I have just started carrying Blaupunkt and Power Acoustik at my shop. I have put them both through the paces and I think they are of excellent quality and price isn't too bad either.
I don't seem to be getting much interest from my customers in these lines. Am I just old and can rember when Blaupunkt was a big seller? A bunch of the younger guy's have never heard of them!
I just thought I would ask for your opinion to help me decide to keep the brands or drop them.
Thanks!
I love Blau and think they could sell well if priced right and shown off. Their SQ will out-shine almost anything else in their price range, and while they may not be flashy, they do have some neat features (especially the Skyline series.) Power Acoustic, on the other hand, is one I can't say too much good about.
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Support the12volt.comI agree with ^. I would probobly drop power acoustik because there are better low end brands.
I think blaupunkt gets a bad rap because they publish realistic s/n ratio numbers. Picture this: Your average kid opens his new Crutchfield catalog to do some comparison shopping. He sees Aiwa, Alpine, Clarion, Sony, Kenwood, etc. rated at 100db++ s/n and the Blau's rated at 85. His buddy tells him that he's thinking of getting a Blaupunkt deck and our Crutchfield shopper says, "dude .. they have really low s/n levels .. go with the 120db s/n Sony for $119.95."
Now we all know that the Sony is not even close to 100 s/n, but the fact is that a lot of buyers are judging how 'clean' a unit's sound is by this stat. Hell, it is the only thing to look at in this industry where the editorial reviews are sparse, geared to the higher end, and generally horrible, and the user reviews are biased and even worse.
Blau is stuck between a rock and a hard place by not having the street credibility and being honest with their numbers for a well priced product.
Just my take on it.
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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder
Very well put. Lies and exaggerated specs are rampant in this industry. Blaupunkt is one of the oldest most respected names in car audio and their specs are, as you say, accurate. Indeed, they are conservative in a market where most are VERY liberal... indeed overly so. And then sales people, many of whom are mainly concerned about moving product and maximizing commission, will use whatever tactic they can to steer unsuspecting customers towards whatever is the "flavor of the day" or has teh highest commission basis or has been identified by management as needing to move. It is terrible.
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Support the12volt.comup here in Canada Blau has been neglected for some years...it still has a good rep in the east but is virtually unheard of in the west......
Power Acoustik on the other hand doesnt have a good rep anywhere......
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Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer
Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979
Good analysis, kfr01...you have become a must-read on this forum.
And to the author of this thread -- you might consider positioning the Blaupunkt with your high-end products, that is, those who publish real data. And let the shopper who is looking for integrity in their products have a lower priced alternative in that lineup.
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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.
Thanks for all the great information guys, I was up in the air with Power Acoustic. I had a choice between them and Soundstream. If you look at the numbers PA has a slight edge.
Any opinion on Soundstream? I thik anything that flashy has to be making up for quality. People like shiney stuff!
Soundstream is about in the same state as Power Acoustik now adays.
customsuburb wrote:
Soundstream is about in the same state as Power Acoustik now adays.
Which is not really surprising now that they are both owned by the same company...
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