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SQ performer?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=40485
Printed Date: May 16, 2025 at 5:32 AM


Topic: SQ performer?

Posted By: wayland1985
Subject: SQ performer?
Date Posted: October 07, 2004 at 9:23 PM

Looking for a subwoofer / amplifier / 5x7 speakers, with great sound quality.  Who's  Who of the manufacturers these days?

Ford Explorer
Budget = Within reason (no 1000 dollar woofers, please)



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~WAYLAND



Replies:

Posted By: heavilymedicate
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 12:04 AM

I'm bias.  But I don’t think anyone here will tell you JL Audio doesn’t make some great stuff.  I’m making some assumptions:  1. you did not mention you needed a head unit, so i assume you have a good one.  2.  I assume you will install it all yourself and just spend the 1g on strait components. 3.  I assume you wanted to go with one brand throughout the vehicle.  So, without further rambling form me here is what I would do with 1G in a sq setup:

Upfront: https://www.jlaudio.com/evolution/XR570CS.html#

Subwoofer: https://www.jlaudio.com/subwoofers/10w6v2.html

Amp:  Either this: https://www.jlaudio.com/amps/4504.html

Or these:  https://www.jlaudio.com/amps/3002.html  https://www.jlaudio.com/amps/5001.html





Posted By: heavilymedicate
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 12:54 AM

If you want to save a few hundred bucks, try this subwoofer substitution.

Subwoofer: https://www.jlaudio.com/subwoofers/10w3v2.html

The 10w3v2 listed above mated with a "stealth" box.

Stealth Subwoofer:  https://www.jlaudio.com/stealthbox/EXPL2.html





Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 7:52 AM
I've heard a few things about JL being WAYYYY overpriced.   How are JBL audio, MA audio, and Alpine (especially the Type X) doing these days?

Also, what I meant about budget is that I'm not going to spend more than $1000 on a single subwoofer.  Overall, I'm looking to spend less than about $3500 total, over the course of the next year. 

Finally, I have a decent head unit now, but I'm looking to upgrade sometime in the future.  How are those AVIC- N1 units, and do you know if any other company (like Alpine) plan on coming out with similar models?



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~WAYLAND




Posted By: boxmaker85
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 1:32 PM

I (and everyone else from the looks of it) say a JL.  Go with the best one you can afford.  None of their subs are bad.  Look into their amps also.  For the component speakers look into Polk MOMO's.  They have some really nice stuff and sometimes (according to who you talk to) have a better rep w/ sound quality and power handling.  JL isn't cheap but for the speaker/parts you get from them every penny is worth it.  JBL makes some nice amps.  Also Infinity makes good speakers and subs.

And I'll recomend a sub: my little (literally little) favorite:

     https://https://www.jlaudio.com/subwoofers/8W7.html

No need to say anything just read the specs.  And not a bad price on them.  You'll probably need only one for some good bass.





Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 2:13 PM
My favorite SQ sub these days is the JBL GTi series, 10" or 12".  I just replaced my Kappa Perfect 12.1 with one.

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Support the12volt.com




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 6:18 PM
and nobody mentioned eclipse... posted_image Home Page

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: /R7
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 6:41 PM
i think with companies like eclipse and companies with subs of that caliber, there is no need for them to be mentioned ;p.
but really, they are someone to consider for sure. (i have one coming myself lol)




Posted By: uthinkuknoaudio
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 6:57 PM
I will be the one to tell you that i am not impressed with JL. They make a good woofer, but i have seen way to many blow running off of JL amps, which i think are not up to par. If you were going to go SQ, go MB Quart, Focal, CDT Audio, and Resonant Engineering makes a good component. For the woofer, you can't beat an Adire Audio Brahma MKII for SQ, and you can't beat CDT's Components at all. If you got $3500 to spend you can do this no problem. I highly recommend Cadence amplifiers, as they are some of the cleanest (and biggest) amplifiers on the market and will give you the clarity and SQ that you demand. You can do Cadence to also power your mids and highs, as all of their amps are fantastic. I would definity recommend them. The other amp i recommend, might be more, is by Nakamichi. They make a fantastic amp as well as fantastic head units, like their CD400 and CD45z. Good luck with your project. I am a big SQ fan as well.

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"I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.




Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 7:54 PM
I've had very bad experience with Eclipse in the past, and wouldn't deal with them again.

It seems many other companies are ending deals with eclipse too, as I've hear their reputation is on the edge with quality issues. 

Nobody has mentioned The Alpine Type X, or Pioneer AVIC N1

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~WAYLAND




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 8:15 PM

I as a dealer have seen many issues with many lines, Eclipse has had some issues over the years, but nothing that would make me throw the line aside. Out of all the lines I deal here at the store, Eclipse has had the lowest rate of failure and the highest rate of customer satisfaction. It is easy for a customer to be gun shy if they have had issues, but as a dealer I need much more ammo than one particular circumstance before I drop a line.

Eclipse = a great product.



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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: heavilymedicate
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 8:25 PM

All brands mentioned, great equipment.  I was offering my one brand solution with JL.  If you’re unimpressed with JL look the installer/tuner, not the brand; its a very good one.

Eclipse is a good brand.  You can always find someone (as with JL and Eclipse in this thread) that has had a horror story or thinks something is overrated.  Look at the bigger picture, look at the professional reviews for equipment., look and see who is in the winner circle.  Im gonna stop before i start to rant.  Good luck and post back with some pics when you start work, it should be interesting to see what you get.  : )





Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 8:33 PM
It's not only the fact that after 2 months my Brand New, $500 Head Unit Ceased to work, but it was the way Eclipse handled the situation.  I was given two options:    1. Buy a new headunit,    2.  Ship it out to them (at my expense, according to their standards, which cost $50 to ship including packaging costs)  and see if it was device failure, or installation caused problems.

Low-and-Behold....it WASN"T their fault, it was somehow mine, and they told me I had to pay for a new part and installation.  I argued for weeks, before I gave up and bought a new head unit.  Who knows whatever happened to the Eclipse one, because they never sent it back...

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~WAYLAND




Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 8:45 PM

Option 1 any customer has at any time if any brand of cd player fails.

Option 2, no company in this industry (in Canada anyways) pays for shipping and handling of a product. Warranty covers parts / labour only. Not install and removal or shipping. I as a courtesy to my customers pay the shipping charge one way on any product purchased. 99% of the time it is returned freight pre-paid.

This is just a little oversight into the industy standard, not any one company in general. I think that it sucks that a good company like Eclipse did not look after you, at the same time though, the authorized dealer that you purchased from should have been on the hook if it was an installation related problem. As a dealer, we can offer a much better warranty than if it is self installed. Self installed always leaves a degree of doubt unfortunately. If this unit was bought from an authorized dealer and installed at the authorized dealer, then Eclipse would be obligated to look after you. For Eclipse to not return your cd player, well something is going on here. Usually a lack of communication. My advice to you here is to contact the dealer and have them solve this issue for you.

I'm not trying to jump down your throat or throw my last dying words behind Eclipse either, but to me it sounds like there is a lot more to the story than is being said. If you had been a Canadian purchaser, I would have been more than happy to go to bat for you to help solve this problem and restore some faith in a good name.



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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.




Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 9:17 PM
I hear ya.  My installer did assist me in most aspects of the problem.  They, removed the unit, made initial contact with Eclipse about the issue, and offered me a temporary head unit from Pioneer.  I do realize that people are responsible for shipping and handling, but in most cases, the company makes every effort to make up for the problem, especially if it's an issue that the company is responsible for. 

I strongly beleive that the issue was Eclipse's fault, perhaps being just one flawed head unit among hundreds.  I just didn't feel that they did their best to help me fix the problem.  They definately dropped the ball on their part.  Rich Inferrera, a pretty well know installer in the industry, has a shop here in Boston.  He used to carry the Eclipse line, but had to drop them because of several headaches with the company.  He insisted that when Eclipse got it right, They got it right.  But, even though he said he is good friends with the management of Eclipse and Fujitsu Ten, he explained that he can't be having issues with equipment that people are paying big bucks for.  He mentioned if their quality increased over time, he'd instantly pick them up again, but right now he's not too happy with their headunits (never mentioned problems with their amps/woofers).  

So, maybe I'm biased on that part, but with decent reason.  Maybe in the future I'd consider Eclipse,  but right now, I want  to just put the system in, and be worry free until I get a new car. 

And on that note, I see what you're all saying.  You've all done (and are doing) buisiness with Eclipse, and haven't run into any serious problems.  But, seeing as I have, I'm really not interested in the Brand.  They do have amazing sound quality, but I can't say the same regarding their product quality, so I'm not interested in buyin eclipse at this point in time.

ANYWAYS....How about Alpine and Pioneer?   Fosgate?   JBL?  others?

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~WAYLAND




Posted By: Ravendarat
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 9:57 PM
OK, so if you want sq I am gonna throw the name Boston out your way. I think their speakers, for the money, are the best on h\the market, I also noticed that no one mentioned Diamond Audio, which is also a great line. I, personal, detest and loath JL audio and wont buy anything made by them. I am not going to base that opinion on one horror story but at least half a dozen horror stories, but I dont think I need to list these off again as I have talked about JL before and most members who have been around for a while have heard these stories to many times. I am also not going to talk about the Type X because it seems to be a general opinion that it was a flop. I am going to stick to my guns on Boston and as far as amps go, there are a ton out there you can use, such as arc audio, U dimension, audison and Nakamichi.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer




Posted By: uthinkuknoaudio
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 10:07 PM
I like Alpine HU's. I haven't broke one ever in my lifetime.

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"I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.




Posted By: uthinkuknoaudio
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 10:09 PM
Oh and to follow up that last comment, i am a big Nakamichi fan. Clean as a whistle baby on any product they have to offer!

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"I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.




Posted By: heavilymedicate
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 10:12 PM

I think the high-end gear from all of those companies delivers good SQ, for a price.  The question is: is this a price you can afford?  So, what do you consider value?  I consider value the following:  1. a good price  2. a good sound/quality for your dollar   3. a good warranty   4. good support for the product.  I don’t hold it against ya though, after being burned like that its hard to touch the brand again without thinking of the way it burned last time.

I’m afraid without asking specific questions you will not get specific answers.  I think your more interested in a factor replacement install for the most part or you would not have mentioned your automobile make and model and the fact that you want 5x7.  You have allot of options with 5x7 as a factor replacement, you could use almost any 6.5 inch component set.  No one else is getting specific because your not, nailing us to the wall with your questions.  3,500$ on a self installed system will go a LOOOONG way : )  I could start throwing unmentioned names out; DEI, Premier and Excelon (if your on a budget), MB Quart, was Infinity mentioned?, Audiobahn--wait, no Audiobahn (IMO).

Gotta get more specific, bud.  Spend 7g's and without a good install/tuning you'll be no better then anyone else with a Legacy deck, pyramid speakers and Roadmaster amps.





Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 08, 2004 at 10:36 PM
Okay, Where to begin...  I am looking for A factory Replacement.  As far as speakers go, I already have some Infinity Kappa 572.5cf speakers.  Their sound quality is about what I'm looking for, (if not a tiiiiiiiiiiny bit more crisp in the highs).  I have fallen in love with the Infinitys, but they've been having little issues here and there that are also bothering me (like the tweeters' wires keep breaking off)  Don't get me wrong, I'd buy Infinity again any day, despite that issue (they., as a company ARE VERY GOOD TO ME, haha), but I'm looking for something just a notch up in the sound.  (They're hard to beat, but a friend's kenwood speakers from bestbuy almost blow mine away...not good for high quality speakers running at 100 watts RMS).

What are the benefits of 5x7 vs. a 6.5in setup?  I'm trying to keep the truck looking as stock as possible, so I don't want to be drilling holes for tweeters (unless the pods included are good looking), which would rule out Components.

Subwoofer Wise, I'm looking for a setup that's tight, responsive, sounds good, and will pound when wanted to.  I listen to all kinds of music ranging from Rap to Classic Rock.  I had a Ported setup before, which pounded, but wasn't quite as tight as I wanted it to be, and the woofers whistled and jingled sometimes, which took away from it.
    1 or 2 woofers would be fine, although I'd like the look of 2 woofers (just to give the rear of my truck a balanced look), but I don't want to run into the hassle of not having enough juice to power them both, or to run many amps.

I'd also like a new headunit.  I'm really intereset in teh Pioneer AVIC N1, or that new Alpine touchscreen that pulses when you touch it.  Straight up alpine decks (no monitor or DVD) are also somewhat appealing, now that they offer iPOD integration options

Amplifier wise, I'd like to keep everything one brand (I don't know why, I just feel better when everythign is one single brand, rather than 4 or 5)  I want amps that can power the woofers and speakers efficiently, without overloading my system.  I have a 200 AMP alternator...

SOOOO, I hope this narrows down my spectrum.

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~WAYLAND




Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 09, 2004 at 9:40 PM

How did the Type X turn out to be a flop?

How is Fosgate these days?

Suppose I do go with JL audio.  What woofer/ amplifier,   speakers/amplifier setup should i go with?
JL audio:  which is better E-series or Slash series?

What about a DVD- Touchscreen Head Unit?



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~WAYLAND




Posted By: uthinkuknoaudio
Date Posted: October 09, 2004 at 9:43 PM
Fosgate is still good, just get the power line and not the punch series.

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"I don't play games. I play Nakamichi and that for real yo" - Probably some japanese kid said this in the early 80's trying to sell stereo out of his trunk lol.




Posted By: customsuburb
Date Posted: October 09, 2004 at 9:51 PM

I've heard that the newer line of RF is better then their other stuff (not including their old school amps). We can't really tell you what to buy without us knowing what your needs are.



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Posted By: wayland1985
Date Posted: October 09, 2004 at 9:55 PM
I need an SQ performer, with spekers and subs that sound good day to day, but will pound when asked to.  They will be fitted into a 94 Explorer 4WD.   Fit guides suggest that the doors can take 6x8's,  but others only say 5x7s.   If you get better quality from 6.5" plates, i'll go that route.  

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~WAYLAND





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