Rep Power: 528

Whoa, gearbox just PM'ed me and said he was going to give me his deck!!!!!

Haha j/k

Yeah, the stuff I played for gearbox at the meet was a band called Dimmu Borgir and the song I played was really fast with a lot of double bass drum rolls and stuff customary of black metal. But I listen to normal metal and rock, too. But sometimes I listen to techno or classical music, and about 1 or 2% of the time I'll listen to rap.

I think I'm getting too into this. Now I'm thinking about getting a new deck as well. Blah... stupid money

 
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Oh, one more question. What should I look for for frequency response on a sub? My Alpine 12 is 26-1,000Hz. The 10 is 30-1,000Hz. I saw some MB Quartz 12's that were 26-300 (isn't that low?), and a Pioneer that was 26-4000Hz.

Now I know frequency response isn't the end-all be-all, because I used to have these headphones with a low response that had shitty bass, and then I took them back and got some Sony's with a higher freqency response that had MUCH better bass. But the difference between a sub that goes up to 300Hz vs. on that goes up to 4000Hz seems pretty extreme.

What are the frequencies of "mid-bass?"

 
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He has no amp powering his speakers... Four 8s would just be a waste of money...

 
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If he's seeking balanced sound - I have a hard time thinking anything over a 10" is needed. I have a single 10 and it's more than enough at half power to provide the necessary rumble.

 
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A standard 10 inch sub will play frequencies between 20-100 (125) Hz the best. After 100Hz, the response rapidly drops off. Remember this is in a car environment. It will sound completely different outside.

 
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I believe the sub is amped. Said amp would be used on the 8's... I think that is the suggestion.

 
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So a sub with a frequency range up to 1000Hz, or 4000Hz doesn't really mean much?

 
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Does not mean anything. I can post the specs on my sub after work if you want showing in car and out of car response. The crossover on my deck only goes up to 125Hz (which is what I have set as), so it won't be playing anything higher anyway. And what? 4000Hz is like treble almost. I'll post some pics of my eq as well if you want to show you what a typical sound spectrum looks like.

But seriously you need a new deck. Get the alpine that mystic has But if you don't have alot to spend, eclipse makes alot of really cheap decks with awesome quality and mp3 playback too. Most important thing is make sure the deck does what you need it to. Look for rca preouts (a pair for sub, pair for fronts, and maybe a pair for rears in case you want to amp the speakers later). Also look at the sound tuning. Does it have a good eq with sound adjustments? Separate sub control (alot of decks don't). And make sure you like how it looks at night and somewhat matches your interior.

 
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A lot of decks are ugly. They have tacky displays and play movies and stuff. I want one that just shows the necessary information, and maybe .mp3 song title. When it shows .mp3 artist and track title, is it pulling it from the ID3 tag? Or is it pulling it from the file name if there is no ID3 tag?

 
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Most decks let you pick if you want song title, artist name, file name, etc.

I agree some decks really are ugly, and I actually have a simple graphic on mine and mostly text despite all the displays. Just find one that doesn't look stupid. I say the alpine's with biolight display (expensive), eclipse with segment display, and pioneer with Oel display (higher end) are among the cleanest out there. Just look around and you'll find something good.

 
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clarions are simple, reliable, inexpensive, and allow you to pick from around 100+ backlight colors depending on the model you go with.

dxz545mp plays mp3's, has sub output w/ crossover, but no colors. 200 bucks retail

dxz645mp has fold down faceplate, better EQ and 80 colors. 300 retail

all clarions have 2 year warranty

 
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I'm the guy that told him to amp his speakers too. LOL

 
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Is there a big difference in sound quality from different decks? I asked the guy at Tweeter this question and he took a CD with which I am very familiar (Black album by Metallica) and played "Of Wolf and Man" first in a $500 deck, and then through the same speakers in a $200 deck. It did sound clearer in the $500 deck, however, I would not put it past them to mess with the EQ on the cheaper deck to make it artifically sound worse in the comparison. This way people would be more inclined to buy the more expensive one = more profit for them.

What do you think? I'm not spending $500 on a deck to begin with, but I'd like to keep it at no more than $200 tops ($100 would be better, but you probably can't get much for that, right?).

Things it must have:

1. Sub volume
2. Crossover
3. EQ
4. .mp3 title display
5. A non-tacky display. I don't want one that plays Fast and the Furious when I'm not using the controls, and I don't want some ugly one that alternates flashing red and blue like this one my friend had. It was such a distraction, and you couldn't turn it off.

Why don't they make decks with ****/slider EQ controls anymore? It seems like everything is digital now. You have to push a mode button a few times and then adjust it up or down with softkeys. Whatever happened to "turn this **** for volume, this one for tuning," etc.?

 
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Most decks don't really affect the quality of sound more than the actual eq it has. I can turn my eq to flat and it will sound worse than some $100 decks that have the treble up. So just pick a deck based on what you listed above and you'll be happy. Most decks put out around 25w rms per channel (stock puts out 11-15 rms). Some have more, but an expernal amp is required.

 
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How do you reply so fast? I'm at work. So I can't check it that often.

How will I know if a certain deck will require an amp?

Oh, and are there any brands I should totally stay away from? I heard I should avoid Sony.

 
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just remember. in this game, you get what you pay for.
i started in your shoes, just wanting a little oomph
now im moderating this audio forum and my front door speakers cost double what most people on this forum spent on their whole systems front to back.

 
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What kind of front door speakers did you get? How much were they?

 
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focal utopia 165w3's
1500 dollars retail, but i shouldnt mention what i paid for em
shh mystic

 
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holy crap ludlam - compare them to boston pro comps...**** I thought THOSE were expensive. What's the rest of your system specs?

 
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the system is currently undergoing a serious rebuild, so when it gets here, then ill post bout it, but till then, all you get to know about is the stage =)

 
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Let us all bow down to the audio god!

 
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Maybe soon you'll pony up the $6,000 for a set of Rainbow Audio Components. . .