Anyone into car audio?

[GeorgeG.]

That's why guys like EW do what they do. You don't need to understand how or why things work. Just tell them what you want, how much you can spend and let the pros figure out the rest. Or head to a big box retailer, buy what the pimple nosed kid recommends and pay someone like EW to fix it later.

I may have to hit up EW soon to get my truck going. Apparently the 07 Sierra/Silverado's are known for losing the stock speakers. In my Scab, I lost both rear door speakers and the passenger door speaker. I'm rockin' to 1 door speaker and 2 pillar tweets....it's shameful.

I actually stopped at Car Toys about a month back. The sales guy seemed knowledgeable, but then I don't keep up with this stuff. I would think installing some drop in speakers shouldn't be too hard for them, their install prices were decent.

[jluv]

I love my JL amps. Cleanest amps I have ever owned. 108.5db S/N is still one of the best in the industry. They add zero hiss and no coloration to the music.

JL speakers are hit and miss. They should stick to subs only. W6 subs are super musical and the W7 series will rip your face off.

JL has cheaper lines to be competitive with all the other companies. That's what the masses buy.

I run their HD amps in my F250, and their Slash (black) and XD amps in my other vehicles.

They make excellent speakers once you get away from the super cheap stuff. I have their ZR 8“midbass drivers and ZR 6.5" components in my truck, and then C3s for rear fill. My Explorer has C5s up front and C2s for rear fill. I have no complaints.

Hell, I still have some old XRs and TRs laying around somewhere. I've always been a fan of JL.

[Roscoe]

<--runs HD as well. I don't have any experience with the XD or Slash lines... The C3's are what I've had the problem with and am looking to upgrade to the Focal's for fronts but leave C3's in rear.

[LaserSVT]

JL has cheaper lines to be competitive with all the other companies. That's what the masses buy.

I run their HD amps in my F250, and their Slash (black) and XD amps in my other vehicles.

They make excellent speakers once you get away from the super cheap stuff. I have their ZR 8“midbass drivers and ZR 6.5" components in my truck, and then C3s for rear fill. My Explorer has C5s up front and C2s for rear fill. I have no complaints.

Hell, I still have some old XRs and TRs laying around somewhere. I've always been a fan of JL.

Their HD amps are wonderful little machines and very clean. I like the ZR components but their price is just too high for what you get. They are excellent sounding speakers but you can get way better for the price.

And yeah like all companies they have to have that entry level to stay in business. Like V6 Mustangs.

<--runs HD as well. I don't have any experience with the XD or Slash lines... The C3's are what I've had the problem with and am looking to upgrade to the Focal's for fronts but leave C3's in rear.

The XD was a great mid/entry level amp. Fairly good S/N and THD and pretty efficient.

The Slash series was their first gen of really good amps. The V1s are the cleanest being rated at 108.5db S/N but most are 120+. The V2 looked almost identical and fixed a couple minor connection issues but the quality of their output suffered due to looser tolerance components. Then they did the black ones that are supposed to be as clean as the V1 Slash amps.
The HD is their replacements and are almost as clean but way more powerful and WAY more efficient.

[jluv]

<--runs HD as well. I don't have any experience with the XD or Slash lines... The C3's are what I've had the problem with and am looking to upgrade to the Focal's for fronts but leave C3's in rear.

I like my C3s well enough. They are high-passed at 100hz from the processor, and getting 150x2. I'm running them with the ZR passive crossovers, because I am running my ZR components active up front. Interestingly enough, I am also running the C3s in mono. I am using 6 channels for my 3-way active front stage (150x6), and one channel for the sub (750x1), so I only had one output channel left from my H701 processor. It's typically used for a center channel, but I split the RCA signal to use it for the rears. I was worried it would sound funky, but it sounds just fine. It's just rear fill, although I do bang on them just like I do the rest of the system.

[jluv]

I like the ZR components but their price is just too high for what you get. They are excellent sounding speakers but you can get way better for the price.

Eh, maybe. I'm thrilled with the value I got for the price.

The XD was a great mid/entry level amp. Fairly good S/N and THD and pretty efficient.

The JX line is their entry level stuff. XD are the tiny ones.

The Slash series was their first gen of really good amps. The V1s are the cleanest being rated at 108.5db S/N but most are 120+. The V2 looked almost identical and fixed a couple minor connection issues but the quality of their output suffered due to looser tolerance components. Then they did the black ones that are supposed to be as clean as the V1 Slash amps.
The HD is their replacements and are almost as clean but way more powerful and WAY more efficient.

Actually, they made the black ones with the v1 series. That's what all of my Slash amps are - black v1s.

The HD series is not the replacement for the Slash amps, considering they now have the Slash v3. Totally different technologies. The HD amps are their top of the line, by far.

[BP]

Yeah I learned that after the fact. All of my favorites kinda went crappy. Infinity and JBL are still good but the rest are so hard to keep up with. Rockford was the best, then went to crap, then got pretty good, then wen to crap and then got really good. MTX was crap then got really really good, then average and then crappy and then.... well I dunno. Boston was always great but they seem to have abandoned the car audio market and their amps always were just average.

Boston does plenty of car audio business but it's to OEM customers. Generally any time manufacturing gets outsourced the quality goes down dramatically, the people putting stuff together usually have no idea what they are doing and buy the cheapest hardware they can find. They have to make the same mistakes the original people made to learn how to do it right. It takes several runs to make a decent product. Eventually they'll be almost as good as the American company but cost a whole lot less.

[LaserSVT]

Eh, maybe. I'm thrilled with the value I got for the price.



The JX line is their entry level stuff. XD are the tiny ones.



Actually, they made the black ones with the v1 series. That's what all of my Slash amps are - black v1s.

The HD series is not the replacement for the Slash amps, considering they now have the Slash v3. Totally different technologies. The HD amps are their top of the line, by far.

See I have a hard time keeping up with all the changes. See they stopped making the Slash for a couple years and the HD was touted (at the dealers) as the replacement so my bad for parroting what the dealers said.

Also my bad on the black Slash amps. The V1 was so rare we couldn't get them at my shop and since the V2 was just coming out I assumed they were all V2 but if yours has the raised hump in the middle it is most definatly a V1 and worth some money. I think the V1 1000/1 still command $600+.

And please don't take my comment as bashing the ZR components. I really do like them and if you didn't pay retail then they are well worth the cash but with JL most people pay retail and $900 is just too much for those speakers IMHO. Also the aluminum dome tweeter was always a tad bright for my taste. But that's me, everyone has musical preferences. Die hard SQ fanatics get pissed at my slightly bass heavy setup but I like bass.... just not that throbbing techno or hippidy hoppity crap.

And calling the JL XD a mid/entry level amp I just ment as amps go in general. Ya know, better than a Kenwood but not as good as an Audison.

[jw33]

[LaserSVT]

Well my laziness and excitedness are at war with each other. The Illusions are here and I can install them but the rest of the sound deadening isn't here yet so I would just have to pull the doors apart again and redo it all. I am going to try and be patient and wait for the rest of the mat to get here but.......... WANT TO INSTALL NOW!!!!

So I was so excited to see them show up today and ran inside to open them. They are just such a nice quality set of speakers... I have been staring at the tweeters for some time now. They would really hurt if you threw them at someone. LOL. This is the first time I have ever bought component speakers that do not have one bit of literature with them. Doing some digging I guess its because they figure you know what you have, why you bought it and so you must know or know someone that knows how to install them.
Anyway, the aluminum basket is very nice and the magnet is impressively heavy for a neo. Really like the nice components inside the crossovers too. Just all around an impressive looking and built speaker. I cant wait to try them out but I think it wont be until Tuesday before the rest of the mat shows up.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

I'm big into stereos, just always seem stuck buying the cheap shit though! I have a basic system in my blazer, just 2 cheap ass old Kenwood 12's in a 3.5 cube ported box tuned to 32hz on an older PPI amp, some alpine components on a matching PPI amp. Next on the build is door insulation (if I keep the truck).

Simple and quick

Dig the PPI amps. I have the same ones in my boat. You don't see that model much anymore.

[jluv]

I've still got some PPI Audio Art amps laying around somewhere. They were great, but they started crapping out, and I'd pay to have them fixed, and they would crap out again. Finally switched to JL amps. I despised the connections on them, though. What sucks is that the JL Hd amps use very similar connections. Hate that.

[Z06killinsbf]

Ya I hate that they put the remote on in the speaker connector. Bugs me something fierce lol. I like the amps other than that, they seem to run cool, sound good and make plenty of power.

[Z06killinsbf]

My rear setup, still need to wrap/coat the box but it and all he rest of the equipment might be coming out soon.



Deck, I love this thing.

[LaserSVT]

Holy cow that's a lot of box! Is that a trans line port?