buy american???

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

Yeah, mmats is the first thing that comes to mind. As far as advanced processors go, I'm pretty sure PS8 is made in the US. Arc signature series says they're made in the US. Some companies may even say they're made in the US, by which they mean the product was made abroad and they slapped the sticker on in the US. I'm also from LA...do you have a system in your car already?

Nope. The car's sound system has remained as it was since the day I purchased it in 2013.

I see where're you coming from with all this, but it may be hardly worth it. First, it's expensive and even at that, you can't be 100% sure that the money you've paid for the product is sponsoring solely American labor and parts. I've come to a pretty good medium myself. I have European made subs, American made PS8, chinese made arc KS amp, Korean made DD amp, and PA amp that claims it was "handcrafted in the USA," which I believe to be some BS. I also run all Knu, which is made in China.
Don't forget that even if something is made abroad and you're buying from a US company, you're still putting money into the American labor force. It takes labor for them to design and import the stuff, then process your order, and charge for doing that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif At the end, it's not all that bad.

That's the thing though. We must think of the economy as global these days instead of America being the leader. Most of the modern manufacturing equipment is located in Asian countries now. Add to that an endless supply of cheap labor and you can see why most products aren't totally manufactured here. The economies of scale just don't support it. The final icing on the cake is that EPA regulations have pretty much killed most of the small electronic components that were once manufactured in the USA.

 

[fly_marlin]

Are you looking into putting a system in your car at all?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

This topic comes up once a year or so and is typically a **** show.

I can say from experience that the quality of softparts you get that are American made are far higher quality than those coming out of China and if you buy woofers that are magnetized in house you can guarantee you're getting the correct grade ceramics. Also speakers assembled in-house seem to have a much lower failure rate than those assembled in the far east.

That being said, there's very little that actually gets done here for the car audio world and for producing big subwoofers all in USA with American parts would cost more to build 1000 of them here than MSRP on the Chinese stuff.

The comparison of auto workers to electronics factory workers is a bit off I'd say. A large difference being that a small company without unionized labor is much more free to shitcan incompetent help and non-union workers are typically a lot less entitled.

 

[I'mPoor:(]

So does this mean American Bass - Home is the definition of Irony?

Back on topic. Like I have said before.

Besides supporting a small business (if any true audio companies do exist in the US anyway).

What does it matter if it slams and doesn't break? If its parts are made in China,Korea, or Taiwan, and you are pushing 160dB+ What the hell is the difference??

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

So any American audio manufacturer is now overpriced, Kyle..?

Our RCA cables and any other products we make will be assembled in America with as many American parts as possible without having ridiculous prices.

Fi makes a lot of affordable subwoofers in house in Nevada. They manufacture Fi (obviously), SSA, Ascendant, and I know they've done some work for Crossfire in the past.

Zed assembles some very nice amps in the US. If you're looking for something larger than Zed offers, MMATs is the only company I can think of off the top of my head that makes an amp larger than a 1.5k in the USA.

Power wire - Electron Beam makes some high quality, flexible OFC welding cable and it's very affordable.

Speakers - Acoustic elegance speakers are made in America with mostly American parts. They've been trying to get baskets and some other things made in America too, eventually.

If you want an American made source unit.. you could have someone build a nice carPC for you //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[akillj 10+ year member]

Just because it's 'made in America' does not instantly grant it top-tier quality status. Most people who want that 'Made in America!' sticker aren't willing to pay the premium that comes with it. Which is why most equipment comes from China and Korea. Costs less to manufacture, costs less for the end user. So long as the build plans are solid, and the quality control is good, there's no reason that just because something is 'made in china' it should be immediately disregarded. Even if there was a manufacturing defect, most, if not all good car audio companies will warranty it no problem. So long as it wasn't user-error.

 

[fly_marlin]

As a consumer, and most importantly as a person whose priority will never be electronics, I will always think of opportunity cost. Buying what presents the best value for me will always win as long as my paycheck isn't in 7 figures. If I have $2k to spend, I'd pay $800 for oriental built woofers and $1,200 to go on vacation or do whatever else. My choice won't be to spend $2k on a comparable woofer built in the US. Btw I'm not saying this just to justify myself spending less on something. Well, because I didn't. All my speakers and woofers are European and a bit pricey, so I do spend more on something if budget allows. However, if it didn't, I'd go with cheaper oritental built stuff in a heartbeat.

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

Are you looking into putting a system in your car at all?

I'll revisit that when it cools off outside. I have everything except a HU and Processor to do a system. Well, I had a 3Sixty.3, but I sold it because I can't stand VW's RNS-315 source unit. I have the MMATS multi-channel amp, fiberglass enclosure, 10" type r sub, Genesis component speakers, wire, and deadener. It's just not worth sweating my @ss off right now to do the install.

Then again, I may just sell everything and give up on car audio all together.

 

[fly_marlin]

You can always get a processor and connect it straight to your phone/ipad/ipod via bluetooth or whatever other compatibility it has. No need for HU.

 

[treiber67 10+ year member]

Boss audio for the win.

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

You can always get a processor and connect it straight to your phone/ipad/ipod via bluetooth or whatever other compatibility it has. No need for HU.

I think that will be the route I take! I'm going to go with the Audison BitOne since it has a master volume that actually works compared to the cheaper alternatives that half @$$ the master volume. The stock radio will connect to one set of inputs and I will either use a digital out with an iPod/Pure I20 or go with the Fiio X5 for my secondary source since it already has digital outputs.

I just can't see myself going with a double-din aftermarket HU at this point because I don't really like any of them.