DaFeared said:
First of all I want to thank you for your reply!
Yes you are correct, I am using the origional HE2's, I like them the best.
See I think this is why I initially fell in love with rockford... but unfortunately.. lately I"ve been getting more into Sound Quality and don't you think it would be nice if rockford products were not only built like a rock but also had immeasurable sound quality as well? (It may be rockfords strongpoint but also their downfall at the same time.)
Keep in mind that sound quality is totally subjective. What I think sounds good, may not sound good to your ears. Having said that, setting up a vehicle for sound quality is something I'm quite familiar with. My 'stang has a Power 1051s that powers the FNQ 6.5 inch separates in my front doors. From Nora Jones to Project Pat, my system delivers the goods. Maybe as a company, we've fallen short in the area of teaching our accounts how to properly set up a vehicle to sound good? Trust me when I tell you that if I put you in a chair in a room with a pair of $100k loudspeakers connected to a RF amp and ANY other brand of car amp in the world, matched the gains, then switched back and forth between the two amps, your ears (and mine) would be hard pressed to hear the difference. We've done this in front of huge crowds, only to reveal that the RF amp they thought they were comparing to a Soundstream Reference 500 was actually the internal power of one of our head units!
No I havn't heard one in a car... on a soundboard yes.. but do you think you are really getting 8 volts? no. For instance, my eXelon is 4.5v, do you think i"m even getting 2? no. Please don't try and tell me you get what it says cuz it's been tested and it falls short.
DaFeared, you need to understand that I am an ordinary guy, just like you. I was a car audio consumer as far back as 1984. I've spent a long, hard road in this industry to get to the Rock. I have ZERO reason to lie to you in a public forum. The preamp voltage of our source units is also a demonstration that we do in front of crowds. You see, Rockford is one of the few decks that can deliver UNCLIPPED output from its' preamp section under any condition. Our RFX-9420 will make 8 Volts, unclipped from the front / rear / and sub outs simultaneously -- all with loads connected to them. This can be easily measured by using a disc with a 1Khz test tone recorded at 0dB. All you need is a digital volt meter. An oscilloscope can display the waveform so that you can see it it cleanly reproduced. I don't know where you've seen a 9420 measured that fell short. There is at least ONE other source unit company that can deliver similar performance.
Honestly, I"m more than happy with the rockford accessories.. no complaints at all.. Lots of people like other products over rockford and don't give rockford enough credit for their wiring and other accessories.. truely underrated... most people don't know what they are missing out on....
Thanks.
I agree to a point. I think rockfords goals are all wrong.. I realize there are a lot of good employees with rockford but they can't put out their best work if you don't let them. Why quanity over quality? Why ground stomping bass without the finest SQ in the industry? Who wants something that's loud if it can't be clear? Any bigtime car audio entheusiest would rather take 5 clean watts over 10 loud ground thumping watts anyday. So why would anybody want to settle for second best?
Da Feared, I think your confusing sound quality with power. When you hear distortion in a system, it is typically because the power amplifiers have exhausted their ability to make clean power. A watt is simply a watt -- no differently than one horsepower is simply one horsepower. At some point, the power an amplifier makes is no longer suitable to produce an audio signal cleanly as its output becomes distorted. This is common on the street as the typical consumer believes they can damage their speakers from sending too much power to them. The opposite is really the truth. Again, I refer you to my input above on sound quality . . .
Why make your products for the uneducated when the bigtime car audio entheusiests spend the most money?
We do not build products intended to lure consumers into the trap of buying lesser quality goods. Our 2003 line-up has some flash no doubt, some of that because of efforts on our end to keep up with the ever changing consumer. But fact of the matter is that our current HE2 woofer with the silver poly cone and black-chrome dust cap may not look like you think a RF woofer should look, but it absolutely, positively will out perform your original HE2 woofers in every conceivable enclosure. That was our primary intent with this new design. The same thing can be said for our coaxes with the black chrome trim around the tweeters that you brought up later in the post.
Like I said.. intitially people (like myself) get into rockford because rockford products will take a beating and last forever.. but when they decide to get into SQ, they ditch rockford, why do you think that is? It's because Rockford is mediocre when it comes to quality sound quality products. Rockford has so many big gun employees, why aim for the moon when you can aim for and hit all the stars? I'll tell you right now.. If rockford's products were built for SQ just as much as they were engineered for 'loud in your face, rock solid music', I wouldn't own any other product.
Again, I refer you to my input on sound quality above. Did you know that at the USAC finals two years ago, Rockford took best of show in every Sound Quality category? At the USAC finals this year, we also did quite well in Sound Quality.
Unfortunately you have been long surpassed. Rockford is no longer a "benchmark" as far as I"m concerned (and any other big car audio entheusiest). How can Rockford be a benchmark company when they are virtually the oldest company around, yet only sit in the middle of the pack? Ever hear of soundstream, zapco, or xtant?? (amplifiers) Boston, Focal etc (speakers)?
Sure I've heard of these competing brands, I'm not a newbie here. We're not a benchmark, we're THE benchmark. Every one of our direct competitors has had both barrels aimed at us since the first day they hit the street. Maybe we're more guilty of allowing ourselves to become comfortable than anything else.
Like I said.. The day Rockford's sound quality can equal or surpass it's amazing rock solid design and in your face loudness, (only) then will rockford be a "benchmark" in my opinion.
Did you know that a division of Rockford Corporation is this well-known sound quality company MB Quart? If sound quality is what ye' seek, then you'll surely find it in the MBQ line . . . I for one do not think that Rockford Fosgate should mean all things to all people. We're The Punch and proud of it. We're comfortable being who we are and will continue to develop products that will more clearly define that.
You know what i've seen a lot from rockford lately? A lot of show, with little go (sq wise). What are you going to impress me with? the new rainbow wolf lights you plan on istalling on your amplifiers? or how about a new shiny plastic emblem design on your woofers? or the Shiny crome RF cover on your 6 x 9's?
DaFeared, I can be a resource for you if you like and I'm really quite interested in the information you've provided. Let's not insult each other. Make you a deal, we'll revisit this topic after 2k4 is underway.
I think Rockford should be focused on quality and not looks. Ever hear them Eclipse decks? they look old, they look plain.. no 16 year old would buy them, but guess what? they have amazing sound quality. I have more respect for a company that is committed to putting out quality products rather than giving up some quality for looks. It's Very Sad, but looks sell. I know. But I really hope Rockford doesn't turn into Sony Car Audio. I won't be impressed until Rockford Fosgate can match or exceed the Sound Quality of the new benchmark companies. I already know they are built like a tank, now I want to see some high end sound quality!!!!
DaFeared, did you buy your Mustang because it was the most comfortable car on the lot at the ford dealer? I'm betting you chose it for a whole different reason. So, you started out with the boom and moved on to SQ. OK, fair enough, it happens to us all. Rockford Fosgate are two words that bring to mind words like LOUD, BONE-CRUSHING, BRUTAL, and of course The Punch. My point to you is that great quality car audio products can be installed and tuned in such a way that they can deliver the goods no matter what the software you put in the system. If I tuned the system in my car to sound good with Marilyn Manson, ya' know, it ain't gonna sound real good on much else. Now, if I took the opposite approach and tuned my system to correctly produce the wide dynamic range of the best Sheffield Lab CDs, when I pop in the Manson CD, it'll take on a
whole new meaning!
P.S. I am fully aware that the setup can make or break a stereo.
You are SO RIGHT! DaFeared, have you ever heard a REALLY killer home stereo system? No, I'm not talking about your buddy's MCS rack system his dad got from JC Pennys in the 80s . . . I'm talking about a GREAT two channel system that consists of four components at most -- source, preamp, amp, and speakers that have been painstakingly set up to deliver the finest of details in any recording. If not, then you owe it to yourself to educate your ears on what "sound quality" really can be. It'll re-define your perspective on audio as a whole.
Over and out . . . let's keep the thread going.
