Oldschool installer from the 80's (another one)

[Olympiadis]

Hello,

I've always loved car audio from when I was around 13 I think, in the early 80's. From around 1987 until around 1992 (about 5 years) I was heavily into installing and tuning the large car audio systems, mostly for the show cars and stereo competitions. I became frustrated with how the competition circuit was evolving, and dropped out of it. That time was also interrupted by an active duty career in the US Air Force, and I had other distractions as well, so I did no more installs other than my own, which was rare, because I was drag racing my cars and wanted to keep them light, and even a moderate sound system would add at least 100 lbs. So I kept the system out more than in.

Through the 80's the pickings were slim before car audio exploded. My original love was for the Alpine head units and EQs, and still is. Back then Pyle was making some pretty good speakers that would hold up fairly well. Electrovoice, Eminence, Boston Acoustics, and some Pyramid speakers were doing the job. I worked with JBL speakers a little, but rarely with Vegas. With the lacking in product ability, I think it required a bit more work put in to get the sound quality up to standard, but it was a possible challenge in most cases.

I think when Rockford Fosgate started flooding the scene with their new product lines it was a major contributor to the rise in car audio popularity in general. They had some special vans that would go around and do promotional shows at install shops, and showcase at competitions. The approach of overkill on power was very appealing to the market at the time. They also came at a time when there was a real need for a lot of raw amplifier power. There were some very clean amps on the market back then like ADS, Nakamichi, and Alpine, but they were priced out of range for a lot of people just trying to get into car audio. There were other good brands out there, but most of them were out of sight and not known to most people. There was no internet, so people tended to stick to local, or mail order from catalogs or magazine ads.

I liked to work with the Rockford line of amps, especially the Punch series, up to the Punch150, which were very versatile and easy to work with. They also performed exceptionally well for their time. They made the power and would take the abuse that most of the customers would throw at them, and stayed clean enough for any type of competition.

Surprisingly, some of the flea market brands like Pyramid amps would perform quite well when installed and set up correctly, and I had a real liking for their Class A PB series amps. For the time and the power output, the price was right. Easy to replace.

At the time, it was very nice to at least be working with real amplifiers instead of the EQ/boosters that preceded them.

When 1989 hit and Alpine switched to using RCA type line outs/ins that also contributed greatly to the rise of car audio. It was around the same time that using CD players in cars was becoming more mainstream as well. Removable head units from sleeves to prevent theft, lots of new car alarm companies popping up... It was a few things coming together that was driving the car audio scene. We were also just coming out of a very happy decade, where the current music was a big part of that. The bass heavy hip hop was a factor as well.

I'm glad I was part of it then, and I'm trying to get back into it now. Not so much the installing part, but I'm trying to learn amplifier repair, and setting up a work/test bench in my home to do this in. I find it very interesting, and I still love music, the sound quality, and the bass.

I want to get systems back into a couple of my cars soon so I can enjoy them again.

v/r

Dan Olympiadis

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Welcome aboard, Dan. Thanks for the nostalgia. You and I are about the same age but I haven't been "out" of car audio for more than a year or two since those old days.

Forget everything you though about the "great sounding" stuff of yesteryear. Technology has come so far, particularly in source units and digital processing. Also conventional wisdom and experience through hard trial and error has provided a lot of insight into not only getting insanely loud, but good methods to get near reference quality sound in a vehicle!

While many old timers who believe that the huge power we have for dirt cheap these days is overkill, keep in mind loudspeakers have evolved along with cheaper and more efficient smaller power. Hoffman's Iron Law tells us we can have good low extension AND small box requirements if we sacrifice efficiency. All factors considered in a car we have less space than anything, and no true enthusiast would sacrifice low extension. Furthermore, more recent low distortion speaker technology is also by nature inefficient.

Anyway amp repair is a super trade. The guys with a good reputation are ALWAYS busy and 70$ an hour for bench time seems pretty average. I wager the job isn't all puppies and bl0wjobs, but what job is (apart from being a pimp who is also a dog breeder)?

Post up some builds here when you get going. Search function is broken here at the moment so don't hesitate to ask before you buy new gear. Most of the "great" brands you remember aren't what they used to be and there are some new players that have worthy offerings depending on your goals.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

95% of the brands you once thought were good have sold out and outsourced their product to China and they rely on their reputation from 30yrs ago.