Does anyone have a clue?

and the parthenon whips butt too.. sorry cory, I too hate cheap amps, but everyone wants to play, man.. especially newbies and people on a tight budget. if there wasn't a market, the product wouldn't exist. I can remember my first set of 15" pyramid phase III's (ran by an optimus amp). I'd argue if you told me I wasn't cool, but that was all that was available (I thought) at the time. Everyone learns with experience, and these are the entry level products that make audiophiles out of some of us and fire victims from the rest.. some of us give it up, and some of us keep trying. I, fortunately am one of those who just never gave up, and now have matured into someone who cares about quality and SQ more than SPL. But, max excursion makes me feel like climbing the rope in gym class, and I like the fact that adire makes drivers that are efficient with low power and kick your ass with the right juice, just my thoughts.. don't knock the cheap stuff, it's the road that a lot of us used to get here.

BTW.. still laughing about 4000 watts with a 20 amp fuse:lol:

 

Everybody has got to start somewhere my brother. Thanks to forums like these now a days. Some will get help before they fall for the flea market special.
The new xxx does look sexy, but there are many other subs I would rather have that are under half the price. I'm getting to old for spl comps anymore.

 

I feel ya. My partner and myself had to close our shop earlier this year after 10 years in the business. With all the chain stores locally. We just couldn't compete. Our average customer wasn't of the mind set after quality and durability. They were simply after loud. I think a lot of it now a days comes from the fact that there are so many brands to choose from. Back when I was first starting, there wasn't a tenth of the brands availiable today. Odd thing though, some of the "flea market " brands today. Actually started off life as good equipment. Take lanzar for instance. Lanzar has been around for quite a while. Products used to be top notch. Now they have fallen into the sub par performance and bling category. I remember thinking to myself when I saw the fosgate guy bring in the first power series amps. "who in the hell needs that much power in a car ? " Now 1000w is childs play. Times is a changing my brother.

 

gotta love the smell of cheap subs igniting. I do it for fun sometimes.
anyone ever catch a tempest on fire? Not concerned.. just wondering..

 

Haven't made one catch fire . But we plugged one in a while back and made the cone and vc assembly move about 5" farther than the x mech

 

an X periment? - - haha

 

I agree i miss good amps US AMPs will always be king and from my understanding im the only one on the forum that runs them still.

 

Hey Cory:

I would like to think I have a good idea about good quality. I've been out of the car audio scene since I was in my 20's back in the early 80's and am amazed at todays car audio scene. Man it has grown... but not necessarily in the right direction when it comes to good sound. I am speaking in terms of quality audiophile sound not the most dB's. Although I understand the need for some folks wanting ear-splitting sound and having competitions... it's not my scene. I am an audiophile first so quality is very important. In the audiophile (home stereo) world, the most watts in not what's important, it's clean power that counts coupled with the most efficient speakers. 50 watts per channel of clean (non-clipping) power is really all that's necessary (Although it's nice to have more headroom). I have heard and have had stunning sounding systems under 50 watts RMS. I don't think the car audio interior should be any different. The law of physics is the same. If anything you should be able to get by with less cause the inside of a car is much smaller! Back 25 years ago there wasn't the product selection like today and I had to make do with what was available to get good sound. I recall installing an Advent DC receiver which didnt have huge powered amps (20-30w RMS max if I remember correctly), but I have to tell you the sound quality was terrific! I had Altec-Lansing 8" inch woofers and Phillips tweeters and it really blew away anything on the road at the time.

It boggles my mind at some of the prices you have to pay today for some audio gear. I for one believe that you can build a system fairly reasonably without breaking the bank if you do it smart. By this I mean optimizing the enclosure(s) with good speaker box software. Designing great crossover's, paying attention to speaker placement and optimizing the interior to isolate road noise. Adding wattage doesn't help if you miss all of the other aspects IMHO! I think it's important to get back to basics and reality.

greg

 

Well Said Graft

 

I second that caddy.. well put, Greg.

It seems like everyone wants to stuff 20,000 watts in thier trunk, (not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just the direction that the markets have pointed). Good sound is still available for reasonable price, but hard to find, because manufacturers have convinced everyone that they need bigger stuff each year, and although I like loud music, I rather like to hear all of my music. I prefer to feel bass rather than hear it, and I even though about using bass shakers on my current setup before I bought my tempests.

I don't know why I rambled on, I guess my point is: Hey, Nice Post!

 

Hmmmmmm? i have probably forgot more about car audio than most of the people here will ever know................so, to answer your question, yes



Not trying to be condescending, but your statement reeks of self absorbed BS.


We ALL started somewhere, and grew to understand the fundamentals of acoustics in the mobile enviorment. Its not a simple matter of throwing together the best that money can buy. Its a learning experience that will drive someone who is interested to do the best they can with what they can afford.




I havent read any other posts besides this one on this topic, so forgive me if it has steeered in a nother direction.

 

Bigger and louder is not better... it's just bigger and louder.

Thanks Caddy and Hautewheeler:

Holy crap...20,000 watts!!!! Do some folks actually have that much junk in their trunk? OUCH!!! I sure have been out-of-the-loop for all those years.

Hey, I like to crank it up too every now and then! However, just out of curiosity I went to a well known car audio store in my area just to see what's up. I specifically let the store owner know I'm looking for high-end, audiophile sound. He kept nooding his head like he knew what I was talking about and sure enough eventually steered me towards this huge $400 woofer (on sale!) and kept insisting I'm going to need at LEAST 1,000 - but preferably 3,000 - watts to drive it!!! Needless to say he had NO clue what I was talking about or looking for! I wanted to say "I'm not looking for a rattling, thumping trunk that ****es off drivers 5 car lenghts away you moron" Instead I quietly walked away smiling, knowing full well I could achieve what I wanted with a nice, efficient home woofer typically found in high-end home systems at a fraction of the cost that will work nicely with 75-100 watts RMS! It all comes down to marketing and selling expensive stuff. Not that I blame them... but they are being just a tad misleading to the uneducated consumer.

Bigger and louder is not better... it's just bigger and louder. I guess I'm not surprised, we live in a "Super-Size Me" culture. Hey, when I was a kid a 16oz cola was considered HUGE... now a 64 oz. Big-Gulp is the norm. Go figure.

 

Hey i got 3 jl 12w6s and a US DE-1000 i have yet to be shut down by anyone in a system contest (and when i say that i mean by clarity and quality)

im VERY happy with my system

 

Caddy so i guess you gave up one selling those w6's?

 

naw 1st 300 take them but im not gonna have them laying in wait they stay in my car i enjoy them and then on weekends for the drags i pull them. im in no rush i just am ready to dump them when someone who says they are gonna really does follow through.