Been out of it for a few years, gathering info on the current good equipment

[UsAmpsFreak]

So i was an installer at a shop for 7 years and have been into car audio since i was about 15 years old. I've been kind of away from it for a few years and am just trying to re educate myself on what is the top equipment these days. Back in the day i was a huge Us Amps supporter as obvious by my handle on here. What these days is considered to be how Us Amps and a few other American made companies were back then? I started out with Fosgate and Coustic in my early years and eventually graduated from there to Us Amps and Diamond Audio and stuff in that realm. Any knowledge is appreciated, i've seen the DD stuff, some of the Sundown stuff and DC audio. These look like on paper to be in the type of category i'm looking for but what is everyone's take on this? Thanks.

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[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

As you can probably tell I by no means am a pro but American Bass, from what I've seen, makes some really awesome stuff. My AB XFL 12" gets down, specs in my sig //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

Sounds solution audio-ssa, has a decent line up of subs as well.

 

[bmk6795 10+ year member]

dc, sundown, rd, fi, American bass, tantric, soundqubed, digital designs, obsidian, and psi are all that i can think of right now.

 

[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

I'm personally looking in to 4 Incriminator Audio 8" I series subs. Supposedly Incriminator Audio (IA) makes some high quality equipment too.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

Thanks for the info guys. I see Mechman mentioned on here a lot, are they one of the better companies to get alternators from these days? Are the XS batts still one of the better ones?

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

[quote name='UsAmpsFreak']Thanks for the info guys. I see Mechman mentioned on here a lot, are they one of the better companies to get alternators from these days? Are the XS batts still one of the better ones?[/QUOTE]

Alternators and batteries are such a saturated market that you're going to get differing opinons.

Are XS batteries good? Yes, but they're definitely not the best value option for most. A lot of forum users actually get the Duracell branded batteries from Sam's Club which are made by a more reputable OEM. I have a friend on another forum who makes Stormcell batteries which are supposed to give XS a good run for their money, especially on the newer line they're working. You also have Odyssey, Shuriken, and DieHard Platinum as solid AGM options (the DieHard being the best value option IMO, even if capacity is a little lacking).

Alternators get even more worked up in the mix. @TaylorFade ; just received an Ohio Gen model that he's extremely pleased with. I'm personally leaning towards Mechman as they make a 370A alternator for the Tahoe I'll be outfitting next year and that mitigates a battery bank for applications' sake. Those who use DC swear by it, but you have to pay to play with them. Mike Singer makes badass alts to order and @mylows10 ; can help you out with an order there.

Just a feeeeeeew options there. And there are more.

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

dbl

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

Thanks for the info. I know back in the day companies like Ohio Gen used to be the big time builders of alts and all the smaller companies would just order alts from them and resale them as their own with a mark up, is this still the case?

 

[ChaseinBass]

Go with Mike Singer Super cust support !! Atleast talk to him great guy!

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

What precisely are your goals? What's your budget? What are your priorities? There's a lot of good equipment out there these days. The vast majority of things are all built out of the same 3 or 4 factories in the far east so at some point it becomes which brand name offers the better warranty or service... or simply the better price for the same thing.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

My goals are to be informed enough to know what is in this day in age considered to be the best equipment so i can make an informed decision on what i'm going to put together in a few months. I was an installer at a shop for 7 years and have installed on my own before that for about 5 years. So i'm not just your average street taught guy that just likes what he thinks is cool or whatever everyone else thinks is cool. I'm technically sound and will computer design my own box and whatnot when i'm informed enough to make a sound decision on what i'm going to get. Budget? I could spend up to 5-10k on the whole thing but since i still have several contacts in the industry i will more than likely pay no where near retail. Just looking to meet a few good old school guys on here that know what they're talking about to guide me in the right direction on top notch equipment.

I wish i still had my Us Amps 400X's and the Kove Armeggedons, that was the best system i've ever had.