System questions

Thank you Jeffpaulus, those are the kinds of answers i've been looking for all along, i was pretty set on the diamonds, i was also going to run diamond subs i've heard a few setups with them and they seem to have good spl and pretty good sq in sealed boxes, also have a local dealer 10 miles away, where as everything else i gotta drive about an hour or more to get a chance to look at it, i'm not super hung up on flash from a head unit i just want good sound, a clean overall look and the ability to adjust and tweak sound settings in a usable way, that was one of the reasons i was so interested in alpine, because they have it setup so you can adjust your settings on their website and then upload the settings in the headunit.  also can anyone recommend some good spl subs from jl audio besides the w7s?

J~

volfenhagen? does anyone honestly own these subs?   seriously though, as far as other amp brands out there, rockford fosgate, jbl,alpine and diamond audio who makes good mono amps? also any info on kickers L7 would be great to.

J~

glowinlow,

I have heard every diamond Audio sub (m3, m6, and TDX) in every type of enclosure (I work for an authorized retailer), and I can tell you that every Diamond audio sub sounds great on rap and R&B, however if you listen to a lot of rock or jazz or music that requires fast accurate bass, the only diamond sub I would recommend would be the TDX.  The TDX cone is super light, which allows it to move faster and create more accurate bass reproduction, but is also costs $450 for a 10". If you want accurate bass, often a less expensive sub in a brand's lineup will sound better, for example, Rockford's T2 series subs are not as fast and accurate as their P3 subs are, this is because the cone is heavier, and will not move as fast, though the T2 will play much louder and lower and hit harder, will not be as accurate on rock music, and requires twice the power. this is the same with Pioneer's subs.

Regarding the head unit, if you want a basic clean and classy look, go with Eclipse.  However, if you want a deck that is easy to tweak, do not get the CD5444 ($500). The CD8443 ($500) (last year's model) and the CD8454 ($620) (this years model) are much easier to make constant adjustments to because the 13 band eqalizer is displayed different than on the CD5444.  However, if you want to just set up your system, and not constantly tweak it, then get the CD5444 or CD8454 because you can set up both of these on line.  BTW, Eclipse's online setup is much more detailed and as easy to use as Alpines. Trust me I have owned both.

Oh yeah, and to all you who disagree with my assertion that the brand is not as important as proper setup:

I was referring to respectable brands, not Volfenhagen, Pyle, Boss, Pyramid, jensen, etc. I thought you would be able to assume this, but apparently not

glowinlow,

I have heard every diamond Audio sub (m3, m6, and TDX) in every type of enclosure (I work for an authorized retailer), and I can tell you that every Diamond audio sub sounds great on rap and R&B, however if you listen to a lot of rock or jazz or music that requires fast accurate bass, the only diamond sub I would recommend would be the TDX.  The TDX cone is super light, which allows it to move faster and create more accurate bass reproduction, but is also costs $450 for a 10". If you want accurate bass, often a less expensive sub in a brand's lineup will sound better, for example, Rockford's T2 series subs are not as fast and accurate as their P3 subs are, this is because the cone is heavier, and will not move as fast, though the T2 will play much louder and lower and hit harder, will not be as accurate on rock music, and requires twice the power. this is the same with Pioneer's subs.

Regarding the head unit, if you want a basic clean and classy look, go with Eclipse.  However, if you want a deck that is easy to tweak, do not get the CD5444 ($500). The CD8443 ($500) (last year's model) and the CD8454 ($620) (this years model) are much easier to make constant adjustments to because the 13 band eqalizer is displayed different than on the CD5444.  However, if you want to just set up your system, and not constantly tweak it, then get the CD5444 or CD8454 because you can set up both of these on line.  BTW, Eclipse's online setup is much more detailed and as easy to use as Alpines. Trust me I have owned both.

Oh yeah, and to all you who disagree with my assertion that the brand is not as important as proper setup:

I was referring to respectable brands, not Volfenhagen, Pyle, Boss, Pyramid, jensen, etc. I thought you would be able to assume this, but apparently not

Glowinlow,

Also to address your question regarding an SPL sub from JL:

The only SPL sub I know of in JL's lineup would be the w7, however, if you want to get a ton of SPL and use JL to do it, you need a ton of surface area.  Some might disagree with me on what I'm about to say but here it is:

2 15" JL15w3 subs will hit much harder than one 13" w7 with 800 -1000watts. And it will cost you a lot less, but the SQ wont be the same as a w7.