Car Troubles. What?
For the sake of metaphor, your car can be fairly easily compared to a human body. If the wheels are your legs your car, the windows and headlights are your eyes, engine is the heart, then the stereo is the soul. The stereo is you connection to something greater than yourself. It gives us personal choice, creativity, meaning, and distraction. A good stereo system can be the difference between serenity and torture. You could live without a soul. After all, we are all animals. We can get out of bed, take a shower, get something to eat, go to work, make a contribution to the economy, have something to eat, come home, pay some bills, have something to eat, and go to sleep. None of these activities specifically require a soul, but for whatever reason people seem to need for something more. I’ve never actually met anyone who claims to not need a belief in something, even the nialist, who by definition believes in nothing, believes in believing in nothing. As human animals, we desire meaning from our existence, and that is where the soul develops. So just as our bodies function without the soul, the car can function without the stereo, but why would you want it to? Don’t deny yourself or your car that very basic of human qualities, even if you don’t fully understand it.
Your engine is knocking or your breaks are squeaking. Maybe your fan is making a funny noise or you hear some sort of metal on metal sound coming from under the hood. What your average car owner does not know is that all of these problems have a single solution. Nine out of ten times the problem can be easily remedied by turning up the radio. See, if you’re hearing noises coming from your car, it’s a pretty safe bet that the stereo is not loud enough. My suggestion, try an amplifier.
People spend a lot of money on the part of the stereo that goes in the dash. Really, all in dash systems are the same, they all play the radio and CDs, they all have a volume control, and they all have balance and fade built in. What else do you really want it to do for you? Some may look better than others and come with some fancy features, but you’re probably never going to learn how to operate anything other than the basics I just mentioned, so why make yourself feel stupid? The real meat of your sound system is an expensive amp. A high quality amp and some speakers that can handle the increased drive are far more important that what is in you dash. Besides, a nice looking dash attracts thieves, whereas a nice amp and quality speakers are hidden from view. Only a true friend would bother stealing it. To help you in your quest for meaning, you can use the chart below to determine how to spend your stereo budget:
As you can see, the in dash system should cost no more than 10 percent of the total value of your system. If you get a car that already has a deck that will play the radio and CDs, your total budget percentage for this item should be zero. Your amp can stay at 50 percent and the speakers will still be 40 percent (since unless you’re buying a car from me, it is likely to contain crappy speakers) and the remaining 10 percent can be spent on a sweet bazooka tube. Music should be loud and clear, otherwise you risk being able to think, and no one really needs to be trapped in a high speed metal box having conversations with people from their past. Best to turn it up and fill your brain with whatever sound occupies it best. I recommend Metallica, man those guys are pissed.
Driving is a logical and therefore decidedly left brain activity. For your average day, there are no creative decisions that go into driving. You get in your car and follow a pre determined route. Or else you might be going somewhere new, but then you’ve got directions, or if you’re fancy you’re following directions from you GPS navigational system. You’ve probably driven this stretch a hundred times before, and yes the view may change with the seasons or urban development, but not rapidly enough for us to appreciate on a daily basis. This is all well and good, you get where you’re going, but the right side of your brain needs something to do too. Left to its own devices that part of your psyche will wander to places you really don’t need to go. If you’re lucky, you’ve just seen a good movie or TV show and will be able to think about that, but since the decline of Hollywood production values that’s not a realistic expectation for everyday travel. You’re more likely to think about the past which is ugly, or the future, which is unknown. You shouldn’t be grappling with either of those, but unless you’re lost, there’s nothing else for your creative brain to do so it wanders. You need to get this lost sheep focused, and the way is music. Loud, distracting music. Ear piercing, chest shaking music. So find something you like (probably Metallica) and turn it up.
