Stereo design question

[P51tj]

I believe the KVT 725 has been replaced by the KVT 737...

Leave it to Michael squeeze in 737 in there somewhere!

[F22trainer]

oops...I promise to never try and squeeze a 737 into anywhere, ever again

[Guest intmd8r]

I havent played with teh 07 head units yet, but heres my basic breakdown of teh decks IN MY OPINION

Eclipse - for quality its pretty much teh best of teh best, however it might just be teh hardest deck in teh world to figure out! they are also very boring looking, about 2 years behind in accessories like IPod, Satalite radio and other interfaces, and lack a lot of teh easy features most new head units have. If youre an audiophile and dont mind reading teh manual and spending some time with it, these are great!

Pioneer - Basically teh honda civic of head units... they are cheap, easy to use, wont ever let you down, come with 10 million features and have easy to replace parts because everyone carries them. Most are pretty flashy but teh upside to these is teh same internal amp is in EVERY model from cheapest to most expensive, so teh only thing teh higher priced ones buy is more features, or more voltage for teh amps

Kenwood - I hate kenwood. impossible to use, most menus require you go through other features to get to them, average price etc.

Alpine - IMO, a close 2nd to Eclipse for quality, however typically more expensive, not teh easiest head unit to learn, but they have a long list of accessories and generally dont break.

Clarion - No. Ive never seen so many head units come back broken then when I sold these back in thed ay

Sony - No. sub par internals, terrible amps, low low power, impossible to figure out features, but they do have a cool rotary knob!

JVC - best bang for teh buck... they are dirt cheap, work great and generally sound good for teh lower end decks. They cant compare to teh higher end pioneer or alpine when put to amplifiers, but for someone wanting a cheap deck that works good, this is it

and my best philosiphy for buying... if you havent heard of it, chances are theres a reason

Wow - thanks for the post - that is great information!

[Togo]

kinda - i see one flaw......

go with rockford fosgate POWER series - not punch.

teh power and punch come off teh same assembly line, in fact they are exactly teh same thing, but teh power amps have higher ratings in just about every quality - and they even include a spec sheet to show you teh tolerances in all tests.

With respect Togo I dont think this path is a flaw. Please let me explain.

While im not teh smartest person on teh block, I did pick up a few things while working in teh car audio field.

This is teh inside of teh Rockford Punch 350watt amp.

80watt x 2 @ 4 ohms RMS

$189.00

This heat sink was designed for teh more powerful 450 watt unit. You can tell by teh unused transformer mounting holes (green circles). Translation= this unit has better cooling needs that teh amplifier requires. More cooling longer life.

Nice fat juicy caps to make teh power needs available for teh unit. (yellow circle)

Notice teh power supply (blue circle) See below

Automotive style blade fuse (orange circle) See Below

This is teh inside of teh Rockford Fosgate Power 500 watt amp

70watts X 2 @ 4 ohms RMS

$360.00

See teh power supply (blue circle) looks teh same huh? That’s cuz it is.

Nice pretty fuse (yellow circle). That puppy will cost $30 to replace and you will have to wait a week.

Dam Fan (red circle). Ok this is a pet peeve. If teh fan craps out, do you think you will know before any damage is done? Ask people with video card fans that pooped out. teh main reason why there is a fan is because teh unit is 2 ohm stable while in bridge mode (a feature I have no need for). Lower teh resistance (ohms) more heat. An Amplifier is a really really simple device. There is no need for any moving parts let alone a fan.

This unit may have better sound quality in a blind fold test but, in a car, from an Ipod, while doing 120 mph, and hearing a walkie talkie crackle something about ‘doughnuts’ and 'where teh next turn is' … Ill never know teh difference.

That and teh $170.00 aint nothing to sneeze at.

chad - you don't have to respect me chad, that's the nice part of this forum - it allows us all to input on different subjects such as this -

my personal experience - i have 2 500.2 power amps (probably about 4 or 5 years old) and i didn't take mine apart - but the only difference i see on the outside is that they both say PUNCH on the amp - but have a small sticker on the amp that says its a POWER series and has the rockford "certificate" and if i'm not mistaken it shows a comparison of what the power series has and what the punch series has.

and the comment about blind fold test from an ipod at 120 with the 2 way radio.....YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! when you put it that way, seems i've been wasting a LOT of money over the years on car audio equipment - and will in the guture, use this advice.

[dewey]

Didn't BlakMajik win a couple of World Audio Championships???

I'd ask him, myself.

d

[Togo]

I havent played with teh 07 head units yet, but heres my basic breakdown of teh decks IN MY OPINION

Eclipse - for quality its pretty much teh best of teh best, however it might just be teh hardest deck in teh world to figure out! they are also very boring looking, about 2 years behind in accessories like IPod, Satalite radio and other interfaces, and lack a lot of teh easy features most new head units have. If youre an audiophile and dont mind reading teh manual and spending some time with it, these are great!

Pioneer - Basically teh honda civic of head units... they are cheap, easy to use, wont ever let you down, come with 10 million features and have easy to replace parts because everyone carries them. Most are pretty flashy but teh upside to these is teh same internal amp is in EVERY model from cheapest to most expensive, so teh only thing teh higher priced ones buy is more features, or more voltage for teh amps

Kenwood - I hate kenwood. impossible to use, most menus require you go through other features to get to them, average price etc.

Alpine - IMO, a close 2nd to Eclipse for quality, however typically more expensive, not teh easiest head unit to learn, but they have a long list of accessories and generally dont break.

Clarion - No. Ive never seen so many head units come back broken then when I sold these back in thed ay

Sony - No. sub par internals, terrible amps, low low power, impossible to figure out features, but they do have a cool rotary knob!

JVC - best bang for teh buck... they are dirt cheap, work great and generally sound good for teh lower end decks. They cant compare to teh higher end pioneer or alpine when put to amplifiers, but for someone wanting a cheap deck that works good, this is it

and my best philosiphy for buying... if you havent heard of it, chances are theres a reason

it's tough to argue with someone who does this for a living!!!!!

but, my personal opinion? sure i'd love to give it!

first of all - the last statement you said.....if you haven't heard of it, chances are, there's a reason?

while i mostly agree with brand name purchasing, i am going to stray off the beaten path and try out that DVD player i posted on the first page - why you ask? well, JVC, Sony, Clarion, Alpine, Kenwood, Eclipse are all made in the SAME country where i plan to source my DVD player from - CHINA! they use most, if not ALL of the same circuits and electronics as the famous name brands - in fact, many of those name brands come off the same assembly line.

what i have had good luck with in the past.......

Alpine!

i also noticeed you didn't mention Blaupunkt - they have been in the game for a long time as well

my opinion on eclipse - they didn't exist when i started buying this stuff back in high school - while ALL of those other names did - and like i said, back in the day i was a name brand purchaser for the most part.

the only stuff i ever saw from eclipse when they first came out was like "last years model" of all the good names. while that may have changed in the past 10- years (or however long they have been around) i believe they haven't been in the game as long as the others and i would go with a tried and true brand

the big names in decks have always been kenwood, alpine Sony and pioneer - even though much time has passed and we all know that name brands start to suck after a while - i'd still stick with one of those if you choose to go with a name brand that has been around since the inception of car audio!

also shop the sales - that may also change your mind - frys electronics always has a sale on something - the ad from friday has a few clarion decks on sale as well as a kicker amp (with a low price guarantee)

[F22trainer]

Blaupunkt...

now you're cookin' with Crisco.

[BlakMajik]

Wow, I came in late on this one.

Well, being I am in the warranty and parts department at Rockford I will put in what I see on a day to day basis. The PC boards are different in the Punch and Power series amps. They do share some of the smaller components. The fans on the Power series amp are designed to come on at a specified time IF the amp decides to go into a thermal situation. I have only seen one time where the fan actually came on in this situation.

Most of the amps that do come in for warranty work are usually in because of running at too low of an ohm load and going into protect after something shorted out. Does this mean all the amps are perfect? Of course not, there are some flub ups here and there. I personally use the Power T4004 amps in my Vette/competition car and the Type RF amps in my retired competition car. So far after 6 years of using the equipment have only had one failure because the sun made the amp too hot during display at a show and the amp detected the temp and would not turn on.

Overall, the Punch amp is solid, does not go into the lower impedances like the Power series does. Still pretty good bang for the buck.

As far as other brands, I have had good luck with Alpine, Kenwood, and Clarion for CD players. Speakers, I mostly use home audio type midranges and then use, of course, Rockford subs. So I'm a little biased there.

There's my 2 cents. :D

[ChadC]

Wow, I came in late on this one.

Well, being I am in the warranty and parts department at Rockford I will put in what I see on a day to day basis. The PC boards are different in the Punch and Power series amps. They do share some of the smaller components. The fans on the Power series amp are designed to come on at a specified time IF the amp decides to go into a thermal situation. I have only seen one time where the fan actually came on in this situation.

Most of the amps that do come in for warranty work are usually in because of running at too low of an ohm load and going into protect after something shorted out. Does this mean all the amps are perfect? Of course not, there are some flub ups here and there. I personally use the Power T4004 amps in my Vette/competition car and the Type RF amps in my retired competition car. So far after 6 years of using the equipment have only had one failure because the sun made the amp too hot during display at a show and the amp detected the temp and would not turn on.

Overall, the Punch amp is solid, does not go into the lower impedances like the Power series does. Still pretty good bang for the buck.

As far as other brands, I have had good luck with Alpine, Kenwood, and Clarion for CD players. Speakers, I mostly use home audio type midranges and then use, of course, Rockford subs. So I'm a little biased there.

There's my 2 cents. :D

thank you for chiming in. i stand corrrected. I get spooked with fans in amps after i saw Pioneer GMH series amps go to a plastic shell, and fans instead of a nice large almnum heat sink (were talking a while agao).

I planed on using Rockford Fosgate, my needs were for a normal 4 ohm amp to push my sub and fronts. You help convince me that the punch was the way to go.

cheers

chad

..any good guy discounts?

I can barter for computer/server or telephone systems repair

wink wink :D

[Z O SICK]

I'm running a Pioneer deck, Polk audio door speakers, stock rear speakers, MTX 10in sup, and a cheap ass amp lol. It sounds pretty good. Better than stock. Here is a pic of my deck.

[BlakMajik]

Well, the Punch series don't have fans anyway. So from a design standpoint, it's all about heat dissapation through the heatsink without the need of the fan. If I wasn't competing all the time I would probably just run the Punch line as well. They look much better to me this year than they did last year, upped the power a little and still decently reliable.

Discounts..... none of the shop owners here are Rockford dealers are they?? Hate to see myself burned at the stake by them :D

[Togo]

Well, the Punch series don't have fans anyway. So from a design standpoint, it's all about heat dissapation through the heatsink without the need of the fan. If I wasn't competing all the time I would probably just run the Punch line as well. They look much better to me this year than they did last year, upped the power a little and still decently reliable.

Discounts..... none of the shop owners here are Rockford dealers are they?? Hate to see myself burned at the stake by them :D

if you have discounts the people of the forum would LOVE a hookup - i think we only have one MEMBER that is a shop owner that does audio - but like i posted earlier in the thread - they are not forum SUPPORTERS - simply members - so POST UP THAT DISCOUNT

[ChadC]

if you have discounts the people of the forum would LOVE a hookup - i think we only have one MEMBER that is a shop owner that does audio - but like i posted earlier in the thread - they are not forum SUPPORTERS - simply members - so POST UP THAT DISCOUNT

I offer a less demanding, more polite please with that request.

[BlakMajik]

Well, basically it's employee discount, kinda like GM employee discount. I am limited as to how much I can get and if something is wrong for some reason. I would have to do the return for it to get worked on since it is considered "mine"

I'll help as much as I can. PM me what you're looking for and I'll see what it can be had for and if it's available.

[jmartin]

Mike, do you sell hardware or just do installs?

I buy stuff from a friend who owns a big wholesale outfit here in town so I could help those looking for equipment but do not want to step on any toes. I can buy at about 60% of retail pricing. They don't care what I do with the stuff as long as I do not resell it so I could forward the savings on to our clan.

sent pm let me know if you recieved it.