speakers

simba_1984

In anybody's opinion, what are the best sounding speakers/subwoofers. Also same question for amps.

Thanks

neomagus00

hmm... this is always fun... at the absolute top echelons of car audio, there's no clear-cut 'best'. it all depends on your personal tastes. macleod, for example, adores MB Quart's Q-series speakers, while exalted512 does not. same with subwoofers - i'm extremely partial to Eclipse Titaniums, whilst mac giggles like a little girl at the sight of a JL W7. amps, too, though there's far less difference amongst them. USAmps (cody's favorite), TruTechnology, McIntosh (my favorite), etc.

just as midline car audio (a la polk/momo) is different than budget car audio (a la audiobahn), the top-end stuff is a whole different world.

BUT, to give you a straight answer, my personal ideal would be a custom 3- or 4- way Focal K2Power set of fronts, dual 10" Eclipse Titaniums, all powered by TruTech or McIntosh amps. plus the un-amped HU (the term escapes me atm), the line drivers (maybe Zapco amps, they've got balanced inputs... hmm...), the dual 31-band eqs, etc., etc. total cost, after all is said and done, i could very very easily make that 20 grand.

exalted512

ive never heard rainbows totl components, but theyre in the range of 15k+

i have heard Focals new beriliyium(sp?) series and they are the best speakers ive ever heard. put for $800 for a pair of tweeters, and i believe that is at cost but i could be wrong...they better sound damn good.

while im extremely partial to usamps, they are not my favorite. my favorite is mcintosh, but usamps is a tad cheaper and i highly doubt i could hear the difference, even on my iridiums.

my favorite subs go to dls iridium sub actually as far as sound quality goes. i heard them a while back in a ported box and they had an audibly better sound than any sub ive ever heard before.
but my brahmas will still get much louder:D
-Cody

Jstas

Older Polk Audio dB's from the mid to late 90's, not the new ones. Those speakers sound incredible for not only the price but for the fact that they are automotive speakers. They will rival alot of home systems that I have heard. They aren't made anymore so they can be hard to find but they are totally worth it.

MacLeod

Speakers-
MB Quart
Polk Audio
JL Audio
Diamond Audio

Subs-
JL Audio
Polk Audio
Orion

Amps-
Xtant
Alpine V12
Polk Audio
Crossfire
MTX

Honorable mention:

Speakers-
DLS, Focal, a/d/s, Alpine Type X,

Subs-
Crossfire, Kicker, Diamond Audio, MTX

Amps-
Tru Tech, Orion, PPI, JL Audio, Arc Audio

ND13

What happened to Soundstream? When I was into the scene, about 12 years ago, they were pretty well received.

simba_1984

Thanks everyone! I wanted to know what everybody else thought.

exalted512

Originally posted by ND13
What happened to Soundstream? When I was into the scene, about 12 years ago, they were pretty well received.

they arent what they used to be
-Cody

MacLeod

Originally posted by ND13
What happened to Soundstream? When I was into the scene, about 12 years ago, they were pretty well received.

They still make very good equipment but like a lot of companies they were bought out by somebody (cant remember who) and their quality isnt quite the same as it was 15 years ago.

ND13

Originally posted by MacLeod
They still make very good equipment but like a lot of companies they were bought out by somebody (cant remember who) and their quality isnt quite the same as it was 15 years ago.

A buddy of mine had two 12" SS pro subs driven by PPI pro amps and they were the best sounding subs I had ever heard at that time.

Jstas

As far as I know, Soundstream is still Soundstream and they are making so incredible gear again. Go to onlinecarstereo.com and check out the Van Gogh series. It's already discontinued but the replacenment stuff has some nice specs. amulford has Van Gogh series amps in his truck and they sounded excellent and were quite stout! Also, the Human Reighn series ranks up there with your "high end" brands like TruTech, McIntosh and so on. They had QC issues in the recent past just like alot of teh other 90's power houses in car audio. It probably came from having to adjust from boutique level production to mass market production. Took a bit to get the concept down. Overall though, I have seen several new Soundstream products and I am impressed with what I am seeing.

screxer

My personal favorites:

Focal (any of their line...mind blowing clarity)
JL Audio subs (again any of them....good clean bass)
Pioneer's Premier 12" shallow depth sub (it's the only sub I've heard that matches the quality of JL, but in a very shallow speaker)

1996blackmax

Originally posted by Jstas
Older Polk Audio dB's from the mid to late 90's, not the new ones. Those speakers sound incredible for not only the price but for the fact that they are automotive speakers. They will rival alot of home systems that I have heard. They aren't made anymore so they can be hard to find but they are totally worth it.

I really like my old DB3065's .