list previous setups and why you got rid of it

ASSISTANCE Electrical & Entertainment Systems
1

other than theft :mad: what stereo stuff have you replaced and what did you replace it with? What specific makes and models out there were you just not impressed with and wished you never purchased?

personally, I have had nothing but bad luck with kenwood head units. I dont want to bash their decks in general for the few that i’ve had through the years, but the one’s i’ve owned have skipped excessively and the method of adjustment is less-than-friendly for someone drivin and wants to make adjustments without lookin at the head unit.

:bow:

2

Alpine V12 75x2 amplifier. Sadly, I gave into the hype around 7 years ago, and regretted it. Poor power output, and clarity just didn’t seem to be on Alpine’s minds when they made it. Kept it for a few months, then sold it.

Learned my lesson with that one, and haven’t really had any complaints with any equipment since. I went from a set of Earthquake EQ-10’s in a custom bandpass box, to 2-10" Kicker Competitions, to a single 12" Hart Professional Monster Subwoofer for my bass. As for components, I started with a set of Boston Acoustics, then onto Rockford’s, now on a set of Hart CP65’s (My whole system is now Hart Professional drivers, from sub to midbass, midrange and tweeter).

3

Kenwood, gotta love kenwood recievers. I’ve had a excelon for 2 years now and have had no problems. And I love the remote, my eyes are always on the road. Anyways never try Volfenhag subs. They look good and the specs sound good but they lack quality sound. Best I’ve had is older kenwood excelons (the purple one) being pushed by a fosgate 300s. I have the loudest low power stereo around texas. Also can’t go wrong with JL W6. Thats my 2 cents.

4

Originally posted by cam_man
Kenwood, gotta love kenwood recievers. I’ve had a excelon for 2 years now and have had no problems. And I love the remote, my eyes are always on the road. Anyways never try Volfenhag subs. They look good and the specs sound good but they lack quality sound. Best I’ve had is older kenwood excelons (the purple one) being pushed by a fosgate 300s. I have the loudest low power stereo around texas. Also can’t go wrong with JL W6. Thats my 2 cents.

IMHO

Volfenhagen= I mean come on, volfenhagen, hehe??? :smiley:

Loudest low power stereo around texas? :rofl: I’m not trying to be mean, but come on.

JL W6 = bandwagon and better can be had for the price. BUT… a pretty decent sub none the less. :cool:

No flame intended at all cam man, I know that sounded a little harsh, but it had to be said Please don’t take it the wrong way bro :bow:

5

Ie never owned any of these producst for obvious reasons, but I used to sell kenwood and sony when I worked at audioexpress. Ill tell you guys a few things to stay away from.

-Any no name eBay sub, amp, HU, speaker, or ANYTHING else. I.E. pyramid ,crunch, volfenhagen, mobileauthority, thump, etc. Anything that’s gay and flashy with all kinds of chrome, neons, and plexi and outrageous claims at outrageuoslly low prices. Do not get ANY of that crap for any reason at all. I can’t stress that enough. Don’t buy it. So if you see a bling-blinging chromed out 4000 waat amp with a plexi window and green neons, for $99, say the eff away from it.

If you see something that looks nice,and isn’t gay and flashy, go to www.termpro.com and do a bunch of searches on the brand. If you don’t find anything, it’s crap. Or you can make a post on there as well if you are still very interested.

-Anything Kenwood ,subs, amps, headunits, etc. ALL trash. I would seriouslly consider getting boss over kenwood. I can’t speak bad enough about them

-Anything Sony, especially the xplode garbage.Even the higher end stuff. IMO, there isn’t a single car audio product from them that is worth anything near to what they sell it as.

-Pioneer subs and their lower end speakers. GREAT headunits and higher end speakers and amps though.

-Anything at walmart. The stuff they sell there isn’t the same stuff they sell at your local car audioshop. It my look the same on the outside and have a cheaper price, but it’s not.

These are my own personal opinions I’m surelly not trying to bash anyone who has or likes these products. If YOU like it, that’s all that matters. So please realize that I’m not trying to put anyones stereo down or anger anyone, I’m simply stating my opinion based on my experiences with these popular mainstream products :slight_smile: PEACE!!!

6

Nice list Adamm…totally agree with you, except (don’t laugh or yell), I do run Crunch amplifiers, but these are the old Crunch amps (bought in 96), that still had an outstanding circuit board with quality caps and coils on board, not like the low end **** they pump out in mass quantities now. It is frustrating when I have to explain to people that my amps are NOT like the cheap ass ones found on e-Bay, but rather higher-end ones that Crunch made when it was a high end producer (amps were $800 a piece, but I got them a little cheaper)…sort of like Pyle was absolutely dominate waaaay back, and now just pumps out pure crap to make money.

I think Alpine should stick to what they know best, head units.

As for JL, I am against buying any of their products. I know they have good subs and whatnot, but for the price they sell at, you can get something MUCH better. They’ve had a good marketing campaign for years, and it has worked in their favor (in the early days, they would give anyone who wanted free subs just so they would compete with them, and when one of those guys actually won, it was front and center in their ads), but their quality on their products, in my opinion, is quite lacking. Their foam surrounds wear out quicker than I’ve ever seen on any driver, which is just sad. I have no problem with people using them, but I don’t let my friends buy them, nor will I ever use them.

7

Cool, I agree with everything you said as well.

Damn, you have some old crunch amps? That’s badass. I’ve never had any experience with any of them , but most companies old school amps are awesome quality. I bet you get a lot of funny looks from people when you tell them that, lol. It’s sad what they’ve come too now, but I’m sure they make a lot more money.

I totoally agree with you on alpine, though I do like the type R subs and speakers. But their amps aren’t too great.

Couldn’t agree with ya more on JL, IMO they spend too much on advertisement and not enough on product.

Good to see someone else on the same page as me:up:

8

-Anything Sony, especially the xplode garbage.Even the higher end stuff. IMO, there isn’t a single car audio product from them that is worth anything near to what they sell it as.

there is only one model sony product that I disagree with you on that- the c90 deck - very good for SQ use very good processor. Other than that you’re right sony sucks balls :down:

and I’m not even gonna start to list the systems I know of that can blow your “low power” system outaa the water my friend mr. cam man. Thats just a ridiculous generalization- texas is a big state sir.

:bow:

9

Originally posted by gen2ls/vtec
[B]there is only one model sony product that I disagree with you on that- the c90 deck - very good for SQ use very good processor. Other than that you’re right sony sucks balls :down:

and I’m not even gonna start to list the systems I know of that can blow your “low power” system outaa the water my friend mr. cam man. Thats just a ridiculous generalization- texas is a big state sir.

oh and another one to add to the list- and i havent owned this but clarion products that aren’t the pro audio series suck big balls- very cheap ish.

the best low budget stuff IMHO is pioneer decks($200-250 range) if you want some bells and whistles or Alpine decks(same price range) if you want a no frills but good quality deck. Infinity for cheap coax’s($100), and for amps and subs, well IMO there is no such thing as a relatively inexpensive good amp or sub out there. I cant think of an amp I’d buy that was under a $1.50/watt and a sub I’d use that cost less than $175/piece.

:bow:

:bow: [/B]

10

a big fat :werd: on clarions lower line. It’s pure crap. Forgot about that

As far as subs and amps that are low money/high quality. I totally disagree with you on the subs part. For instance, the IDQ, shiva, tempest, audiobahns, elemental designs K series, DD2000 series, kicker comp VR’s, Shocker SS’s, alpine Type R’s to name a few are all great low budget subs under $175 that will suit the needs of most people and would give a lot of subs that cost twice as much a run for their money. But of course you’re entiteled to you opinion :bow:

As far as amps… Memphis, JBL, US acoustics, DEI, crossfire, earthquake, etc. are mostlly well under $1.50 per watt and are of great quality. But it all depends on what you consider quality and your tastes.

I 'd happily put any of the above equipment in my car, but that’s just me.

11

well thinking about it on the amps $1.50/watt is a bit higher than a few amps I like, but I’ve never been impressed with anything under $1/watt. I do like the JL 300/2 - very clean class A amp. As well as the JL 500/1 for its multi ohm-load feature and lotsa “goodies” to fine tune for a particular setup.

:bow:

12

I like the MTX Audio current line of amps, subs, and speakers.
Here is my system currently:
1 set of MTX T6.5 components up front.
1 set of MTX 6.5 coxials for the rear.
1 MTX Audio 10 inch 6000 sub.
1 MTX 4244 amp.
1 MTX LXS1 crossover.
Old school Panasonic headunit.(Dont know the exact model, but it has an all green face with no graphics or bells or whistles.)
MTX Audio 4 gauge wiring kit.
Havent installed it yet because I havent had any free time.
LTR
Matt

13

In my old car. I ran:

4 2002 Dual 2 ohm 12" Alpine Type R’s
1 Concept Mono-bloc amp. CC-D1200A(1200RMS,300 rms per sub)
Pair of Kenwod 5x7 rears
Pair of Alpnie DDD-Flagship 6.5" components
Pioneer DEH-P8400MP(the silver one taht folds down tath plays everything)
Err. i think that’s the main stuff

Or wait. 2 1 Farad Phoenix Gold capacitors and fukyl dynamted trunk and some of the itnerior.

I sold it all to buy mt g2 teg!!! :smiley:

14

Hey gen2ls/vtec, you dont happen to work at or have worked at car-toys do you? Just wondering cuz alot of guys that work or have worked there, always have a thing for JL audio. I noticed in alot of your posts that you always recommend JL products. Im just curious bro…

As for me i have always liked kicker products. Starting with my first system being to 10’s Comp VRs, then moved up to 2 12’s round solobarics, then 1 15 inch XPL. They still make quality products although i think their L5/L7 series are a bit overpriced.
I have only had one kenwood product and that was an excelon 301t amp and it worked flawless for me over 2 years. Also had 605cs infinity reference components that i thought lacked some midbass, but i didnt expect much from them anyways. Other then that the reason i got rid of all the stuff was because i sold my teg. Heres a list of what was in it at the time i sold her.

Premier dep700
Ifinity 605cs components
Soundstream reference 500s running the 605cs
15 in kicker XPL in fiberglass box in spare tire well
Kenwood excelon 301t running 15in sub
Audio control 4xs crossover.

15

yeah ex car toys employeee here good call- will be working for them again once i move back to arlington more than likely. I notice you’re in OR i know they’re loaded fullof Car Toys up there.

:bow:

16

old school equipment :up:

sucky subs: kicker L7, kicker comp, xtant x series (mtx 8000), mtx *, kenwood, rockwood, crunch

the first amp i bought was an american pro and subs were kicker tube and rockwood 12’s lol

crappy stuff ive seen:

roadgear, crunch, american pro, boss, lanzar, pyramid, mobile authority, thump, rage, volfenhag, legacy, jensen, la sound, lightning, profile, pyle, jbc :lol:

17

The setup right now I have is:
Pioneer DEH-P7400 HU
Infinity Kappa all around
JL12W6
Hifonics 100x2 amp to power the sub
Alpine MRV-F407 to power the speakers

So far so good but one of my friend’s who owns a Acura EL I thought had a way better setup was almost the same as mine except his sub was a Kicker L7
And his amps were a mono Memphis
and a 4x Memphis

I really liked how the memphis pounded and it seemed as if he had many options to keep his sound clean. I dont know as much as Gen2ls/vtec and adamm but i’m learning.

I kind of want some memphis amps now not just because of the way it handles, but I also like the way they look! So clean!

18

Originally posted by Essence
[B]I think Alpine should stick to what they know best, head units.

[/B]

I’m going to disagree. The type R and Type X speakers are killer for what they cost. The type X’s are actually a joint venture with Vifa.
I like Alpine because there is not a better manufacturer out there that can supply an entire system.

As for what I have Owned: (in approximately old to new order)
Decks: Sony CDX-C660, Pioneer DEH-P935R, Kenwood KDC-X809, KDC-X909, KDC-X811, KDC-X815, Pioneer DEH-P520, Alpine CDA-7878, CDA-7998 (both hooked up to XM)

Amps: La sound , ADS PQ10, MTX thunder 4320 and 2160, another ADS PQ10, Soundstream Reference 300, PPI A300, Kicker ZR-240, Xtant X603, MMATS D300HC

Speakers: $150 Pioneer separates,Boston Accoustics RC51, MB Quart 6.5" coaxes, Diamond Audio Hex 4.5" separates, Kicker Freeair 6.5" midbass, Infinity Reference separates, Canton Pullman RS-1, MB Quart 5.25" older separates.

Subs: JL 10w0, Rockford series 1 15", Punch 15", Punch Power 15", MTX Black Gold 12", Jl 12w0, JL 12w6, Soundstream ss10, Soundstream SPL160, Kenwood tornado, Image Dynamics IDQ12, IDQ10.

Current Setup: Alpine IVA-C800, Kicker ZX-460, MB Quart Referenz Premium 5.25" separates, Alpine Type-R 12" sub, Audiovox DVD player (honestly, I kinda like this DVD player, Laugh all you want, But for $250 retail, It’s a solid DVD player).

19

P.S. :werd: on hating Kenwood decks.

20

Just to add…

What I had:
Sony HU (don’t remember model number, but it was one of he highest in the line a few years ago)
Infinity Reference 5.25" Components
" " 6x9 in the rear deck
2 Sony 10" Explod subs
Sony 5-channel EQX amp

I have only recently dumped that system. Despite what everyone says about Sony… for the price that you can get the stuff at, I think you would be hard pressed for better quality… all of my equipment survived flipping a car end-over-end down a highway in my old Prelude and got transplanted into my Suby.

The Reference line from Infinity is also underspoken for. Low budget set up, but the sound is really a lot more than you would expect from that price range. Low end response was always very clean and nice. The high end could get sharp if the softer setting is not used in the tweeters… but now I think the Reference well dull compared to the current components.

I only got rid of this system (which is still in my garage awaiting an install in my girlfriend’s car) because I wanted to try something new… but I still love the old set up.

The new system that is being built now consists of of:
Clarion DX-10 LE HU… the highest HU in their line from 2001.
Audiobahn ABC 5.25 carbon components (highest in their line)
Sony ES XM-2100G (old school Sony, but the design is FLAWLESS!)

Yup… that’s it… I am taking my SWEET time choosing the pieces to this set up. I have a set of old school Infinity Kappa 6.5" 3-ways for the rear deck. As far as I can tell from specs, the old and new Kappas are the same.

The Audiobahns are nice… the silk tweeters are a lot harsher (some would say “brighter”) than what I am use to, but it is a good change. The woofers are nice… the bass response is not quite as nice as the Reference, but they handle the max power out of the amp MUCH better.

The amp is a work of art. It is a 100x2 amp. it is what Sony calls a DUAL MONOBLOCK design. Each channel is completely seperate from the other… individual power supplies… nice set up. The amp is stable down to 1 ohm in stereo or mono. Beautiful design. It is a few years old, but the quality rivals that of the JL Audio current line.

Plans. I am waiting for some money (saving it up) to purchase a MTX Thunder6500D and a MTX Thunder 6152 for the rear speakers. I am still in a toss up on the subs. I spent an hour listening to different ones and IMHO the JL 10w6V2 is the best sounding thing I have EVER heard next to the JL 13w7… but the prices ($380 and $800 respectively) are a killer. The MTX 8000 subs are good for bumping, but SQ is sacrificed a little.

I need some mad sound dampening for the front doors and sound deadening for the trunk… then all will be good.

Long enough post for you? :slight_smile: