Recommendations for the show truck. Fi, Polk, Diamond...???

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

Sorry about writting a small book here. Just figured I'd throw out as much detail as I can so I can answer some questions before they're asked...

I've been checking out the site for quite a while trying to do some research before starting the interior work on my truck. I'm to the point now that's I'd like to get some recommendations from some guys out there that have a lot more experience than I ever will.

First a little about me an the project:

I've installed a system in every ride I've ever had starting with my first car in '89. Nothing too extreme though. Unfortunatly most of my listening was done almost 10 years ago when I did some part-time work at a shop. Back then I listened to some MB Quarts that were great and some amazing AVI subs. Now with all the buyouts and takeovers I have no idea what's good and what's not any more.

The truck is a '91 4-door Jimmy with full air-ride suspension, a small block V8 conversion, and tons of custom bodywork. I'll probably end up custom building most of the interior. I've already started installing the sound deadener from Second Skin Audio. (Thanks Ant!)

What's been purchased:

The only equipment that's been purchased so far is the HU and some other items. I got a great deal on them after someone lost their job and had to sell it all. It's a Kenwood DDX6019. I also got 4 Kenwood 6.5" heardrest units, and an Audio Control Three.1 which I may or may not use. Any recommendations on amps, setup, or anything else is greatly appreciated.

What I'm looking for:

I'd like build an SQ system for the '91 Jimmy I'm working on. I'm thinking 6.5" seperates in custom kickpanels, 6.5" coax's in the rear doors powered by a 4ch amp. For the sub I could do 2 12's but it'd be great to do 1 12" that really performs. I've always been a big fan of systems that really suprise people.

As far as price goes, that's kind of open. 2G is my upper limit right now for the interior work. A vast majority of the work will be done by me to cut down on costs.

As I've read through the posts on here I keep seeing names like Diamond, Fi, Rainbow, and others. I'm thinking it'd be nice to go with a company like Diamond which makes speakers and amps so I can do some "one stop shopping". I'm totally open to suggestions though if there's better options. Details like power, etc are open since I haven't purchased the amps yet. I'd like to do it all at once so everything is well matched.

Thanks ahead of time guys. Look forward to getting this all worked out!

Click to read more...

 

[sue bee 10+ year member]

rainbow makes a sub if i recall, and people love rainbow speakers on here. not sure if i've seen a rainbow amp though. fi doesn't make speakers or amps. diamond does all three. jl does all 3. alpine does.

 

[tmoney 10+ year member]

i'll probaly do diamond all the way if I was u. the subs seems to be awesome, the amps normally underrated and the comps seem to be okay. The hex series probaly the best besides the d9s i think. The subs and amp r in line with quality like jl and the speakers r in line with polk(above momo) not yet wit the sr's and the rainbows cmx line.

 

[bigmac16 10+ year member]

many speakers to look at like dynaudio, rainbow, and avi's are still around at avisound.com. Many amps to look at also like arc, audison, mcintosh.I see where someone is selling a pair of rainbow cal 28 tweeteers, might look into them.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

rainbow makes a sub if i recall, and people love rainbow speakers on here. not sure if i've seen a rainbow amp though.

Rainbow did recently release an amplifier lineup.

However, there are so many options for your setup that it's almost limitless.

What exactly are you looking for out of the system? Just good sound quality for driving around? Competition level sound quality? Sound quality also capable of high output levels?

Do you have any sound preferences?

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

What exactly are you looking for out of the system? Just good sound quality for driving around? Competition level sound quality? Sound quality also capable of high output levels?

Do you have any sound preferences?

Yes.

What's the plans for the setup?

nG

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

Ya, I noticed Rainbow doesn't have subs and Fi only seems to have subs. I don't absoloutly HAVE to have everything made by one company. I was just stating that it'd be nice. I'm more than willing to go with a mix of equipment to get the best results though. Don't let the title steer this topic in 1 direction. I'm willing to look at other brands or setups if people want to make suggestions.

The D9's look like some great components but I just don't know if I could justify spending twice as much as I would on the Hex's. Heck, I think the most I've ever spent on a set of components is $160. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif Then I'd have to buy a larger amp to power them too. If someone could give me a major reason to get the D9's over something like the Hex's I might consider it. It's have to be one hell of an improvment though.

As far as Alpine goes, I'd consider them if they price/performance ratio would match or beat the other brands. Especially since I can go to many local shops and pick Alpine equipment up.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

The Hex's aren't great, at all... to be completely honest with you.

I had them, and the midbass on them was lacking terribly.

nG

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

Thanks guys. Guess I should have listed some of this originally. Oh well.

Listening preferences:

I listen to a little bit of everything except country and classical. To give you an idea let me list some of my XM stations:

XM40 - swing music, etc

XM80 - 80's music

The City - urban, rap, r&b

Squizz - hard rock

XM Chill - Ambient, dance, electronic

I won't be taking the truck to many car audio competitions seeing as most of the competitions around here are DB Drags (SPL). I used to be into the monster subs and stuff but after suffering a little hearing loss (oops) I finally realized it's tiime to turn it down a bit. I still want to turn it up at shows and stuff though and be able to make people take notice. I've always wanted one of those setups with an amazing sound stage. That's what I'll be shooting for.

So in short, I guess the answer would be: impressive SQ with some great bump but I don't need to spend CRAZY amounts of money to impress SQ or SPL judges.

 

[SQBubble 10+ year member]

if you wanna go same brand all the way, its either kicker or boston but if it was me i would do usamps/RE audio would be sweet, say 2 15" xxx with 2or more xxx component up front with some ax series or merlin.

 

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

Ya, I noticed Rainbow doesn't have subs and Fi only seems to have subs. I don't absoloutly HAVE to have everything made by one company. I was just stating that it'd be nice. I'm more than willing to go with a mix of equipment to get the best results though. Don't let the title steer this topic in 1 direction. I'm willing to look at other brands or setups if people want to make suggestions.
The D9's look like some great components but I just don't know if I could justify spending twice as much as I would on the Hex's. Heck, I think the most I've ever spent on a set of components is $160. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif Then I'd have to buy a larger amp to power them too. If someone could give me a major reason to get the D9's over something like the Hex's I might consider it. It's have to be one hell of an improvment though.

As far as Alpine goes, I'd consider them if they price/performance ratio would match or beat the other brands. Especially since I can go to many local shops and pick Alpine equipment up.

1: rainbow doesn't make subs? Hmm thats strange. Maybe i should call them and ask about how i got my rainbow hammer sub then!

Yes they do actually make subs,

they have the Hammer, Amboss, Profi, and Vanadium lines.

2: New Diamond Sucks IMO. No midbass and too harsh, it's like listening to infinity all over again

do you mean 2K for the audio or 2K for all the interior including audio...

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

1: rainbow doesn't make subs? Hmm thats strange. Maybe i should call them and ask about how i got my rainbow hammer sub then...or maybe i should ask about their Vanadium Series Subs...or their Amboss Series subs...or their Profi Subs.
2: New Diamond Sucks IMO. No midbass and too harsh, it's like listening to infinity all over again

do you mean 2K for the audio or 2K for all the interior including audio...

Ok, ya my bad. I've been looking at so many different brands I lose track sometimes. Sorry about that. I'm figuring 2G MAX on the remainder of the audio equipment. Really hoping to keep it under that though. The interior will be a whole other money pit I'll be dealing with seperatly. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

Opinions like this are the reason I posted this. It's interesting hearing people say they don't like certain Diamond equipment. For those that don't like the Diamonds, what are you running instead? Rainbow konichiwa?

 

[Mystic Knight 10+ year member]

if you wanna go same brand all the way, its either kicker or boston but if it was me i would do usamps/RE audio would be sweet, say 2 15" xxx with 2or more xxx component up front with some ax series or merlin.

I'd consider a US Amp/RE Audio setup but there's no way I'll be doing 2 15's. I just sat in a truck with 1 12" MTX 9500 and that was enough bass for me. That's why I was saying I'd like to do 1-2 12's.

How do you like those Polks? I was looking at the Momo series.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

You could consider MTX, Kicker, or Boston if you do a 1company setup.

nG

 

[MassOccur 10+ year member]

I could get you a good deal on RE if you can't find anything else. Sounds like a couple 12" SE's, 12" SX's or maybe a single RE MX would be best for you. If I were you, I'd go the 12 MX route. Amp could be a Sundown SAZ-1500, RF T20001BD or RF T15001BD, etc. Mids/Highs I'd look into Focal or Rainbow. Both make awesome component Sets. The SLC265 Kicks are nice from Rainbow and the V2's are Nice from Focal.

A Smaller alternator and an extra battery would be nice as well. Good choice on the sound dampening. I will be making a large purchase through Second Skin as well soon. Best of luck with this and lemme know if you're interested in RE.