Tim Baillie.

Why is it that some of you have created this "cult" following for these basement brand name subwoofers that are bought and assembled from a speaker parts book from overseas ? I mean you people really don't think these people are building their own baskets, cones, surrounds and voice coils do you ???

Companies like ed, RE, Adire etc..................

I'm not defending or picking on one brand but I would like someone to fill me in on why these are loved so much when they are generally more money, less warranty, internet sold products..............................

Wouldn't speakers from established companies like (JL, MTX, RF, Orion and dozens more) with retail stores be a better fit? Better customer service............better pricing..............you can hear them most times....................

And then when these established companies bring out these super woofers you all think they are crap cause they aren't made by a basement brand name.......................

A buddy of mine has a picture that was taken at CES of a super woofer from one of these basement companies, only problem was the speaker was from a overseas speaker parts distributor............

Again, I'm not bashing anyone, just curious...........

JordyO

iTrader: (17)

Well... basically.. the "basement speakers" are better and cheaper.

In the SPL world every tenth of a db matters. Kicker/JL/RF don't make anything that compete with the RE MT or the DD 99 series.

Anything that they have that is even close is considerably more expensive. (RE XXX vs W7 for ex)

There are also a whole group of people that just like to be different.

It's cool to be the guy that's "in" with car audio so he knows all the underground brands that no one else knows about.

Hardwrkr

iTrader: (5)

Sure they've just chosen parts from the parts catalogue but they arer making drivers that work well and most have excellent cutomer service. most times, better than the big company's.

Cutomer Service;
I've personally bought form RE. When I was looking into box suggestions I gave them a call to find out what would work best for my application. When I called they were busy helping someone else and instead of putting me on hold and making me pay for a long distance call they said they would call ME back. They called me from Las Vegas maybe five minutes later and spoke with me without any rush, answered all my questions in detail and gave me some extra advice. JL, MTX, Alpine, etc. ever do things like this for the little guy? Good luck.

Price Point;
IMO the XXX and Brahma are every bit as good sounding and even better in other areas as the W7 and MTX 9500 and at a fraction of the price.

Purpose built driver's;
Name a driver from MTX, JL, RF, Orion, that can compete in the SPL lanes with a RE MT. Hell the SX is even an excellent SPL driver with lower power SPL systems. Team RF drivers excluded as they aren't available to everyone and who coudl afford to buy them anyways.

Basically my point is among other things they have great customer service, excellent performing drivers, and great prices.
Three ways they beat out the big guys.
But that's just my $0.02

battyrida

iTrader: (-1)

errr... ive had great customer service from the big name guys. including JL, Kicker, Xtant (MTX) and alpine. Went as far as over nighting me parts for my install. Im sure smaller companies do have a certain level of personal relations with its customers more so compared to a larger more established company, and people do like that. However, If you are spending as much as some people do in this industry and are not just using the gear for a seasons worth of burping, people rather invest their cash into a well known reputable company. Not an internet based operation.

We all know many of these drivers are off the shelf, as are many parts from more established companines drivers. However different combinations and various new technologies are being pushed to the limit by these smaller companies. Not because they are superior or more fanatic about car audio, its because they have to gain market share and this is how they do it. Slash prices, and produce well performing gear.

remember guys, SPL drivers should not necessarily be considered a cornerstone in which comparisons should be drawn. sure you can build a sub with extra stiff spiders and have large VC's and ultra rigid cones all things to improve power handling and spl. However these subs are of no real use to the 99% of people out their. To build a driver with low inductance, high linear excursion, low distortion and good power handling while having a flat a response as possible thats a feat many smaller companies shy from.. Not saying all small companies have done so but for the most part.

Kriston

coulter

where do you draw this conclusion from? i would consider it completely opposite to that. the only thing i agree with is being able to hear it before you buy it, which can mean a lot.

[ January 20, 2005, 06:26 PM: Message edited by: coulter ]

Toolman

I disagree with the price thing regarding eD though. I understand completely that they are not making their own stuff, BUT they do offer pretty darn good performance for the money and they have a solid 3 year warranty. And, the customer service has been excellent with me anyhow.

MR2NR

iTrader: (66)

[img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Jason_B

Who?

loudtdi

iTrader: (1)

I think it comes down to people wanting something different than what their friends have.

It would be great to get a list of what all the first through 10th place finishers in each category had for gear at the DB Drag finals last year. Some of htem would have boutique gear but I speculate that a larger percentage of them will have gear from the 'big-names'. Does any forum member have nothing to do for a few hours?.....why not make this list and post it. I dont have the time, nor an I really too concerned about it.

Most of the world class SLPers could probably achieve their success with a number of different hardware choices.