Brilliant marketing (sarcasm)

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

ok, is it me or is this just some idiotic marketing for car audio products??

Sony XPLOD amplifiers???  Hey,..what's the 1 thing you DON'T want this amp to do?  Explode.   HUH???

The Audiobahn Flame Q subwoofer. The basket is adorned with chrome flames. JUST what you want to picture when you think of the internal workings of a $280 subwoofer,.....flames :

[grimlin]

LBH,Some sound is better when you flip the speakers backwards...You get a lower bass sound.Somebody came up with the concept of putting designs on the back,because low riders will actually flip their speakers backwards in a Loud bass competition.Nobody wants to see that big Black magnetic sticking out.

That was originally the concept of why they did that....cosmetic reasons.

I remember doing it to my rockford fosgate speakers and that thing had an extremely low "bass" sound.

I got nothing to say about the Amp though.... ;D

[TheBeast]

The xplode line is walmart garbage anyway, anyone that is really serious about their car stereo would just laugh at those.  The Audiobahn on the other hand is a great product and I don't see any problem with the basket being made to look like flames, it has to look like something and if you are going to run them upside down why not have something that looks decent.  

[.dsaavedra.]

lol that and the first picture looks like a bomb ;D

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

LBH,Some sound is better when you flip the speakers backwards...You get a lower bass sound.Somebody came up with the concept of putting designs on the back,because low riders will actually flip their speakers backwards in a Loud bass competition.Nobody wants to see that big Black magnetic sticking out.

That was originally the concept of why they did that....cosmetic reasons.

I remember doing it to my rockford fosgate speakers and that thing had an extremely low "bass" sound.

I got nothing to say about the Amp though.... ;D

Shifting the phase (inverting the sub) has nothing to do with the frequency parameters that the sub is designed to perform within.

Shifting the phase can also be done by switching pos and neg

Most higher end headunits allow you to do this from the drivers seat now.

The xplode line is walmart garbage anyway, anyone that is really serious about their car stereo would just laugh at those. The Audiobahn on the other hand is a great product and I don't see any problem with the basket being made to look like flames, it has to look like something and if you are going to run them upside down why not have something that looks decent.

Believe it or not (and I agree about your "crap" rating), Tweeter, etc, a higher end audio store, actually carried the Sony Xplod line. MISTAKE,lol

A-Bahn has always made subs that perform very well in their price range. I owned a set of Aluminum 12's sound Q subs. Well,,.....sound Q subs that could handle 1000 watts of NOMINAL power. Crazy value in that sub.

For that matter (not so much car audio), Sony has also made plenty of quality products. I'm just saying,...what are they thinking associating these terms with electronics??? I just find it all funny

[fivesixone]

Yeah, Xplods are serious garbage.

Audiobahns aren't too bad, but there's definitely better stuff out there for the price. I used to have 4 Audiobahn 10's pushing 1200 watts in the back of a 1986 Honda Accord. Pretty much rattled the d**n thing apart! Man was that thing loud! ;D

[cart7t]

If you younger guys could only know what just 1 watt of pure, RMS audio power sounds like you'd realize what a joke the amplifiers of today really are.   ;D

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

If you younger guys could only know what just 1 watt of pure, RMS audio power sounds like you'd realize what a joke the amplifiers of today really are. ;D

WORD!!

VERY few amps have true ratings anymore. Easy to do as there is no real equation to figure for wattage,...it's an abstract.

Brax, Arc Audio,......that's the real stuff. I can only imagine how sick those guys are of answering 1 question. "How come your amp is $3000 and it only offers 200 watts????" ;D

classic.

My Ma Audio HC2502 is rated at 2500w@1ohm with 17v signal. It cranks, don't get me wrong, but I guarantee it doesn't put out more than 150-200 watts of pure RMS power.

I always under power (according to the company specs) the speakers in any install.  Extra headroom assists clarity.  Ratings are bogus.

It's a marketing thing.

[fivesixone]

Very true. But, most of em are rated as the max power nowadays. No one that I talk to about car stereos even really knows what RMS means, though.

[1inStripes]

If you carry Sony car products as a company you carry Xplod.  The funny part is listening to all the different pronunciations from customers. It seems like Sony has released some new ES car stuff, but for the most part it was done away with the Xplod concept around 02 or 03.

I wish we still carried Audiobahn.  Good sound and quality for the price. The surrounds could have been a little better from memory on their subs, but overall I like them.  

Theres a fitting term for a lot of people I talk to "sub boys" .  Looking for a subwoofer to match up properly with their 1800 watt amp but only want to spend $150 for 2 subs.  First question, what is the amp?  Yep, its Lightning Audio, Xplod, Mach Audio or something.  :

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

If you carry Sony car products as a company you carry Xplod. The funny part is listening to all the different pronunciations from customers. It seems like Sony has released some new ES car stuff, but for the most part it was done away with the Xplod concept around 02 or 03.

I wish we still carried Audiobahn. Good sound and quality for the price. The surrounds could have been a little better from memory on their subs, but overall I like them.

Theres a fitting term for a lot of people I talk to "sub boys" . Looking for a subwoofer to match up properly with their 1800 watt amp but only want to spend $150 for 2 subs. First question, what is the amp? Yep, its Lightning Audio, Xplod, Mach Audio or something. :

Lanzar, pyle, Boss, etc etc,..I'm with ya there,lol

The surrounds on the Alum q were a very beefy (for a sound q sub,...but again, how many sound q subs run 1000w consistent and max at 1500?) They were rubber, not foam. The high excursion stuff is also beefy rubber I believe, been a few yrs since I've looked at ANY line

(Because I did a quality install with the old equipment and it's still cranking 7 yrs later )

INSTALL IS EVERYTHING

fivesixone--RMS,......I think I have one of their albums!! ;D

[1inStripes]

You may be right, but I was thinking the high roll surround was a foam composition, but its been a while, and they all tend to run together.  I loved their chrome amps, and coming with a glove to keep fingerprints off during the install.  

As for the install, theres no doubt it makes a huge difference. Hooking things up properly, correct box size, correct power all go hand in hand.  I must say though it is something to set in a vendors show car and listen to the best they can do.

[CWB]

The Audiobahn looks like the air filter from a '64 Chevy lowrider out in east L.A.

;D

[ejtaylor822]

Came a long way from my old sub in a sealed pine box behind the seat in my truck (1983).  Did sound good though.

[daviscw]

Brilliant? Yes, actually. Your post about an abnormal brand name just got this product at least 20,000 more potential buyers! Look at it that way.

[cart7t]

Very true. But, most of em are rated as the max power nowadays. No one that I talk to about car stereos even really knows what RMS means, though.

Around 1979-1980 I worked as a car stereo installer for a now defunct stereo chain called CMC stereo. 8 tracks were on their way out and cassettes were in. To give you an idea, it was Alpines first year in the US as a car audio company.

The best system we used to install was a Alpine cassette head unit with a Fosgate Punch, 20W x 4 with Pioneer 6x9's in the rear and 6" Pioneer 3 ways in the doors. The Fosgate (pre Rockwell) had distortion specs as good as half of the Marantz, Kenwood or Technics home stereo's we had on the floor. The sound out of that little 20 watt per channel amp was incredible. Crank the audio up to hit 5 watts of real RMS power and you'd rattle the fillings out of your teeth in most cars and be deaf a couple hours afterwards.

[burleytog]

Brilliant marketing?  Kind of like a $40 'low budget' cotton sweatshirt?  

[Fisher of Men]

You guys are talking about high-end car audio and haven't even mentioned Kraco or Audivox? What are you thinking leaving these fine brands out of the discussion? :

Yes, car audio has come along way since the 80's!

I remember bringing my home stereo speakers from my bedroom and putting them behind the seat. Talk about "pro-audio".

Back to the thread, Russ, wasn't there another brand called Sparkomatic?