Brands recognized for their quality components and manufacturing.

[Villainstone 10+ year member]

I know this is open for interpritation but lets not make this a debate lol. Im just looking to learn some good brands. Brands that rate their gear accurately, and are know for quality manufacturing, and quality internal compaonents.

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[fasfocus00 5,000+ posts]

all the amps out now are from about 8 different build houses and there all in china or korea. no brand that you see on the market today actually makes there own stuff anymore.

 

[sjv13 10+ year member]

that being said, not all the companies use the same internals, so some amps are superior to others. Some of the well respected, yet budget friendly favorites around this forum are CDT, AudioQue, and Sundown. High dollar stuff will also be very good, but it's also expensive: JL (their higher-end products anyways), Focal (same as JL), and McIntosh. And then there are the big brand names like Polk and Alpine who make decent stuff, but you should never pay MSRP for it. You can find some crazy deals on those types of brands though easily. And a couple brands to steer clear of would be the ones like MTX, Pioneer (except they make excellent Head Units), Boss, Cerwin-Vega, Sony Xplod, basically anything you can find at walmart. As long as you do some research and ask questions here, you will never end up with a product that doesn't fit your needs. Good luck!

 

[Villainstone 10+ year member]

Thats ******. I wouls like to get a better amp my SoundStream RUB has been great but it makes a buzzing sound. idk if its a fan or something else buzzing but I know it can get annoying. So now I would like to save up my cash and get a decent brand.

 

[Jes 42 10+ year member]

Really been impressed with Incriminator Audio.

 

[Lowlacs 10+ year member]

MMATS! Ofcouse as mentioned above, mmats is somewhat like the rest with outsourcing but most of the mmats brand is still manufactured here in Fla. and quality is by far above other brands such as Hifonics, Massive and Kicker. I also like American Bass but again most of the ab line comes from one of those korean build houses. American Bass is very good in my opinion along with alot of other brands but Quality come from AMERICAN built products.

 

[Villainstone 10+ year member]

Im looking for an amp that will power my Gcon 12" very nicely. I was looking at Sundown before I will see what I can get in a decent price range.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Hard to find a company that has a more dedicated production team/facility than Focal. Its expensive, but worth the money. They arent just buying some junk from a Chinese buildhouse and slapping a sticker on it. They are experts at speaker design/building, and have the product to show it off. Each component is built, and each piece is crafted by hand until its perfect.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Most of the Italian and German brands make good stuff all the way around. JL, ZED, and Mmats and of course the Koreans. You have to know about the Korean amps though, some buildhouses are owned by a Korean company but made in China ie. Cresendo. Still a good amp but a bit misleading. My 2 favorite amps I have ever used for my front stage are made in China. Kicker makes a solid amp and the new KX looks great. Rockford.... Yes they make power but they have NO tuning options and horrible efficency.

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

that being said, not all the companies use the same internals, so some amps are superior to others. Some of the well respected, yet budget friendly favorites around this forum are CDT, AudioQue, and Sundown. High dollar stuff will also be very good, but it's also expensive: JL (their higher-end products anyways), Focal (same as JL), and McIntosh. And then there are the big brand names like Polk and Alpine who make decent stuff, but you should never pay MSRP for it. You can find some crazy deals on those types of brands though easily. And a couple brands to steer clear of would be the ones like MTX, Pioneer (except they make excellent Head Units), Boss, Cerwin-Vega, Sony Xplod, basically anything you can find at walmart. As long as you do some research and ask questions here, you will never end up with a product that doesn't fit your needs. Good luck!

Lol idiots like you ruin the audio game. Cerwin Vega makes awesome pieces. Any of the stroker line is great. Mtx makes good amps too. The TA line was great. I owned a ta7804 and it was doing over 1krms for a 4 channel.! Pioneer SPL subs are awesome subs as well. You simply talk down a company because of its entry level lines. Everyone makes cheap stuff. It brings faster profit.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I agree. Kicker does make a nice amp. They always have!

I was a bit disapointed with the ZX1000, 1500, and 2500. Not from the power but from the set SS filter like Rockford. Besides that they where all solid amps.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Lol idiots like you ruin the audio game. Cerwin Vega makes awesome pieces. Any of the stroker line is great. Mtx makes good amps too. The TA line was great. I owned a ta7804 and it was doing over 1krms for a 4 channel.! Pioneer SPL subs are awesome subs as well. You simply talk down a company because of its entry level lines. Everyone makes cheap stuff. It brings faster profit.

It also helps intruducing people to the brand. Same as buying your first car. If you get a cheap model with good service you tend to stay with that model as you up the price tag

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

Nicest built subwoofers I've had to date are Infinity Perfect 10's and 12's and Focal Polyglass 13's. There's others of course but I'm definitely more of a SQ guy than SPL and these 2 were far and away my favorites and both solid as Hell. I also like the Power Series amps from RF (even the Punch are nice amps). I could never afford Mosconi or Linear or any of the UPPER brands but I'm starting to get to the point in my career where I can finally afford to try some of the more "exotic" lines.

 

[Jerhemy 10+ year member]

I was a bit disapointed with the ZX1000, 1500, and 2500. Not from the power but from the set SS filter like Rockford. Besides that they where all solid amps.

literally the only complaint I have about my zx2500, the set SS at 25hz. works out alright though. I just tune around 35 and it's all gravy.

2ohm power ftw.

 

[sjv13 10+ year member]

Lol idiots like you ruin the audio game. Cerwin Vega makes awesome pieces. Any of the stroker line is great. Mtx makes good amps too. The TA line was great. I owned a ta7804 and it was doing over 1krms for a 4 channel.! Pioneer SPL subs are awesome subs as well. You simply talk down a company because of its entry level lines. Everyone makes cheap stuff. It brings faster profit.

By and large, id stay away from those brands. Sure, they have some diamonds in the rough. And you appear to be talking about stuff that MTX made a while ago. Brands change over time, and you'd have to agree with me that MTX has gone a bit downhill in terms of quality of products they make now.