Rhl, I felt the agony just reading yr post! About the sound & putting up with it: 1) the sound is so bad, dj's crank it up in order to hear what's going on (despite the use of 'phones) 2) I was astounded to hear recently that bad sound induces stress that, in turn, induces drinking -- i.e. more spending -- OR, makes people leave, hence opens up space for new consumption. I got this from a rest-bar owner! Go figure...
The worst sound system
Our group from work went to a bar here in Chandler AZ for beers and wings and they had their the music (sic) cranked upwards of 90db, it was hard to talk over. The speakers were "kick boxes" like designed for between the back seat and the rear cab of a pick-up truck hung on the wall about five feet up, piezo tweeters and all. The sound coming from these things was enough to cause mental distress, boom, boom, screech, screech, lord only knows what kind of crappy electronics provided the drive to these things. I won't even call them speakers and nobody seemed to mind the terrible sounds in this bar except me. I mean, this was so bad I wanted to leave immediatly but I did stay for a couple of beers and the wings. But, that got me to thinking, who put this crap together and why do all of these people sit in this place and either enjoy or put up with this sound? I will never go back to this bar just because the sound is the worst I've ever heard.