Old school vs New school-Why the change?

[yelladawg351]

I think the quality brands will be around in 15-20 but the ones that have sold out (rockford, ppi, orion...) will not have the same longevity that they once had, and truth be told, If it lasts that long the may put them selves out of business, the market for car audio is not nearly as large as it was in its hay day of the 80's and 90's

Agreed again. This is the main reason why I wrote this thread. When I do that search for a product that I want and get "Not as good as they use to be", I make my desicion the scientific way the best 8 out of 10 reviews and of course my personnal decision.

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

Agreed again. This is the main reason why I wrote this thread. When I do that search for a product that I want and get "Not as good as they use to be", I make my desicion the scientific way the best 8 out of 10 reviews and of course my personnal decision.

I have found that I either have the old school stuff from the big brands we all know (orion, mtx) or the good new school stuff from the lesser know brands (rainbow, critical mass, sundown...) I don't have a single item that is new school rockford, orion, mtx ... not one!

 

[W8 a minute 10+ year member]

This always amuses me. I am also nearly 40 years old and remember all the "good brands" that have been bought out. True, I think DEI single handedly killed off some of the best brands ever. But on the other hand it's not really their fault. It the consumer's fault. Why? Because we always want something cheaper in price.

Don't kid yourself. Back in the day if PPI, Orion, Soundstream, and some other amplifier companies only wished they could sell as many amplifiers as Audiobahn. They couldn't and keep the same quality. So they sold out or went bankrupt. The consumer chose the lower price instead of the higher quality.

DEI took everything over seas and made things cheaper, both in price and quality because you can't have both and make a profit. Profit is a businesses main goal no matter how much they claim to be "audiophiles" themselves.

I guess I'm just as guilty. I used to spend thousands on car audio equipment. All top of the line gear. Then one day I realized how I'd been wasting my money to impress other people. Sure my car sounded great in the judging lanes or in my quiet garage, but it didn't sound like that when driving at 60mph. At 60mph, or even 30mph with a window down you can't tell the difference between a 1,500 dollar Audison amplifier and that cheap Rockford amplifier at Best Buy. I'll agree there's some real crap out there, but the line between good and excellent seems to get blurred once the vehicle is in motion but the price could equal thousands of dollars. I guess I've prioritized and become more rational. I've heard some really stunning systems in my day but in order to hear the difference you had to have the car parked, and be listening to a certain recording to hear how stunning it was. Once you popped in a Metallic CD it didn't sound much different than an average system. Once you got the car moving, and NOT listening to a Telarc CD, you couldn't tell the owner spent thousands on his system. I think the general public caught on to this. It's called the Law of Diminishing Returns or: Is something 5% better really worth 200% more?

I think that's where Sundown does a great job. Is it "audiophile" approved? Probably not. But it sounds **** good and has great reliability. It also has a pretty good price as well. For a consumer thats a win/win.

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

Old School Amplifiers Better ?

Devil's Advocate

Linear Power - Old School

Linear Power - New School

Zapco - Old School

Zapco - New School

Rockford Fosgate - Old school

Rockford Fosgate - New school

 

[thylantyr 10+ year member]

Hifonics [Zed] - Old school

Hifonics [Zed] - New school

Alphasonic - Old school

Alphasonic - New school

Nakamichi - Old school

Nakamichi - Old school

 

[yelladawg351]

Xcellent pics Thylantyr. A respectable way to end a thread.

 

[w00tah 10+ year member]

Substance over style, function over form.

If those were kept as mantras for the companies that make our equipment, the industry wouldn't be so worried about sales slipping.

Well, that and if the idiots of the world who only buy the cheapest, shiniest amp they can find were killed off.

Kef

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

Hifonics [Zed] - Old school

Hifonics [Zed] - New school

Alphasonic - Old school

Alphasonic - New school

Nakamichi - Old school

Nakamichi - Old school

point taken, but you know what I mean.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

We who were and are old school, do miss:crying: it.

 

[W8 a minute 10+ year member]

Those pictures mean nothing to me. It only shows the difference between a hand drawn design and a CAD design.

A hand soldered jumper might have less resistance and a shorter path, therefore a better design.

But who wants to pay for hand labor when you can input your design into a computer and have a clean looking, machine assembled and wave soldered, circuit board pop out the other side? What you see as a better looking design I see as a cheaper design.

I see a lot of open space in those new designs that are left open for large power and speaker traces on the board. I bet if we hand soldered some nice Monster Cable in there we could eliminate some of that space and make the amplifier more smaller and efficient. But Monster Cable and hand labor = $$$$

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

Those pictures mean nothing to me. It only shows the difference between a hand drawn design and a CAD design.
A hand soldered jumper might have less resistance and a shorter path, therefore a better design.

But who wants to pay for hand labor when you can input your design into a computer and have a clean looking, machine assembled and wave soldered, circuit board pop out the other side? What you see as a better looking design I see as a cheaper design.

I see a lot of open space in those new designs that are left open for large power and speaker traces on the board. I bet if we hand soldered some nice Monster Cable in there we could eliminate some of that space and make the amplifier more smaller and efficient. But Monster Cable and hand labor = $$$$

I like your style.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

I Think You Answerd Your Own Question All You Have To Do Is Ask Why The Jl 1000/1 Is $1000 Dollars And A Rockford 900 Watt Is $169 Well Truth Be Told The Rockford Is 300 Watts Max With Keep In Mind A Dollar A Watt Not Bad But Junk Yes Trickery To The 30 To 40 Year Old Generation Of Audio Files Who Go To Best Buy And By The Amp Wow What A Deal Then They Hook It Up And Are Pissed Off Just Remember Guys You Get What You Pay For And That Internet Deal May Look Good But Wait Till Something Go's Wrong Or God Forbid Doesn't Work When You Get It Be Carefull Buy At Your Local Store They Will Work With You And You Will Reap The Rewards Of Customer Service

So you think new RF doesn't make the power they rate? You are on crack. If RF says it is a 900 watt RMS amp, then it makes at least 900RMS still. I love Old School RF, but your statement of them not making power is ridiculous at best.

The JL is expensive because it is a different beast. It make the same power no matter the load. Many don't need a complex amp like that, so why should they buy it?