Favorite Brands

I like pyramid...dual...and legacy  or any speakers that light up and amps with meters on them.

But kidding aside something has happened to the quality of most products IMO. When I first started in the industry decks like Alpine and Nakamichi[sp?] were absolutly awesome in sound quality,entry level even right out of the box.  Other then the most expensive, high end products I now find almost all entry and mid level stuff to be the same garbage..almost like just one or two companies build the circuits and supply the parts and they put them into different looking amps and decks and just thier brand name on the front and do a few cosmetics or gimmicks.

But asking what is peoples favorite brand is not near as asking what they think is the best..that's a can of worms I would never wish to open.

As far as favorites I like JL audio subs, Boston Pro speakers (if thier even made anymore) Kenwood head units (to me they just sound the best). as far as amps I can't really tell the difference from one to the all else being equal power wise but there are certain brands I don't like because they go bad too often. I won't mention names because I am in the business and do not believe it is a good thing to disparage any particular brand.

Just my opinion.

Focal, Morel, Dynaudio, Eclipse, Dayton, Rainbow

You also asked about wiring.

what I look for in a power cable is oxygen free, and made with as many fine strands as possible. Now cable made this way is more expensive but compared to cheaper cable it is much stronger..way more flexible..which is a concern with larger cables..you may need to make sharp bends...hence IMO it is more reliable. I have used many different brands with good results..I currently use Scosche EFX, and Fosgate..but this is in no way to say those are the best..just what I have used mostly..I do work with other brands from time to time with no problems.

For RCA's my main concern is reliability..All those big fat monster ,real expensive bright pink cables are good for show..but not nessecarily more reliable or "noise" proof. I try to use a mid grade that stands the test of time for production work, a name brand opposed to "bulk garbage"..for high end I make my own "twisted" pair to help cancel induced noise and also so I can achieve the proper lenght so I do not need to stuff excess away or extend with barrells. Solder on a quality plated end and that works for me.

For speaker wire I also use oxygen free, fine multistrand. In my humble opinion except in the most extreme high power system you probably could not actually hear a difference in sound from a factory wire to a 4 gauge speaker wire..especially with short runs where there is not much loss or resistance. However by upgrading and running new wires I increase my profit and give the customer increased reliability since the replacement wire will definatly be far superior in quality..plus it looks darn good.  For subwoofers I usally use a minmum of 12gauge for speakers up to 1000w...after that it's time to break out the big stuff. As far as wire overall I am not so much concerned with the name..I can tell by the look and feel if I will try it..and then if it passes the "field" test of time I will continue to use it unless the quality goes down, then it's time to try another.

with connectors, fuses, distribution etc I use gold or platinum plated...now what many people do not know is that copper is actually a better conductor then gold...but...I do not use gold plated just for looks. It resists corrosion which is a system killer and copper corrodes very quickly..especially under the hood where exposed to the elements. gold resists corrosion very well but beware of crappy plating that comes off easily..this looks horrible and defeats the purpose...reliability.

I'll work with anything really (yes including pyle, pyramid, etc... I just make sure that the owner knows the TRUE rating on them)

But I like Eclipse head units (LOVE the 8volts) and pre-factory built units... keeps the audience guessing... ^-^ But I like them all... No brand preference in my book.

I have my limits on what I will not work with but the best thing to say would be it would have to be on a case-by-case basis: bad wiring, such as low strand is out of my comfort zone. Although I prefer OFC wiring, I do all my installs based on IASCA so there isn't too much worry about it really...