iv only had my own car for a year and the first thing i bought for it was my pioneer hu my bro got one in 98 for his car and it still works like the day he got it. it has all the stuff i wanted in a h/u and i like their look plus it doesnt cost an arm and a leg to get one.

 

wow i dont believe that

 

Amps- I have to say Arc Audio has won me over. Great CS, great design and quality build. I dont think I'll be running another brand for a while. I'm currently running a Zapco C2k 2.0x with a balanced Symbilink line driver to my tweets to see what the hype was about the C2ks, and quite honestly for less or about half the cost an Arc xxk2050/2100 would've matched it performance/application wise.
KICKER has been for the last decade my amp of choice out of the commercial grade crowd. I've been meaning to get a chance to use their amazing SX line, perhaps will someday soon, I still have a few ZR's about 10yrs old still in commission in family members cars. Altough I have to say it would be hard not to go with the Arc Kar series amps over any other middle of the road stuff- its quality Zef designed competively priced and about 25-40% underated as their xxk siblings- 3 yr warranty
I've used/installed Soundstream, Memphis, Monitor 1, Eclipse, MBQuart,Diamond, some PG's. since 1995.

Speakers- I'm happy to have had the opportunity to play with Rainbow gear. Currently my favorite niche brand. Amongst the most beautiful sounding conventional tweeters available today IMO, solid lineup for all budgets. I have an appreciation for these 'hand built' speakers that not only sound remarkable, but handle gobs of power very well. I see myself using their tweeters for many moons until my ears find something better.
Customer service has been good, great warranties (3-5 yrs), accessability of some of the lines is currently an issue though. Needless to say Morel makes some of the finest drivers in the world-currently happy with my 8's IB.
Now with the DIY bug, I cannot say I'm partial to any mid drivers....as I'll probably need to play with more toys.

Subs- I love too many brands,not much loyalty-I dont like to use 'super subs' as I like to use pairs and like a nice +1kw between them for SQ with SQL a twirl away- i say just use whats best for you and your car. The balance between frontstage and rear stage is of upmost importance.

Subs I've found that suit my taste are middle of the pack in power handling but have great balance of SQ and output in the 500-600rms range- My current Soundstreams(although discontinued), Diamond D6's(or M6mkII's), Eclipse Aluminums,Alumapro Alchemy RX's, Fusion Jonah Lomu's, JL W6V2's, Rainbow Vanadiums to name a few...

HU's- having used Alpine for about 8 + yrs, last one being a 7949 to a Kenwood x911....to then owning my first Eclipse, a cd8443. Its absolutly the best value/performance single din decks on the market from my experience. To get features,performance and sound equal or better ....there are less than handful of options out there, either alot more coin and at the same time lacking in some depts in comparison. I'm now on my secondEclipse, a cd8455- not looking back, no desire for anything else- does everything I need and does it well.

 

dam Manny, that post should be a sticky...some goodd info

 

I can't say enough good things about Phoenix Gold ZX, Titanium and now the Xenon line of amplifiers. They're not TOO expensive, they put out GOBS of power, they have variable xovers, small in size, built-in fans, RCA outputs, subwoofer volume controls, you name it.

As far as head units, I'm definitely not loyal to any one brand. Eclipse seems to provide the best out there for the money but lately I haven't been ecstatic about their ergonomics.

Speakers? I looove my Dynaudios!!! But I definitely would not hesitate to try Focal or Rainbows (which I've hear a ton of good things about on the org).

Wiring? Stinger always seems to have exactly what I want for a pretty good price. Seems like some quality stuff, too.

Subs? Can't go wrong with JL Audio, but I'm really starting to get into Image Dynamics. I recently bought a used ID sub on eBay and it was damaged during shipping. ID sent me some new binding posts free of charge without me even asking about the price. Very cool.

Tony

 

Just my personal observation and opinions....should take it for what its worth, nothing more. An individuals 'hands on' experience is all you can really base reason for loyalty, in any case there are TOO many great products out there- chances are you'll only get to try whats easily accessible to you. Thats whats great about meets, you can put brand loyalty aside and open your eyes to some of the other nice toys out there.

 

A very good statement

Also... most brand hatreds come from someone trying them, and having ONE bad experience. Nevermind another section of their line might be better. Or they have a rare case. Nothing is immune to damage.

I don't hate brands... I just look for something that will last longer than most items.

 

Often that negative experience can be a bad/improper install too!

 

usually that's from a buddy who knows how to install... but can't tune. I see A LOT of that around here.