course comes "Yeah, I've got the same speakers as you (JBL GTO1202D's) but I have 10 of them and they play like 200 dB's or something...

Folks, I don't claim to be the brightest bulb in the rock show, but I do know better. As luck would have it, he to has an explorer, so I told him, "Well, why don't we just jump on the meter and see??"

Alright, to defend what knowledge I do have, I have 2 JBL GTO1202D"s in a prefab ported box. I haven't had time to build my custom box, but i'm getting there...

Anywho, we pull around back and Joe brings out the meter. Simply because i'm relatively confident that I know what i'm doing, I let him go first...

A whopping 142.4............. I was not impressed... at all.

Like I figured he would, he jumps out, talking trash and such, and i'm doing the best I can to not smile, cause i've already played a 145.0 on the dash before.

145.4 this time.... not sure what I did different from the competition a few months ago, but who cares, I proved to him that putting 5 times the gear I had in mine was stupid on his part.

I don't comprehend this, what makes people think that more stuff is going to make them louder. I wish the best to these guys that spend fortunes on all the gear, but it seems dumb.

Or am I just putting too much faith in science? Honestly, from a scientific stand point, more subs just makes for more problems. Where is it beneficial? Itseems like if one would put the time into the acoustical engineering (among other science areas) you could prolly achieve close to the same results with much less gear.

Someone clue me in

Americans almost always think bigger is better.  Usually someone like your friend will respond to a test like you describe with "you must have rigged it" or "it was the weather' or "my finger slipped" or something.

People who genuinely believe some idea is true, or who have invested a lot of money into something they have been convinced is true, generally cannot be persuaded to change by science or tests or even their own experience. IMO it's because they are afraid that admitting they were wrong will make them look stupid, when in fact holding onto wrong-headed ideas accomplishes that much more quickly.

Politics, religion, and audio... can't change the ideas of true believers.  Oh well, sell them more woofers. 

No offense man but that's not science.  I think that's called trial and error.

There's an old saying that goes with it:  "There's no replacement for displacement."  While this obviously doesn't always hold true it definitely can make things easier!

That's why i said everything being equal.  I don't necessarily disagree with the orginal poster.  You can't just throw "a ton subwoofers" in a vehicle and have a good system, just like you can't throw a semi engine in a sports car and have a fast car.  But ferrari has v12 engines for a reason.   Maybe if the guy who was pushing "200 db's" did a little work and researching he would have been able to stomp all over the 2 woofers?  That's just the point i'm trying to make. I have a problem with playing the devil's advocate on occasion.