Cultural, political and geographical differences, mainly, I think. Take UK and Japan, for example. Both island nations with real estate at a premium. With traditional housing in the UK, not only do the rooms tend to be smallish, but the neighbors are necessarily close by and often many in number. The expectation is a way of life there to never be so inconsiderate as to be loud enough to be a nuisance to your neighbor; everyone is expected to do their bit in that regard toward getting along. It may just go as acknowledged, in part at least, as the glue that holds a society living under those physical circumstances together. Ever been to England? If you're passed by a motorcycle on the freeway, I can tell you that you will scarcely notice it, no matter how fast it's going - no louder than a sedan, every time! When that happens in America your blasted into the next lane by the thunder! Here in America we either maximize the flow of the mufflers or we take them off! Here, you might think of history's westward expansion in the US - Lewis and Clarke heading (for what indeed might as well have been the dark side of the moon) into the unexplored vastness that was the wilderness of this continent. In our tradition and with so much land for the taking, the peace and quiet of our neighbors who would be so few and far between possibly needed our last consideration...not to mention the amount of comparative lawlessness that went along with it all. But meanwhile, Japan was, up until the middle of the last century, a rather closed society that was centered around loyalty to an Emperor. And traditionally their homes had been constructed with partition walls made of rice paper - as with the UK above, perhaps not the most suitable environment for the most massive Dunlavy's and multiple high-watt subs...if you know what I mean.
For a while in the 70's in the US, there was distinctly an "eastcoast sound" and a "westcoast sound" when it came to bass as it related to speaker enclosure damping. The weastcoast sound became popular for a while and its sound was of a more prominent, rounder and "fatter" bass sound of the rock of that era...a trend picked up on by recording studios, as well as speaker manufacturers. But, the eastcoast sound was much closer to the sound of "critically damped" enclosures and was tighter and more accurate to include classical and jazz. That sound has since become, more or less, the standard bass "sound" here today.
For a while in the 70's in the US, there was distinctly an "eastcoast sound" and a "westcoast sound" when it came to bass as it related to speaker enclosure damping. The weastcoast sound became popular for a while and its sound was of a more prominent, rounder and "fatter" bass sound of the rock of that era...a trend picked up on by recording studios, as well as speaker manufacturers. But, the eastcoast sound was much closer to the sound of "critically damped" enclosures and was tighter and more accurate to include classical and jazz. That sound has since become, more or less, the standard bass "sound" here today.