EMMA, IASCA, USACI and EASCA presents a challenge in their own right, but which one can test the ability of a system to play music? And with music I mean what we hear in real life for example at a concert like a jazz or a blues band playing right in front of you. The same can be said when a rock band is playing or when you attend a classical music performance or opera to name just a view.

Using that knowledge seems to be the last guideline competitors and installers follow or the last source of information in stead of being the first. The aim of this article is to make competitors and installers aware of the basics on how music sounds in real life and to use that as their foundation when choosing products, installing equipment, fine tune our cars and preparing for competition.

In short we listen for:

• size of space/stage in direct relation to width, depth and height of the vehicle's boundaries.
• ambience which is the perceived impression of an acoustical space.
• focusing and imaging of performers and instruments in terms of their correct positioning, size, stability and correct tonal quality.
• timbers of instruments
• listening pleasure

and none of the above mentioned points is more important then the other.

I have listened to most of our top SQ cars in the country and in at least one or two of the points mentioned above, they fail miserably. I have heard from a competitor(s) that a small stage with good focusing and imaging is more desirable for the judges and that other judges focus more on the tonal aspects of the system. The question is since when is good focus and imaging or the tonal aspects of a system more important then any of the rest?

We have to concentrate more on the basics of music and make a study of how we hear it in real life. If we use that as the foundation, the end result will be a system that will play music much more realistically so we can enjoy it so much more.

In part 2 we will discuss how to incorporate what we hear in our systems.

Until next time – happy listening