Ive decided

MacLeod

Originally posted by spwuinmk67
Not all of our stuff is bad....lol.

No offense meant. Im currently using Radio Shack 14 guage flat speaker wire. $20 for 50' aint a bad deal.

I was talking about that cheap-o generic type RCA's youve got. Ya know the kind thats like $10 for 20'!

Toxis

Originally posted by MacLeod
Proof? Ever heard of the $10,000 amp challenge ran by Richard Clark of Carsound and Performance Magazine? Its a blind test and all you have to do is listen to music thru the same set of speakers coming from different amps and choose the different amp and you win the 10 grand. Simple huh? In the decade or so Clark has had this challenge standing, NOBODY has collected the check.

How is the test done? If say you give me the same HU, same speakers, same environment but only switch the amps, yes I could hear the difference. You can even put 4 amps out there, 3 being the same and I honestly feel I could pick the lone wolf. Now if you give me 15 of the same amp and only one that's different, there's just to much critical listening going on for anyone to tell. Listening tests can't go on for hours...

Originally posted by MacLeod
Also, I agree with Austin. All head units sound the same too. Cables now there Im witcha bro. Anybody that cant hear a difference between some Zero Noise 6 and some Radio Shack RCA's has a problem.

Radios sound the same? Ok, since most of you guys would recognize me from the HT side of this forum, I'll put it in those perspectives. Saying a HU doesn't sound any different than any other HU is like saying a DVD player, CD player, or receiver has absolutely no effect on the sound what-so-ever. Now if you can honestly tell me that the last statement is accurate, you need to invest in some Q-tips because your ears are a lil cloged. A HU has a world of difference on the sound. The difference in quality of the laser to read the CD will effect the sound. The processing used to take it from digital to analog signal will drastically change the sound. The quality of output signal... hell, even the type of display will effect the quality of sound. Ever heard of displays emitting distortion into your signal? Now, as earlier stated, amps do have an effect on sound. Not only in distortion or this term so many people use "headroom." Tonally, yes I feel there is a difference in amps. Why? How can an amplifier, or any piece of electronics honestly drastically effect the signal in all these ways without effecting this one aspect? There's so many different pieces of an amplifier to make it work and that passes signal through it. There's no such thing as a perfect signal path. Everything and every aspect WILL be changed in some form or another. To say there's no difference Tonally is like saying there's no difference in Sound stage or depth between amps.

wow...

MacLeod

You make a good point about the head units. One of those top end Denons like Biggs uses Im sure will perform better than an$125 Panasonic.

I posted a link on the other thread by Richard Clark. It gives his opinions, the rules and findings. And, as I said, in all the years NOBODY has every won the $10,000! The challenge is open to anybody. Just get hold of him and set up a date and he'll give you the test.

neomagus00

on the head units... again, i think it's beyond a certain point. clearly, if you use **** components, it's gonna sound bad. but once you get into good DACs, a decent pickup, etc. i think the only differences are in feel and features... why else would there be so much competition between, say, alpine and pioneer? at a given price level, alpine HUs have one set of features, pioneers another, and you choose based on that, cause you know they're tonally the same.

cables, all bets are off, i can testify to that.

AustinKP

Originally posted by Toxis
Saying a HU doesn't sound any different than any other HU is like saying a DVD player, CD player, or receiver has absolutely no effect on the sound what-so-ever. Now if you can honestly tell me that the last statement is accurate, you need to invest in some Q-tips because your ears are a lil cloged. A HU has a world of difference on the sound. The difference in quality of the laser to read the CD will effect the sound. The processing used to take it from digital to analog signal will drastically change the sound. The quality of output signal... hell, even the type of display will effect the quality of sound. Ever heard of displays emitting distortion into your signal?

This is the kind of thing that tricks people into paying ungodly amounts of money for "better", more expensive stuff. Their mind has to justify spending $5k for some Kimber Kables or whatever so their stereo now "sounds" better to them. It's been proven that humans CAN'T hear distortion below 1%. Worrying about components of a stereo that introduce or reduce distortion by hundredths or thousandths of a percent is inane. Psychoacoustics, my friend...
-Austin

spwuinmk67

So now cody got me thinkin about gettin a Dynaudio comp set, 7", and I also found out I can get Uptopia's for roughly the same price. So before I buy whichever, any last thoughts or suggestions?

AustinKP

Originally posted by spwuinmk67
So now cody got me thinkin about gettin a Dynaudio comp set, 7", and I also found out I can get Uptopia's for roughly the same price. So before I buy whichever, any last thoughts or suggestions?

If at all possible, LISTEN to both of them! In that price range, it's not which is better, it's which do YOU like more?
-Austin

MacLeod

Ive heard the Focals but not the Dyn's. The Focals are unreal! Easily one of the best sounding speakers in the world.

Downside: Its made in France.

spwuinmk67

I've been tryin to listen to all of them for months. Everytime I find a dealer of say MB, they don't have the Q's in stock, or on the sound board.

MacLeod

Well, personally I like the Q's better.

They are more natural and clean sounding. They are also much more detailed. They have good midbass but its not their strong point.

The Focals were awesome. Not as detailed but had good midbass and a decent little punch to them. The tweeter is smoother than the Q's and is one of the best tweets out there I think.

You wont go wrong with either of them. Kind of like picking between a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Just flip a coin.

spwuinmk67

Update....I went and spoke the the owner of the place. Friday morning I'm picking up one set, wether it be the Q's or Utopia's. Taking them home, demoing, playing, bring them back, and taking the others home to do the same. So that's when I'll be choosin between the two. Unfortuantly I can't get them both at the same time so i can A/B them better. But with the price tag they each have, I can understand why.

MacLeod

Thats a pretty sweet deal. That way you dont have to worry about the salesman talking over the music or whatever.

Since you cant do an A/B make sure you listen to the same CD's on each and I would suggest keeping notes. I can tell you now that its gonna be a close race. Both of these are tremendous speakers so itll come down to some tiny little detail like "the Focals made the cymbals sound a little cleaner" or something trivial like that.

Either way, I would love to be able to listen to some Utopias exstensively. Be sure to let us know what you thought and which you went with.

exalted512

utopias are going to be a lot less fatiguing than the Qs...
-Cody

spwuinmk67

I'll be doing quite a lot of listening on each, with a variety of music. I'm gonna try to position them to where I'd want them/be able to fit them, but it's gonna be hard cause I can't even scratch them. Which ever I don't get has to be able to be sold if I don't get it, so therefore, must be in perfect shape. But I'll be spending a lot of friday demoing.

exalted512

sounds like fun:D
hell, i spent about 4 hours in my truck with the iridiums just to figure out where i wanted everything!!
the dealer sounds like a really cool guy though
-Cody

spwuinmk67

He's a good guy. The same guy I've bought 2 HU's from, my DX's, my sub, my 2 amps, my gf's speakers, my alarm, and some other ****. Great guy, reasonable too. The other store they have also carries HT products, so when I get finished with my truck, and I start doin that, I'll get hooked up there too..:)

MacLeod

Originally posted by exalted512
utopias are going to be a lot less fatiguing than the Qs...
-Cody

Well I wouldnt exactly say that. The Utopias are a little smoother but the Q aint no slouch. If youre bi-amping them I guarantee you I can get em just as smooth and silky as the Utopias.

Plus they wont be made by the french!

AustinKP

Originally posted by MacLeod
Plus they wont be made by the french!

That's not a bad thing! Without the french, we wouldn't have French Fries, French Vanilla Ice Cream, French manicures, and tons of other vitally important things...Bras... Not to mention focal...

MacLeod

Yeah, but theyre pussies!

Toxis

pussies who make phenominal drivers...

MacLeod

Judging by Notre Dame and the Eifel Tower, theyre outstanging architecs and builders as well.....but theyre still pussies!

exalted512

Originally posted by MacLeod
Well I wouldnt exactly say that. The Utopias are a little smoother but the Q aint no slouch. If youre bi-amping them I guarantee you I can get em just as smooth and silky as the Utopias.

Plus they wont be made by the french!

i would. heard them both in car. when i was choosing my last components i didnt even have the q's on the list. im not a fan of quart at all
-Cody

spwuinmk67

The Utopia 165w's are disco. The ones that replace them aren't out yet. Grr...

MacLeod

Get the Q's. I GUARANTEE ya, you wont be disappointed. Plus you wont have to drive around in shame knowing you bought something french.

Toxis

Originally posted by spwuinmk67
The Utopia 165w's are disco. The ones that replace them aren't out yet. Grr...

because their replacements are going to be around 3k. I think I'd be more than happy with the 165w's...

spwuinmk67

Well, I'm the new owner of some MB Quart QSD's. I'll have pics up later. The size of the crossover is massive compared to my DX's. There is also quite a bit difference in weight, even the tweeters.

spwuinmk67

Crossover comparison

spwuinmk67

again

spwuinmk67

speaker

spwuinmk67

last one