Buyer's guide for stereo equipment

Personal opinions here, but seems like commonly asked questions' answers.

Head units:

Clarion-Good pricing, ok features, nice sq, eq leaves much desired
skips more than most, but usually just gets dirty faster. good preout voltage, fairly good interface.

Pioneer-Good pricing, great features, nice sq, great eq, good preout voltage, great display, NEVER HAD ONE SKIP with a good cd in (not scratched all to crap). The best bang, and not just for the buck. Read the manual to understand the features better.
Most user friendly of all in my opinion

Eclipse-expensive, 8v preouts aren't really 8v (check it yourself!)
I personally don't care for them, but they aren't bad units at all.
For the money you can do a lot better.

Sony-High end is high priced but good, anything that says xplod basically isn't all that. good sound, fair eq, fair interface.

Kenwood-good pricing, good eq, good interface, good display, basically good units all around. Excelion even better. 2nd only to pioneer units.

Alpine-on about the same level as kenwood in all aspects, displays not as nice though.

Panasonic, Jensen, JVC, and all others are on a more generic level not to be covered here.

Get something with 24 bit d/a converter for better SQ!!

Flip outs:

Get the one that has all the features you want, you'll be happy. Pricing is competetive, pioneer and alpine have DVD navigation which is the bomb.

Subwoofers:

JL Audio-good pricing, w0's great entry level, w3's great mid level, w6v2's great high end, and w7's.... if you can't afford one that's why you would hate one..... BEST SQ, loud as anything you can stand to listen to. High priced, but with 1 13, you are getting a sub with potential output of a pair of good 15s, in a box sized for more like a normal 12. (small box ability comes with a price!) Not everyone has room for 2 15's (7 cu. ft. or so)

Eclipse:Pretty bad (good bad!) subs, expensive though. sound good, not great for SPL.

Rockford: ok sound, low end sucks, hx2's or better are really loud with hella power handling. fair pricing, they last and last.
bigger box subs

Infinity: it's infinity, doesn't get much better, perfects are the bomb, good pricing for the performance. nice SQ ok SPL
doesn't need a big box for good performance

Concept: ok sound ok price not all that reliable from what I've seen.

MTX: thunder 8000's are loud rest are junk. ok pricing, RFL for SPL

Xtant: cool looks, as good as MTX and then some.

Digital designs: loud as you want them to be, high priced, SPL machines! Big subs=huge box

Cerwin-Vega: great subs all around, loud, sound good, good price! Tend to work better with a little larger box.
Don't buy a stroker! better SPL subs out there, SQ sucks.

Alpine-R types are better than JL w3's, real nice price, real loud sub with a real good sound. highly recommend the r types!

Pioneer/Kenwood: buy some JL w0's and be happier.

Kicker- Solo Barics are loud in square form, sound good in round form, but you can't have both. L7's are REALLY loud with power.
other (read "round") models sound good. square=loud

Mids/highs:

JL audio XR-The best, with a $400 price tag. Vr's ok. NO TR!
MB Quart-everything quart makes is great. high end=high price
Eclipse-don't buy unless on a budget, spring for low end Quart
Alpine-good stuff here with a cheap price (especially on eBay)
Boston-great stuff, higher priced
Infinity-it's still infinity! check ebay for great prices

Amplifiers:

Infinity-I know it's infinity and all, but don't buy them. think of infinity as a speaker company and pretend they don't make amps.

Rockford: Power houses, the older amps (2000-) were better. Can get expensive, but that's what it takes for POWER!
BD amps more efficient, more distortion.

JL Audio:Couldn't tell you about the E series, but I'm sure they are pretty good. The slash series are great amps, but I've seen a few with some problems, and they are pretty pricey, but not unreasonable. Lots more features, control, and wiring options than all the others. regulated power supply.

Xtant-these are some cool amps, good sound, regulated power and good luck finding them for cheap.

Crossfire-great amps save for the cheesy look. good pricing!

Memphis-don't buy, I've seen too many that fried.

concept-not impressive, ugly, and not powerful.

clarion-right next to garbage, probably won't get full rated power

pioneer/kenwood-ok entry level stuff, move on if you're looking for more.

Vega-stick to their subs, buy a different amp

Alpine-v12 amps are just great, good price, cool features.




PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THIS IS ALL JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION, TO BE USED AS A GUIDE FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR OPINIONS ON ANYTHING STEREO IN PARTICULAR.

Anything not listed I just forgot to list or have no experience with, but it covers a pretty good range of brands.




If you are looking for a great system all around single brand, go with alpine.

for great subs only, you don't need to look past JL audio.

lots of good amps out there, find the biggest one you want and can afford that doesn't say POWER ACOUSTIK, LANZAR, JENSEN, or anything of that like on it. Don't cheap out too much here, you get what you pay for.

pioneer and kenwood have the best head units with the most features for competetive prices. remember to find something with a 24 bit d/a converter if you are an SQ freak!

Mids and highs- talk to your local MB Quart dealer, or get on eBay for a steal of a price!

i guess i have some differences of opinion with a few products... as you stated with your descriptions they are your opinions, and these are mine and should be taken as an opinion.... I agree with most of what you said, but here are my differences.
Decks....
Personally i would take a Kenwood Deck over pioneer for the reliability step up, but the Pioneers do have nice features and display, but Kenwood has the best MP3 player seek time.

subwoofers....
This is Fact and not opinion... the JL W7 line is not really a small box subwoofer. they take about 1.5 times the box sixe of what i would consider a small box sub....

Rockfords can get low as long as you put them in the right box to make them go low.

Infinity subs are good, but not exactly what i would call the bomb... IMO not worth the money.

Adire Audio, Elemental Designs, and Image Dynamics.... they have some of the best products in each price category that you will find. All products from each company are designed with sound quality as the highest priority, but in the hands of experienced people can all be SPL monsters.

Resonant Engineering The only one i have experience with is the SE line, and for the power rating you should NOT be able to plug one into the wall for an hour.... these are SPL monsters and super durable!!!!

Speakers....
I generally agree with what you said, but better than any you listed are the Adire Kodas.... incredible mids and a tweet that aside from the difficulty installing is absolutly amazing.

amps.....

Infinity. Great amps just the connectors suck... Weaco connectors have no place on amps they are just a pain in the ass to use.

Clarion, if you get the right line you get an amp with Arc amp quality since they use the same board, just with slightly lower tollerance components.... still very good.

Arc Audio. Very high end. Great build quality, features and reliability... definatly up with the best i have used..

Avionixx. Aside from a little problem i have had with overheating they have great features and are very powerful

Alpine amps... good solid amps, they just need more power to be considered for sub duty.... and they are pretty expensive for what you get.

w7's- a 13w7 will work well in 2 cubes ported, that's the size of box that most 12's work with. Cone area on any w7 is a little more than an equal sized (diameter) speaker, and it has twice as much excursion as most. Other than a possibly awkward shape for a box due to the sub's massive size, I think it can be labeled a small box performer. It should be mentioned that the w6v2's are good for smaller boxes as well.

Kenwood/Pioneer Head units- I have personally had 5 pioneers with NO problems out of ANY of them, and 3 Kenwoods that all gave me some trouble. (Display, not playing cd's, detach face, etc)
The kenwoods skip more, or at least that's my experience.

Infinity subs (kappas and perfects)-Great subs with great SQ and very good SPL in a properly designed and powered system. Check eBay if you want a better price.

I had one infinity Beta digital 300 (1000x1@4ohm), and it caught on fire, a friend had a couple of their other amps and I just wasn't ever impressed. The one I had was a powerhouse before it went up in smoke though.


All the other companies you listed I have had no experience with, so I can't comment on them, but I do hear good things.

Keep the messages coming, and this could be a good online buyer's guide....

Originally posted by fiftyonefifty
w7's- a 13w7 will work well in 2 cubes ported, that's the size of box that most 12's work with. Cone area on any w7 is a little more than an equal sized (diameter) speaker, and it has twice as much excursion as most. Other than a possibly awkward shape for a box due to the sub's massive size, I think it can be labeled a small box performer. It should be mentioned that the w6v2's are good for smaller boxes as well.

If i recall the 10w7 takes about .7 cubes to achieve a .707, the 12 takes a 1.6 and the 13 takes around 3 or 3 1/4 cubes if i recall.

Not exactly what i would call small box subs. as far as the having twice as much excursion..... well not compared to the Brahma, Elemental Designs A series, Magnum D2, ID Max and a host of other super woofers, but if you are talking about mid to low line woofers you are absolutly correct.

Originally posted by fiftyonefifty

Kenwood/Pioneer Head units- I have personally had 5 pioneers with NO problems out of ANY of them, and 3 Kenwoods that all gave me some trouble. (Display, not playing cd's, detach face, etc)
The kenwoods skip more, or at least that's my experience.
I have only had two Pioneer decks, and had trouble with all of them.... but all three of my friends with the Pioneer 7300 and 730 have had trouble. bad board, bad rotary knob, and broken face gear,

on the other hand i have had three Kenwood decks and not one problem. my current kenwood (X859) has not skipped a SINGLE time in the year that i have owned it... NOT ONCE.

Originally posted by fiftyonefifty
Infinity subs (kappas and perfects)-Great subs with great SQ and very good SPL in a properly designed and powered system. Check eBay if you want a better price.
I have quite a bit of experience with these.. For the price you get the Perfect for off ebay with no warranty you can get an elemental designs k series or an adire Shiva... each with a 3 year warranty and both are as good or better depending on what you want it for... Perfect is a good sub, but again i don't think it is worth the price you pay. A friend swapped out his perfect for a Shiva and was blown away with his improvement in low end and clarity.

Originally posted by fiftyonefifty

I had one infinity Beta digital 300 (1000x1@4ohm), and it caught on fire, a friend had a couple of their other amps and I just wasn't ever impressed. The one I had was a powerhouse before it went up in smoke though.


I have had three good friends that had the Kappa amps and they are great performers... not one problem, and i had the Beta 300, and i just didn't like the fact that you could not defeat the SSF... that really irritated me, combine that with those god aweful weaco connectors and i had to say i didn't like it a whole lot either, but the kappas are great.... other than the stupid weaco connectors.....

I have one of the new Infinity Kappa Perfect 10 VQ sitting in the closet, waiting for me to find a stealth box for it (wont fit in a standard stealth box because it is slightly oversized):( . I'll give a review on this when it gets out in.

Oh yeah, anyone have any suggestions for my driver's side stealth box? (It wont fit in a regular SubThump or JL Audio Vantage stealth box, and the fiberglass custom ones from Subthump are on back order)

Originally posted by fiftyonefifty

lots of good amps out there, find the biggest one you want and can afford that doesn't say POWER ACOUSTIK, LANZAR, JENSEN, or anything of that like on it. Don't cheap out too much here, you get what you pay for.

Don't knock it till you've tried it, is my response to the above. I've had friends with Jensen amps that sounded as good as some high end amps. I don't have any experience with Lanzar so I can't say much about them. I just rediscovered Power Acoustik again recently. My MTX Blue Thunder Pro 150 x 2 RMS amp started screwing up, so i tried my old Power Acoustik Hammer 280-2x. I couldnt not believe my ears, it outpowered my MTX, and sounded damn good doing it too. It is also a lot more sensitive(97db sensitivity) as I didnt have to increase the gain any at all to power my Fosgate 12" HE2 adequately. It is possible my MTX had major problems, but my sub hits harder with the Power Acoustik than it ever did on my MTX. Uses one 15 amp fuse vs 2 30's in my MTX too, so go figure. My next amp just might be a Power Acoustik.

Heres another interesting note, Power Acoustik also makes SPL, Kove, and possibly Visonik brands.