listening to my options

spwuinmk67

So today I went around the county, stopping at a few different audio shops. The one I was mainly looking for, happened to shut down about a year ago, and nobody noted this. So I find another shop, which sells JL, Orion, some MB Q, Kenwood, and a few others. I tell the manager that as soon as I sell my stuff, which should be maybe the first or second weekend in Dec., I'll be looking to buy a new component set, and that I had wanted to listen and test my options. He tells me that he doesn;t have most of the higher end stuff in the sound board, due to the fact that he doesn't want people coming in and messing around with them, then be in the hole $800 or whatever for the busted speakers. That's understandable, but then he goes on to say that he has the JL XR's installed in his car, and if I want, I can take a listen. Alrighty, I go and listen to a variety of different things, and they sounded wonderfull. Being the manager, he had a full coustom install for everything, but none the less, these speakers sounded great. There was something I'm not too sure I liked. Not only was his components JL's, but his rear door speakers were, he had 2 W6's in the trunk, all his amps were JL, along with everything else JL offers I'm sure, including wires. He was also sporting a JL jacket, and says that his employee's for the most part run JL, and that the install they're doing right now, is with JL gear. In this convo, he goes on to tell me how the install he mentioned, is a redo of a previous set-up by another shop, I'm not sure all of the gear that was in it, but I know the amps were Crossfire, and that the whole system sounded horrible, no matter how it was tuned, and that the amps were of bad quality, nothing good, etc. He was really pushing these JL XR's on me. While they sounded great, I'm not too fond of everything being JL. Not sure how to take this exactly...

audiobliss

hmmm...I dunno; don't think I've ever heard any JL speakers.

I can certainly understand not wanting to have your 'nice' speakers messed up by some kid, but you do have to have your stuff out so it can be listened to. I don't think Now! AudioVideo ever had much of a problem with stuff getting messed up....

exalted512

the XR series are good speakers--i even considered buying them instead of my diamonds
they are basically equal to my diamonds, but with more midbass
the XRs are 1 of the 2 things id ever recommend from JL
-Cody

MacLeod

First off the XR's are awesome speakers. Sweet midrange with great midbass. The tweeter is very good but not the best out there.

The MB Quart is a smidge more detailed than the XR but has less midbass. It has a more natural sound. The Premium series from Quart is more of a match but theyre $550 as opposed to the $375 XR's.

Second, this guy sounds like the typical dimwit that works in these places. You cant trust a word they say. Theyre worse than Circuit City salesmen. When somebody carries a brand, he has to buy a certain amount in order to keep their contract so apparantly he has to buy more JL stuff than anything else so naturally he's going to push the **** out of it.

Ive also noticed that whenever a brand drops a shop, they usually get pissed off and start trashing the brand. A shop in Texas that used to carry MB Quart and PPI but got dumped by them so now when you go in there they badmouth PPI and MBQ!!

Plus, Crossfire amps kick ****! Ive got two and theyre clean and powerul. If they sucked then Mobile Entertainmend would occasionally use them to test speakers now would they??

spwuinmk67

After hearing them, they're definatly an option, but this guys attitude just bugged me, almost made me walk out before hearing them. He also didn't seem very knowledgable about other brands, even some better ones. He had a set of Boston components that I would've liked to hear, but they were just in a display case. I like the fact that the XR's also come in a 3-way system as well, but the RMS is only 70 watts. Which if thats for the whole 3-way, or even 2-way, system then that works out to be like 25 watts each speaker. Thats not a lot, if its 70 per component, 210 per system, then thats a different story.

TrappedUnder Ice

Any reputable shop that Ive been in has had thier Hi-end stuff on the board...with the exception of Dynaudio...they only sold em when asked about them. Personally....sounds like a crock of b.s. and he's just sellin JL. I'm really not a big fan of JL. Decent stuff at a price. Best bet is to shop around and find some other brands to compare. One thing to consider. What was his real install like? I mean where his doors poded...did he have floor pods? dynamated? these all make a diff. And what sounds good in one vehicle...wont necessarily sound good in another...
happy hunting

spwuinmk67

His install was very nice and very clean. Dynamat everywhere, the mid's were concealed behind the doors, but said that they were installed very secure, sealed from the chance of any water getting in, I don't remember him saying if they were 'glassed in there or not, but his subs were. And I do realize what sounds good in one won't sound good in another, which is why I'm trying to find other places and take a listen to multiple different set-ups and speakers.

Thom

Originally posted by MacLeod

Second, this guy sounds like the typical dimwit that works in these places. You cant trust a word they say. Theyre worse than Circuit City salesmen. When somebody carries a brand, he has to buy a certain amount in order to keep their contract so apparantly he has to buy more JL stuff than anything else so naturally he's going to push the **** out of it.

That is a possibilty, but another is that he stands behind the brand. JL got to be the most desired brand by making people happy. When I sold it in retail we never had people come back unhappy with the product, just for the occasional blown woofer. It could be that they never have problems with JL so they push that first and hope that the customer is pleased.

...or it could be that he's direct with them and trans- ships other products so he makes more money on the JL stuff, and has to sell a certain amount of it.

exalted512

Originally posted by Thom
That is a possibilty, but another is that he stands behind the brand. JL got to be the most desired brand by making people happy. When I sold it in retail we never had people come back unhappy with the product, just for the occasional blown woofer. It could be that they never have problems with JL so they push that first and hope that the customer is pleased.

...or it could be that he's direct with them and trans- ships other products so he makes more money on the JL stuff, and has to sell a certain amount of it.

or it could be they just hired the guy off the street and has heard JL was good so thats what he indorses
JL got to be the most desired brand by marketing, much like bose
dont get me wrong, theyre not bad equipment, when they were first starting out they had good stuff at a great price, those times are long gone now though
good to hear from you thom--i thought you guys disappeared
and compliments to whoever banned ronald...great freakin job
-Cody

Thom

But how many guys off the street end up with a full- blown system?

I've known guys who installed for years and had ****, if any, systems in their cars.

I'm sure he got some kind of accom. pricing and that played a part of his decision, but he could still like JL even if he's been in the industry for 20 years.

Some people say our amps are overpriced, but that's coming from one perspective. I remember spending $1,000 on a PPI 50 watt x 4 amplifier back in '96. Our 75 watt x 4 (90 + watts per channel, really) is less than hlaf that, so it seems cheap to me.

Audiobahn and the other flea- market **** ruined everything...

Thom

Originally posted by exalted512
-i thought you guys disappeared
and compliments to whoever banned ronald...great freakin job
-Cody

It was only due to a misunderstanding that he wasn't banned sooner, but I'm not capable of it...

-justin-

Yeah we have a zero tolerance policy with troublemakers now, so please let me know immediately.

Please note that I’ll follow these rules very strictly should I see a problem: Forum Rules

Thanks,
~Justin

MacLeod

Aw, I liked ole Ronnie boy. Ya just gotta laugh at morons like that, you cant let em piss you off.

My problem with shop salesmen is you cant trust them at all. Another example is my local Alpine shop, that has carried Alpine gear for as long as I can rember isnt carrying them anymore. When I asked why they claimed "cause Alpine is making junk now". V12 amps and Type X speakers are junk? :rolleyes: Oh give me a freaking break! I guaran-damn-tee ya they had a falling out with Alpine so now theyre trashing them.

Also, in the entire Chattanooga area only one shop has their speakers setup for demo. Audio Visions. They have their Diamond speakers setup not to mention a Chevy Tahoe demo with Diamond speakers and subs and Eclipse amps. But other than that they have nothing. You have to go to Tweeter to hear good speakers.

I will still support my local dealers but I will no longer put any stock in which brand the clerk likes best. I will however take his advice on installation and tweaking techniques. I still find theyre usually a lot more knowledgable than me.

spwuinmk67

Originally posted by MacLeod
Aw, I liked ole Ronnie boy.

Only cause he liked JL too.:D

MacLeod

LOL!!! Hey, Im outnumbered 2 to 1 on here so I need all the allies I can get, even the nitwits!

Joelsbass

6) Do not brand bash. We're all in this together. Discuss what you like and dislike. But don't bash someone or something because you don't like it.

can we make exceptions for sony and bose??

exalted512

and MacLeod and JL?:D

MacLeod

Originally posted by exalted512
the XR series are good speakers--i considered buying them instead of my diamonds
they are basically equal to my diamonds, but with more midbass

-Cody

Progress at last!

exalted512

dont make me put that quote back in the signature;)

MacLeod

LOL! Where do ya think I learned that from??

Besides, we all know MB Quart really rules! :eek:

exalted512

when i get my DLS...itll put em to shame

[Deleted User]

Who are you getting your DLS stuff from?

exalted512

dave stacy

[Deleted User]

I was just wondering. I knew someone who used to (or still might) trans-ship DLS.

bknauss

I'd put $100 down that he'll still sell that line of stuff even though he'll probably hop over to a new company with this new 240SX.

MacLeod

Boy, DLS sure seems to be all the rage lately. Ive never heard them and there isnt a dealer anywhere near me but theyre popping up all over other forums as the baddest boys on the block.

Me, Ill stick with Polk, Quart and JL. Tried and true.