is there a competiton series of these components that are a better series that what might be sold at a best buy or circuit city type store?

i've been looking to complete my system with some kicker solobarics but i was told i could do just as well with a newer fosgate series and save half of the money.

is there really one speaker or amp that dominates anymore or is it purely personal taste for the most part?

 

mostly personal taste. if you want sound quality then IMO your are looking at the wrong brands.

 

rockford is one of the best brands out there. but if ur going with kicker solobarics 1 should b plenty with a nice rockford amp. if ur going to run solobarics i personaly would run 2 amps. you can get enough power from 1 amp, but u should go 2 a specalist store to ask want amp would b the best, they go 2 workshops and stuff that the big name brands sponsore to inform them about there product. but alot of ppl just like 2 run 2 amps.

 

supposedly the word on the new rockford competition speakers is that one is as good as 3 JLaudio equivalents.

considering each of the subs requires almost 800 rms i had hope they better. i wouldn't mind to have solobarics but i learned quickly that you pay for certain names in audio and i don't particularly care to do that anymore since no one will be able to tell what the speakers are any way i just want something that works well.

the idea behind the solobarics is nice and they look really cool but your almost comparing apples to oranges so i'm not really sure what to do but i would rather spend a little more in the end to have something nicer then the other way around.

 

Their website should provide info on what series is their "flagship" series of components. When I sold Rockford one of their Fanatic series was the top (X or Q maybe), and they sounded pretty good. They weren't my first choice, but they did have a very natural sound with most types of music, and I certainly wouldn't have been unhappy with a set.

It's quite possible (and I'd even say likely) that Best Buy doesn't carry their top series of components.

 

Do not buy Fanatic P's...sold at Best Buy....for an ungodly amount of money. I was hurting for some new speakers in the rear and bought these hoping the money was well spent....yuck.

Don't even ask what I paid for this pile.

 

Rockford and kicker are good mainstream brands but there are many non mainstream companies out the that offer better products. Check out Adire audio kodas, focal utopia series, and image dynamics the only downfall on these is its hard to find a local dealer so you can hear them first. In the end you stereo can only sound as good as you installing skills allow.

 

back in the day when i was heavilly into this sort of thing we worked with alot of mb quart and jl components using such things as alpine and ppi amps mainly because they were the names at the time. it's been so long i'd have to do some real research to find out exactly what i like again.

from a pure cost perspective the deals on the rockford are worth it but i agree that in the end the sound is what matters so i just need to research some more.

thanks for the opinions everyone!

 

The new rockford stuff blows, they have gone down the drain, sure they used to have good products, but anyone yelling they have good stuff now is still running several year old equipment and just being faithfully uninformed.

try looking around on www.edesignaudio.com and www.adireaudio.com

 

focal does make some very nice speaks,they're more of a sql than a spl line:rockon:

 

The Q line was the high end Rockford line. I had the fanatic X series in a car and for the price they did the job.

 

There are some SPL oriented driver that some manufactures make you cannot get. They are for major SPL competitors only....

Off the shelf, both our's or Rockfords will do fine. But on how loud one versus the other is, is strictly on installation based. Too many variables to say one is better than the other, just dropped into an enclosure.
there are many other smaller based companies out there that make good stuff, Adire (personal friend of mine, Dan Wiggins) and it's top notch stuff.
Just be careful what you do get if you decide to purchase one, because I'd hate to see you end up in the 'Audiomobile' list.......

 

Yeah... that whole audiomobile fiasco is something else. It's a real shame that a company with such a good product had such a bonehead in charge. Somehow I don't see the same happening to Adire though. Dan Wiggins is a whole lot different than Mover.

 

I agree....Dan has a much better reputation, but several smaller 'online' dealers have folded over the last two years....me, I just offer advice to please be careful.

How ya been Jim?

 

IMO rockford suck all around. amps and all...unless yout talking abou the OLD school stuff. i myself am in Love with Memphis Car Audio! everything i'm putting in my car will be memphis :-D but don't let one person change what you think. do around and listen to other systems and see what you think. thats what sold me on the memphis line. :hail: Memphis LVS:hail: