Car audio questions

[Project86]

I've been out of the car audio scene for a few years. I was browsing Ebay today at work (as I regularly do) just killing time, building a hypothetical system, just for fun. I noticed that some of my favorite high end brands have brand new stuff being sold by multiple sellers, for dirt cheap. Brands like A/D/S, Orion, Soundstream, Precision Power, Hifonics, that used to be fairly high end, now seem to have TONS of amps, subs, and component sets for $100-200. This never used to be the case. Where these companies bought out by some cheapo brand who just wanted to use the name (like the movie Tommie Boy) or what? I notice others like Eclipse, Arc Audio, Dynaudio, Focal, and CDT have not gone cheap.

 

[QueBert]

all the brands you mentioned still make good amps, I think just to stay in the market they have started to release mroe mid level stuff. And Ebay prices ain't the best gauge, I've seen amps that are $700 in every store I've been to. Going for $299 on Ebay. I've heard Hifonics has gone down hill, but the Brutus amps are still great from what I've seen. Soundstream has that monster Trantula(sp?) amp that looks like a spider I want Car Audio is a rollercoaster, who makes the best amps this year might make the 10th best next year. And 1 company can make top of the line killer amps, and bairly passible entry level ones.

I love Car Audio, but I honestly don't have the time to keep up with who's good. I just stick with Polk, and try not to read anything about Polk because I don't want anyone to change my mind on what I like

 

[Shawn]

I buy all of my car audio stuff on ebay now. It's so much cheaper than anywhere else. Probably because it's stolen. :disgust:

 

[compuwiz1]

Don't panic yet pal...when we see Denon in Wal-Mart, we'll know we have a problem.

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Originally posted by: Project86
I've been out of the car audio scene for a few years. I was browsing Ebay today at work (as I regularly do) just killing time, building a hypothetical system, just for fun. I noticed that some of my favorite high end brands have brand new stuff being sold by multiple sellers, for dirt cheap. Brands like A/D/S, Orion, Soundstream, Precision Power, Hifonics, that used to be fairly high end, now seem to have TONS of amps, subs, and component sets for $100-200. This never used to be the case. Where these companies bought out by some cheapo brand who just wanted to use the name (like the movie Tommie Boy) or what? I notice others like Eclipse, Arc Audio, Dynaudio, Focal, and CDT have not gone cheap.

Not sure how long you have been out of it but I'm in the same boat as you. Rockford Fosgate used to be THE name in amps now it seems to be dirt. I remember always wanting PPI art deco series amps, the pretty white ones.

compuwiz1: I had bought a used Denon pullout tapedeck. The stupid thing had dolby b and c noise reduction and the MSRP was over $800 at the time.

Those were the days.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

Infiniti and Polk ftw?

<--- Relatively n00bish when it comes to car audio

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Antisocial Virge

Originally posted by: Project86
I've been out of the car audio scene for a few years. I was browsing Ebay today at work (as I regularly do) just killing time, building a hypothetical system, just for fun. I noticed that some of my favorite high end brands have brand new stuff being sold by multiple sellers, for dirt cheap. Brands like A/D/S, Orion, Soundstream, Precision Power, Hifonics, that used to be fairly high end, now seem to have TONS of amps, subs, and component sets for $100-200. This never used to be the case. Where these companies bought out by some cheapo brand who just wanted to use the name (like the movie Tommie Boy) or what? I notice others like Eclipse, Arc Audio, Dynaudio, Focal, and CDT have not gone cheap.

Not sure how long you have been out of it but I'm in the same boat as you. Rockford Fosgate used to be THE name in amps now it seems to be dirt. I remember always wanting PPI art deco series amps, the pretty white ones.

compuwiz1: I had bought a used Denon pullout tapedeck. The stupid thing had dolby b and c noise reduction and the MSRP was over $800 at the time.

Those were the days.

Actually Fosgate is one of the best examples of a company that makes lower end shat models and really nice higher ends one. I wouldn't put their best at the top, but they are very great amps. The crap they have is really piss poor though.

I'm not out of it exactly, I spent close to $2,000 on my car strero last year. I'm just tired of trying to stay on top of what's what. And if you look up Car Audio forums online, you will only get confused, and filled with bad advice. So called Car Audiophiles are so biased it's not even funny.

to mrSHEiK 124, Infinity is almost always quality, I would say their amps are upper end for the price. The subs/compnents are also solid, I have 5x7 Reference in my car and they sound wonderful. Polk is my favorite, I'm going to be of the stupid biased Audiophiles I said to watch out for here but Polk has amazing SQ and killer looks. My Momo components are sweeeeeeeet. I'm really interested in getting their newest components. The few reviews I've read in audio mags, say the SQ they put out is off the charts and they are the best sounding car speakers they've heard.

 

[Project86]

Ok, I did a little research. Seems that a company called Directed Electronics Incorporated (DEI, who also makes some nice car audio stuff) aquired A/D/S, Orion, and PPI several years back. Because of that, they have been a bit more efficient in their production, thus keeping costs down. Also, as someone already mentioned, they have expanded their lineups to include some mid range product offerings. They all still seem to be fairly high end companies though. As for Soundstream, I'm not sure what happened but they definately started focusing on lower and mid range products.

I guess it's good for us since we can buy high quality stuff for cheaper now.

PS I used to have a Denon CD player in my car, MSRP $1500 (I payed much less though)

EDIT another PS, why is it so impossible to find good non-biased car audio reviews? There are a ton of mags/websites that review high end home audio. But try to find something about car audio, and all you seem to find are small blurbs from owners who of course LOVE the product.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Orion of 10yrs ago is no more. It is now crap!

DEI killed the brand.

 

[Project86]

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Orion of 10yrs ago is no more. It is now crap!

DEI killed the brand.

I don't know, this seems pretty nice, crap amps can't usually handle a 1 ohm load, the HCCA series can. The new HCCA series 2 subs seem fairly high end, although I don't know how they would stack up against some of the big dogs like Adire Audio Brahma or Digital Designs. I'm pretty sure it is not just crap though.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Project86
Ok, I did a little research. Seems that a company called Directed Electronics Incorporated (DEI, who also makes some nice car audio stuff) aquired A/D/S, Orion, and PPI several years back. Because of that, they have been a bit more efficient in their production, thus keeping costs down. Also, as someone already mentioned, they have expanded their lineups to include some mid range product offerings. They all still seem to be fairly high end companies though. As for Soundstream, I'm not sure what happened but they definately started focusing on lower and mid range products.

I guess it's good for us since we can buy high quality stuff for cheaper now.

PS I used to have a Denon CD player in my car, MSRP $1500 (I payed much less though)

EDIT another PS, why is it so impossible to find good non-biased car audio reviews? There are a ton of mags/websites that review high end home audio. But try to find something about car audio, and all you seem to find are small blurbs from owners who of course LOVE the product.

too many opions and too much misinformation leads to bad reviews. Reviewing car audio properly is tough, probably much like PSU's for computers. What are they using to test the equipment? how well do they test it? do they know what the f*ck they're doing?

I bought a Panasonic HU, Panasonic makes great products, I never read a review of it because I figured they would have said "Panasonic? oh noes! you gotta get Eclipse or Alpine" Could my car stereo sound better? I know the answer will always be of course, so I try to be happy with what I have. It would be a never ending quest if you wanted "the best" which is subjective any ways.

I will agree Orion has gone down hill in recent years, but they still have some good stuff higher end.