# Anyone else still into car audio?



## torontoke (Mar 5, 2017)

Just like the title asks.
Curious if I'm the only one left that still appreciates a great sounding car stereo?
I have a pretty crazy stereo in my old car but I need to upgrade my truck speakers. I haven't bought any equipment in the last 10years cus it all seemed like cheaply made crap

Have any of the good speaker companies survived?


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## visajoe1 (Mar 23, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Just like the title asks.
> Curious if I'm the only one left that still appreciates a great sounding car stereo?
> I have a pretty crazy stereo in my old car but I need to upgrade my truck speakers. I haven't bought any equipment in the last 10years cus it all seemed like cheaply made crap
> 
> Have any of the good speaker companies survived?


oh man, i miss messing with my cars. i had systems in all of them until i got the job i have now and a work car. ill do it again one day.
same brands you remember are still around. i was a fosgate dude then, still dig them. but i would probly go with jl audio subs with some bose mids/highs if i built one now. for amps, i would go with jl audio or fosgate. the hard part (maybe costly?) i imagine now, is hooking this stuff up to the touch screen audio systems cars have now. i wouldnt want to rip that out and put in a cd player just to have a system...


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

Jl and Rockford are mass produced in China now. Most of the old big name companies are.

My whole car is old jl audio gear.
61/2 components, 6x9, and 3 10w6 subs.
Now I'm trying to make my truck sound less like a soup can


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Jl and Rockford are mass produced in China now. Most of the old big name companies are.
> 
> My whole car is old jl audio gear.
> 61/2 components, 6x9, and 3 10w6 subs.
> Now I'm trying to make my truck sound less like a soup can


lol at the soup can. what truck are you workin with? rattling license plates drives me insane!


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## rkymtnman (Mar 24, 2017)

check out these guys, i'm sure they ship to canada.

crutchfield.com


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

F150 lariat supercab
I have a touchscreen deck two amps and a single 12" but it sounds like an iPhone to me. Hollow n shiite



rkymtnman said:


> check out these guys, i'm sure they ship to canada.
> 
> crutchfield.com


Ya they have a Canadian site too but I don't know if any of the stuff is worth buying.
Maybe I need to find good old used stuff idk


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

rkymtnman said:


> check out these guys, i'm sure they ship to canada.
> 
> crutchfield.com


i dug their catalog to see what was new, then id go buy it online. crutchfield is crazy expensive IMO


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## TacoMac (Mar 24, 2017)

It's not that you're the only one left that appreciates good car audio, it's just that manufacturers have started putting such wonderful sound systems in cars from the factory that aftermarket car audio is dead.


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## rkymtnman (Mar 24, 2017)

visajoe1 said:


> i dug their catalog to see what was new, then id go buy it online. crutchfield is crazy expensive IMO


they are. but they do carry mid to high end stuff . but gives you a good starting point.


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## ttystikk (Mar 24, 2017)

I'm totally into car audio.
I take my car in to get it fixed when the ominous noises get loud enough that I can't hear NPR over them.

It's in the shop now...


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## rkymtnman (Mar 24, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> It's in the shop now...


to get fixed or to get bigger amps and speakers?? lol


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

TacoMac said:


> It's not that you're the only one left that appreciates good car audio, it's just that manufacturers have started putting such wonderful sound systems in cars from the factory that aftermarket car audio is dead.


My car is 153 db doubt any factory stereo is getting near that.
But I do know what u mean.

Seems the quality of product has gone Down over the years


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## ttystikk (Mar 24, 2017)

rkymtnman said:


> to get fixed or to get bigger amps and speakers?? lol


Getting fixed. I don't need a great audio system to listen to NPR.

Damn, I'm getting old...


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Getting fixed. I don't need a great audio system to listen to NPR.
> 
> Damn, I'm getting old...


I must be too old cus I got no idea what npr even is


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

TacoMac said:


> It's not that you're the only one left that appreciates good car audio, it's just that manufacturers have started putting such wonderful sound systems in cars from the factory that aftermarket car audio is dead.


good point. my stock speaker system in my work car, ford escape, is pretty legit actually. leaps and bounds ahead of standard stereo equipment in the 90's


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

torontoke said:


> My car is 153 db doubt any factory stereo is getting near that.
> But I do know what u mean.
> 
> Seems the quality of product has gone Down over the years


bump it!!!


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

ttystikk said:


> Getting fixed. I don't need a great audio system to listen to NPR.
> 
> Damn, I'm getting old...


if only there was a super AM antenna that got reception under bridges and next to power lines!


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## ttystikk (Mar 24, 2017)

torontoke said:


> I must be too old cus I got no idea what npr even is


It's a US thing. NPR.org


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## Grandpapy (Mar 24, 2017)

Gotta love npr.

Click and Klack have kept me company on I-5 many a weekend.

http://www.cartalk.com/player5/player.php?a=show


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## rkymtnman (Mar 24, 2017)

torontoke said:


> My car is 153 db doubt any factory stereo is getting near that.
> But I do know what u mean.
> 
> Seems the quality of product has gone Down over the years


did you hear of US Amps made in Florida from back in the 90's? i worked with a guy that had a system that repped their amps and they were killer. like 1/2 ohm stable. wonder if he still has his hearing all these years later??


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## D528 (Mar 24, 2017)

fuck yeah !
I havnt seen any speakers lately though or alot of things. I only been out in world for 3 years again now. Still holding out on my new install. New house comes first. I'm a decade behind ,lol. Rather 15 years , fuck .I put my 9835 in to start new system in 02 and to this day hasnt even been hooked to speakers. lol. I have a 700 h alpine processor too since i bandpass ever speaker. i forgot the exact part number. lol.Been awhile . I gotta build a rack and stuff. Old systems gutted in trunk .Going stealth this time.Ive deleted the kicks and moved my computors and my 6"morels go there now and vent to the subframe like most pro comp cars, but you cant hear my mids outside the car at 115 dbs ,hehe. Well through the glass at that level. Can even tell theres 8's in doors putting you ear up to them.I have i.d.q. 8's in front doors in fiberglass boxes i made . will change to subs maybe , havnt decided yet . Maybe go 8" subs because you dont want any sound projecting from the trunk . But 8's have a hard time doing 17 hz church pipe organs.. lol. May do a 12' in my spare tire hole and make adustable vent to tune. resanant frequency of car is 40 hz. fuck' my buddies t.bird has an 11 inch focal in the top of his dash .lol. I run titaniam rubber surround mbquart tweets 2 sets .170 watts a tweet with gaurds. One's in kick are bandpassed and one set on pillars in ghost mode 11k and up to combat rainbow effect. I also have each from seat made to go back 3 more inches making my stage ilke being there. Very focused !!!!!! My stage was eye height outside mirror to outside mirror and over the hood. Plus i have bad knees so dual effect there . hehe. With sound quality you want to get the distance from right ear to right speaker and left era top left speaker distance close as possible. Mine was 5 inchs. Not bad at all !!!! over a foot and well. ouch ! I was sound quality so it only did 145db. I dont know the rules now. Probably only have to hit 125-30db now maybe. Nothing in my car rattles. Its saverly sound deadend and insulated , foams you name it ! 1.5" of rubatex covers all door skins with plenty on layers of hi temp mastic and visiolastic throughout car inside and out . Removed bumpers and headliner and all to deaden. My system will be oldschool now for sure. I bought all the c2k zapcos from scott buwaldas old concert car 240 nissan back in 03 i think ..i was lucky enough for him to judge my car one time . 2-c2k 9.0s - 3 c2k 6.0 one being custom made by zapco so instead of being 170 and channel in watts they are 270 per , hehe. I will have about a 2800 watt front stage with head room to spare .lol. Im not going to blast it so hopefully my alt holds up .lol. or ill have to get a fast spin up 240 amper or whatever.
i've won 11 iasca s.q. events back to back included are 2 oregon state championships back in 2000-02 till my hearing fucked up and i started wasting from m.s.a. . and became homebound for a decade + . Thanks P2P . lol. i was 600 and up street class. When i my hearing went i broke all my trophies and guitar . I couldnt support anything on my lap any longer or touch shit .Nerve damage so bad i ate with light round plastic tools using steak knife to cut pancakes with problems.. lol. Couldnt rest my own hand on my lap even. So glad i dont listin to drs. Now ill be back for a second go around , woot. I even glued the body of my guitar back together. lol. fuck it !

I had several setting using a processor but i will give you how i ran the speakers for comp only.
subs 15-33 hertz
8's ran 40 to 120hz i think it was
Morels 6"- 120- about 2800hz I like to double the speakers fs for lowest frequency played. Soemthing like that lol.
Kick tweets 2800 - 11k
ghosted tweets in font pillares 16k and up rolling of nicely. I own an rta so .
On paper i can run gaps but on rta and ear there is no gap , woot ! I killed it on rta scoring lol. Id even bring my rta to events to help others beat me but they never did. lol. I took out an alpine sponcered car before my first run . lol. I tuned with a world champ car though. Helps. hehe.Listening to the alpine car you could tell he ran passives crossovers. yuck ! Gotta build your own crossover with quality parts or face less than quality sound !
well , hopefully i get her running again in next 2 years or so. My hearing fucked though. My last comp i had a few cheyan strokes taking out 4 and 8k in my left ear totally fucking everyhting up. I could krinkle a newspaper in my left ear and it sounded like it was commign from far away on right. Recently i thought my hearing got better because i hear the stage correctly again . I thought i got it back but in reality my right ear followed. Crappo. To hear full sound i gotta take a huge hit hold my nose and the compression opens my ears and i get an easy 3-6 db gain and hear all highs . Thats how i will have to tune next time and i bet i still beat them .lol. Yep , barefoot grandpa will be back to school the young ones. lol. i was the oldest guy in my area back then at 42 . Man what a change it was going from bose to a real system. Theres a saying "no highs or lows ,must be bose ".lol. Theres honduran mahagony in place of my bose deals on my rear deck speaks now. You can also see the pass through vent on back deck.
When i first started with the car i had m.b. quarts in the cab. 4 tweets , 4 6's in front doors , 4 8's in back doors and in boxes built to back deck and using processor i could switch to what set or all of them to run. Lots of sound but no focus what so ever.
Well happy car audio to all !!!!
  

I think im going to get all new door panels since i dont run back door speaks or 2 6's in front any longer. also i was thinkin about going 7 inch scanspeak in my kicks but now who nows whats out. Id like a little more lows in my kicks. Mids give you the stage. and some tweet. Took 15 hours to angling my 6's to get right and turned out they needed to be facing stright across at eachother. They are off axis style. kick tweets are angles at side pillars basically with pillar tweets facing eachother. I have material under my dash and all to reduce sound reflexions. hehe


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

rkymtnman said:


> did you hear of US Amps made in Florida from back in the 90's? i worked with a guy that had a system that repped their amps and they were killer. like 1/2 ohm stable. wonder if he still has his hearing all these years later??


I've blown up a few of those over the years lol
Biggest amp I had was the earthquake 4300. 40" long alternator destroyer lol I had it pushing 4 18"' in the backseat area of a beetle. It was insane for old school hip hop n reggae.

The 3 10w6 I have now in my car is as crazy as I'm ever going again.

I was thinking about maybe trying 4 8" in my truck.
As I get older I tend to prefer the tight punchy bass vs the huge rumble u can barely hear but feel instead.


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## torontoke (Mar 24, 2017)

D528 said:


> fuck yeah !
> I havnt seen any speakers lately though or alot of things. I only been out in world for 3 years again now. Still holding out on my new install. New house comes first. I'm a decade behind ,lol. Rather 15 years , fuck .I put my 9835 in to start new system in 02 and to this day hasnt even been hooked to speakers. lol. I have a 700 h alpine processor too since i bandpass ever speaker. i forgot the exact part number. lol.Been awhile . I gotta build a rack and stuff. Old systems gutted in trunk .Going stealth this time.Ive deleted the kicks and moved my computors and my 6"morels go there now and vent to the subframe like most pro comp cars, but you cant hear my mids outside the car at 115 dbs ,hehe. Well through the glass at that level. Can even tell theres 8's in doors putting you ear up to them.I have i.d.q. 8's in front doors in fiberglass boxes i made . will change to subs maybe , havnt decided yet . Maybe go 8" subs because you dont want any sound projecting from the trunk . But 8's have a hard time doing 17 hz church pipe organs.. lol. May do a 12' in my spare tire hole and make adustable vent to tune. resanant frequency of car is 40 hz. fuck' my buddies t.bird has an 11 inch focal in the top of his dash .lol. I run titaniam rubber surround mbquart tweets 2 sets .170 watts a tweet with gaurds. One's in kick are bandpassed and one set on pillars in ghost mode 11k and up to combat rainbow effect. I also have each from seat made to go back 3 more inches making my stage ilke being there. Very focused !!!!!! My stage was eye height outside mirror to outside mirror and over the hood. Plus i have bad knees so dual effect there . hehe. With sound quality you want to get the distance from right ear to right speaker and left era top left speaker distance close as possible. Mine was 5 inchs. Not bad at all !!!! over a foot and well. ouch ! I was sound quality so it only did 145db. I dont know the rules now. Probably only have to hit 125-30db now maybe. Nothing in my car rattles. Its saverly sound deadend and insulated , foams you name it ! 1.5" of rubatex covers all door skins with plenty on layers of hi temp mastic and visiolastic throughout car inside and out . Removed bumpers and headliner and all to deaden. My system will be oldschool now for sure. I bought all the c2k zapcos from scott buwaldas old concert car 240 nissan back in 03 i think ..i was lucky enough for him to judge my car one time . 2-c2k 9.0s - 3 c2k 6.0 one being custom made by zapco so instead of being 170 and channel in watts they are 270 per , hehe. I will have about a 2800 watt front stage with head room to spare .lol. Im not going to blast it so hopefully my alt holds up .lol. or ill have to get a fast spin up 240 amper or whatever.
> i've won 11 iasca s.q. events back to back included are 2 oregon state championships back in 2000-02 till my hearing fucked up and i started wasting from m.s.a. . and became homebound for a decade + . Thanks P2P . lol. i was 600 and up street class. When i my hearing went i broke all my trophies and guitar . I couldnt support anything on my lap any longer or touch shit .Nerve damage so bad i ate with light round plastic tools using steak knife to cut pancakes with problems.. lol. Couldnt rest my own hand on my lap even. So glad i dont listin to drs. Now ill be back for a second go around , woot. I even glued the body of my guitar back together. lol. fuck it !
> 
> ...


That's a whole lot of typing and I'm glad I'm not the only one that crazy bout anything lol I think at that point it's called a passion.
I will try to snap a few pics of my car setup next time I uncover it.

Your setup looks killer!
Great job on it


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## D528 (Mar 24, 2017)

rkymtnman said:


> did you hear of US Amps made in Florida from back in the 90's? i worked with a guy that had a system that repped their amps and they were killer. like 1/2 ohm stable. wonder if he still has his hearing all these years later??


sure did , yep. In early 200s may have been around still . I remember them well though !


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## D528 (Mar 24, 2017)

torontoke said:


> That's a whole lot of typing and I'm glad I'm not the only one that crazy bout anything lol I think at that point it's called a passion.
> I will try to snap a few pics of my car setup next time I uncover it.
> 
> Your setup looks killer!
> Great job on it


Thanks so much , i had help. My first french job with the remote ,lol. The eye is in the overhead lighting deal. fan , strobein conslole and florecent type lights , in purple. Can remember what they are called , sorry , crappo. The system was backlit. The fuses are behind the armrest backlit too behind a mohagany infiniti logo i made late one night. Shit Cant find a picture of it. oh well. lol.
fuckit just took a pic. lol.

Actually thinkin back to 99-2000 i was the first person i knew utilizing wood in my install. I just didnt like everything peeps were making. Most like cartoys used plastic and fabric and fiberglass. I got 4 by 8 metal screen and cut away and my grills are finished with glitza floor finish. !!! Then wood became popular in installs .Thats not a solid piece of mahogany in the pic . its a laminated to shaped wood. I have extra wood now. I should do over. I can do better ! my hands are the best they been since i was 25 lol. I had hard time doing screw driver from o.d. heart failier shit at 26. acute toxic phenol poisening to be precise .lol.


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## visajoe1 (Mar 24, 2017)

the 19yr old in me lit up with @D528's post! clean setup my dude. i dont understand most of what of you wrote, but I can tell your system was dialed. thanks for sharing


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## D528 (Mar 25, 2017)

I think im going to go for some new 7" revolaters. They have an fs of 33 . Thats pretty low so thearetically i can play down to 66 hz with no problem. I do tend to blast shit though. My wifes always with me traveling now and she cnat handle the bass loud . I use 24 db slopes all around .. Then it would sound tight to have 8" subs in front doors so no music comes from behind at all like the bands right in front of you.. . I got plenty room ! Wont play the super low shit though well. Just a grocery getter though so. Some stereos have a subsonic filter and dont play the low shit anyway. You have to bypass that if thats the case to play under 30 hz on some. Alot of music sound like shit though and you hear mike bumps and shit plus they dont want you to blow your cheap shit ! lol. . I will enlarge my vent hole too. Sorry , not taking offers on that ,lol. I knew competitors with sponcered cars that would say " i'm running a special prototype mid " yet it would be a 7" scanspeak.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2017)

@Indacouch @Indagrow @bassman999


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## Psyphish (Mar 25, 2017)

I've Rainbow Germanium two way in the front and a 12" Ground Zero Hydrogen. Two Ground Zero Uranium two channel amps. But I mostly listen to music at home with headphones and a SubPac.


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## torontoke (Mar 25, 2017)

Psyphish said:


> I've Rainbow Germanium two way in the front and a 12" Ground Zero Hydrogen. Two Ground Zero Uranium two channel amps. But I mostly listen to music at home with headphones and a SubPac.


Is ground zero I new reputable brand?
I'm old school so honestly just never heard of it


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## Psyphish (Mar 25, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Is ground zero I new reputable brand?
> I'm old school so honestly just never heard of it


They're popular in Europe and have won multiple awards, their 15" plutonium is considered to be the best subwoofer ever.

Their new amp seems impressive also; "Output Power @ 1 Ohm (CEA*) 1 x 35000 W RMS"

http://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/about-ground-zero/history.html


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## torontoke (Mar 25, 2017)

Psyphish said:


> They're popular in Europe and have won multiple awards, their 15" plutonium is considered to be the best subwoofer ever.
> 
> Their new amp seems impressive also; "Output Power @ 1 Ohm (CEA*) 1 x 35000 W RMS"
> 
> http://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/about-ground-zero/history.html


I've never heard of them but if it's considered better then my jl 10w6 v1 subs it must be a monster.

My buddy had two earthquake magmas that were close but blow up within 6 months.

I'm not pushing my Jl's that hard.
Only have a hifonics boltar on em.


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## whitebb2727 (Mar 25, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Just like the title asks.
> Curious if I'm the only one left that still appreciates a great sounding car stereo?
> I have a pretty crazy stereo in my old car but I need to upgrade my truck speakers. I haven't bought any equipment in the last 10years cus it all seemed like cheaply made crap
> 
> Have any of the good speaker companies survived?


I like JL.


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## whitebb2727 (Mar 25, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Jl and Rockford are mass produced in China now. Most of the old big name companies are.
> 
> My whole car is old jl audio gear.
> 61/2 components, 6x9, and 3 10w6 subs.
> Now I'm trying to make my truck sound less like a soup can


That previous post was supposed to say jl. They may be made in China now but they are still quality speakers. 

I can't have real loud audio because of the kids. I just bought a 93 stepside ford I'm going to redo and build a bit. I'm sure ill put some audio in it.

I ran two 15 inch kicker comp vr back in the day.

I like Bose also.


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## visajoe1 (Mar 25, 2017)

Psyphish said:


> They're popular in Europe and have won multiple awards, their 15" plutonium is considered to be the best subwoofer ever.
> 
> Their new amp seems impressive also; "Output Power @ 1 Ohm (CEA*) 1 x 35000 W RMS"
> 
> http://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/about-ground-zero/history.html


holy smokes! well, go big or go home, right? those plutonium subs are insane! i want


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## torontoke (Mar 25, 2017)

Wow
I just looked up the specs on that plutonium 15".
Has some impressive numbers but needs a massive vented enclosure.
I'm assuming most people would use those in a sealed box?


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## Psyphish (Mar 26, 2017)

torontoke said:


> Wow
> I just looked up the specs on that plutonium 15".
> Has some impressive numbers but needs a massive vented enclosure.
> I'm assuming most people would use those in a sealed box?


Old video of someone with two 15"s


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## visajoe1 (Mar 28, 2017)

Psyphish said:


> Old video of someone with two 15"s


i see they have a distributor in the US via facebook. what is their pricing range from low end to these plutonium's? amp pricing? when i can, i would dump 5k into a daily driver setup and not think twice.


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## Scarce26 (Apr 1, 2017)

I just changed my amplifier, does that make me "into car audio"? Seriously, I love a car with good audio. Every time I sell an old car, I remove all my audio set up and transfer it to the new one.


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## torontoke (Apr 1, 2017)

Scarce26 said:


> I just changed my amplifier, does that make me "into car audio"? Seriously, I love a car with good audio. Every time I sell an old car, I remove all my audio set up and transfer it to the new one.


These days that makes u a rarity
I do the same btw
All pieces that survive are stored and re car'd
When I wrote off my last car about $6000 worth of gear vanished on the way to the body shop 
Good thing I had a pile of old school gear at home for the next ride


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## Fender Super (Apr 2, 2017)

I've got a sorta decent system, it's the speakers that really make the difference, but I have NO add-ons. All I need is an aux audio input so I can use the playlists in my phone. I am my own program director. No ads (except for the ones from The Who Sell Out) but I have some short, spoken-word audio clips meant to bring giggles when said clips come up (on shuffle). Things like R. Lee Ermey from the opening scene of Full Metal Jacket. Cracked me UP!!! 

"HOLY DOGSHIT, ONLY STEERS AND QUEERS COME FROM TEXAS AND YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE A STEER TO ME SO I GUESS THAT NARROWS IT DOWN!!!


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## Indacouch (Apr 8, 2017)

I just got done subbing up the cars finally ......don't have anything to special .....the big three upgrade and powering everything with Phoenix gold amps as well as mids and highs .....2..15's in a vented box in my yukon ......I'm not kicking the shit out of em .....it already broke mounts in the rear door for the window motor and started making my power window buttons drop I to the door ......after two days of having it in .....I'm not young anymore and willing to destroy my otherwise very clean yukon for bass .......I had a Lincoln that I literally blew up over the two years I had it ....running 4 audio bahn 15's two 10's in the deck lid for mids as well as an assortment of mids and highs mounted throughout ......worked In my uncles car audio shop then so it was possible to do such things ......my most insane build was a 98 mustang with two audio bahn 18's .....literally would knock shit off people's walls and even had an owner run out of her salon one time while I was stopped at a traffic light ....screaming at me because I was knocking shampoo bottles off her shelves .......my systems now are very mild in comparison ....but people still get a kick out of em when they hear em ......just my daily drivers ......but I gotta have bass with my music or it's just to bland......the yukon hits decent ....but I keep it turned down so it doesn't cost me 185$ in repairs to bump it ......I wasn't happy about that .......when I was younger cracking windshields and breaking body mounts were cool ((((not any more )))lol


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## torontoke (Apr 8, 2017)

I changed the glass on my old integra probably 5 times. Would shatter them after so long.
That was with 4 12" jbl subs with an Orion hcca amp.
My truck now has only one 12 and not nearly enough mids or hi's but I can't find any good gear or people even recommending name brands.
My vw is all jl audio but all old school stuff that cost a fortune so I was to cheap to throw out.


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