Annoying sounds from cars at stop light

For me, louder = better.

soundsrealaudio said:
"I don't think those low frequency really travel through those walls in your home."

Setup your system outside on a nice day, notice how it sounds. Then, see if you can hear it inside your house, all doors and windows closed.

+1 @viridian

Its a status thing for a lot of younger, mostly guys.
My sons friend , who knew I was an audio lover, brought his pick up over to show me how cool it was that his new subwoofers could cause a quarter on top of the dash board to bounce 3 inches straight up, and flip heads to tails when the woofers were pumping out heavy rap.
That was several years ago. Maybe he grew up and wised up, or else is in the market for a hearing aid.
I came of age during the lste 60's-70's. Attended tons of rock concerts. Led Zeppelin, Fog hat, J Geils, etc. While seeing and hearing them live was a thrill at the time. I have a constant ringing in both ears for years now, that never lets up. Not sure the it was the smartest thing to do now.

geof

You are correct about the sound waves. In your room they travel through the air, when they hit the sheetrock they are traveling through a different medium which has a different speed through which those waves travel, then air again 3.5" then the sheetrock again, then into the air again. Lots of moving parts. 
I was trying to discover the speed with which air travels through sheet rock but couldn't locate that info. I did find info that suggests that the resonance of sheet rock is about 70 hz which is probably why we hear louder bass on the other side of a wall and why that is so distorted. 

I would bet the MDF used in most speakers does much of the same.