Brand names
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 32,987
Likes: 58
From: Houston, TX
Brand names I used to be heavily into car audio, before the speed bug bit hard. I used to do custom stereo installations and go to the national sound-off events and such, back in the early 90s.
But, I've been out of the game since then. There are 100s of brand names now, and I'm not sure what names to look into and avoid. Back when I did installs, these were the better brands:
JL Audio
Rockford Fosgate
Phoenix Gold
Alpine
MB Quart
HiFonics
I'm interested in installing a new system in the C6, but do not want to spend a fortune. Something simple with components in the doors and maybe a pair of 8" subs in the rear. The factory system blows ***. Blows rhymes with Bose, funny.
What are some of the newer brands that are popular right now? Any that I should avoid, besides the obvious ultra-cheap brands?
But, I've been out of the game since then. There are 100s of brand names now, and I'm not sure what names to look into and avoid. Back when I did installs, these were the better brands:
JL Audio
Rockford Fosgate
Phoenix Gold
Alpine
MB Quart
HiFonics
I'm interested in installing a new system in the C6, but do not want to spend a fortune. Something simple with components in the doors and maybe a pair of 8" subs in the rear. The factory system blows ***. Blows rhymes with Bose, funny.
What are some of the newer brands that are popular right now? Any that I should avoid, besides the obvious ultra-cheap brands?
My 0.02.
JL Audio - good quality but not a good value, both in amps and speakers
Rockford Fosgate - only an average amp maker now
Phoenix Gold -no longer competetive
Alpine - good value in head units
MB Quart - higher end products are still good, but they now offer very cheap mainstream product lines.
HiFonics - some good amps in the very high power level ranges
For midrange components I like Alpine head units and Memphis amplifiers. Speakers are so subjective it's hard to make a recommendation there, but I've always been fond of Harmon products & MB quart.
JL Audio - good quality but not a good value, both in amps and speakers
Rockford Fosgate - only an average amp maker now
Phoenix Gold -no longer competetive
Alpine - good value in head units
MB Quart - higher end products are still good, but they now offer very cheap mainstream product lines.
HiFonics - some good amps in the very high power level ranges
For midrange components I like Alpine head units and Memphis amplifiers. Speakers are so subjective it's hard to make a recommendation there, but I've always been fond of Harmon products & MB quart.
JBL has been making great leaps and bounds in car audio in recent years, and has been dominating the sound off circuit lately.. I strongly suggest looking at their offerings... if you can hold off for awhile, I recommend waiting until CES in January when some new cool products will be announced.
Of your list, JL is still good, Rockford makes dependable gear, but many folks will tell you the overall quality from days past is gone. Phoenix Gold has seemed to get out of the high end market and are more specialized to the entry and mid level brands. Alpine is hit or miss. Their recent model head units have less features then before, but they make some cool amps and nice eq processors. MB Quart and Hifonics were both recently accquired by Maxxsonics, the same company that manufacturers Crunch amps.. although I cannot speak for the quality of those 2 brands under the new parent company. Time will tell.
Other big names in the sound off scene are Zapco, Image Dynamics, Focal is still popular, as well as Arc audio.
Many people will swear by the internet boomers such as Elemental Designs, CDT Audio, Resonant Engineering ,etc .
mike
Of your list, JL is still good, Rockford makes dependable gear, but many folks will tell you the overall quality from days past is gone. Phoenix Gold has seemed to get out of the high end market and are more specialized to the entry and mid level brands. Alpine is hit or miss. Their recent model head units have less features then before, but they make some cool amps and nice eq processors. MB Quart and Hifonics were both recently accquired by Maxxsonics, the same company that manufacturers Crunch amps.. although I cannot speak for the quality of those 2 brands under the new parent company. Time will tell.
Other big names in the sound off scene are Zapco, Image Dynamics, Focal is still popular, as well as Arc audio.
Many people will swear by the internet boomers such as Elemental Designs, CDT Audio, Resonant Engineering ,etc .
mike
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 207
Likes: 0
From: San Diego, CA
awesome thread, i've been wondering the same thing to plan my setup. everything seems so damn subjective, you can't be like, "tell me what the best value is in a 6.5'' componet". Alot of people say you need to go to a store and listen to 'em, especially off-axis, cuz thats how you'll be listening to them...
JBL has typically been my budget brand of choice, with MB quart only going in cars (that I thought) I was going to keep until the wheels fell off. I'd be a lot better off right now if I would've kept that rule in place on my Camaro's setup. The infinities (jbl & infinity are very similar these days) are the only speakers I am happy with.
The Alpines are left over from what I originally thought would be limited to just speaker replacement job (should have known better... no will power)... and my Rockford subs were quite frankly just a huge mistake on my part. They will probably be replaced with JBL 8's if they would get around to making a DVC solution.
I never understood why - but JBL always seemed to be rather unpopular. I'm glad to hear they are gaining popularity. Though I became fond of the brand in home audio back in the late 80's... I've always been happy with thier car speakers... thinking of them as the poor man's Quarts.
I think it's really hard to make brand recommendations because of the huge amount of variation across product lines these days - just because someone's pro-line is hot doesn't equate to thier more humble offerings being strong.
The Alpines are left over from what I originally thought would be limited to just speaker replacement job (should have known better... no will power)... and my Rockford subs were quite frankly just a huge mistake on my part. They will probably be replaced with JBL 8's if they would get around to making a DVC solution.
I never understood why - but JBL always seemed to be rather unpopular. I'm glad to hear they are gaining popularity. Though I became fond of the brand in home audio back in the late 80's... I've always been happy with thier car speakers... thinking of them as the poor man's Quarts.
I think it's really hard to make brand recommendations because of the huge amount of variation across product lines these days - just because someone's pro-line is hot doesn't equate to thier more humble offerings being strong.
Last edited by todddchi; Oct 4, 2006 at 12:59 AM.
Many people don't know that Rockford Fosgate old amp designer is back, that's why you see that old square look this year. I can't remember the designers name off hand but you will see fosgate as one of the top amp makers again. Like I said, this is the first year since he's been back and they got good reviews. If you asked me over the past years about them, I would of agreed with most people here about being average. You will see Fosgate rise again as far as amps.
JBL has certainly made a rise in the audio world. I mean, their amps have always got decent ratings but now their speakers are getting the good reviews too.
JL Audio gear is still a good maker, their prices have increased over the years.
Kicker makes nice stuff too. Speaker wise if you stay in their SS line, an improvement over the RS line by 3 times in my opinion. They have become very competitive. Their RS line is also a good budget product too, it leans more to average/above average and was their cream of the crop for nearly 10 years.
JBL has certainly made a rise in the audio world. I mean, their amps have always got decent ratings but now their speakers are getting the good reviews too.
JL Audio gear is still a good maker, their prices have increased over the years.
Kicker makes nice stuff too. Speaker wise if you stay in their SS line, an improvement over the RS line by 3 times in my opinion. They have become very competitive. Their RS line is also a good budget product too, it leans more to average/above average and was their cream of the crop for nearly 10 years.
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On The Tree
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
From: Colonie NY
headunits, eclipse than alpine
Amps, audison, diamond, memphis, incriminator audio, soundstream, us amps
Subs, FI Audio (www.ficaraudio.com), diamond, treo, soundstream, RE
Speakers, Hertz, diamond, mb quart, focal, morel, memphis
I compete in sound quality so here is some good stuff for you, deffinitely look into fi audio, they are for real. The old owner of RE audio owns fi.
Amps, audison, diamond, memphis, incriminator audio, soundstream, us amps
Subs, FI Audio (www.ficaraudio.com), diamond, treo, soundstream, RE
Speakers, Hertz, diamond, mb quart, focal, morel, memphis
I compete in sound quality so here is some good stuff for you, deffinitely look into fi audio, they are for real. The old owner of RE audio owns fi.
Originally Posted by like the view?
I compete in sound quality so here is some good stuff for you, deffinitely look into fi audio, they are for real. The old owner of RE audio owns fi.
which org and class ? I thought I knew every active competitor with an fbody.
i haven't kept up with the dbl stuff for a long time but what ever happened to mmats(sp) ? they use to rule the roost with i think the d1000 amps and the juggernaut subs.ofcourse the strokers and the ppi was close also.i like the quarts for sound if you keep the power down on them.with close to the peak rms wattage going to them mine seemed to distort more than i thought they should have but they was crystal clear until then.
