I do understand the pro's and con's for the most part still. There's new equipment around, stuff that wasn't there before, and all the brands have changed and either gone downhill, or had rough patches and I don't know what I can trust anymore. You are absolutely correct.
Yes, power is MUCH cheaper, and I'm thrilled to see that. Back then, class D amps were very inefficient. Have they gotten any better? We had issues with actually hearing the amp cutting in and out because the ran in switched mode with the really large amps, but then again they were Lanzar if I remember correctly, and we used them for quantity of watts and then had to double them because their stated output was so over-rated. I don't know if that's changed or not, but I see they are still around, though I wouldn't use one anyway as I'm after quality of sound.
I'll take a look at the classifieds. I'd love to snag something at a decent price. BNIB is perfect, or gently used. Cosmetics will be key for him, and it's pretty easy to do if the stuff hasn't slid around under a seat somewhere.
Will do. I have noticed that the power ratings have gone up quite a bit, and I wondered if that wasn't at the expense of durability, especially with some of these amps that seem very large now compared to the older ones.
Today, I feel old //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Soundstream = Power accoustic (junk then and junk now) though they have a couple worthwhile products.
Orion = DEI .....not too bad, but no where near what they were
Rockford Fosgate.... not so bad, I wouldn't pay retail for any of their stuff, but they have a few strong amps still.
Lanzar, Autotek, ESX, Hifonics, (all the old Zed Audio companies) have been bought out and are all about the same. Some stuff is decent, most is trash.
PPI, Phoenix gold, aren't what they used to be either.
Actually Alpine makes a **** good budget speaker. Their Type R components and subs are proven performers and can be had for a fair price online.
Power is cheap now, but not necessarily at the expense of quality and reliability....mostly at the expense of American jobs. Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's as far as quality electronics, but they have the benefit of essentially slave labor. There is even some pretty fair quality stuff being manufactured in China nowadays.
I would suggest buy new. Who wants used X-mas gifts? Though when you get the bug again and do your own build you'll be delighted to see the prices you can pick up some of the old classics for....even some of the ultra rare limited edition stuff can be had for peanuts compared to prices of even the smaller high quality stuff back in the days.
I had heard that the Sound Stream stuff went downhill. I only used their reference series amps, and then only briefly, but liked them, though they were kind of drab to look at.
Yes, cabinet design is critical for subs. It's been a while, but I think I remember most of the formulas, but will probably run it all by the group to be sure it's right. It's a pain in the *** to have to redo the whole thing for one stupid calculation that's incorrect.
There's few few soundstream products I'd touch. Their larger amps are decent, but IMO there's better for the price. Luckily for you there's plenty of good computer programs to calculate boxes for you. All you need is a good hand with power tools and some basic geometry skills.
Sound deadening is in the plan. I planned on pulling the door panels, dash, seats, and carpet and making sure that wiring ran down separate sides of the car, and that all the wires were down cleanly on the floor pans, and while in there, putting Dynamat on the doors, hatch, roof, floors, etc.
I'm leaning towards a 12" DVC as well. I think that will work out nicely.
You missed the boat last week..... some old JL W6 18's were on sale old stock New in box for 100$ a whack. I would also agree that cone area is supreme for lower power applications if space is not an issue. The only reason larger woofers tended to sound like *** in the old days is that people did not build proper boxes and many of them were not engineered well.... Just a larger cone on often a rather anemic motor. Most of the better stuff today has a strong enough motor to scale up much better. Personally out of all the boxes I've used in the last year or so, dual 18's happpened to perform the best for rock and metal, largely due to my tuning, but the point being there's no reason a large driver can't be made to do what you need.
Conventional wisdom these days is leaning towards ported boxes. Advancements in technology have made woofers that sound really good in ported alignments and you get a good boost in output and low frequency extension to boot!
Deadening is going to really eat into your budget. Doors are important, otherwise I personally wouldn't throw money at that. Here's a huge thread for inspirations:
Simple, cheap, and effective door treatments - DIYMA.com - Scientific Car Audio - Truth in Sound Quality
Also, looking at your needs for a head unit, that may take up the better part of your budget. Almost nobody makes active crossovers anymore since the better head units have the ability to cross over built in (run fronts crossed for tweets and rears crossed for mids and throw them into a 4 channel amp) and of course most decent amps have good crossovers built in. I would encourage you to really put some time into researching head units and amps. The fewer pieces you need to buy, the better.
Don't forget to come back with build-log pictures.
