Sean's Blog

In just about every car I’ve owned or been in, I’ve found myself completely and utterly disappointed by the sound systems manufacturers put in their cars—even the expensive “upgrades.” Honestly, it amazes me that people can think these systems sound even remotely decent, though I suppose all it takes with modern music is a preponderance of bass (not to sound too terribly pretentious or anything). Whether it says Bose, Harmon/Kardon, Rockford Fosgate, or anything else, if it came from the factory, it generally sucks hard.

Because of that, I’ve always put in aftermarket stereos. My first car had an Alpine head unit, with CDT components, a Boston Acoustics subwoofer (not to provide the boom-boom-boom, but rather to complement the exemplary midranges and highs of the CDTs), and outboard amplifiers for each. My current car has that same Alpine head unit, and upgraded CDT component speakers, but I’ve always been too lazy to throw the rest of the components in. And since I’ve been looking to get a new car, I naturally started to think about the stereo that I’d have in it.

This past weekend, I ordered my new car (a Volkswagen GTI), and while I thought the “premium” sound system would be a disappointment, I gave it a try anyway, and I’m glad I did. It’s truly the best sounding stock stereo I’ve ever heard; the mids and highs are incredibly clear and detailed (though the soundstage is a bit higher than is ideal), and the lows are quite good as well. Could someone do better in the aftermarket? Sure, with lots of money and time to tear the car apart and put it back together. Since I’m slowly making the transition to the Real World™, I don’t really feel like taking an entire weekend to do that anymore. And the number of people who could tell the difference are few and far between anyway. In short, VW did a great job of partnering with Dynaudio to provide a stock stereo even an audiophile could appreciate. They’re certainly the first manufacturer that I can be as kind to, as far as audio is concerned…

I just so happened to overhear a version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” from another room in the house, so naturally, I put it on to see who was singing, and if they were any good. And there I saw it: Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks singing that song. Stevie Nicks could sing that song better long after she’s dead than that talentless Taylor Swift could do in her “prime.” So please Taylor, for the love of God and all things acoustic, stop the miserable singing and stick to being the eye-candy some (i.e., not me) consider you to be.

If you happened to make the mistake of sitting through that terrible performance, I highly recommend this version of “Rhiannon” to correct your hearing and overall opinion of the song (and Stevie Nicks, for that matter).

In seeing all the coverage about the Massachusetts election tonight, something occurred to me. Our founding fathers, in their infinite wisdom, created the US as a representative democracy. I can remember sitting in middle school hearing that and thinking, why don’t we have a direct democracy, with the people truly running the country? It was later that I learned the answer to that question, in that all too many of us are simply incompetent, but our founders trusted us to at least know the difference between the smart ones, and the stupid ones.

But when you consider We The People let Dubya stay in the White House for eight years, and we let Teddy sit in his Senate seat until he died, you’ve got to wonder. Especially on nights like tonight. Color me cynical or color me transparent, I won’t look much different…