'Non-mainstream' brands - peoples experiences?

[Alan Meade]

Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car audio,
use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I mean,
sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)

I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec. Alot
of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this because
of lack of quality ?

Please fill me in
Thanks
Alan Meade

[jay]

Not with every brand name. Some of the big brand names that you hear
don't have very good quality products, it is just that they have name
recongnition. Some capanies are really just marketing firms and they do
not even create their own products, they are made oversees and shipped
into the US.

Price normally is a good factor that represents the quality of a
product you are going to purchase, although there are alternative that
are decent and get the job done.

For instance I saw a lot of ZAPCO amps being used at the IASCA World
Finals last year for SQ competition, but they are fairly exspensive.
You can go with a Lanzar amp that will work for your needs if you are
just wanting some bump in your ride.

One vehicle I have right now is using all Lanzar amps and compenent
sets becuase they were cheap and they did the trick.

If you are looking for "flash for the cash" I would recommend some of
the Audiobahn speakers and amplifiers that have the cool looking chrome
flames.

Good Luck!


--
jay
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[Scott Johnson]

"Alan Meade" > wrote in message
...
> Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car
audio,
> use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I
mean,
> sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)
>
> I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
> and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec.
Alot
> of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this
because
> of lack of quality ?
>
> Please fill me in
> Thanks
> Alan Meade
>
>

The last Sansui equipment i saw was awesome,top of the line stuff. Altec
lansing is/was good stuff. also, profile amps are good quality.

[Alan Meade]

I should of also mentioned I'm in Australia, and don't get the same briends
as in the U.S/Canada (I've never heard of 'Audiobahn' outside this newsgroup
unfortuantly :( .. but still appreciate the help jay)

So if anyone had comments, especially on the brands I mentioend, it'd be
much appreciated

Thanks
Alan Meade

"Alan Meade" > wrote in message
...
> Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car
audio,
> use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I
mean,
> sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)
>
> I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
> and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec.
Alot
> of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this
because
> of lack of quality ?
>
> Please fill me in
> Thanks
> Alan Meade
>
>

[jay]

I have not pursonally used the Boss amps, but I have a friend that owns
a car audio store and he has sold alot of the Boss amplifiers. Sorry I
couldn;t be of more help.


--
jay
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[Sanitarium]

IMHO it depends on the individual model. IMHO there are some good and
bad products, regardless of brand name.

So, Yes the obscure brands can be very good. You have to reserch
cerefully and find a product that meets your criteria and price. For
many on a budget Pyramid amps are very good, others scoff at them and
won't be caught dead with em'. Yes Pyramid and BOSS over rate their
amps by about 2x, but as long as the consumer is aware of this...

I am happy with my BOSS subwoofers, got them for $26 each new on ebay.
My Legacy midbasses were $4.50 each. In my daily driven beater car they
are good enough.
http://members.sounddomain.com/kramer5150

When I get my Impala SS I'm gonna use these:
http://www.adireaudio.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AA001&Product_Code=DPL12&Category_Code=30.10

Garrett


Alan Meade wrote:
>
> Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car audio,
> use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I mean,
> sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)
>
> I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
> and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec. Alot
> of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this because
> of lack of quality ?
>
> Please fill me in
> Thanks
> Alan Meade

[No Notta]

in a word YES
"Alan Meade" > wrote in message
...
> Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car
audio,
> use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I
mean,
> sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)
>
> I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
> and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec.
Alot
> of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this
because
> of lack of quality ?
>
> Please fill me in
> Thanks
> Alan Meade
>
>

[Steve Grauman]

<< The last Sansui equipment i saw was awesome,top of the line stuff. >>

Good lord, where do you shop that Sansui is top-end equipment? It's total and
utter crap, veer away from it at all costs!

[Steve Grauman]

I'm going to assume that by "brand name" you simply mean "popular, well known
names". In response to the question, a well known brand name isn't always an
indicator of quality. Sony, Kenwood and Clarion amps work, but they're not of
particularly high-build or acoustic quality. Rockford, and then Pioneer would
be the next steps up, providing generally decent build and sound quality in a
(usually) reliable package. Alpine amps are going to be the best quality of
those you mentioned. The VPower amps offer reasonable power and great build
quality without spending a fortune, the V12 line would be a step up from there.
We could get into lesser-known brands like Xtant, Zapco, ARC Audio, Audiosn,
etc... but it'd be a waste of time, as I anticipate that there won't be a
single product among those brands which will fall into your price range. I'm
not sure if USAcoutics are avaliable at the local shops "down under" but
they're great bang for the buck, and not of poor build quality either.

[Hallraker]

"Alan Meade" > wrote in message
...
> Hey, the locality im in its everyones general opionion that with car
audio,
> use a brand name, or your going to run into trouble. (by brand name, I
mean,
> sony, pioneer, rockford fosgate, clarion, kenwood, alpine, etc)
>
> I'm on the market to buy a new amp at the moment to power by pioneer 6x9s,
> and have come across brands such as Boss, Avalanche, Sansui and Altec.
Alot
> of these brands are *alot* cheaper than the mainstream, and is this
because
> of lack of quality ?
>

My dad bought a really awesome Sansui AM/FM stereo and amp about 25 years
ago. Worked fine for about 17 years and then started to have problems. I
was taking electronics classes at the local tech center at the time so I
took it in and ended up replacing some caps I think. Unfortunately, when I
put it back together I pinched the tuner string in between the halfs of the
case, and when I went to turn the knob to another station the tuner broke.
:( I learned a valuable lesson about being careful when putting things back
together though.

Anyway, I digress. Just because Sansui was nice 25 years ago doesn't mean
that it is today, but that is the nature of consumer electronics. Remember
too that some "nice" brands also make low-end products as well, especially
larger companies like Sony. Walk into a local Wal-Mart or similar store and
you'll likely see tons of Sony Xplode stuff. I don't know how good those
particular units are (which seem to range in the $100-$200 area) but they
are ugly and in a Wal-Mart so no way. ;)

I can safely say though, that if I wasn't already enjoying a Kenwood unit
and was in the market for something inexpensive, I'd go with the Sansui for
nostalgic reasons and since it's the only brand in your list I've ever heard
of. ;)

-Matt

[Sanitarium]

I like them all, SUV for utility, rice rockets for play/trash, impala SS
for everything in between. It would just be nice to have a choice,
thats all. FYI the real Jap performance cars are not that all that fuel
efficent, R34, WRX STI, Lancer EVO... etc.

Garrett

CrazyDemon wrote:
>
> > Sigh.... We here in the states do get big fully loaded SUVs with gold
>
> Yay US!
>
> Seriously though.. i love SUV's
> Wont have any of those crappy fuel efficient japanese cars they like so
> much!
> --
> CrazyDemon
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> CarAudioForum.com - Usenet Gateway w/over one million posts online!
> View this thread: http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb2/showthread.php?threadid=154966

[Hallraker]

"Sanitarium" > wrote in message
...
> I like them all, SUV for utility, rice rockets for play/trash, impala SS
> for everything in between. It would just be nice to have a choice,
> thats all. FYI the real Jap performance cars are not that all that fuel
> efficent, R34, WRX STI, Lancer EVO... etc.

hehehehe...

I had some kid going good the other day, believing that the 160,000 mile
EJ22 in my 2nd gen Legacy was really a swapped-in WRX STi engine.
Apparently a lot of people have never seen a boxer engine before and so are
easy to fool. What scared me the most was how he was fascinated by my amp
fuse. I was too afraid to ask if he'd fused his wiring or not.

-Matt

[FogHornLegHorn]

shoulda just told him your engine was from a 911..... he wouldn't have
known. :)

FHLH

"Hallraker" > wrote in message
news:Uer2b.256501$Ho3.33858@sccrnsc03...
>
> "Sanitarium" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I like them all, SUV for utility, rice rockets for play/trash, impala SS
> > for everything in between. It would just be nice to have a choice,
> > thats all. FYI the real Jap performance cars are not that all that fuel
> > efficent, R34, WRX STI, Lancer EVO... etc.
>
> hehehehe...
>
> I had some kid going good the other day, believing that the 160,000 mile
> EJ22 in my 2nd gen Legacy was really a swapped-in WRX STi engine.
> Apparently a lot of people have never seen a boxer engine before and so
are
> easy to fool. What scared me the most was how he was fascinated by my amp
> fuse. I was too afraid to ask if he'd fused his wiring or not.
>
> -Matt
>
>

[Hamilton Audio]

yeah, and you forgot that they don't run on regular pump gas either!! 100
octane minimum...high compression, lots of turbo squeeze and a thirst for
hot fuel...

Hamilton Audio
Car Audio, Security & Performance

"Hallraker" > wrote in message
news:Uer2b.256501$Ho3.33858@sccrnsc03...
>
> "Sanitarium" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I like them all, SUV for utility, rice rockets for play/trash, impala SS
> > for everything in between. It would just be nice to have a choice,
> > thats all. FYI the real Jap performance cars are not that all that fuel
> > efficent, R34, WRX STI, Lancer EVO... etc.
>
> hehehehe...
>
> I had some kid going good the other day, believing that the 160,000 mile
> EJ22 in my 2nd gen Legacy was really a swapped-in WRX STi engine.
> Apparently a lot of people have never seen a boxer engine before and so
are
> easy to fool. What scared me the most was how he was fascinated by my amp
> fuse. I was too afraid to ask if he'd fused his wiring or not.
>
> -Matt
>
>