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[EvilMSP]

Ok thanks for the info/honesty. I know I can find the Alpine/Eclipse units at stores near by so I'll give those a going through. I'll probably only get the Nak if the price is right and the others un-impress me.

So I've basically got my HU and Amp picked but the speakers are gonna be a shot in the dark it seems like (shrug). I trust your judgement but it would be nice if I could listen to them all at the same time, but that's not gonna happen. I doubt I'll be able to hear any of them, oh well we shall see.


Looks like I'll be spending 400ish on speakers so the search begins

Heh I might as well be sending PM's to you Wake since you are answering all my questions lol.

 

[sndsgood]

sorry when i consider a true sound quality system it will never be good in my eye if it can't play all the music on the cd accuratly, and even with the highest end speakers up front, without a sub it can't do that. call me an audio snob if u will but it will never be a true sq system if your not playing all the intended music.

 

[EvilMSP]

No I'm not calling you an audio snob that is just what you like/are used too. I just recognize the fact that I don't have enough money to blow all at once so I'm doing this for now. This is not my "end" system.

And I totally agree with you ignoring some freq range is not a awsome SQ system but a lot of the music I listen to is not bass heavy. To me listening to Dashboard and stuff like that sounds just as good on my AV1's without a sub as it does with (i've tried it). Yes having a good sub totally kicks ass but you dont always need it for all applications.

Eventually I will have a good sub, just not yet . Heck I don't even have all the dough for this system anyway lol.

 

[Poseur]

One thing with speakers that'll help you narrow thigns is figuringout what kind of tweeer you like. Oddly, though forme, it seems that WHile I'm a fan of SIlk tweets, all of the speakers I endup liking sheerly base don the midrange qualities are ones with metal tweets. I found, that hen comparing speakers, there's almost always some refrence ones that'll be around to compare things to. JL's and Focals really seem kinda common, so you can sorta use the sounds of some that you wind up relaly knowing and compare others against that. I would say, however that Speakers are indeed the ONE thing that WON'T be a shot in the dark, since ideally, you'll actually be able to hear them. and a few others. Actually, they SHOULDN't be a shot in teh dark, because buying something you haven't heard isn't a very good idea. (Knows form experience) Everyone's ear's different.

Another thing worth mention isthat there is NO true ultimate everything. Everyone's got a different ear, different taste, style, etc. Heck MbQuart's still in business, and I can't stand the sound of their speakers. Yes it's a smart crew around here, but see if you can go put your own ears to it all. Having a decent home setup puts you in a good place to beginwith because you've atleast got a decent ear, and know what you like. I've honestly got a speaker-listning fetish, I've got a mixdisc of wav's that Prettymuch goes with me everywhere incase I happen across a new shop somewhere that has different speakers. Perhaps thre's a competition somewhere around you you could go to and talk to the SQ competitors at, and possibly they'll let you hear their cars.

I Had an older nak deck, but it was truely before I really knew good SQ. Yes it was straightforward, simple, reliable, and sounded good, but that's all I know. I too DO hear good things of them, though. One thing that may or maynot matter isthat naks don't play MP3 while most of the Eclipse's and Alpines do. TRUE ultimate SQ isn't quite there in MP3's but being able to have oyur full music collection on a couple dozen discs instead of a couple hundred is also nice. Plus with things like VBR you can push some huge bitrates and blur the line of noticeable difference.

 

[Poseur]

oh, and you don't need TONS of money for a good sub. IMage Dynamics has some AWESOME SQ models in the $150 range. Plus there's MANY others out there. Ideally you're not looking for HUGE rumbling bass, just good clean reproduction of what's missing fromup front.. Also, becareful with lots of power upfront and no sub, makesure you still impliment a crossover or just be VERY careful with your gains. ONe advantage your home spekaers have is a known and tuned volume (possibly ported?) cardoors are a different world alltogether. YES tehy're the best place for getting midbass responce. but this reminds me as well that Some Form of Dynamatting is going to do you WORLDS of good. Seal off the whole thing as good as possible so that it uses your door as a "cabinet" This'll boost your lower-midrange frequency reproduction upfront

 

[sndsgood]

just so you know. your avi's in your home will in no where compare to any high ens speakers in the car. your avi's will play accurately and lower then probalby every componet set for the car. and remember that the car has a naturally built in low end resonance that will blur the low end bass if you dont have anything with impact to back it up. i'm not a bass head by any means heck for the last few years my sub was being pushed with 130 watt amp. but in a car most componet sets no matter how well they are built, will sound hollow and flat without some low end to reinforce them. if your not power hungry, your allready putting out money for an amp. your allready talking a 4 channel amp. so now your options are this. (i'm just throwing out imaginary numbers here.) buy a 4 channel now for 400$ then a year down the line, spend 300$ for a sub amp, then spend 50$ for extra wires and distribution blocks to properly wire both amps up. total 750$ or go ahead and spend 500$ now and get a 5 channel amp. in the long run this saves you 250$ also a 10" sub can be had for a little bit over 100$ this still saves you in the long run. even at 200$ for a sub your still saving more money then buying both amps. since money seems to be your major reason for pushing off a sub. i say spend wisely now and save yourself money in the long run.


also when listening to any speaker on a board pay attention or ask, or go in knowing wether the speaker was designed for on axis or off axis listening. because a speaker designed for off axis listening is not going to sound good on a speaker board pointed directly at your head. and when listening set the volume at the same level every time. try to switch between speakers without adjusting the volume at all if possible, in tests two identical speakers 9 out of 10 times the people thought the louder speaker sounded better and more accurate to them

 

[got wake?]

...but the speakers are gonna be a shot in the dark it seems like (shrug). I trust your judgement but it would be nice if I could listen to them all at the same time, but that's not gonna happen. I doubt I'll be able to hear any of them, oh well we shall see.

i highly recomend going to a local stereo competition and listening to as many SQ competitor systems as possible. that's how i chose DLS. i was judging at the time, and could not believe how nice they sounded. but what i like, you may hate. but the best way to have multiple different high quality components in one area is at a competition.

as for a sub or subs, i've got some nice sounding 8's sitting on my shelf taking up space. 8 to be exact. 3 where used for testing an SPL enclosure and they each recieved about 700 watts for a few burps, 4 i used for daily driving and they each recieved 275 watts daily, and 1 that is brand new in the box. one of them would be work well with the CA50 at 4 ohm, and you could get 2 and the amp would run both perfectly.
http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1208_03/w8-740c.asp
$30 for the brand new one, plus shipping, $25 for the ones i used for daily driving, plus shipping. the price of them is $49 new.

 

[SP33D]

if u dont mind me asking... what were the cars that you judged.. and did it happen to be a SLAP event?

 

[EvilMSP]

A few things...

I already said that I prefer soft dome tweeters. Also I know there is no ultimate anything I wasn't asking for that at all. I was just asking for "shopping help" cause I haven't looked into car audio for a while.

And yes I know a good sub is not that much. I primarily said no sub in the beginning cause I didn't want to buy another amp too. But now I've found some 5 channels that can do the job. And I never said i wasn't going to get a sub SHEESH. I just don't have the money to buy it all at once, I'm only worrying about the main speakers for now.

Sndsgood I have to disagree with you. I know exactly how they would sound in a car cause I've tried them,they sound great. My friend also built a custom setup of drivers and his own cross-over design from home components and they also rock. And most likely I'd put my speakers in a box if given the chance.

Is there a good website where I can see when/where the events are?

 

[got wake?]

if u dont mind me asking... what were the cars that you judged.. and did it happen to be a SLAP event?

i jugded in the street pro and street smart catagories at spring break nationals this year for IASCA. i'm not a SLAP judge, so i haven't judged anything for them. since SBN i haven't had a lot of time for judging, and the 2 comps i did help with i was running the SPL portion, since they had more experienced judges for SQ.

 

[got wake?]

Is there a good website where I can see when/where the events are?

you are getting towards the end of the season
http://www.iasca.com/events/
http://www.mecacaraudio.com/events2003.php


http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/UBB_CGI/ultimatebb.cgi
setup an account on there and go into the usaci, iasca, slap, and meca sections and just ask if anyone in your area would be willing to let you listen to their SQ setup. many of them like to show off and love the compliments. others hate it.

 

[SP33D]

or www.slapshow.com they have 2 shows coming up in california

 

[sndsgood]

god i hate judging spl all day long. talk about a major headache.





evil are you saying that the sound was just as good in the car as in your home? if so start competing now because ive yet to hear a car audio system compare to a halfway decent home setup. i never said your home speakers wouldn't sound good in the car, reread the post, i think you misread what i was saying, what i meant was that no high quality car audio system is going to sound as good as your home setup.

 

[EvilMSP]

Yeah sorry I knew what you meant and I also was saying other stuff. Trying to reply to too many comments at once.

Yeah they sounded different in the car but it was an interesting experiment. I used to always want to put jordans in my car but they are a little to brite for me. I'll have to look around some more and see if I can find something I like. Thanks for the help as usual, I need to go checkout those posts now.

 

[EvilMSP]

Wow when you said the end of the season you weren't joking!

I'll still try to post on the forums and see what people have going on there.

 

[sndsgood]

yeah most finals are around october and november. but that is the best way to listen to allot of diffrent equipment, you just gotta be sure they are installed properly for what they are. just because a person competes doesnt nessicarily mean their car will sound good. ive judged allot of rookies cars that have sounde way better then some amatuers and pros.

 

[EvilMSP]

I went to slapshow but it doesn't look like they have an upcomming event.

Yeah I know what you mean. After my buddy got into home/car audio we all did. I've heard so many systems and they vary like night and day it's amazing.

For some reason I feel like I can judge "quality" easier on home systems, or atleast what I like for sure. In cars it is very hard for me. I think it's rare to find a really well balanced sounding system. I always feel like something is too loud or overbearing.

Like my friend has a 4 Runner he was builing for DB contest (he stopped that idea) but it has a good system in it. But his Tempest he tuned for the car just is too much for me. That was the only part of the DB car he actually completed.

 

[got wake?]

god i hate judging spl all day long. talk about a major headache.

lol, SQ can be very fatiguing, but SPL gives you an all out headache the iasca lane was in between the meca and db drag lanes, so it hit me from everywhere. ah well, the people you meet there make up for it(thumb) i think it's the only competition where everybody get along and are good sports, for the most part. and most are more than willing to share information and help rookies along.

 

[EvilMSP]

Oh wake I got a few questions for ya I just thought of. I've always seemed to like adire subs so I would probably get one for my car. If I get that CA-50 i would have about 170 watts is that correct?

Would in your opinion (as adires biatch lol) to get a Koda or a Brahma? I'm not going for all out hip hop or SPL crazyness I just want something that is effecient and sounds great. The amount of ass shaking power is not my main concern, but it is nice to have on tap .

 

[EvilMSP]

I just looked at the rating again and it's 170 @ 4 ohm and 280 @ 2 ohm. I never actually asked/learned what the differnence in resistance does. Please can you tell me what the difference is between those 2 settings. Thanks