NG76

First of all, hi i'm new here and just bought my new GC last month (2.0T M/T Nord Gray) and i'm loving it. I'm looking to upgrade the factory component system very soon here and was wondering what the top 5 car audio brands were? I'm not too pleased with the factory speakers at all, they just sound like crap. Going to get a Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD in-dash receiver with it as well.

Leaning towards Orion HCCA component system right now as i hear they are one of the best.

 

mmrp81

There is no such thing as a top 5 list of audio equipment.

It's completely opinional, and a product one company might excel in, they might lack in another company.

There's two types of audio brands.... retail, and competition.

Retail are the ones you see in Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.. usually decent brands. Rockford, Pioneer, KEnwood, etc..

Competition class brands are Earthquake, CDT, Concept, Atomic Thunder, etc.. These are brands that are very good, but shy away from the retail market and focus their equipment to audio shops and competitive market.

My personal favorites are Concept Audio for subwoofers, and CDT Audio for components, and Earthquake amplifiers. These are competition class equipment available from specific dealers. I worked at an audio shop, and the set up I had was amazing.

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NG76

Yea.. i wasn't looking for facts, that's what specifications are for. I was more looking for everyone's personal opinions. But thanks for the input anyways, now at least, i have a clearer picture. So which retail brands would you recommend? Top 5?

mmrp81

Rockford Fosgate is decent. They were better a few years ago. Now the quality has dropped a little, but they are still reputable.

MTX is not very good.

Pioneer makes good everything. Kenwood/Orion I've installed in cars before, and I don't like them at all. (clearly opinion based)

Infinity has nice equipment. Their lowest end equipment is in the GC's premium stereo package. Their higher end stuff (in retail stores) are good.

Thats all I can really think of at the moment that is sold in retail stores. I usually don't go to retail stores for my audio needs.

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fatflyguy

You pay for what you get! If you're not into audio to much stick to the most popular names. Jl, alpine, pioneer, Memphis ect.

Tony20tGen

well I sold car equipment for 13yrs for my dad. BEST would have to be Mcintosh, arc audio, zapco, Diamond audio, Matts. Im will be building my light weight setup soon!

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socks

i really dig elemental designs.

I have a nine.1 and jl 10w3 in my genesis

I got my g/f a nine.2 and 11kv2 for her mazdaspeed3

the Kv2 is VERY similar to the w3 line.

dimoko

one word. Alpine

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briansol

rockford is garbage.

mcintosh, memphis, focal, elemental designs, etc are great stuff... but you will pay for it severely. and for what? your ears probably can't tell the difference in the $10000 components vs the 400 components

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N2OInferno

I wouldn't really call elemental designs expensive, especially compared to other stuff out there.

Best bang for the buck IMO.

I also had some refurb'd CDT components in my Protege5 and they sounded outstanding coupled to a PPI amp.

Also, if you know how (or have money for someone who does) setting up a better sound stage will also help you get a much better aural experience.

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taspankya

Kenwood guy here.. they make pretty good stuff all around, headunits, amps, speakers, subs

in fact all the audio equip. in my old car was Kenwood

Kel O Tron

Listen to this man, because he speaks the truth.

Other good brands are Dynaudio, Focal, CDT, USAmps, RE Audio, Butler Audio, Adire Audio (If you can still find their stuff since they went out of business), and Boston Acoustics.

I personally wouldn't go with Elemental Designs. IMO they suck and are not worth the money. Every single product that my friends or myself have invested in have failed. Their O12 bottomed out with minor power, their sound deadener kept peeling off in hot weather, their components would take a crap, the list doesn't stop either.

I knew CRSX swore by eD, but I personally think they suck and they are a cheapo brand that nobody should consider.

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N2OInferno

I have a seven year old e12k that's still going strong.

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dogstar

Alpine, Pioneer and JL are among the best of the store brands. Kenwood is ok in some areas but I hate their decks. JBL makes nice subs.

There are tons of boutique brands like Image Dynamics, Hertz/Audison, Resonant Engineering, Mmats, Digital Designs and so on, that all make some fantastic product (and a few duds).

Elemental Designs belongs in the Lanzar/Pyle/Pyramid class, along with MTX and most new Rockford Fosgate stuff... Not very good, but if it's all you can afford, install it as good as you can and hope for the best.

And I've got a 13kv.2 that I reconed with crazy glue with a cone from a sub that was DOA (Elemental Designs wanted me to pay both shipping costs to return and send it back to me, which would have been $90 for a $75 sub that was f**ked up when it got here).
The reconed sub has been getting the crap beaten out of it in a too-small box, running 450 rms watts to one coil (of a dual coil sub)... that one coil is rated for 150 watts.
This may sound impressive, but it doesn't illustrate the fact that it sounds like **** and isn't very efficient.

ED is bargain basement stuff, like I said, use it if its all you can afford, but save up for something better if you can.

Genesis21585

put you money where your sounds is,lol. I'm going with a JL,Infinity,JBL setup,but mostly do your research. Oh and you get what you pay for remember that always.

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fatflyguy

Well I had just over 10grand invested into my audio comp car a few years ago. I miss that thing. Now I run with 2 jl 10w6's for the gen and 2 12" type r's for my winter beater.

fatflyguy

Oo and I still have some original Orion xtr's before they sold out! Those subs rock.

briansol

you're high

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Bone Stock

NG76

Thanks for tips everyone, researching all mentioned audio brands.

dogstar

No, I'm opinionated.

I don't have a high opinion of ED, some of their product is good (which can also be said for Lanzar, their OPTI digital amps are great) but a bunch of ED's product line is also complete junk, like their sound deadening and most of the subs that I've been able to hear, their service also leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm not the only person who feels this way, but that is MY opinion. You are perfectly entitled to disagree, but at least now you know why I feel the way I do.