While browsing through the forum, i've noticed a trend that may not seem that apparent, but is happening nevertheless.
Over the last few months, many of us ecoustic members, have been changing audio equipment specifically subs, as often as we take out the trash.
I am unwilling to accept the idea that most of us who are really serious about car audio are unsatisfied with the level of performance we receive from our equipment. Maybe we are left with a feeling of inferiority when a fellow ecoustic member purchases (what we consider)a better piece of equipment. And in a bid to be better, we spend the extra $$$$ taking us a step closer to royalty, while for others they're worse off than before..
Does that officially make our equipment obsolete. Are some of the changes really necessary? Do we ever regret selling our previous equipment in a bid to sound better or louder and are bitterly disappointed?
I have been intrigued by chad lee's sub switcheroo and needless to say i've been doing the same. Yes I've gone from R-type to w7 to imax to fi to Mag's and im pondering an alpha or revo. Maybe i should just get me an axis..., but then i'd probably want the lms too...
I've upgraded amps from rockford to jl slash series and i'm presently getting some mmats. I'll probably be upgrading to zapco reference then to the C2k's maybe after trying the dls a-series....
"well....not exactly. I'm set on my amps, HU, and comps. Thinking about a new substage. I've had my 2.5's for a year now and kinda want something new. "
Good for you, im saving in hopes to buy a used denom/rockford made hu or the alpine cda-7990 (f1 status). Yeah i am hoping to buy the seas lotus reference for around ~ a grand... but until then the cycle continues...
I wake to the sight of a subwoofer and i go to bed with one next to me .... so i guess i am fuelling my own passion.
Type S = Type R = Premiers = RD and then I might be going RD again
Amps have been a bit more:
Kenwood = Rockford = Sony = Sony = Helix = Exile = Earthquake = RD
It's just you need more power and more bass, but for now I think I am happy with the power and subs. Just going top be grabbing some Alphas from Steve here as my Elites sound like p00p with music...lol
I will be tossing the elites in my little Ford Escort so I should hit some decent numbers.
I have probably switched out the least of everyone. I am what you call a tweaker, person who likes to perfect what he has until all gain is at a standstill. I think most of it is just bandwagon and everyone seems they like to jump aboard. Polo..
Until someone comes out and says they have something performs better than my 5200/IA40 (16V daily) setup, there isn't really any need to switch. Actually I have switched amps/boxes like you guys switch subs but now I think I have reached a platue in life lOl. Polo.
only regret i have is selling the audiocontrol epicenter. cause after i sell it, i end up buying a new one then sell it again and buy another new one. its cause at first i liked it then i didn't like it. after i change the sub i feel like trying it again so i buy it again. then i don't like it so i sell it. lol. hope that makes some sense. hahaha.
i doubt i'll ever get the 9115. rob has talked me out of it.
Why dont you just keep the epic. installed and pop in the controller only when you need it? It's less hassel...
I know that more processors connected in a signal chain introduces noise into the signal, but audiocontrol processors have S/N and THD values that limit that effect.
yeah i know that now lol. but i don't need the epicenter and i doubt i'll ever need it.
however i am so fricking interested in the alpine headunits cause i want to try out the imprint stuff. lol. sometimes i can't sleep at night because of it.
I have run Fi BTL 18s since October of 2006. They're the only subs I plan on running until I mess one up and need to recone it. Then I might buy the new BTLs.
I've run Memphis amps since about Jan of 2007, and unless I get a hellacious deal on sundown 7ks I'll be running these amps for a long time.
I think people switch subs so much because they hope for something better instead of deciding what they expect from their setup and working with what they have. Most people would rather use one box for one 12, then make a totally different box for their new one and think the huge difference is from the sub itself.
Like polo said, it's a bandwagon thing. Everyone wants audiopulse now, it's the same deal.
I think everyone intersted in car audio should right a list of their goals. I wanted loud, I found the BTLS and while there may be a sub or two that may gain a few 10ths on the meter in a swap-out, the customer service is so good with Fi unless someone paid me to sport another brands product I wouldn't. Like I said- figure out what you really want and save up for it.
Without having a bunch of subs and doing a direct swap out in the same enclosure it's not really fair to compare them anyway.
Well... I was telling everyone here about TC/AP, Hex silks, and DLS amps two years ago. It just takes people awhile to trust someone enough to value their opinion on things. So, I am sorry about the recent bandwagon because I started it. A new one is just beginning, stay tuned
lol. i tried a ton of equipment...it is hard to keep up and be competitive with old equipment....i have had 11 subs and 9 motors in my kitchen at one point lol...a month ago maybe???
I'm lucky that I get to hear Chads setups. That way I don't have to purchase my own equipment to test out. If I hear something that I like that he has, I consider it. This gives me the chance to listen to subs without having to pay for it, its great! lol. Thanks Chad, we still have to meet up so I can hear the revo. Also treez, hope you got my email, JL amp has been shipped out for awhile now. Should arrive thursday.
Polo, i guess that sub gets more TLC than the wifee lol..
Its a beefy looking sub...
"lol. i tried a ton of equipment...it is hard to keep up and be competitive with old equipment....i have had 11 subs and 9 motors in my kitchen at one point lol...a month ago maybe??? "
hunterw, i dont totally agree with your statement. And im sure im not alone when i say that purchasing new equipment does not guarantee you a place in the spotlight(whether it be sq, sql or spl). No doubt there will be great expectation for a better performance, but is that always the outcome? Is a better performance guaranteed? I think not. Unless one has really done their home work, the upgrade in most cases tends to be for comestic purposes.... e.g upgrade to a carbon fibre dustcap, a custom painted basket, inverted dustcap, a triple stacked magnet, quad coils .....etc
Mmats has produced really phenominal subwoofers; mainly the dreadnauts and juggernauts. They haven't produced any drivers since then and im sure that in a properly designed spl applications they should be on par and in some cases louder than; the JBL's, Mojos, re sx's,MT's, btl's, atomics, rd's, hdc's, treo's (just to name a few)that have become a household name.
It all comes down to the install, which factors in every possible variable that could affect performance.
If what you're saying is true, many Re xxx and Adire audio owners would have sold their subs for the new hype...
You can still be competitive with old equipment... Trying to keep up with the trend is your decision....
It really is an addiction. I feel like im behind times when I DON'T have an audio project going on... Like after a complete a setup and wang it for a few months... I feel like unaccomplisht once again and change things up a bit! :D
Advice is great but the best lessons are the ones learned through experiences/failures. The ones who swap out so often are IMO the ones who want to hear it all and have a better perspective on the hobby.
Every child falls when learning to walk. They have to. One of my favorite quotes from a great movie: (Sorry it's so long lol.)
"So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, séxual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared sh1tless kid. But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fUcking life apart."
I doubt that anyone who lived through those experiences can live a normal live ever again. It would require enormous will power to even want to exist.
For those who survive, they do it for the sake of their siblings,spouse or a dream that may never become reality, but sometimes pursuing the dream is more fullfilling than the dream itself.
"hunterw, i dont totally agree with your statement. And im sure im not alone when i say that purchasing new equipment does not guarantee you a place in the spotlight(whether it be sq, sql or spl). No doubt there will be great expectation for a better performance, but is that always the outcome? Is a better performance guaranteed? I think not. Unless one has really done their home work, the upgrade in most cases tends to be for comestic purposes.... e.g upgrade to a carbon fibre dustcap, a custom painted basket, inverted dustcap, a triple stacked magnet, quad coils .....etc "
no but you do have to try it, just in case it could be, and usually it is...and i care nothing of cosmetics or the lime light, i buy, test and rebuild because the love of the sport, to gain knowledge, and to know what works best for ME...
if i wanted cosmetic subs i buy a little girly sub like polos! LOL. and actually the best looking sub i ever played with was one of the best sounding ive ever heard...tc sounds oem 10...
though i do understand where your coming from, i honestly do this for myself,and always have. =)
"Advice is great but the best lessons are the ones learned through experiences/failures. The ones who swap out so often are IMO the ones who want to hear it all and have a better perspective on the hobby.
like a lot have said, it's an addiction and an expensive hobby for sure.
for me, half the fun is installing it. there's nothing like running wire and hooking everything up, and firing it up for the first time. it seriously gives me a lot of satisfaction working my butt off to build a unique enclosure that is neat and just, well, fluckin cool in general.
also, for me. i blew my first sub. the cheap replacement i got made me want new ones. so i got 2 loud subs. they lacked the sq i wanted so i got 2 sq subs. haha they lacked the spl i wanted, so i got one loudazz 15. and honestly, i think i've found the sub. all my friends and my parents joke with me about "changing stuff up again?" but i love it.
like i said, i love installing the stuff and then just bumpin to it. pretty much all my friends except for one see it as the biggest waste of money, but i love it.
i did alot of changes since i got int to the game subs pep subs and road mastersubs- flea market subs - kicker cvr 10's- to the now work in progress setup 2 AQ hdc315
amps legacy- pyle- thunder- infinity- and soon to be AQ2200 and kicker 350.4
its a game and its hard to not upgrade when your have the money or when you have bought a new car and you want that sound you use to have its like and addiction that you crave
