Beginner subs/amps/decks/anything else, your opinions and experiances...

[Tomogchi]

I got thinking about something on my way to work, and for once it made sense.

for the beginners; whats good and whats not good..

Like for instance:

Pyle subs: I would not trust their subs for the life of me. Their Subs are very overrated, and can handle about a 1/4 of what their rated for.

Pyle amps: I have not tried all of the divisions of pyle, but from prior experiance, for the 130$ i spent on a 2000 watt pyle dryver amp; it was decent.
it has decent rms power, but that is about it.

Sony Xplod subs: Very good beginner subs imo, even the walmart specials. I've only used the 12" versions, 800,900,1200 watt models
and i actually think the 900 watt series sound and handle better.

Sony Xplod amps: Good bang for the buck, I've yet to smoke my 1200 watt amp.

Sony decks: I have mever owned one myself, but i have never heard a bad thing about them

Jvc Decks: Never owned one, and i heard mixed things about the deck.

Dual Subs: Decent Box's....... their subs are horrible. If you ever buy a set of subs, in a box, MAKE SURE YOU GET THE LIFE TIME WARENTEE!!!! i cannot stress that enough. Best buy wil back up the subs, (if one blows, you bring them back in, and they give you a brand new set). But the catch is they have to install them.

Dual speakers: for the low price you pay, i Guess there decent.

Dual Decks: Only major problem i have ever heard of is the motorized face failing to move.

"Duraband", the knock off version of Dual. DO NOT TOUCH. Garbage.

Roadmaster (the walmart special): well... i had a set in my regal, the 6x9's. sounded decent on a stock stereo, but when i got my pioneer deck, they sounded like dog doo. There subs are garbage, along with pretty much everything else.

Lightning audio: I couldnt keep their subs alive long enough to find out. imo, their garbage. (yes i know its a division of rf)

Pioneer Subs: anything other than the walmart special 35$ sub is decent.

Pioneer Decks: I Highely reccomend for beginners, they kind of fool proof, but still leave you room to tweak your setup.

Ebay: (yes it has its own catorgory..)
Im too lazy to menchion most of the stuff on here, but all the cheap "2000" watt amps are extremely overrated.

addons? opinions? problems?

lol...................
Bill

(general rule of thumb for amps, its like 50 cents a watt i believe...... dont hold that to me though...)

Add ons?
Bill

[Challenger]

Thanks for the info. I am new to "high end" stereos. I have installed many cheap systems, and I have been doing a little research to get a "good" system for my Challenger. And by good, I mean something that sounds good, and wont blow up for cheap money.

[Josh]

What do you think of Infinity speakers and Kole Audio subs? That is what I have in my truck.

[Tomogchi]

Infinity speaker are apsolutely lovely. I have a set of Infinity 6x9s, and I have pumped more than they are rated for, without harm to the speakers.

Chrysler use to have (and still might have) a deal with infinity, i know they used infinity speakers in their higher class vehicles (not really, they were in caravans and such also). They sound beautifull, and some are shallow mount (the depth is half of a normal speaker, and can fit in small areas, were pioneers speakers and such will not fit, due to magnet thickness or w/e). Theyre worth ripping out of a vehicle to use, esp. with a stock setup, with or without their amp. There Mini-amps (50 watts) that came with the speakers, sometimes individualy placed on the speaker, help boost your stock stereo, i have four of those in my roadmaster, they just help the acoustics too, even with a cheapie headunit (15w x 4channel duraband.... f'n horrible head unit....)

And Infinity subs, bang-for-buck wise, are very good. They add the deep rich bass, without the whole making your head hurt ordeal.

I have never used/installed Kole subs/amps, But theyre equalizers are (imo) are just about the best thing to use if you are not running a componet setup.


Some i forgot about.

AudioBahn: Well, if you want that head throbbing bass; put a set of those subs in a band pass box. anything from theyre awc12t to the aw121t (the flame series and such) will be the best cheap bass you can buy.

Dub Audio: Basically the same ordeal as audiobahn, but their subs seem to clip at about 3/4's of what their rated for

Volfenhag: Very nice amps, (theyre 2000 watt amp is overrated, but it will actually get about 1400 watts or so max.) And the fan cooled option is always a plus. Theyre alluminum subs (volfenhag) are overated, but agian, for the 150$ you pay for the set (1000 watts a sub, they handle about 7-800 watts), its not a half bad setup.

Legacy: i would not suggest theyre amps. I had 2 amps smoke (Litterally, they had smoke coming out of the case) in under a 3 month time frame.

Lanzar: I really dont even want to list them in here, the only thing they have in their favor is their higher-class amps (all 3 of them i think they make), are "decent" amps for a beginner setup.

Nitro: Horrible amp. the one i had didnt blow up, but i dont think it could have pushed enough power to a single sub to blow up.

Xtant: I actually like both the subs and amps from xtant.

Clarion: Very good, Theyre pretty much for higher end setups, but theyre smaller amps( 400 watts and such) are reasonable, and very, very good at what they do.

Blaupunkt: Anything they have is very good. They even have a excellent return policy, (along with infinity).
Even if you buy the subs offline (even ebay), as long as you have the receipt, and write the company a letter saying why your dissapointed (and you sound angry about it) on why they blew or w/e, they companies will send you a brand new (amp/head unit - in return for yours, but you pay shipping out to send you dea product out to the company), sometimes they will just ship you a brand new set of subs, leaving you with yours, at no expense to you. That deffinetely made me more comfortable buying/installing their products. (this is even after your warentee has run out.....)

C.E.A 2006.


that is like going to be the S.A.E. of audio.....like, if something is C.E.A certified, it is TRUE RMS and TRUE MAX power. instead of an amp being 500watts by 4 channels, [and this is the part most companies wont say] at 16.4 volts dc, the new amps would be (if its cea cert) 280w x 4 at 12.6volts dc, or w/e)

(for example, look at last years version of the 1200 watt sony amp, to this years. Little bit of a difference, to meet the guidelines) Thus, the reason why ebay amps are getting cheaper.

And to support this the whole C.E.A ordeal. look at this amp. then look at the fuses on this amp.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2000-WATT-W-4-Channel-CAR-MOSFET-AMP-AMPLIFIER-NEW_W0QQitemZ200010547386QQihZ010QQcategoryZ4950QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

two 20 amp fuses. Someone want to tell me how your going to get all 2000 watts out of 40 amps?

Most 1200 watt amps will have atleast two 30 or 35 amp fuses, so right there, your only going to see (at most) 800 watts out of that "2000" watt amp.

*edit due to my horrible grammer skills*
spelling > me;
Bill

[The DanSmith]

I have a JVC HU in my lincoln hooked up to the OEM JBL audio system. It sounds great, but at volume 17/55 it feels like my eardrums want to blow out, too loud at that volume. but i took it out of my T-bird when i sold it, and have had it for almost a year, and have only 1 complaint: sometimes the controls mess up when it gets hot after sitting in the car for a while, but other than that, its a great HU for the price I paid ($175 at Circuit City)

BTW, the model # is KD-G700

[Tomogchi]

Okay, i thought i would update.
I Went and baught 2 volfenhag amps, because my pyle amp gave out on me the other day. I have 2 15" volfenhag subs (1200 watt series, dvc), and 2 1200 watt volfenhag amps.
Together, they are a very deadly combination for 400$.
I'll try to put pics of the subs up, but icouldnt get enough light.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2189/amps1rj8.th.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=amps1rj8.jpg)
Hopefully this pic will show up. But they look decent, and they dont overheat, which is a major plus.
Bill

[WS-Six]

I had a nice setup that i was extremely pleased with in my old 1995 Formula. I had a Kenwood Deck (i am a big fan of kenwood's car audio products) and i had Pioneer Speakers all around, and for the subs i went with Alpine. I would recommend all 3 of these brands for any type of audio equipment!