Let's have a good debate thread...


How much does brand name matter? To keep things simple, lets only talk sound quality, only speakers and amps, and only the major market 'good' brands like Alpine, Rockford, Kicker, JL, Crossfire, Eclipse, etc. We won't consider the bottom end Bumper, Thumper, Rockwood, etc., and let's not go way up the Focal or Morel trees to the big bucks stuff, either.

I believe that, given these parameters, brand choice matters very little. I'd be willing to bet that if I set up a blind test of say, 6 1/2's...same enclosure, same power level, same room, etc...that very few, if any of us, could name the brands. I think the same would hold true for amps, and probably subs. We could tell what sounds better or worse to us, which would be interesting in itself...what if our favorite brand doesn't sound the best ?!?!

Further, I think that install quality (integrity, placement, crossover choice, etc.) plays a much more significant role in sound quality than brand. Look at the 'big 3'...Gary Biggs, Mark Eldridge, and Alma Gates...they win with JBL, they used to win with kicker, and I bet if Rockford, or JL, or Kenwood, or Alpine picked up the tab, they'd win with them, as well. I've personally won with Orion, JBL, Morel, Peerless, Pyle (yep, pyle), Redline, Precison Power, Rockford, Hifonics, and probably a couple others I just can't remember. I also once lost to a truck with all Pyramid...and it sounded damn good, too.

I went with Crossfire as the dominant line for my shop. Mainly, because no one else around here has it. If I had JL, or Rockford, I'd just get caught in price wars. If it will ultimately be decided on install and sound quality, I will win or lose that battle with Crossfire just the same as if I had JL (I personally think that JL has some of the best engineered products on the market, by the way).

Look at the other major shops...how much better are Sound Advice cars now that they have JL? What if JL went in to Bestbuy? Would they suddenly be world beaters? You CC guys...has eclipse made any difference, other than the 'brand loyal' will come buy it?

I also saw Hifonics get destroyed, at least locally, just because someone started buying it at a local shop, and selling it at the Flea Market. It soon became known as 'flea market stuff', and no one wanted it. This was in the pre Maxxsonics days, when Hifonics was good stuff.

I'm not throwing rocks at anyone for their brand loyalty. I'm just saying that decisions shouldn't be made on brand alone. I'll also conceed that some brands have unique products...shallow subs, bigger amps, etc., but that's not part of this debate.

Thoughts?

Toby