What type of car audio person are you? - Page 5

mbuchman · 02-17-2005, 01:17 PM

Agree with both above posts. Their was a day when Lanzar was really good, but then they sold out, and that seems to be the case for many audio companies. That is why I am worried about MB Quart, because they were just bought out by someone (RF or someone, dont really remember).

And my first system was actually my brothers first system (he left it in the car when he got a new car, and I used that car then). Had a Sony head unit and Kenwood Excelon 6x9s from Crutchfield, some Kenwood subwoofers from best buy, a way overpriced RF wireing kit from best buy, and a RF and Kenwood amp from BB.

Matt

turbocad6 · 02-17-2005, 01:44 PM

hey, don't get me wrong, I'm not mr. moneybags either, I use ebay ALOT to build my systems. I would rather buy a used ppi art series amp from a reputable seller than FOR THE SAME MONEY getting a new crap amp. My horns were $1,199 list when new, but I paid around $300 for them on ebay. The door speakers are $699 new, i paid $350 on ebay, My mcintosh mc4000m(awsome piece) was well over $4,000 new, I paid a guy in jersey $1,400 for it & then spent $190 to refurbish it by mcintosh. The point is not that you have to spend a fourtune, I can build a $8,000 system for around $3,500 with the help of ebay.

I did by my alpine d300 & h700 new because they just came out, but almost all other stuff except power delivery/signal delivery was ebay stuff, don't get me wrong I still spent a small fortune in some eyes, but I do try to econimize if I can

guavo is very correct in stating that there is apoint that major modifications are necissary to get further, & this goes to what I said about the install being at least as important as the equiptment. had I just thrown this equiptment in my truck I would have had medoicre results. It became necissary to totally gut the truck & dynamat top to bottom & up the firewall,(well over $1,500 in dampening products) all in all I did close to $10,000 LABOR, no this isn't a misprint or exageration, this is the degree of excellence I wanted to achieve, but my goals aren't necissarily your goals, sure you can say I'm crazy, but I know that I am just happy....to each his own & whatever floats your boat........I like my tunes dude!!!!!

mbuchman · 02-17-2005, 01:50 PM

1500 in deadening? I only plan on paying 300 or so... Still dont know if I will cheap out and just get Peal&Seal, or go with Raamat, or EDead. Either way, that is a ridiculus amount for sound deadening. What all did you do with that 1500? 5 layers of the top of the line Dynamat everywhere, with foam deadening filling every hole?

Matt

JC-S60 · 02-17-2005, 03:06 PM

bb/cc & oem man I guess...

Pioneer & Blaupunkt amps, Pioneer sub and best volvo oem speakers available for the s60 (4* 3way + 1 center)....

oh and BTW, price has nearly nothing to do with quality/service/durability, but everything with *market value*!
I'll admit that a lot of things influence the market value of electronics, including quality/service/durability, but also including brand reputation, availability, marketing... which in their place relate also to quality etc... but not always as quickly.

Nothing is overpriced. This can only be if you're looking at only one aspect of the item in question. For its quality, something can be overpriced, but damn, does it look good! So it sells. So it's not overpriced.

turbocad6 · 02-17-2005, 03:18 PM

anything is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it...........if the masses are paying $750 for 1 jl 13w7, then guess what, it's worth it.....

rmjjensen · 02-17-2005, 03:25 PM

Top notch ....it's gotta sound good man. I've been there - I've had some kenwood stuff (eh)

But now I've got

Alpine PXA H701 Digital Processor
JBL Crown series Amplifiers
Focal K2Power Component Speakers

Simple, yet amazing

turbocad6 · 02-17-2005, 03:34 PM

$1,500 in deadening on a minivan equates to double layer of brown bread extreme up, down & side to side, add 1" acoustic foam sound isolator to roof after the matt, add sound absorbing/heat absorbing reinforced matt to firewall & key areas of noise transmission like front floor & wheel wells, add a few hood matts to inner hood, inner fenders & outer firewall, add lead sheeting over decoupling layer(carpet) & under main carpet, add foam fill on pillars & other misc cavitys, etc...it add's up quickly, but the end result is the ride quality of a $70,000 german automobile, you really must experience this to realize how dramatic of a difference there is. I can talk on the cell phone & actually have a comfortable conversation at 70 mph, sound dampening is one of the factors that drive the cost of a new luxury car up.

try driving the new nissan murano & then getting in an infiniti qx whatevertheycallit, & you will see, same basic vehicle, two totally different ride qualitys, the main difference, sound dampening.............

you can make a $16,000 car feel like a $30,000 with $800 worth of sound dampening & around $1,500 labor........a worthwile investment to me....but then again I am anal about this stuff..you don't have to be

mbuchman · 02-17-2005, 03:41 PM

Trust me, I know the difference sound deadening does. My brother took apart his entire car and deadened everything but the roof (didnt want to mess with reglueing that fabric to the roof), and he started with a Lincoln MarkVIII, so its pretty quiet.

As for what I drive, I started out on a Lincoln Continental, and now drive a Buick Park Ave, and am planning on buying a Lincoln Town Car in 5 months or so. Those cars come pretty quiet. Funny thing is that I never realized how thick the doors on my car are until I was in a friends Escort...

I definately know where you are coming from with sound deadening, but 300 or so is all I need to spend to get my car quiet enough. Then again, the car I will be starting with for my next install has an MSRP of 40k +(I will be buying used, so around 8-10k for me for a 1998 or 1999 model), so it gives me a head start on deadening

Matt

turbocad6 · 02-17-2005, 04:43 PM

I usually prefer a caddy for just this reason, my last caddy only really needed dynamat in the trunk & doors mainly because of the speakers placed there, the rest is pretty well dampened from the factory, but most newer "plastic" cars need more dampening. my employee just got a brand new bmw 5 series & I drove it out of the showroom with him, my advice after driving about three blocks, rip out the whole floor & seating & dynamat it, noisey as hell from the floor, & this is a $50,000 car were talking about here.I guess I just got spoiled with my car........

a properly dampened car with mid range equiptment will sound much better than a noisey car with top of the line stuff, this all goes hand in hand.........dampening is a major factor in sound quality unless you plan on only listening in your garage with the engine off like in the staging lanes

not to "real world"............

killerfishes · 02-18-2005, 12:55 AM

the head liner is a drop down unit no reglueing involved, just remove all the trim around the headliner and you will see how to remove it.

mbuchman · 02-18-2005, 01:33 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by killerfishes

the head liner is a drop down unit no reglueing involved, just remove all the trim around the headliner and you will see how to remove it.

He had an aftermarket sunroof put in, and the fabric isnt really even glued right now, but you dont notice it unless the sunroof is open. In all reality he really should clean it up, but he just doesnt have the time. It still looks good though, and isnt ripped or anything, so like I said, visually no big deal. For him, it wouldnt be as easy as what you said, but thanks for that tip, when I do my car, I will have to remember about that.

Matt

cyber · 02-18-2005, 02:18 PM

Infinity comps, Orion subs and amps

JW™ · 02-19-2005, 11:29 PM

I don't REALLY fall into any of those categories. I just get what I like (for the budget) and get it wherever it's cheapest. My Kenwood came from Crutchfield (as did the one I had before it that got ripped off; they were giving away Sirius tuners both times), but my satellite speakers (which I demo'ed at Fry's) came from ikesound.com and my two subs (soon to be four

) came from eBay; so did both of my amps. My system in its current form was well under $1000 and easily runs with systems that have allegedly better components (MB Quart comes to mind) that cost three times as much. No complaints here.

mbuchman · 02-20-2005, 02:47 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by JW™

I don't REALLY fall into any of those categories. I just get what I like (for the budget) and get it wherever it's cheapest. My Kenwood came from Crutchfield (as did the one I had before it that got ripped off; they were giving away Sirius tuners both times), but my satellite speakers (which I demo'ed at Fry's) came from ikesound.com and my two subs (soon to be four

) came from eBay; so did both of my amps. My system in its current form was well under $1000 and easily runs with systems that have allegedly better components (MB Quart comes to mind) that cost three times as much. No complaints here.

What kind of subs do you have? And if you were really listening to demanding songs, companies like MB Quart would outperform anything that cost 3x less, but for most of the songs that most people listen to here, you are right, they are similar. Basically, you never realize how much better the other brands are until you listen to them for a while, then go back to the old stuff you had. Of course, if you never upgrade, then you should always be happy

An example of this is with headphones. Before, I just used a cheap old pair. Then I bought a pair of the 50 dollar sony ones, and was amazed with how nice they sounded. My brother then got the 150 dollar ones, and I ended up getting the same ones, because after listening to my brothers, mine jsut didnt cut it anymore. Just recently, on a different message board, someone had said how they cant even listen to the model of headphones I have anymore because the ones he has now are just too much better. So moral is, if you want to save money, never go trying new things, hehe

Matt

RedGTiVR6 · 02-20-2005, 08:56 AM

I totally agree Matt...

once you go high(er) end...it's really difficult to settle for anything lower....

ignorance is bliss sometime....seriously