Lets Talk Audio....

[BLKMAGIC]

Ok, so I'm officially sick of the sound from my 13 Express QC. Decided I want to upgrade, just not sure where to start...I used to be a little addicted to audio, but its been probably 5 years since I did anything. My previous system included 3 sets of MB Quart Q-Series component sets powered by (2) JL Audio 300.4 amps, 2 JL Audio W6v2's powered by a single 1000.1, run off of an Eclipse double din that I LOVED. Little more bass than I would want these days, as I am thinking I would probably go with a single 10 or 12 in the Ram and stick with a sound quality setup, I mostly listen to country these days.

So, what are you guys running? Whats good out there these days, and the right quality to dollar ratio? I was looking at JL Audio C5's, but I know im paying a little extra for the name, so what are my better options? Would love to go with Rainbow, but not really interested in spending quite that much...

 

[Cynix]

I'm running focal performance series 6.5 components in the front doors w/ the tweets in the dash and 6x9 coaxial in the rear doors run off a jl 400/4 supplemented by a jl stealthbox running off a 300/1 sounds amazing just the right amount of bass and the crisp sound is unmatched

 

[charonblk07]

A used set of C5s is a decent investment and makes them more affordable. I loved the C5s I had in my '07 and were worth the money IMHO but there are defiitely some better quality for the same price new.

 

[Etroze86]

Budget lol we will help you spend your money . seriously though there a lot of brands out there that will hang with jl for less money in the sq world.

 

[BLKMAGIC]

Budget lol we will help you spend your money . seriously though there a lot of brands out there that will hang with jl for less money in the sq world.

Thats exactly what information im looking for, 5 years of not paying attention to the industry has me lost to new, quality brands and brands that have fallen off or had a resurgence.

As far as budget, I would love to stay under $2000 for the whole package (Headunit, speakers, sub, amp/amps), but I am not afraid of moving past that if the right situation presents itself. Labor isnt an issue as the install will be done myself.

 

[Bkhsvt]

I went with alpine type r line with a slim 10 in type r, and am running everything off a pdx v9 very simple and streamlined. The birth sheet on the amp is 136 rms x4 and 559rms x1 in a 7"x10" sized amp. All of which is fairly reasonable in price.

 

[autokraftgt]

Well Rainbow does not sell their equipment online anymore, nor do they allow any authorized dealers to do so...and there are lots of fakes out there now so buyer beware.
MB Quart has sold their souls and now makes crap along with many other brands (Boston Included)
However, there are a lot of manufacturers making wonderful stuff in all price ranges.
Iam currently running Dynaudio speakers, Arc Audio Subs, & Arc Audio Amps.
Spend some time researching what's hot, and what's not

 

[Etroze86]

I would say Arc, Image dynamics, Focal, JBL, PHD would be some to look into for sure. Others that do loud very well but you comprimise SQ a little bit are Sundown, Skar, Soundqubed (audioque), Digital Designs, and the list goes on for great brands that can do both. One of the biggest things is go and listen to what you are looking for.
I personally don't enjoy Focals and JL's bright tweeters but thats me other people love them, but what I can tell you is that every Skar, Sundown, Soundqubed product I have heard and personally ran in my vehicles will eat up almost all of them mid range brands like Alpine, MB Quart, Rockford (mid to lower end teirs) and Pioneer(excluding stage 4).
Hope this gives a little more idea of what is out there.

 

[BLKMAGIC]

I have heard the Focals and they sounded good, not sure which line it was though....I was pricing those out earlier, and was looking at the $800 range for Focal Access 165 3-way components for up front, IC690 6x9s for rear doors, and a SOLID4 to run them all. Not bad as far as cost, nice to know they are worth looking deeper into.

 

[Etroze86]

If you are looking more budget friendly I believe the new PPI 3ways are supposed to be really hard to beat for the money. I am assuming that since you've built systems before that sound deadening will be a part of your build. I just want to touch on how much the doors and back wall will resonate when you add a little power to them. I would at the minimum put cld titles the doors shooting for close to 50% coverage.

 

[BradKnob]

^^^ i like what he said. I would def look into a 3way setup since our trucks are already setup for it (not critical but just my preference) and ive heard good things about the new JBL 3 way as far as price/performance goes.

Also if not installed properly a $1000 speaker can sound like complete $hit. You can usually find great deals on great equiopment over at DIYMA. Spend a few days there and you will learn whats what now a days. Ive got just barely over $2k in my system, I havent added it up yet but im sure its well over that had i purchased everything new.