OK we all know I hate Kenwood.... so I wont mention them...

Sony have started to Improve with time..... Their Decks and Splits have always seemed to be real good Performers apart from their XPLOD coloring...


Clarion...The Quiet and underated Achiever... They seem to have Improved all thier Gear with some Great Decks and all new Improved speaker range


Pioneer: Pioneer Have always had a good offering through out their range.. Their Subs are still as die hard as ever and their Decks, while lacking Visual enhancement have always offered a Good Base for a Great system set up

Fusion : While not as popular as the others, Fusion do offer some serious Gear at a Nice Price..


Alpine: What can you say : Its Alpine.. Still one of the Leaders in Car Audio, Just not everyone can Afford them but their TYPE S series is a Great place to start..

JBL : They seem to have lost their appeal, While they still make Great Amps and Subs, I have talked to a few people and they have had Problems with Glue Not holding out to well on their Co axials...

Jaycar.. Their Kevlar Speaker range are supposed to be good value

JVC.. Their New Range of MP3 Head units are unreal, while they have not changed much in the way of Speakers, they do have some Nice Subs available on a Budget and should not be overlooked...

Anyone else Noticed a Brand that has picked up or Improved ??

tell me your thoughts on the brand "earthquake" was having alook @ some of there stuff before *drools on keybored*...so sexy and powerful...

my opinions on fusion is that they are a good brand, but are actually expensive, i got quoted on a sub and amp from a fusion dealer which was way over my price range; there is akai, which are kinda crap, but i got these set of 6x9 akai speakers sitting in 2 big boxes in the back of my wagon, and they sound bloody awesome for akai speakers...
JVC was where i was heading originally, wen i saw their stand in autosalon 2 years ago i loved the system setup they had in 1 of their showcars and decided to go the same way, but as my bro left his old alpine h/u in my car i'll be sticking to alpine :cool:

I definitely think JVC have improved in the head units alot over the past few years. Very keenly priced for what you get too, and starting to get into the same level as Alpine for sure.

Clarion have always made good stuff, but it is starting to become great stuff. The head units always lacked features but now they are some of the better ones. Usually underrated coz there is better on the market. Speakers still not as good as others on the market at the price they charge, but much like Alpine, they certainly are not crap.

Fusion have some awesome SPL stuff, but not what I would like to use on a daily basis. Expensive too.
Add Cervin Vega strokers to the list - awesome but way expensive.

JBL - cheap and a quality item, which is a rare thing. Dunno about the coaxials, never had experience with them. I love my subs...:D

Kenwood blows, always has.
Sony subs suck - especially the Xplod ones - wouldn't pi$$ on one if it were on fire.
Clarion I agree with - although their headunits feel quite cheap.
Pioneer - headunits are no way as good as their older ones - I had a 1995 model that kept on running for 8 years(!!) in 3 cars (DEH-323 IIRC - cost me $650). Wouldn't expect that from one of their new ones. Their coaxials were very dissapointing.
Fusion - no real experience with them, a relative new player...
Alpine - nice headunits, typical japanese amps (I prefer US amps, better power output + heat control), very nice splits and 6X9"s - subwoofers are extremely dissapointing.
JBL - nice amps and subs, agreed - they are more targeting the semi-professional broadcast and production audio, lost their way with car audio lately.
Jaycar - kevlar speakers have great power handling, but their carbon fibre subs - very nice!
JVC - had some bad experiences with their headunits, very poor FM tuners.

You missed Boston Accoustic - they still make some of the most sensitive subwoofers around...

Earthquake - typical American gear, all grunt and no finesse. Think gridiron. A hammer is not known as an American screwdriver for nothing. An exception to this is Soundstream... But they seem to have dissapeared lately.

Been annoyed of late with the design of amplifiers and processors - I need to stop taking them apart and fixing them.

Cheers
Heath Young

tell me your thoughts on the brand "earthquake" was having alook @ some of there stuff before *drools on keybored*...so sexy and powerful...

I run an Earthquake DBR12 12" Subwoofer (600W) and it pounds harder than most subwoofers on the market at the price it's valued at. I also run an Earthquake 900.5 (1800W 5Ch) amplifier and it also kills ;-)

Great products if you ask me, all I want now is an Earthquake 12" Sub-Zero (2000W) :-D

Edit: Though I'd only suggest Earthquake dependant on the type of music you listen to, if it's fairly grungy (by that I mean hard bass for your R&B and Rap then this is the way to go). I also like Audison, but I'd only go an Audison amplifier if I wanted the more clearer, crisper sound.

how about Focals and Boston speakers?

Both have a range starting at lowish prices, and go upto whatever your budget doesn't allow for the average consumer. The higher end products are sweet to say the least.

On the amp side of things we have a forgotten contender, Orion. Big and powerful, and the power output is very underarated.

Boston and Focal make Grand gear at a Grand Priice, Out of reach for the Average Income earner..
Hertz have their DCX range ( Dieci ) which start from as low as $130 for their 6.5 inch Splits and around the same for their 3-way 6x9.. Well worth checking out...

Pfft

Dieci's are crap

VDO HUnits have a lot of features, but are not very user friendly. I left mine in my last car when I sold it. Only had the HU for 3 weeks.
JVCs new HU are unreal for the price. I have one and love it. Its my 2nd JVC HU. Gives me full control over just about everything.
Jaycar kevlar splits lacked a lot of midbass, but the new carbon fibre subs are unreal! (Im getting one soon!). I think their amps are just about the best bang for your buck you can get.
Sony speakers are improving. Put some 6x9s in my bros car and they crank. I dislike their HUs.
Kenwood - limited experience, but no bad ones. I like them.
Pioneer - their headunits a great for most quality systems on a budget. Also make some nice sounding splits.
Oh... and my new Morels are sweeeeeeeeeet!!!! :D :D

Pfft

Dieci's are crap

What makes you say that .. I have heard great praise as an entry level speaker ??

personally I'm a fan of Linn, but i think they're a bit out of my budget lol
not really knowing much aboutt he topic, but from what ive heard and seen, the pioneers seem to get u good bank for ya buck

I run an Earthquake DBR12 12" Subwoofer (600W) and it pounds harder than most subwoofers on the market at the price it's valued at. I also run an Earthquake 900.5 (1800W 5Ch) amplifier and it also kills ;-)

Great products if you ask me, all I want now is an Earthquake 12" Sub-Zero (2000W) :-D

Edit: Though I'd only suggest Earthquake dependant on the type of music you listen to, if it's fairly grungy (by that I mean hard bass for your R&B and Rap then this is the way to go). I also like Audison, but I'd only go an Audison amplifier if I wanted the more clearer, crisper sound.

yes my fav music is trance/techno/hardcore heavy metal...i saw on ebay (didnt say 12" or 10"?) an eathquake sub, was in the magma range, was rated @ 800w RMS, and was on for like $350, if i was doing a boot install, boy i would of used the buy it now option. i dont really know how good this sub is sound wise, but supposedly "in the right box" it could reach over 155+ db....so at that volume it would all just sound like noise to me. so next year when i do my install, earthquake sub (notice only the one cause it would be as loud as two JVC, or pioneer ones), earthquake amps, whatever deck is good value then, and probably earthquake speakers......there 6x9's can get 800w max :0...so yeah there my plans for the future.

What makes you say that .. I have heard great praise as an entry level speaker ??

Because i solely see them as designed for head unit outputs only, they won't last when put up to any decent power. I'm very against anything that forbids future expandability.

Because i solely see them as designed for head unit outputs only, they won't last when put up to any decent power. I'm very against anything that forbids future expandability.
:stoopid:

Spend right the first time.

The thing i dont like about Pioneer is Sony in particular is that they keep trying to update there gear bit by bit every year. I like brands that are good from the start and improve to great.

Alpine are over-rated.. when there wasnt many options they where good.
Pioneer is the same and when you get decent stuff up goes the price ( yellow cones anyone )
Fusion are ok, speakers sound a little artifcial, similar to sony but more reliable and louder.
Boston, Hertz, Vibe, Morel, PG and even DD are all brands you show look to and there entry level stuff might be a little expensive ( approx $300 ) but to get something from the JB / Strathfield brands that sound similar you will fork out $500.
JBL have good amps ( in top end ) and decent subs.
Kenwood have some ok amps, reliabilty again.
MTX have good power but poor DF and features.
Coustic are under rated for entry level.


How can you go past Audison SRx series amps for price and features. Look at the SRx2s..
180WRMSx 2 @ 4ohm
300WRMSx 2 @ 2ohm
600WRMSx 1 @ 4ohm
DF 280
S/N 95+db
12 / 24db per octave crossover variable 55-150or 200Hz
Max current consumption is only 35A :shock: My 2x 150WRMS jaycar is 56A and only gives 450WRMS x 1 :doubt: .
All for RRP$599 and i know you can get them for around $539. :bowrofl: I want one.

whats everyones thoughts on Panasonic head units? they seem to have very good features for their price, and look good....

Well I love my Panasonic Headunit, it's different, everyone seems to either have Pioneer or Alpine. Has all the features that I need, looks great, plus the remote control fits beautifully in a little middle-console section of my TP Magna ;-)

..and probably earthquake speakers......there 6x9's can get 800w max :0...so yeah there my plans for the future.

I'm not sure how good the quality on their speakers are to be honest with you, I haven't heard anything about whether they're good or not, though someone on here did say to stay away from their speaker range. Do a little bit of research on the particular models of the speakers before purchasing, always do your homework. Nothing worse than buying the products and finding that they're not as good as you'd hoped for. I can tell you right now though, the Earthquake 900.5 (1800Watt - 5Ch) amplifier is fantastic, and I'm thoroughly impressed by the Earthquake DB-12R 12" Subwoofer (600Watt).

I'm a really big fan of all panasonic devices, i have their discman (5 years and running), head unit (1 year and running) and 2 pairs of their waterproof earbuds (both lasted longer than 2 years)

So overall i don't think panasonic is an improving brand, they already make really reliable stuff. I'll buy their toughbook when i have the money, their really rugged and durable.

Yes i love my panasonic head unit with all the features and the low price so yes that's my opinion. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the 'day and night' design is all about, it's so strange to name a feature and not make it obvious.

Earthquake speakers are not very good, tweeter too high and rough, bass is decent but not refined enough for my type of music, mariah, aguilera, higgins

Their subs are loud, enough said

day = lights off

night = lights on???

JVC do it for me!
Thats why i bought another one.
I used to have an XF with a JVC in it running big F*ck off 7 x 10 kenwoods which is what started my addiction to the big mothers...........I loved that radio :cool: . I then sold the car to my best mate of whom wrote the vehicle off 3 weeks later! :shock: A couple of cars later i purchased a Pioneer CD player again with the big Kenwood F*ckers :redface: ............wasn't overly impressed with them that time. Whether it was the Head unit and Kenwood combo....i dunno.
Now i want clarity.............perhaps its because im getting older! :nuts:
I with you on the F*ck the Kenwood speaker movement but!

lol I used to have a xf ford and also have a JVC kdsx985 headunit. Only thing I bought new pretty much. Has served me well and still winning Sound quality Comps.

i just hop emy new JVC KD - G416 sounds ok when i get in put in the car........along with speakers and amp.......i'm sure it will. My mate who wrote off the XF bought a Galant, and put a JVC in it since he liked what i had done to a car before he permantly "parked it"
My JVC only arrived today in the mail.......its on the bottom end of the JVC range, but i'm confident it will still sound good providing i put the right gear behind it!