davidpham

So I just purchased a Infinity Basslink 2 and am planning on doing the install into the stock location. Quick question: For no SPECIFIC REASON aside from my OCD, I want to stick with 1 brand and 1 brand only for the rest of the components. I'm probably gonna go with Kappa 6 1/2" Components in the front with a still to be chosen Infinity Amp (or the Basslink 4sc amp for the Basslink, anyone use this?).

Is there any advantage to sticking with a single brand for all my whole audio setup? I've heard that "stuff works better with the same brand" but as seen all over this forum, people mix and match ALL the time. I know the main reply is going to be "whatever sounds best to you," but for me, at specific price points, sound quality plateaus and I can't tell the difference.

Appreciate your suggestions mates.

doug

iTrader: (5)

stuff works better with the same brand only works with tires.. and even then you have to stick with the same type for the sake of thread paterns..

in the audio world you can pick and choose whatever you want.. as long as you are not getting one right side one brand and the left side another brand..

usually in this forum before we can recommend what equipment suits you best.. we need a couple answers..

how much are you willing to spend?
what type of music do you listen to?
are you planning to install it yourself?

Renfri

It really is going to be totally up to you on the brands.

I know many people that compete and some buy an entire 3-way component set while other piece together seperate brand components for which they feel sound best (most people I know do the latter).

I am a fan of keeping all of the electronics the same for looks and compatibility. I like being able to control my Alpine amps and/or Alpine processor with my Alpine head unit. As far as components, I have gone with two different brands just cause I like how each particular speaker sounds.

My personal opinion is not to limit yourself to a certain brand, cause there is tons of ways to peice together a good system for decent $$.

StreetOC192

iTrader: (7)

You heard wrong. Other than very rare instances (as in the above post with Alpine) there is no compatability issues between different brands. Alpine once had a data link between their headunits and amps (still might, not sure these days). But not many if any other manufacturers have this feature.

If you have an OCD condition and would like to see all the same brand, then go for it. For the most part, a watt is a watt. will you tell the difference sonically if you choose a rockford amp over an infinity amp? probably not. It comes down to this:

1. what fits your budget
2. what fits the power needs of your drivers
3. what looks nice to you

350zspl

iTrader: (3)

does not work better with all being 1 brand, 1234

if your gonna stick with 1 brand don;t do infinity , 1234

you can buy better equipment than infinity for the same $ , 1234


if all 1 brand might look matched, 1234

hope this helps , 1234

350zspl , 1234

davidpham

hahahaha. thanks 350zspl. reminds me of Nicholas Cage's character in Matchstick Men. =D

I guess since I'm going for a stealth setup, it doesn't really matter if everything is the same brand. the only person that will know is me. well, me and you guys. haha

here's my current plan of action:

infinity basslink 2
infinity kappa 6 1/2" components in front
amp TBD
Avic D3
reading more forums about what to do about back speakers

my budget is about $500 for speakers/amp & i found the avic d3 for $550.

thanks for the posts fellas.

350zspl

iTrader: (3)

you got a good sense of humor , and i was only teasing

equipment looks good

i opt for no rear fill

doug

iTrader: (5)

rear fill is for pussies

Renfri

Sorry if this is a newb question. What do you guys mean by "rear fill"?

davidpham

um. ok. i guess according to that logic, huge subs and loud speakers make you real macho. man rear speakers, just emasculating the nation. i never knew.

StreetOC192

iTrader: (7)

Rear speakers is having 4 full range channels - left front, right front, left rear, right rear. This is good for SUV or sedan owners that have kids or constantly have passengers in the rear that they want to keep entertained.

Rear fill is when you have rear speakers to "fill" the distance between the front stage and the sub.....it helps keep the sub from being pinpointed.......Usually you would fade the rears out so they are 'barely' if even audible from the front seats. And it is theorized that the rear fill speakers should be band-passed to only play from about 250Hz-2kHz.

No rear fill is great for a 2-seater, no rear passengers to entertain and the car is so small inside that rear fill is almost wasted. There are those that are accustomed to hearing sound from all around them in a car environment so they opt to use rear fill anyway, but truth be told (my opinion here) if you spend a little extra on a better front stage and it is installed and tuned correctly, you will never miss the rear fill.

Renfri

Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying that. I thought that's what it was, but was not sure.

No rear fill for me

davidpham

thanks for that write up man, very informative. quick question: does keeping the rear fill on INTERFERE with the overall sound of things? is it wrong to assume that it would just fill more empty space in the spectrum?

thanks again for your input.

StreetOC192

iTrader: (7)

OK, let us dive a little deeper, shall we?

If you choose to go the route of keeping rear fill, the proper way to do it is:
Choose a speaker of the same brand and model line as your front stage - preferably even the same exact model. Different speakers have different timbre and can color the sound differently. They should be band passed and faded as I describe above. They should also be powered by the same model or even the same amp as your fronts, because again, an amp 'may' color the sounds as well.

As for filling in more 'empty space in the spectrum', there should not be any empty space in the audible spectrum. If you have done your homework on your front stage and sub stage and you have installed and tuned properly, you should be able to achieve a completely flat response throughout the entire audible spectrum (about 20Hz-20kHz). Now as you get older, the audible spectrum gets a little smaller. I can really only hear from about 35Hz-19kHz right now at my age.

350zspl

iTrader: (3)

what ^ said

VO...

iTrader: (25)

Agreed...

VO...

iTrader: (25)

My HU, components, amps, and sub are all different brands.

If you attend the Houston Billiards meet tonight I'll let you listen to it. You be the judge. You'll also get to give another opinion on what my latest creation sounds like, the FI Q 12" sub I installed....

davidpham

Vo i'll catch you tonight bro. might be a bit late, won't get there til 9ish.

thanks man!

VO...

iTrader: (25)

Werd.

Val

davidpham

VAL!

hey bro, your system sounded sick! that FI Q was bumpin! FYI, it even sounded awesome when i was standing 30 feet away next to my ***** *** stock Z. haha. it was a bit demoralizing when people started their engines and i could hear hella boost.

but yeah man, you definitely sold me on the kappas. your SUB definitely sounded competition grade. hopefully at the next meet, i'll have my d3 in with kappas. now, you're gonna laugh at me because i'm just gonna have a basslink 2. definitely not competition class. haha.