Brands recognized for their quality components and manufacturing.

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

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.

yes and no. yes MTX made that a while back, but he blatantly stated that these brands ****. when that is not true.. also the 8500 and 9500 are not bad subs at all. the price is overbearing but if you get a deal they are pretty decent. by no means am i a main stream nut hugger, ive played with everything from zapco, memphis, mb quart, sundown, RE, atomic, cerwin, audioque, jbl, pioneer, fosgate, kicker, kenwood, and many more. I dont try by name, and word of mouth, cuz what we have to realize here is many people hate without personal experience.

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

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

exactly. my first system? a kenwood KFC ws12 on a pioneer "760" watt two channel. and for what i paid, it wasnt bad, i slowly moved up and up. Was it by means anything impressive? no. But it showed me an array of products as i moved up brands and lines. For a shallow woofer that thing impressed me. By far my favorite subs were my re SX and XXX before RE shifted owners. all im saying is just do some homework before you buy. or just try it, and sell it if you dont like it..

my first car, a toyota celica. would not own one again. current car. 00 subaru legacy GT wagon for 4600. amazing car so far. would i buy a wrx/sti next? definately. because i have already played with a product from the brand.

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

Welcome to the world of forums
This. It is blatantly unfair to compare old amps with new. Many companies have gone downhill. If im understanding this threads intentions clearly OP was asking about current models..

yes the world of forums will give you about 10% knowledge and 90% BS. how lovely the interwebs is.

and yes many companies quality have decreased as years progressed. i just dont agree with entire assumptions.

 

[Milk Mayne 10+ year member]

For every company that seems to have gone downhill over the last ten years, there's been new one's to take there place. Companies like Sundown, DC, etc., have taken the fold where RF/Kicker were 15 years ago. Give it enough time, and someone with enough money to buy them out, and they'll continue the progression, and someone new will take their place. This is a business, and MORE money always talks. I already start to see that happening with DD it seems, maybe I'm just paranoid about it, because I've always been partial to DD equipment. There's more demand for entry-level lines and cheaper equipment. Shops have been popping up around here repping DD like it's going out of style, which in my experience is the beginning of the end.

Now that's not to say these companies I've mentioned won't continue to produce GREAT products, just a shift in where the money's at. Kicker and RF's upper end stuff is still pretty **** good in the grand scheme of things if you ask me.

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my infinity perfect subwoofers (i own a 10 and a 12). Great choices..

I had an almost new set of them that I got for a song on Craigslist. They were all over CL a few years back so I sold mine thinking I could just get another pair if I wanted. I could kick myself in the ass for that! They're almost impossible to find now... Live and learn I guess. Now if I really like something and it's somewhat on the rare side I hold onto it!

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

For every company that seems to have gone downhill over the last ten years, there's been new one's to take there place. Companies like Sundown, DC, etc., have taken the fold where RF/Kicker were 15 years ago. Give it enough time, and someone with enough money to buy them out, and they'll continue the progression, and someone new will take their place. This is a business, and MORE money always talks. I already start to see that happening with DD it seems, maybe I'm just paranoid about it, because I've always been partial to DD equipment. There's more demand for entry-level lines and cheaper equipment. Shops have been popping up around here repping DD like it's going out of style, which in my experience is the beginning of the end.
Now that's not to say these companies I've mentioned won't continue to produce GREAT products, just a shift in where the money's at. Kicker and RF's upper end stuff is still pretty **** good in the grand scheme of things if you ask me.

I think DD will be OK. They keep a close eye on their dealers. If shouty work is being done they will drop them. The Atrend partnership bothered me

 

[Villainstone 10+ year member]

Whaat is DD stand for. So I can research them? ty

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Whaat is DD stand for. So I can research them? ty

Digital Designs. Dont pay much attention to the MSRP. Most dealers will knock off a lot

 

[Milk Mayne 10+ year member]

That's exactly the sort of thing I was talking about, to put out cookie-cutter systems try to to meet the needs of everyone, ie. the lower-end market. But recently I haven't noticed as much pushing from DD's side when it comes to Atrend, which is at least a step in the right direction. It's one thing to make a move like that if it's for a financial gain, but I think it soured alot of their customer base. Luckily over the last few months DD has stepped away from trying to push and advertise for Atrend at every corner. Not too long ago it seemed like their was an advertisement for them every other day on DD's FB page, thankfully that has stopped, for the meantime at least. But you can't please everybody, no matter how hard you try.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

That's exactly the sort of thing I was talking about, to put out cookie-cutter systems try to to meet the needs of everyone, ie. the lower-end market. But recently I haven't noticed as much pushing from DD's side when it comes to Atrend, which is at least a step in the right direction. It's one thing to make a move like that if it's for a financial gain, but I think it soured alot of their customer base. Luckily over the last few months DD has stepped away from trying to push and advertise for Atrend at every corner. Not too long ago it seemed like their was an advertisement for them every other day on DD's FB page, thankfully that has stopped, for the meantime at least. But you can't please everybody, no matter how hard you try.

You have to think. Not everybody needs or wants a 3500-9500 but they still want that DD sound and name. Their lower line is still ahead of the mainstream lower lines. I dont see that changing.

I'm waiting to see what road Sundown goes down. Those mass produced subs are everywhere

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

You have to think. Not everybody needs or wants a 3500-9500 but they still want that DD sound and name. Their lower line is still ahead of the mainstream lower lines. I dont see that changing.
I'm waiting to see what road Sundown goes down. Those mass produced subs are everywhere

yeah, even the 2500 line looks good. wouldnt touch a 1500 ever though.

and sundown is interesting. when they first came up their price were phenomenal, and his plan to be more for the run than the money was great. since then it seems to have shifted. his prices have sky rocketed. i know tooling baskets and subs isnt cheap. but im just saying things have changed. im eager to see where tantric goes, along with Flatline audio.

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

probably the same with sky high, c2, etc

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

zed

 

[Milk Mayne 10+ year member]

^^^That's one maker I hope never strays from their business. I've always wanted to own one, or two and build a helluva SQ setup. Absolutely beautiful. One of these days...

 

[Villainstone 10+ year member]

Is zed really a decent brand?