How to cram a 6.5" with cast basket into your door *Pics*

MarkIII4Me

Project OVERKILL!!!
Apr 10, 2005
1,249
2
38
Charleston, SC
Zach;1462027 said:
Is A/D/S not around anymore? :)

They've been gone for over 10 years. There's still plenty of their speakers left floating around on ebay since a couple of places bought up all their inventory when they went under. Amplifiers, not so much. I had one of their P4100.2 Anniversary 4 channel powerplates hooked up to a set of MB Quart Q Series components (1 ch per driver) and it sounded amazing; until some doucher broke into my ride and jacked it :(

Orion and PPI are still around, but they're just names. No longer made in the USA, use inferior components; aren't nearly as underrated. If you see "made in USA" on one it's a dead give-away that it's from the oldschool glory days.
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
12,377
3
38
56
Richmond, BC, Canada
idriders.com
On a related note...

Is anyone still in touch with what new bits are worth buying these days? I'm running Hifonics gear from when it was still made in the USA, but it's getting long in the tooth and showing it. Still runs strong, nothing wrong with the performance, but the plugs are getting worn, and the finish has been going for years.
 

Pernilongo

LADA is my daily
Jul 15, 2007
446
0
0
Los Angeles
GrimJack;1462728 said:
On a related note...

Is anyone still in touch with what new bits are worth buying these days? I'm running Hifonics gear from when it was still made in the USA, but it's getting long in the tooth and showing it. Still runs strong, nothing wrong with the performance, but the plugs are getting worn, and the finish has been going for years.

Grim, Dodge Neon is made in the USA. Its not the question of where but by who and how. There plently of great American companies that make their gear overseas and it doesnt mean quality control is not there. If you are after American name brands ID, Zapco, ARC audio, CDT, RE-audio, US amps are all good. But there are plenty of European top names like DLS and Genesis and so on that are really top notch. Market-place is a messed up thing, if Visonik was to put " Proudly made in the USA" who would care that the company is somewhere in Asia and everything is made out if Chinese or Tiwanese componets? Ultimately for car audio companies like PPI its just not worth to put Burr Brown or Rubycon componets anymore. There is a whole new wave of car audio emerging, its just not in the states yet.
 

Anth505

Failte
Apr 8, 2007
105
0
0
44
Toronto Ontario
Pernilongo;1462244 said:
If their sensitivity is measured by the same method. ;)

Speaker Sensitivity

Sensitivity is measured in terms of dB/watt/meter or dB/2.83 volts/meter which means that a certain loudness (1 dB or decibel) will be achieved with a standard signal level (2.83 volts or 1 watt @ 8 ohms) at a standard distance from the speaker (1 meter). Conventional "dynamic" drivers (cones and domes with a magnet and coil motor) can offer reasonable efficiency and good dynamic performance, usually in the range of 85- 90 dB/2.83 volts /meter.

The "horn loaded" speakers use guides to "launch" the sound waves which result in the sound coming out like a megaphone. They also tend to use compression drivers that push sound in a way analogous to a water melon seed between wet fingers. They are very sensitive (loud with little power) and are useful with low power amplifiers (this would be a good choice to consider if you have fallen in love with one of the single ended triode amplifiers described in the preceding section). If you have a high powered amplifier (200 watts per channel), this is not a major concern, but if your amplifier is low powered (20 - 40 watts per channel), sensitivity becomes important. Speakers with ratings above 90dB/2.83 volts/meter are considered highly sensitive, ratings between 86 - 90 dB/2.83 volts/meter are not as sensitive, and speakers with ratings of below 85 dB/2.83 volts/meter are considered insensitive, if not downright macho. Horn loaded speakers, for example, can reach levels above 100 dB/watt/meter, and in the early days of motion pictures, theaters used this type of speaker because the amplifiers only had about a 10 watt output.
 

Pernilongo

LADA is my daily
Jul 15, 2007
446
0
0
Los Angeles
Anth505;1463355 said:
Speaker Sensitivity

Sensitivity is measured in terms of dB/watt/meter or dB/2.83 volts/meter which means that a certain loudness (1 dB or decibel) will be achieved with a standard signal level (2.83 volts or 1 watt @ 8 ohms) at a standard distance from the speaker (1 meter). Conventional "dynamic" drivers (cones and domes with a magnet and coil motor) can offer reasonable efficiency and good dynamic performance, usually in the range of 85- 90 dB/2.83 volts /meter.

Its only one of the methods to measure sensitivity. There are others and not every company states what they use. Plus, you know that things like crosover design and complexity will affect power delivery, lest cone manerial weight and so on will influence a reachable load.
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
12,377
3
38
56
Richmond, BC, Canada
idriders.com
Pernilongo;1463345 said:
Grim, Dodge Neon is made in the USA. Its not the question of where but by who and how. There plently of great American companies that make their gear overseas and it doesnt mean quality control is not there. If you are after American name brands ID, Zapco, ARC audio, CDT, RE-audio, US amps are all good. But there are plenty of European top names like DLS and Genesis and so on that are really top notch. Market-place is a messed up thing, if Visonik was to put " Proudly made in the USA" who would care that the company is somewhere in Asia and everything is made out if Chinese or Tiwanese componets? Ultimately for car audio companies like PPI its just not worth to put Burr Brown or Rubycon componets anymore. There is a whole new wave of car audio emerging, its just not in the states yet.
No argument there. Zapco is still around, and making good stuff? That's good to hear.

I'm not that prejudiced towards 'made in the USA' gear - especially as I'm actually Canadian. It's just been the best bang for the buck in my previous experience. Problem is, I haven't purchased any car audio equipment for over 2 decades now - well, with the exception of the lemon... err, I mean Alpine head unit I bought in the mid 90s.

Any links on this new wave of car audio? I wouldn't mind doing some reading, I usually do some pretty serious research before buying stuff anyway.
 

airhead04

New Member
Aug 21, 2009
1,489
1
0
Lima, Ohio, United States
GrimJack;1463409 said:
No argument there. Zapco is still around, and making good stuff? That's good to hear.

I'm not that prejudiced towards 'made in the USA' gear - especially as I'm actually Canadian. It's just been the best bang for the buck in my previous experience. Problem is, I haven't purchased any car audio equipment for over 2 decades now - well, with the exception of the lemon... err, I mean Alpine head unit I bought in the mid 90s.

Any links on this new wave of car audio? I wouldn't mind doing some reading, I usually do some pretty serious research before buying stuff anyway.

http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/

Grim, if you buy from that company call before hand and make sure whatever you are purchasing isnt backordered
 

Anth505

Failte
Apr 8, 2007
105
0
0
44
Toronto Ontario
Pernilongo;1463393 said:
Its only one of the methods to measure sensitivity. There are others and not every company states what they use. Plus, you know that things like crosover design and complexity will affect power delivery, lest cone manerial weight and so on will influence a reachable load.


The majority of companies use the previously mentioned method. AFAIK all reputable companies use the same method. What are the other methods are you referring to?

Of course there are other factors that can influence a speakers sensitivity. The measurement is just a guideline. My point is that I know of no other way reputable speaker manufacturers test for this. It is pretty much standard.
 
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trucker

New Member
Feb 18, 2006
88
0
0
i'm bad, i'm nationwide
MarkIII4Me;1462597 said:
They've been gone for over 10 years. There's still plenty of their speakers left floating around on ebay since a couple of places bought up all their inventory when they went under. Amplifiers, not so much. I had one of their P4100.2 Anniversary 4 channel powerplates hooked up to a set of MB Quart Q Series components (1 ch per driver) and it sounded amazing; until some doucher broke into my ride and jacked it :(

Orion and PPI are still around, but they're just names. No longer made in the USA, use inferior components; aren't nearly as underrated. If you see "made in USA" on one it's a dead give-away that it's from the oldschool glory days.




lol, im sitting on a pair of 250hcca amps, as well as a pair of 275sx's, and a 222sx snuck in the collection along the way.. also have a matched set of museum quality soundstream DII series amps. two d60's and a d200. havent figured out what to do with them yet, will prolly just sell them. i dont see myself having a car worthy of the soundstreams anytime soon, and will prolly never get around to using the orions..i love the old school stuff. its funny that the old orions are bringing as much as the modern mega watt amps.