What Does Sound Quality Mean?

The SQ from my car- recording was bad


First things first: let's not confuse sound quality with personal tastes. Different people may prefer varying types of music, listening levels, tonal balance, etc., but these qualities are simply personal preferences. Instead of focusing on preferences, let's look at how we might compare the relative sound quality of two audio systems. Let's use two identical cars, each with a modestly priced audio system able to play at very high volumes. The cost of each system is about the same, but there are significant design differences.

1. The first is simply a factory system using OE head unit, amps and speakers for the high frequencies, with a very high-powered subwoofer amp and subs added to it. The gain on the sub amp is cranked up so the sub-bass is really loud relative to the rest of the music.

2. The second system is a good quality OE integration system with the factory head unit equalization corrected so that a good quality high-frequency amp and speaker system can be used in addition to the sub amp and subwoofer designed to work appropriately with the rest of the system. It is capable of very clean, dynamic, undistorted output at high levels. The speakers are installed in the factory locations, but attention is paid to controlling panel resonances and sealing any gaps and holes in the mounting system. The relative levels of the sub frequency range and higher frequencies are matched so that the system accurately reproduces the music as it is recorded on the disc.

The same music is played on both systems and turned to the same moderate volume level. Which one do you think most people will say sounds better? Crank it to a really high level. Which one will likely sound better? While a few hardcore bass freaks may initially go for the system with the excessively high sub bass output if they listen for a while, they will eventually gravitate towards the second system with its lower distortion level, better dynamic range and smoother, more evenly matched frequency respond.Besides, the second system can easily be tweaked for higher bass output if desired, maybe with the addition of more subs later on, and still reproduce the music cleanly and dynamically.




What two people hear when listening to the same music varies. For example, at a performance one may focus on the overall sound of the band, the acoustics of the room, etc., while the other may tune into the singer and guitar primarily. A very experienced, critical listener will likely listen to every part of the sound and form an opinion based on all the many parts. Someone else, listening simply for the social enjoyment and interaction experience, will form their opinion primarily on their overall emotional response to the performance, the visual aspects of the concert, etc. And even though each of us may focus on different parts of the music when listening, there are certain aspects to the sound that must be in solid proportion for anyone to say it sounds good.

The partial list below includes some of the many different characteristics related to sound quality. They are prioritized, with the first few being important to almost everyone, while the latter items are critical for fewer people.

Our priorities change depending on the situation at hand. While driving to work listening to the radio, we may be concerned only with frequency response and low distortion. When cruising on Friday night, dynamic range and maximum loudness capabilities are more important. And if the system is entered in a sound quality competition, or we want to critically listen to some fine recordings, every aspect related to SQ is critical.