There are some excellent choices above. BUT, and this has been mentioned a billion times before......... you can go out and buy a nice set of expensive drivers, but if the installation is garbage or less then optimal, the sound quality will suffer regardless of the price, years the company has been in business, if they were hand made by god himself or glue-gunned by a pack of Russian monkeys. Consider your install and buy appropriately. If you can get into a less expensive set and yet spend more time/money on the install to get them setup right, that's the best choice. I've heard some very low end speakers that were setup with a lot of hard work that killed top of the line stuff installed badly. Your call. Shop smart and install smarter then the general masses.

Laterz

[ October 02, 2003, 07:37 AM: Message edited by: dawgsbreakfast ]

Yes, I'm an RS'er...sadly.

Yeah, I have a few other amps you can take a look at. Some which I'd rather keep than sell, but I have pics.

That US Acoustics should be enough, although I'd bridge the channels and make it work like a 2 channel -- It's funny, the ES I sold Bio has a 30 amp fuse and is 50x2, and the USA is 80x4 and has a 35A rating...I wouldn't dismiss the use of the amp for components, but it seems quite overrated. It should be fine.

Supposedly the Diamond Audio dealer is called Audio X Performance. They're in Richmond on Clarke Place by Ikea.

[ October 02, 2003, 07:43 AM: Message edited by: Chadxton ]

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Look! My stuff is for sale!

Cool, thx for the info Chadxton. Actually someone tipped me off on a deal for a set of CDT CL61's for $150 USD... so I might go w/ those. Dawgsbreakfast, what exactly do you classify as a crappy install? Save for mounting the speakers with ducktape [img]graemlins/freak.gif[/img]

[ October 02, 2003, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: webHead ]

My definition of a crappy install is speakers that are not imaged properly and I'm sure Tom would agree.

Well, not imaged and crappy fiberglass work.

What you need to do is, get yourself a really well recorded CD like an IASCA cd or Focal or something that is not an SPL cd and get someone to build you a set of properly imaged kickpanels using the SQ cd to get the staging correct.

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http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/818309

My old van and install.

http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/634352

The rest of the install pics.

Not so much about crap but lets look at it this another way. Say you have $600 to spend (just as a number pulled out of the air). Do you spend $600 on a set of expensive components and stuff them in your doors or do you send $300 on a set of middle of the line components and $300 on a set of kickpanels that will change dramatically what you will hear from your front stage......... assuming they are built by someone who knows how to build kick panels properly (another problem)???? Yes, it's nice to say you have high end components and to be able to show them to everyone, but if they sound like crap, it's a complete waste of money. You may as well just bought junk and gave me the rest of the money Spend wisely........ buy as an educated consumer that will get you great sounding results. That means not always buying the most expensive gear.

I definatly agree with Tom.

Install is number one. Not too long ago a friend came to me with some co-axil speakers and wanted them installed in the kicks...he started with about $300 or so and bought his speakers....then gave the rest to me for materials to build his kicks. They sounded pretty good for only using the crossover on the amp and no proccessing.
They could have been much better if a proper active crossover was used.

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http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/818309

My old van and install.

http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/634352

The rest of the install pics.

I agree.

One of the best systems I've heard had some fairly low end gear to my standards. Great care was taken in the imaging and tuning of the system, and it sounded terific!. I could only imagine how it would sound with some quality gear.

Its all about the install.

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2000 Acura 1.6EL Premium<br />IASCA SQ Competitor - Street Smart 1-600W<br />Sound Domain Page: <a href="http://members.sounddomain.com/turbolemon" target="_blank">Mike's Acura</a>

Hey,
A question about the kicks. Do they take up the space of the dead-pedal in a manual transmission car? Cuz I use that pedal on a frequent basis when driving "enthusiastically"

It can replace the dead pedal for the most part.......... it all depends on HOW you build it and the size of the drivers you are using.

You can start with entry level drivers and kicks.......... and get good results. Then save up and replace the entry level drivers with upgraded drivers at a later date and put them in the kicks you already have [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Just open the wallet a little more and get a Rainbow Reference Series comp set.

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Xmax 15 in 4.5 cubes tuned to 28hz<br />Eclipse 6x9's <br />Infinity 605cs comps<br />Alpine 7863<br />US Acoustics 4050<br />Kicker KX 400.2