Sound

[spoons727]

A little Help Please!

I am looking for some ideas for my Grand Am and I'm wondering what everyone thinks is the best brand when it comes to audio and what other Grand Am owners are using now for sound systems.

Thanks You!

[RaDiKaL]

Right now i am using Sony Xplod.
2 12's P5 subs
1 800watt amp
2 480watt amp
pair of 6x9s
Yes their old stuff is crap but the new stuff is killer. Also it is great stuff for the price. Very loud.

[btchn1]

You will probably get a thousand people saying Rockford, Kicker, JL, or Alpine. If you want the same old stuff everyone else does and the same empty wallet as everyone else then go for it. But if you want trophy winning sound and world dominating bass then I suggest Crossfire. Only the best shops carry it, its made in the USA, three year warrenty when installed by a pro, great looks, excellent sound, and not to bad priced either. Take a listen and choose for yourself. Peace, Lee
www.crossfirecaraudio.com

[matts]

im currently taking some crossfire amps for a test drive. a local shop recommended them and i said why not try them. i really was impressed. very clean sounding, mounted up easily, etc. really not that bad of an amp. price wasn't anything to write home about in my opinion, but i've paid more for less.

[Pte Socks]

well I hate to say it radical but XPlod can bite my dust. I will never get a sony sound system. As for me. Well I am the type of guy who doesnt mind spending th extra money to get a decent system. Hence the JL subs and the Alpine amps. IMO. Alpine makes some of the best decks there are. So to start off for a deck.. id say alpine. Panasonic is ok.. but only marginal and only really looks kinda cool. As for subs. I will stick by my JL's like no other. You can get alpine subs.. but they seem to be underpowered. ie. The type R is Alpines best sub. Trouble is.. it isnt all that powerful. Its not bad.. but you can get much more powerful subs out there. Thus I like the JL's you got yoru range from the w0's for tiny good quality subs. to the W7 or W6v2's which tremble your car. ( I just have the W6's and they still rumble like crazy) As for amps. Well I would suggest either JL or Alpine. ALpine has the fully digital amps which are nice.. but JL has the smart amps which run max power loads anywhere from 1.5 to 4 ohms, which is good for flexibility. Also if you got the cash.. there is the classic Phoenix Gold. Now for PG, Ive heard good things about the titanium series.. but they are very expensive and im not sure if they are worth the extra bucks. Im still loving the old PG stuff. All in all. Im happy with my stuff. I pay the extra cash so I know I get a good product. But thats just me.

[PontiacGA99]

I have
3 MTX 10s
720 Jensen amp
JVC 3150 multi color grafic display
and a 1 ferad cap
check out my webpage

[JoeyK]

I have all RF, 3 old school punch 150's 2 punch 75's an old series 4 channel A new 400w punch, 4 12" subs several 6 1/2's 3 pairs of 5 1/4's & 2 pairs of 3 1/2's , a "fanatic Q" component set & 2 pairs of tweets not to mention 2 i fardad dig. caps & all RF wiring (Signal & power) Of course it's not ALL in my Ga but none of it has ever let me down & the oldest of my equipment, the 3 punch 150's are are near 14 years old! I think that says someting for RF!

[RaDiKaL]

Originally posted by Neo-Blue99GASE
well I hate to say it radical but XPlod can bite my dust. I will never get a sony sound system.

Just asking but have you ever heard the NEW sony stuff because i know the old stuff sucks. I know people that say sony sucks to but they have never heard a sony system before. I let them take a listen of mine and they quickly change their minds.

[BloodRedDimond]

i run old style , two 700 watt sony 10inchs on a 1000 watt amp , and it holds its ground , and its like at least u got the amp and all you kno

[Pte Socks]

sorry radical. I wont even bother because i know how it would sound. Heres a tip from guys who have been in competitions and are seriously into stereo's. Its not hard to make a car sound loud. Really it isnt. Ive had countless guys with cheap systems go off and tell me that from the outside.. their system sounds so much louder than mine. The question I ask them however, is what they hit in DB's. I ask this because there is something important to notice with stereo setups. Just becaue its loud to the human ear, doesnt mean its loud in SPL. The thing is, many guys who come to me and say there system rocks, infact have high hitting subs. K. to explain. Now one thing about sound is type of wave that is produced. A deep low wave will travel great distances through all objects. This is bass. But higher hitting waves sound louder, but dont travel through objects well. This is why you hear a guys speakers being louder than his subs when his windows are down. the high frequency wave doesnt have to travel through solid surfaces and thus, is not disrupted. The trick really is not getting a loud system, but getting a system that hits high enough to be heard well, and also be able to penetrate well. Its kinda hard to pull off. One thing that I have noticed with all of sonys stuff is that they sound loud, but actually the bass isnt that truly loud. It doenst vibrate your entire car and shake all your windows. I doesnt set off countless car alarms as you go down a street. This is what a powerful system will do. All in all.. i will never even look at sony, none of the pro's do and I wont either.

[JoeyK]

That all may be true but there's alot of people that don't care about that. Sony might be ok for anyone wanting a decent solid system. Honestly, I don't understand the competition thing. I mean, ya I did it to help out my install shop but unless you fronting for a shop I don't see the point. I'm not poking fun at it at all, I understand it's a hobby & not all hobbies are for all people. But really, for the average person that just wants a good system, them don't need to worry about what it'll hit on the db meter. I have 600 watts of all RF in my car & I havn't given it a second thought of how it'll rank on the db meter, don't care. It sounds god to me & it's reliable, that's all that counts to alot of people. To travel around in a db machine annoying everyone in town is just plain juvenile anyways, hope you practice safe sound & respect others if you must have a db machine I know there's alot of stupid little teens here in Indy that won't give a second thought into waking you at 2 or 3 am w/ thier music.
Anyways, guess what I'm trying to say is : there's 2 types of stereo crowds, those who are into the extreme & want something that'll destroy thier car & annoy the hell out of everyone in sight (yes, I know there are a few responsible people who ae the exception out there) & there are the people that want to be able to turn it up & enjoy a good song on a high quality system, not careing if it'll shake stop signs but just enjoy the sound quality & a few extra watts.

It's all a matter of personal preference, I wouldn't put down anyone else's choice. I might tell them if it's overpriced for what it is, or if it's unreliable. Fankly, I wouldn't give a db machine the time of day, most of them sound like crap when you get them up so high. Some guy might be able to brag "Hey I placed 2nd in db drag races in b.f.e.!" _ woo hoo!,.. what he fails to mention is that it sounds like crap above 96. Kids nowadays are more worried about that Bong-bong bong! instead of real music. As you can tell I'm so tired of hearing all those little ricers & teens disturbing averyone around them.
My best advice is to go out to a stero shop & listen to several diff brand s& setups. Chose the equipment that is right for you & what you can afford. Don't worry about what other think is cool or is not, as long as it sounds good to you & you like it that's all that matters. Being able to pi$$ off your neighbors 3 blocks down shouldn't be in the equation.

[matts]

i have the best of both worlds. :D both of my stereo's have a very clean sound and both are really loud on the lower frequencies. now my girlfriends GA is a little better all around than my truck. but still. i dont really agree with the statement that all dB rigs sound like crap when you turn the up. i've known of too many people that can hit 155+ dB and you can hear someone burp in the next sound studio on the cd. now i will say that some people that have the setup strictly for dB may not sound good. but they're not supposed to sound good, they want as many dBs as possible and dont care about mids/highs. i have some real high end stuff in my both my vehicles and the only thing i really went excessive on is the 18" subwoofer in my girlfriends trunk. a good set of 10s or 12s sounds just fine, but i saw that 18 one day and i wanted it, so i bought it. if it ever blows i'll probably replace it with a 12". and i am respectful about sound levels when i drive through residential neighborhoods. i know its annoying to be woke up at 3 in the morning by a ricer with a system. most of them are punk ass kids that are just trying to show off.:D

[sound_xtreme]

my system sounds like shit on the outside. but im hitting 140's with 2 tens on the inside. :D i have heard systems that you can hear miles(literally) away from the outside but only hit 130's.

[Pte Socks]

I totally understand what you guys are talking about. I konw the exact same feeling as you see a ricer come up at 3 in the morining blaring his system. Im not an ass and I wont do such a thing. But to get back to the sony explod. Sorry, but the explode stuff just isnt worth getting. They just dont have reliability IMO. I also understnad how you cars talk about hard-core SPL guys. Honestly, it only matters to you on how your system sounds. Like my system I went out and bought fo 2000 some dollars. Its powerful enough for me to get a full body massage when I want it. thats what I wanted. I wanted a system that will massgae my entire body and make every hair on my body tingle. You just cant beat the itchy nose effect. That saying, thats what I wanted. My buddy went out and bought 2 JL 10W0's powered by a pioneer 300 watt rms amp. For him, money was short and I suggested getting the JL's for subs ( the w0's are quite cheap and they are still wonderful little subs that are great for entrance level stuff, and they will also LAST a long time because they have high reliability ) and I suggested a Pioneer amp, again, not what I would want, but again, a good little amp that fits just perfectly with his subs, and will last a while because pioneer makes some good stuff as well. Its all kinda on what you want and how much you want to spend. But for me, ill never get sony, ive heard nothing but problems with their stuff and I just wouldnt want the headache

[Pte Socks]

hey sound, what kind of setup are you using? My system sounds somewhat crappy on the outside because of all the rattling, but its sure gotten better since I installed my dynamat, it was just terrible before.

[RaDiKaL]

My system as a matter of fact does vibrate my entire car. Also i have had complaints of neighbors that my music was rattling their windows. One time they had the cops show up to tell me to turn it down instead of them telling me themselves! It was at 2 in the afternoon, too. Anyways I love my system I don't care what people who have never even heard a sony system say. It sounds great. Just because some people say they have had a bad experience in the past with a product doesn't mean it isn't any good or that the company hasn't improved the product since. I enjoy music that is why i put a system into my car to begin with. Most cars i see on the road with systems always seems like their trunk is rattling to bits then you go up inside you can't even hear the music. Their is no point in listening to music if all you hear is BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. If you cant hear the highs and the mids of the song, whats the point of listening to music at all?

[JoeyK]

My point exactly, now don't drive by my house at 3 am like that or I will be forced to thrash you!:D