Which Headunit Is The Best? Help Me Decide

[Vtolds]

Originally posted by FormulaNERD@Mar 5 2005, 12:02 PM
mtx is crap.

Sounds good, would the Alphasonic Setup be better for less money. From all the reviews they say it works good but not earth shattering, but I dont earth shattering I want to have good sound inside my car not in everyone elses around me

[mike2002]

Originally posted by FormulaNERD@Mar 5 2005, 12:02 PM
mtx is crap.

im sure you know what your talking about

mtx is pretty far from crap, what from mtx are you looking at?

[FormulaNERD]

i've heard some good things about alphasonik, but most of the comments were "it looks cool"

so i dont know, if i were you i'd get something that someone can vouch for, otherwise it'll end up sounding like crap.

but if you want to go with something that you dont know much about... this is a pretty good deal...

Visonik V103BP Dual 10" BP Series
free shipping, free 25$ gift card, bandpass enclosure

(and they have really good deals on head units, use the 25$ gift card, and you're set.)

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_1998.html

http://sonicelectronix.com/item_3295.html

http://sonicelectronix.com/item_3292.html

[Vtolds]

mikegett has been talking to me about maby getting some eclipes Subs/amp through his work. I know that he says they are good, I want to here everyone elses opinion on Eclipes.

[FormulaNERD]

eclipse is nice stuff..... as far as head units go.

havent personally expirienced anything with their subs/amps, but they should be decent.

[Vtolds]

I am kinda Still leaning toward that Alphasonic Setup, it is suppost to be good and for that price you can t beat it. Unless I can save alot more money that will probably be the one I get plus either the Alphine Headunit, but I kinda like the JVC Arsenal.

[FormulaNERD]

i posted the same alpine you're looking at for 10 bucks cheaper, and you still get the install kit.

[Vtolds]

Originally posted by FormulaNERD@Mar 5 2005, 02:05 PM
i posted the same alpine you're looking at for 10 bucks cheaper, and you still get the install kit.

Yeah I saw that. :thumbsup:

[FormulaNERD]

and so you know, i've dealt with sonic electronix, the customer service is pretty good, and the prices are almost always the best.

[Screamin eagle]

I agree formula, MTX is crap. They have gone the way of rockford fosgate, cheaper equipment to lower the price and be competitive. They used to be some of the best but now I think they suck. The loudest car I ever sat in had 3 eclipse 12's in it. Eclipse subs are amazing. I think that he paid about 700 apiece for his subs though. If you can get eclipse subs for a comparable price as what we've been talking about go with them.

[mike2002]

i dont have any experience with eclipse, ive only "heard good things" for what thats worth

i dont think you guys have heard any of mtx's stuff lately, i think alot of people just hear "mtx is crap" and they go with it because some else heard it. we had both the MTX and JL audio demo trucks at my brothers shop, JL on a weds, mtx the next day. the 9500's sounded much better than JL's stuff. mtx blew them away in every price category, thats why he sells mtx now, the JL would have actually gotten him better profit margin. there bottom of the line stuff does suck, but so does every companies. Look at the mtx 5500. i had one of those in the recommended ported box, and it shook my brothers whole shop. 2 Phoenix gold 12" octane z's couldn't do that (in a sealed box). this was the loudest $150 msrp sub ive ever heard, every review ive ever read said whatever the rated RMS of there products is, we doubled it and it took it no problem, mtx is very under rated.

my friend had a JL stealth box in his transam. we just put a mtx 5500 10" in a custom stealth box and a 300 watt mtx amp in his 98 vette, im really suprised how loud it is, and he said it sounds better than the JL, and is still louder.

its like people that just shout out "jl is crap" or "rockford is junk" chances are those people have no experience with that brand, and if they do its with the $50 best buy special. i think both brands are overpriced, thats why id never recommend them

edit: also had a chance to hear the alpine type R and type S components at ultimate electronics.... mtx 6000 convertibles sounded so much warmer and detailed, but they are a little to deep for my car, thats why i went with PG octane Zr's

[mikegett]

Originally posted by mike2002@Mar 6 2005, 04:50 PM
i dont have any experience with eclipse, ive only "heard good things" for what thats worth

i dont think you guys have heard any of mtx's stuff lately, i think alot of people just hear "mtx is crap" and they go with it because some else heard it. we had both the MTX and JL audio demo trucks at my brothers shop, JL on a weds, mtx the next day. the 9500's sounded much better than JL's stuff. mtx blew them away in every price category, thats why he sells mtx now, the JL would have actually gotten him better profit margin. there bottom of the line stuff does suck, but so does every companies. Look at the mtx 5500. i had one of those in the recommended ported box, and it shook my brothers whole shop. 2 Phoenix gold 12" octane z's couldn't do that (in a sealed box). this was the loudest $150 msrp sub ive ever heard, every review ive ever read said whatever the rated RMS of there products is, we doubled it and it took it no problem, mtx is very under rated.

my friend had a JL stealth box in his transam. we just put a mtx 5500 10" in a custom stealth box and a 300 watt mtx amp in his 98 vette, im really suprised how loud it is, and he said it sounds better than the JL, and is still louder.

its like people that just shout out "jl is crap" or "rockford is junk" chances are those people have no experience with that brand, and if they do its with the $50 best buy special. i think both brands are overpriced, thats why id never recommend them

edit: also had a chance to hear the alpine type R and type S components at ultimate electronics.... mtx 6000 convertibles sounded so much warmer and detailed, but they are a little to deep for my car, thats why i went with PG octane Zr's

You nailed it with that reply. Every company is going to have good and bad products. Or at the least a ok product and a better product. The key to comparison is testing products that are targeted at the same demographic. As it stands, nothing bought at best buy will ever compare to a spl sub and comp. amplifier. However, you may not need a spl system. shop for what you want and buy what you can afford. My suggestion is to purhchase the best amp that can be afforded. Underpowering any sub is going to result in poor results and no chance for upgrading.

[Vtolds]

I got a question. If you have 2 600watt subs would a 1200watt amp be what I would wanna look for? or can you do like a 300 watt amp and have it sound good?

[Youngblood77]

That depends Danny. When you say "1200 watt subs", is that 1200 watt rating RMS, or Peak? A good rule of thumb is to stick to the RMS or "continuous" power ratings, mainly because your music will rarely "peak" the system out. Keep in mind though, never mate a sub with an amp that has a higher peak power rating for that channel.

For example: If you have 2 subs that are rated for 300 watts RMS, then a 600 watt rms 2 channel amp is all you'll need. ( 300 watts rms per channel ).

Now, if you knew what these things meant, and asked the question asking for an opinion on sound, that depends on a number of variables:

1) What kind of box are the subs going to be in? If they're going to be in a sealed box, then I'd say no, sealed boxes require more power to preform "up to par". If they're going into something like a bandpass, then I'd say yes, because those boxes are very efficient in a narrow frequency range, and an underpowered sub will still sound halfways decent.

2) If you're talking about lower-end components, then yes, a lower amount of power would suffice, because it's been my experience that cheaper subwoofers are a little better in terms of efficiancy, but are less accurate, and don't last as long because of their "looseness". On the other hand, if you're talking about a higher-end sub, it'll require it's rated RMS wattage to preform to it's true potential.

Hope this helps.

[Vtolds]

These are the specs for the Eclipes PA4212 AMP

# 310W × 2 Channel Max. Power Output at 2
# 200W × 2 Channel 0.1% THD at 2 Stereo, 20–20,000Hz@13.8V (RMS Continuous Power)
# 130W × 2 Channel 0.1% THD at 4 Stereo, 20–20,000Hz@13.8V (RMS Continuous Power)

What would be 2 good eclipes subs to go along with this amp?
Eclipes Subs CLICK ME

[mike2002]

Originally posted by Youngblood77@Mar 6 2005, 03:09 PM
That depends Danny. When you say "1200 watt subs", is that 1200 watt rating RMS, or Peak? A good rule of thumb is to stick to the RMS or "continuous" power ratings, mainly because your music will rarely "peak" the system out. Keep in mind though, never mate a sub with an amp that has a higher peak power rating for that channel.

For example: If you have 2 subs that are rated for 300 watts RMS, then a 600 watt rms 2 channel amp is all you'll need. ( 300 watts rms per channel ).

you also run into the problem that companies strait up lie how much power they can handle, or how much there amps put out.

cea helps with amp ratings, but theyy still have loop holes. its best to post what subs your looking at, so we can better judge if those are really 600 watt rms subs.

all these manufacture lies and loopholes made people forget how much power 500 watts really is. everything now has "1500 watts" plastered all over it, when its probably putting out 3-400 somewhat clean continious watts (i feel like i really cant spell today...lol)

[Vtolds]

Would somethling like this CLICK ME work really good with that Amp? since there 2ohm SUbs and that amp makes the most power at 2ohms?

Amp link

[mikegett]

Originally posted by Youngblood77@Mar 6 2005, 08:09 PM
That depends Danny. When you say "1200 watt subs", is that 1200 watt rating RMS, or Peak? A good rule of thumb is to stick to the RMS or "continuous" power ratings, mainly because your music will rarely "peak" the system out. Keep in mind though, never mate a sub with an amp that has a higher peak power rating for that channel.

For example: If you have 2 subs that are rated for 300 watts RMS, then a 600 watt rms 2 channel amp is all you'll need. ( 300 watts rms per channel ).

Now, if you knew what these things meant, and asked the question asking for an opinion on sound, that depends on a number of variables:

1) What kind of box are the subs going to be in? If they're going to be in a sealed box, then I'd say no, sealed boxes require more power to preform "up to par". If they're going into something like a bandpass, then I'd say yes, because those boxes are very efficient in a narrow frequency range, and an underpowered sub will still sound halfways decent.

2) If you're talking about lower-end components, then yes, a lower amount of power would suffice, because it's been my experience that cheaper subwoofers are a little better in terms of efficiancy, but are less accurate, and don't last as long because of their "looseness". On the other hand, if you're talking about a higher-end sub, it'll require it's rated RMS wattage to preform to it's true potential.

Hope this helps.

The quality of a sub has nothing to do with the efficiency. You need to look at the sensitivity rating. A higher sensitivity sub will produce more spl for given watts than a sub with lower sensitivity ratings. The problem is that most companies only place the sensitivity rating on speakers due to the excessive consumption subs require.
I agree with mike on overrating products. It is very hard to find products that are going to displace what they claim. However, you can trust that the eclipse amps will do exactly what it rates. I also disagree with purchasing a larger amp than what the subs require. Gain and volume can easily be turned down to compensate for overpowering. A 800 watt RMS amp does not mean that 800 watts will always be going to the speaker. It means that at max consumption the amp will always have the capability to do 800 watts.
Here is a pic of the amp specs he wanted.

[mikegett]

It will depend on if you want one sub or two. If you want two subs then go with the lower end SW6123 with dual voice coil 4+4. You can place each subs voice coils in parallel to get 2ohms without bridging. The subs rms is 250 while the amps rms at 2ohms is 200 per channel.
If you want one sub then go with the SW7124DVC-T2. This is a much better sub and the 2+2 voice coil will allow you to run the sub in series briged at 4 ohms. The subs rating is 450 watts rms and 900 max. The amps rating is 400 watts rms bridged with 800 max.
The sw6123 will be 42 appiece while the sw7124 is 90. Here are the pros and cons. The sw6 will give you 2 subs for less, but are the lowest model made with a excursion of .78 one way. The sw712 is one of the best subs made (next to the titaniums) with a full aluminum cone and 1.4" (one way)excursions. These were the subs that started the spl crave in 97. They were the first sub to handle a thousand watts, had the largest excursion, and were the first to use aluminum cones. I owned a 8 inch and loved it. I jsut didn't have the power to push it at the time.

[Vtolds]

what about SW6103? I already have the 10 inch boxes that I plan on modding and the SW6123 are 12inch.