# New Event Input Needed Please



## Guest (Oct 8, 2015)

Two questions:


What would you as a competitor like to see in a New Soundoff Event ?
What would you as a spectator like to see in a New Soundoff Event ?

As everyone is aware... our hobby has experienced a pretty sizable drop in interest and attendance since it's peak in the 1990's and early 2000's....

What can WE do to get people interested again....? 
What can WE do to retain current competitors and draw new...?
What can WE do to get people attending the shows...?

OK, I guess that's more than just two questions.... but you get the idea...

Let's brainstorm on this...


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## Kevin K (Feb 11, 2013)

It needs to get better....before it gets worse for sure.

I'm ok with only having trophies for like state finals and world finals. A certificate would be fine along with score sheets.

More manufacturer's need to represent the SQ side of things and promote the contests more. 
This and provide some incentive for their teams to participate. I think that would help turn out as well.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2015)

Thanks Kevin !

If you were to attend the perfect event.... what would it look like... ?
Think from a competitor's point of View....
Think from an attendee's point of view....


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## audiophile25 (Oct 5, 2008)

I go to the shows for the camaraderie and feedback from great Judges. I believe you would have a bigger turnout if there were money or prize giveaways, although it would be expensive. It would be cool to have clinics to show new competitors tuning or install techniques.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2015)

audiophile25 said:


> I believe you would have a bigger turnout if there were money or prize giveaways, although it would be expensive. It would be cool to have clinics to show new competitors tuning or install techniques.


These are both GREAT ideas....!

So maybe a two day event ???
Day 1 - A pretty standard soundoff...
Day 2 - Clinics and a possible invitational round of top system from Day 1...


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## benny z (Mar 17, 2008)

We did something similar with a recent Hybrid Audio GP series event. We had an iasca competition in the morning, served pizza, then held an sq/tuning course in the afternoon. Seemed to be well received.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2015)

Very nice


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## car_audio_fanatic (Nov 22, 2013)

Generally you get better participation when you make it a family type event. Dealers don't make money off of the shows because everyone competing already has an SQ or SPL system installed. Need to find a way to drive spectators in, give demos, create a desire for new people to buy stuff.


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## tnaudio (Mar 4, 2012)

Competitors want cash prizes and fair classes to compete in. No one wants to compete against custom pillars with stock locations. It also seems that new competitors are pretty scarce. Lots seem to like the GTG atmosphere but are intimidated by someone actually scoring their car. I could be wrong on this point. Spectators just want to be wow'd. They want to see the best equipment in the cleanest install. And they would like to listen to the car and not just look at the stereo.

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## Beckerson1 (Jul 3, 2012)

tnaudio said:


> Competitors want cash prizes and fair classes to compete in. No one wants to compete against custom pillars with stock locations. It also seems that new competitors are pretty scarce. Lots seem to like the GTG atmosphere but are intimidated by someone actually scoring their car. I could be wrong on this point. Spectators just want to be wow'd. They want to see the best equipment in the cleanest install. And they would like to listen to the car and not just look at the stereo.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


I can agree with this.


I personally don't compete. Not saying at some point I wouldnt. Just no motivation to do so. 

I really enjoyed the G2G I had this past July at Parts Express. You really get to know different people and their setups. 

I feel a real big turnoff as a spectator at a event (not saying all events are like this)

1) Lack of anything geared towards non competitors.
2) Everyone is in a bloody rush. 

Most of this is SPL as far as my region. There may be one or two SQ builds but many don't compete due to hating rules of a particular group or the fact you get first automatically as these builds are not even in the same class.


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## EAllen (Dec 31, 2012)

What about a listening section of the parking lot, where competitors or non competitor vehicles could be parked that are open to be listened to, while the car is in that section, the owner would need to be close by and available.

I go to shows, but struggle talking to people. Maybe a section like that would help me talk to people if my car was parked in that section. 

We need to share our passions. Some of us are on different level than others, but if we don't share our passion, it will keep going on the same path.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

honestly i dont think theres much that can be doneo to get a more attendance. people just arent into car audio anymore, and adding or changing things to events wont change that


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

I feel like if I go to a sound comp I'd want the people there to come to my car and install my equipment for me, while I watch and talk about stuff that I find interesting. 

There's no real draw for people to watch, if cars roll up, judges sit inside, get out and move to the next car...

maybe if you could add something for the judges to do, like sword fight for the cars they want to judge...

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like the "sport" of car audio translates well like car racing or football or even golf, maybe if you could make celebrities out of the competition winners it would help, introduce a "Car audio comp quarterly" magazine with all that filthy lucre from membership dues?

Once the "sport" of car audio is tied to a commercial use, like endorsements by winners and stuff like other niche hobby sports have, snowboarders or free climbers or free cycle people... er...

or it could involve the spectators, you could run a betting arrangement like the horse racing, maybe...

nah...

maybe run the shows concurrent with a traveling circus, so people can go look at a spectacle under the big tent, and when bored just gravitate towards the sound quality competition and watch those judges get in and out of cars, again...


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## Guest (Oct 10, 2015)

So the general consensus is... car audio is dead.... screw it...


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## Hammer1 (Jan 30, 2011)

Here in the Pacific NW the car audio scene is pretty much dead. I competed in Iasca for 2 years. First year was pretty fun, met some people got some tips and did pretty well competing. There was about 10 shows. This summer there was only 3 events and they were all 200 miles away and the first one was a joke. No real judge and was a hurry up lets get it done event. Second event was good. Third was mostly a SPL event. If it doesn't get better next year I will not even spend the money for membership. I would like to see more shops have GTGs then events as it might draw in more people


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## ImLoudEK (Dec 2, 2014)

Is car audio hobbyists a dying breed?


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## turbo5upra (Oct 3, 2008)

Have no entry fees. You drive to each competitors house/ judge the car while serving them breakfast... Tell them it's perfect- drive to the next house.


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## ImLoudEK (Dec 2, 2014)

turbo5upra said:


> Have no entry fees. You drive to each competitors house/ judge the car while serving them breakfast... Tell them it's perfect- drive to the next house.



Eggs Benedict bitches lol


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## bigbubba (Mar 23, 2011)

I wish the car audio scene was still like it was in its heyday. Manufacturers and install shops were helping to drive the competitions. Now the only time you see any manufacturer involvement is at Finals and install shops are few and far between. A large portion of the cars I see now days are done by DIYers. I've only been involved in competing for 3 years. The shows seem to get smaller and smaller. You may see a few new people ever so often but after a few shows their gone again. A lot had issues with the rules, they weren't clear, they changed during the season, you could read the rules and would have 5 different understandings as to what they meant. After a while they just stop coming.

I wish I had some great insight as to what can be done to help bring more people into it.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

ImLoudEK said:


> Is car audio hobbyists a dying breed?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


dying? its on its last breath


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

SkizeR said:


> dying? its on its last breath


no need to be so dramatic... 

the people that care about music today, are just in a different space than when I grew up.

I was lucky enough to be one of the kids with a stereo system both in my car and in my home at an early age, and even if other kids didn't develop the sense of respect towards audio that I did, they invariably enjoyed when I played songs on my equipment for them. What I'm saying, is that the population is still there waiting to be wowed but the experience of audio from today's perspective is even more complex and daunting than when things were cassettes and vinyl. The kids move to free music through digital means, and don't care how degraded their copy of the music is, as long as they have it and there's a whole generation out there now who believe that it's a free resource so the music isn't appreciated as much.

I also believe that today the selection of music is so varied that it's lost a lot of it's power.

It used to be a process where music required input, if you wanted to listen to it critically, or just get lost in the details of it. You sort of readied yourself by turning off the TV and you prepared the cassette, or you cleaned the grooves, or you adjusted the controls to some better degree, there was a ritual built into it that's pretty much gone today.

And the more we listen as a background, the less we listen as representing a better class of music appreciation, there is a balance or scale that leans heavily now in the passive listening side or bias, since the play button is the only ritual left to prepare for the activity of active listening.

I know this sounds like I'm lamenting nostalgic, and in a way I am, but I'm trying to illustrate that the people today don't really find as much awe and inspiration in the music scene. they get their tunes for free and they have unlimited access so each cycle, each musical moment of their life is marred by a low-grade quotient, no matter how explosively impacting it could be.

The degree to which people are affected by music has been chipped away by piracy and low expectations, to the point that people just now making their music collections off post-napster free 32Kbits streams or capture youTubes, no longer have the source right. It's just bad, but it's free so people lose interest. The value has to be put back into it.

I'd say if you attend a sound competition, you as a spectator should get a copy of the testing music, with royalties paid for with the admission money. Maybe that would involve people a little more, as they go home and see how their music sounds on their crap systems, after getting a demo in a competition vehicle.

I'm guilty of using the costs associated with attending as a barrier, since it involves a long distance commute most times. This in itself is a reason the hobby gets supported better in larger metropolis, making the scene a mix of die-hards out of the country and a more casual representative sample from the city areas.

Also, I'm not one of those over-achiever types that had to be in all the different clubs and school functions, and I had the outdoors as a hobby itself so I wasn't groomed to entertain several hobbies or social organizations as an adult, and my politics is the same way...


which makes it kind of funny that I've stuck with car audio so fiercely. I suspect that the general machine that makes people like me, or like us, is not spitting them out in the same numbers today, the kids have different ideas about how best to spend their discretionary time units and making a car stereo better is further down the list...

haha, ramble sifu... at your service.

:laugh:


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## tnaudio (Mar 4, 2012)

SQ_TSX said:


> So the general consensus is... car audio is dead.... screw it...


It is not dead. We have a whole forum of people very into it. How do we get them to the shows?

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## turbo5upra (Oct 3, 2008)

alright I've got a bit more time so here goes a real reply.

As a competitor I want a judge that gives good feedback that I can use to make my car better. Trophys mean nothing to me- I'll take a score sheet. 

As a judge- I hate it when I get "why did he out score me? I Listened to his and it did..."

Me- what did you listen to? Them " my own material" it is possible to tune for a disk- hide things that will come out with other music... People need to keep in mind- as much as we try to be objective while doing this but there are times when that is very difficult. 

as a promotor the issues I see are this- people say this date and that date won't work so you fumble around to make one work for people and they don't attend- pick a date that makes sense- Mother's Day and 4th of july don't work... Also look at other organizations to see what they might have going on within a 3-400 mile radius and avoid trying to draw to 2 shows. 
It also annoys me when people don't want to drive 3-4 hours to an event and complain when there are none near them- so you offer to judge and help set one up but they don't ever do anything with it.
Newer people want big trophys but don't want a large entry fee- not sure where the disconnect is. 
As a promotor I already plan on loosing 100-200 bucks to put on an event if it's going to involve trophys and I have to pay a judge- as someone who isn't getting business by selling gear after an event this is hard to justify.

So- what could we do? Have 8-10 events a summer- set out far in advance leading up to a big regional event to prep for finals- get people hooked and wanting to improve themselves- have them knowing in advance there will be more to come. Go to other local shops and get them involved- get manufactures and distributors to toss in tee shirts-key chains and other stuff- people love free stuff... 

Have little contests- sub toss- food eating contests- plan them near stuff the recast of the family can do- lets face it-75% of people's other halves could give a crap... 

There's more but breakfast is served...


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## turbo5upra (Oct 3, 2008)

One other quick thought- give them something to do he night before... Dinner out as a group... Hitting up a movie- go karting- live music event- something to talk about and get the new guys involved in before then show.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2015)

Turbo.... 

Your ideas match closely with my own.... I do feel the SQ can be see a resurgence in popularity. .. would love to continue collaborating on positive ideas....


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## jode1967 (Nov 7, 2012)

I have attended the MobileToys 3x points shows in CollegeStation, Tx the last 2 years. Chris Pate's shows on both years are well attended and fun. Watching the competitors and the spectators is a slightly smaller view from the past. That is a well attended and well ran show. For anyone that needs pointers I would make every attempt to attend one and go from there. Chris and his guys do everything they can to make people (competing or just attending) feel part of the event.
He may be the lucky benefactor of having a group that truly loves the competitions, but would guess that he has done some magic on his side as well.


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

There are pockets in the US that have a FANTASTIC and loyal SQ group that drive hours to compete, are very friendly and accept the fact that in order to have 1X and 2X shows trophies are not going to be held out with an entry fee of $20. Having been an event coordinator in the NE and seeing what can be done I know there is hope up there. Having just moved to Texas I plan on hosting a few shows in the Dallas area next year, I don't think its dead and plan to do my part to help keep it alive.


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

turbo5upra said:


> One other quick thought- give them something to do he night before... Dinner out as a group... Hitting up a movie- go karting- live music event- something to talk about and get the new guys involved in before then show.


Imho you have to go to the source of the issue. One can use each event to teach the competitors how to listen and enjoy music, let them experience what good sound, should sound like. Give them a ref point and they will start to understand the work their car needs. At each event have a tuning class and teach them a bit about something new each time. 50% may not fully understand this and may still drop out, but for the balance you've got lifetime hobbyists. 

I think as things stand 80% are into spending hours measuring and dialing in a curve du jour and try to correct everything they measure. Then the judge sits listens and gives a score at par with their last 5 attempts, no real progress. The comments seem to vary each time, but the scores are static. I think that would be highly demotivating. 

People may hear a good car and their take away could be limited to cleaner / clearer sound, because they're hearing and not listening. For a healthy sustainable competition scene, 2/3 of competitors should be in the 80-95 bracket and 1/3 in the 60-80. I'm not sure how it is right now.

If we can teach how to listen / tune we will insure interest and sustainability down stream, including competitions.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2015)

Sqnut:
Thank you so much for your wonderful and very insightful thoughts...! Very much appreciated and I agree with most if your comments. ..

If you were to organize an ideal event... how would it look to both competition and spectators ?


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## SQLnovice (Jul 22, 2014)

I for one can definitely benefit if I'm taught how to listen. Vary good suggestion by Sqnut.


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## turbo5upra (Oct 3, 2008)

Thanks sq! Last month I judged a show in md... A kid had the system installed by a shop- he had no idea what was going on he just showed up because there was an event at "his shop"- I asked a few questions before judging the car- any volume you don't want me to exceed? and is the seat where you would like?... He was like a deer in headlights... I judged the car and was pretty impressed- I sat him in the driverseat after for about 20mins and played the Iasca disk for him and went over the score sheet line by line... I think this helped him a ton. From now on if there is time I'm going to do this for all new guys.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2015)

SQLnovice said:


> I for one can definitely benefit if I'm taught how to listen. Vary good suggestion by Sqnut.


LOL....


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

SQ_TSX said:


> Sqnut:
> Thank you so much for your wonderful and very insightful thoughts...! Very much appreciated and I agree with most if your comments. ..


Treacle.......



SQ_TSX said:


> If you were to organize an ideal event... how would it look to both competition and spectators ?


Look, all I'm saying is that somehow if we can teach more people to listen to sound instead of just hearing it, it will open them up to the experience of what it should sound like, what it can do, and hearing a difference. 

The first thing they're going to want to fix is the sound in the car and if we couple this with tuning workshops, we're helping them get better and they will want to compete for the next two points, which will eventually come. The hobby now has a dedicated fan base. That's the ideal scenario, but real life is a lot more humdrum.


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## sqnut (Dec 24, 2009)

turbo5upra said:


> Thanks sq! Last month I judged a show in md... A kid had the system installed by a shop- he had no idea what was going on he just showed up because there was an event at "his shop"- I asked a few questions before judging the car- any volume you don't want me to exceed? and is the seat where you would like?... He was like a deer in headlights... I judged the car and was pretty impressed- I sat him in the driverseat after for about 20mins and played the Iasca disk for him and went over the score sheet line by line... I think this helped him a ton. From now on if there is time I'm going to do this for all new guys.


That's really awesome of you, every person you teach helps grow the hobby.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2015)

sqnut said:


> That's really awesome of you, every person you teach helps grow the hobby.


Very true words.... I really like this concept


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## mrpeabody (May 26, 2010)

My $0.2,
Most SQ competitors I've been around are snobs. There have been a handful that are cool and I've really appreciated them, but they are a minority in my experience.

It's especially an issue when there's a joint SPL/SQ show. The disdain shown for the bass heads is ridiculous and annoying. Almost everyone who gets into car audio starts with a sub install. If their first SQ experience is with people who look down their noses at them and are offended by giving demos how is there growth?

It's like a clique.

I think that's just one of the issues with show attendance, and i'm sure there's many more. It's just the one that bugs me the most.


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## tnaudio (Mar 4, 2012)

Most of the shows i go to, people are dying to give out demos. We spend a lot of time making the cars sound the way we do. We love showing off our hard work. 

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## mrpeabody (May 26, 2010)

tnaudio said:


> Most of the shows i go to, people are dying to give out demos. We spend a lot of time making the cars sound the way we do. We love showing off our hard work.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk


Could just be an CA thing.


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## turbo5upra (Oct 3, 2008)

mrpeabody said:


> Could just be an CA thing.


My cars are always open... Break the knob off...


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## audiophile25 (Oct 5, 2008)

SQ_TSX, will you be attending the Car Audio Championship?


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## Zippy (Jul 21, 2013)

Here's my $0.02, do not hold SPL and SQ events at the same locations. At the last get together, we all were complaining about the SPL vehicles generating resonance in our sub boxes. The other part of introducing SQ to potential new comers would be location of the SQ events. Hold the SQ events at high end home audio stores. This gets the home audio guys a chance to hear what they have been missing and into the hobby as well. They are already disposed to spending high dollar amounts on stereo equipment and when you ask them the question "Where do you listen to music more, at home or in your car?", it will sell itself to them.


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## Guest (Oct 12, 2015)

No sir. Will be on vacation with the family.


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## ImLoudEK (Dec 2, 2014)

cajunner said:


> no need to be so dramatic...
> 
> the people that care about music today, are just in a different space than when I grew up.
> 
> ...



Do You realize I had to get coffee just to read this?!?! ****ing guy....although I do agree with some of you points 


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