sound quality for n00bs

[wynode]

yeah but as ive said above..... what is the difference... like will the quality be negligable in my case.

like a price difference of 300-400 vs the difference in sound quality

That is what you have to see for yourself. If you listen to two sets of speakers that are $400 different in price, and you cannot notice the difference, then why get the expensive one?

It all depends on what your ears are capable of hearing and if you are picky when it comes to sound quality!

[na]

it is hard to give you advice if you don't know what you are after in your sound system. Are u after top quality SQ or bass heavy SPL? Mainly if u are considering use for big bass, cheapies would do (cheapies does not mean boss audio, avalanche and the like). mainly because at such high levels of bass, ur ears won't notice too much of a difference.

In an sq situation, a sub's role in the overall sound is clearly defined. It must be able to reproduce the bass notes cleanly and accurately without adding or subtracting to it. sub response is also very important. but output isnt.. so the emphasis on this type of system is to get a sub that is able to reproduce the bass notes accurately.. making good sub important in this situation.

as always, HU signal is important, amplifier is even more important...

[Usual Suspect]

i hate clariona dn always stay away from them, except their high range HU's. Every speaker and sub ive ever heard from clarion with different setups sound poo and are ver slack imo.

[SiR JDM]

I was given all my shit
Head unit, amp, sub, 6"s ..
all from friends spares... so i couldn't complain at all

Currently running Sony head unit 45x 4 (dunno ne other specs)
BOSS 4 x 175 amp (no idea of RMS)
Pioneer 12 " (no idea again)
Sony 3 way 220 watt 6.5" speakers

Now im the type who cant really hear shit properly.. not that i cant hear.. i can hear fine, just i dont have the ear for quality...
between my mates setup in his lude, bout 3k, new panasonic HU, cadence amp and sub (decent ones), and JL front splits and JL 2 way rears
and
my mates lancer 7k setup, full cadence everything .. i cant tell the difference..

and even then my recycled shit and my mates lancer, i can tell there is a difference but
1 - I can hear the difference but to me its not much diff, and definatly not worth the 6k extra he spent on
2 - It doesn't matter when im driving cuz its still fine to me... im not comparing to anyone else so without comparison its fine

The point of it is its also upto you what you want... yea sure u can hear the difference between a 1k setup, 3k setup, 10k setup...
but once its in your car, will you really care that much? will the exta 2k? 9k? however much really be significant to you, will it be worth it..
Once you get that sorted (like me ) then its an easy decision

My bass pumps hard enough for me, my speakers can go loud without distortion, and in the end, im the one who listens to it and puts up with it everyday and its seriously.. fine... others might think its too bassy or a lil distorted, not sharp pitch etc etc watever, but to me its fine..

I suggest to you the same =)

[ludester]

with u want sound quality, ive built my stereo for SQ compititions...

but from my experiance with most of the compititors in sq, they seem to use alpine, jl, focal or rockfordfosgate...most use alpine.

so if you want lots of quality, go towards them brands, but ill warn you...they are more expensive...i realised that when my stereo came to the price of double my car.

[GenV]

what everyone has said is quite true....unless you're a real sound enthusiast, you probably wont go towards the rockfords, focals etc...u can still get a relatively good system for relatively cheap with ur pioneers, kenwoods etc, (although personally id stay away from sony!)
You will need to spend a bit of money on the amp coz i think thats one of the most important things...no point having a mad ass sub with like an audioline amp! U will feel the pain!
I'm running an xtant on my focal splits....oh how i love thee.

[redliner]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now.

[ludester]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now.

very true...im glad i havent been done, but instead i have people messing with my multimedia manager, resetting it, and if i turned it up, i would of overloaded my speakers not good, done that before

[micka]

you dont need super quality sound.. unless yours a show car... prob most of the time you wont be turning it up anywayz... you get fine for loud music now.

High sound quality and going super loud are two totally different things.

[Javed]

the ultimate is to be able to go super loud whilst maintaining SQ.

[micka]

the ultimate is to be able to go super loud whilst maintaining SQ.

That would be the ultimate, but is it really achievable? i think you'd be hard pressed to make a system capable of winning sq comps at the highest level and also winning spl comps. if it were to be achievable you'd need very, very deep pockets. Most good sq systems are able to go loud enough to satisfy most people's everyday needs.

[ludester]

yeah well im trying to get to that point...im waiting for my new subs to arrive from the states and hopefully should be able to pull some high dbs...cause ive already setup my sq part