I'm going to have to agree, for right now in my car, i have some rather... cheap panasonics in my front door panels and they sound amazingly good much much worth the 60 bucks i bought them for, and im actually planning on keeping them (putting in my sister's honda).

Sometimes people ride too much on brand, i agree. We need to stop going on this same railroad track of buying all the same stuff because of 'brand loyalty'. I like listening in on the sort of stuff EVERYONE has to offer, even brands i never heard of! It sure is interesting to hear new stuff thats off the unpaved trail, could lead to something better and save you a few bucks!

for the record i currently have in my system --

Alpine CDE-9845 Headunit
Panasonic 5x7 front speakers (i dont know actual name, i bought them from CC, they dont carry it anymore from what i know)
((I am replacing these with Infinity Kappa 682.7CF's once i get my car's radiator problem fixed))
Infinity Reference 9613i Rear speakers (i love these things)
BOSS Riot GT2500D Monoblock Amp (actually pretty good =O)
Polk db 212-2 ported subwoofer box + 2 12's (prebuilt)

yeah thats basically it.

And i'll tell you what, most of my stuff is rather inexpensive, some brands are known for lower-middle class. But you know.. people have told me they sound good. To me it sounds decent, and I'm happy with the way it has come out sounding.

(plus the satisfaction knowing i wired it all by myself with no real previous knowledge at all)