Audiobahn? A walk down audio lane?

[Mike Franklin]

I've been out of car stereo equipment for a LOOONG time but recently, I've feel as if I've been bitten by the bug again. Second midlife crisis? I already got the motorcycle in the first one.



Anyway, what is the rep on audio bahn stuff? Is it junk?



Now for a stroll down car audio yester year. No, were not going as far back as 8 tracks and 6x9's today but...



Anybody remember when hifonics was quality? You know, the old usa made amps that were white with black and red lettering? The white THOR amp could seriously bump a set of subs.



How about the product line "blues" sub. MTX made them I think. They made a ported box that sounded awfull but looked really cool with the plexiglass front.



Jensen was always crap.



Blaupunkt got punkt and sounded goofy.



How about the Pioneer GMH-100 amplifier. You know, the black chunky one? At 2 ohms, that one could bang out some tunes too.







Ok Ok, raise your hand if you had a pull out radio. No, I'm not talking about a detachable face radio, I'm talking about flip the handle, and yank the sucker right out of the dash. I had a clarion cassette deck that did that. Miss that radio some days. It was the first one I ever bought.



Ok, first ever booster??? PYRAMID 7 BAND EQ hooked up to a KRACO 2 knob western auto special head unit. Oh my, the days of my chevette. I had almost forgotten.



Lastly, That old chevette got a set of 15" acoustical speakers from radio shack with chrome dust caps in a plywood box.



Ahhh. some fun I've had.

 

[Jacob Dryer]

I don't think I'm old enough to comment on anything else other than the audiobahn question. The answer to that is yes I would look else where. For the same prices you can much better.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Im sorry, but all the brands that you've mentioned are low grade. I dont care what anyone says Here is my 2 cents.



Audiobahn = All Bling, nothing more.

Hifonics = All power, no quality.

MTX = Too expensive for what you get. Ive owned thier subs and amps, and nothing ever made me feel as though my money was well spent.

Blaupunkt = Ugh!

Jensen = Double Ugh!

Pyramid = Flea Market Special!



Ive ended up with an Alpine IVA-D310 In-Dash DVD, and everything else is JL Audio. Expensive but I beleive its money well spent with the way it sounds.... and shakes!

 

[Mike Franklin]

Don't apologize XST, I was just lamenting the "back in the day" aspect but I have to disagree with you on one aspect, the old old HiFonics had a thd below .5 They were clean amps. The operative term here being "were".



I figured the audio bahn was crap but I wasn't sure.

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

May be so.... I cant really say... I didnt own one of those, but from a nother forum I am on the modern day Hifonics have several problems, including blowing up....



Most car audio equipment was better back in the day for sure... Just like most things the quality has gone down and the prices up....

 

[Mike Franklin]

Back in the day there was this whole flap about amps made in the us vs overseas. It was one of the clinchers the salesmen used. IMHO the coolest amp I ever got to install was one of the Orion HCCA competition amps. You know, the big moster red one with the fan in the center? .5 ohm stable or something like that?



That was when car stereo competitions were big. HAHAHA, interesting how time changes your perception of things cause man do I feel foolish now.

 

[Mike Franklin]

sorry, I self deleted this post.

 

[TomT]

Back "in the old days" Blaupunkt was very high end, just like Alpine. I still think they make some decent stuff but they also sell low end crap. All audio manufactures have to sell crappy stuff or go out of business. Most young people today are used to MP3's, which sound like crap; CD's, which are a clean sound but lack fidelity; or other digitally compressed formats. It's increasingly hard to find real high end audio equipment for the home or vehicle.

 

[Tony Tassillo]

am i that old? i do remember my first system was a set of radio shack 12's in a plywood box with a jensen 200 watt amplifier. i though i was doing something. as the years passed and i was sponsored though various car audio companies i realized what boom was as i took 4th place at the SBN Spring Break Nationals (daytona Beach) but not im all quailty. if it aint JL or Alpine im not intrested anymore. mind you other companies make great products but im partial i guess.

 

[Mike Franklin]

http://www.salesco.com/amps/eagle.htm





I think I've settled on a amp!!!

:blink::blink::blink:

 

[Mylimyles]

Back n da day Sherwood amps were the &*%$