[dcfis]

I don't know man i went back and bought all the top tier mbq and the raw driver game bested them easily. Not to say they weren't good but tweets have changed and mids have many mm more travel than the mbq

 

[tulowd]

I don't know man i went back and bought all the top tier mbq and the raw driver game bested them easily. Not to say they weren't good but tweets have changed and mids have many mm more travel than the mbq

you are talking about current or recent products presumably. I'm comparing older stuff vs new. Raw drivers have come a long way in the past decade vs before that;s for sure.
I'm talking mid fi retail level stuff is where MB and those other brands really offered performance value and durability.

Of course there are lots of gems at various sizes and price points. My favourite installs were $2500 systems that sounded and rocked like something worth double the money. Thats what a good installer does between knowing the best product and how to make it all work, $$ efficiently.
Big smiles and thank yous were the order of the day.

 

[dcfis]

Ah you mean regular series mbq offering a taste of high end for a good price. Maybe you're right but I'd put the Stevens component set, and the si component set. Also heard some ground zero and b2 components i was impressed with. It's out there man it's just now at every dealer across town like it used to be

 

[SkizeR]

and half German, half Austrian.....don't ask for my opinion if you don' like the truth, lol. I lived in Germany Switzerland and Austria, have family there and certainly carry the DNA of Germanic self assured superiority...

ummmmm. are you saying what i think you're saying?

 

[rton20s]

ummmmm. are you saying what i think you're saying?

 

[tulowd]

You Wwhill Do as ur told!! Dummkopf!! lol

 

[tulowd]

Ah you mean regular series mbq offering a taste of high end for a good price. Maybe you're right but I'd put the Stevens component set, and the si component set. Also heard some ground zero and b2 components i was impressed with. It's out there man it's just now at every dealer across town like it used to be

Have you ever heard an old MB Quart high end install ? The brand absolutely DOMINATED Sound Q across North America and elsewhere; budget was the last thing on people's mind to win an IASCA competition, a regional or national event. Would be curious to read your reaction. New isn't necessarily better, altho it can be.

Probably similar to the analog vs DSP disagreements, digital amps vs old school unlimited current A/B, etc.
New Car Audio Product Development is always about profit, saving production costs, hitting market price targets first....'quality and performance" is usually way down the list, certainly below specifications/marketing ******** and being able to stay in business. That is a fact; I worked in that world for almost 10 years and the survivors have managed to leverage China as the bread basket; anything still built elsewhere and to those levels is outrageously expensive and esoteric by all standards. I guess change is always happening.

Plenty of signs the car audio world has fallen down when reading most product specifications and the new trend of 'big' power and inefficient speakers along with meaningless amp power specifications, low damping factors and all kinds of digital voodoo that doesn't work.

 

[rton20s]

Have you ever heard an old MB Quart high end install ? The brand absolutely DOMINATED Sound Q across North America and elsewhere; budget was the last thing on people's mind to win an IASCA competition, a regional or national event. Would be curious to read your reaction. New isn't necessarily better, altho it can be.

Probably similar to the analog vs DSP disagreements, digital amps vs old school unlimited current A/B, etc.
New Car Audio Product Development is always about profit, saving production costs, hitting market price targets first....'quality and performance" is usually way down the list, certainly below specifications/marketing ******** and being able to stay in business. That is a fact; I worked in that world for almost 10 years and the survivors have managed to leverage China as the bread basket; anything still built elsewhere and to those levels is outrageously expensive and esoteric by all standards. I guess change is always happening.

Plenty of signs the car audio world has fallen down when reading most product specifications and the new trend of 'big' power and inefficient speakers along with meaningless amp power specifications, low damping factors and all kinds of digital voodoo that doesn't work.

 

[dcfis]

I know they did, i ran them i competed with them, besides the Boston's they were there best around. We aren't doing kick panels anymore either so the larger format tweets of the current crop helps out too

 

[tulowd]

wow, a pleasant surprise....I figured you to be bald and less slim

Hope you're staying Corona free

 

[rton20s]

wow, a pleasant surprise....I figured you to be bald and less slim

Hope you're staying Corona free

 

[hankhowdy1]

I have never heard MB Quart speakers, but I did just buy a set of QWS-100 4” mids. I did only based on their reputation. I needed a low profile driver and these fit the bill.

The German made Q line seem to have a good reputation, so I took the leap.

I will be using them in a MK5 Golf/Rabbit/GTI/Jetta 3 way front stage in factory locations. With the midbass located in rear of the front door near your hip, the midrange is needed to really pick up the slack.

I hope they live up to their reputation. [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dcfis]

Ok heard a today guys focal access components and did a bit of rew. Those are modern day quarts at a $200 discount. Quarts are finished!

 

[WhiplashMotorbreath]

MEH.
The bottom fell out of high end car audio and home audio in the mid 2000's.
Most hifi shops folded leaving the hi end gear with no where to market and sell their gear.
Walmart and best buy ,etc are not going to move high end stuff if they even entertain carrying it.
The I-pod also had a big part of this. Many took function over pure sonic sound,as the tiny player could hold a LOT of music.
Auto makers started making their radios in odd sizes and sometime the tuner was oe piece the cassette deck another, the c/d changer yet another. and not standard din shaped.
Many of the better names in audio expanded too much thinking the good times would never end.
And when the bottom fell out they were on the razrs edge, Then ebay happened and anyone could sell the cheap gear and you could window shop for it at home, Where you used to haveto goto the once or twice audio convention. (at least here). now it was on your computer shipped to your home, and wally world was forcing brands to meet THEIR price point if they wanted to have their product in the store.
As this is going on, the auto makers are now, making the car audio unit part of the central command center with nav, heater and ac controls, at first then almost all user controls/setting. Making it even harder for high end audio to sell a unit that fit a bunch of vehicles and not JUST that one, and only a few years of that nameplate.
As this is going on, the US economy took a dump. The last thing people were thinking about was buying high end car audio or home hifi .
The buyer pool was not big enough to stay afloat at the high end or even the mid range alone.
Some added cheaper lines to move product and get their gear into box stores as the stand alone hifi stores were now too small of a pool to be able to move enough product.
Some to lower cost, BECAUSE people were buying the ebay cheap stuff, moved production to China and others.
The economy and timing of auto makers intergrting more and more with the radio. But many AUDIO brands in the icu. on life support.
Home gear was in the same boat. buying a 2900.00 B&K receiver was out of the question for most by 2008. IF you could find a audio shop that carried them. or other mid to high end.
People changed, Those that enjoyed playing music/movies on hifi gear, hearing is on the way out. So less need to bother with replacing stuff with the mid to high end, and they buy the Sony.
The younger folks are used to compressed music and could not afford the mid to high end hifi gear anyways.
I mean, most homes if they have a stereo it is a sound bar and maybe a small sub. And maybe a small set of bookshelf speakers.
Today even getting the music in a good format to play on mid to high end gear is a pain. But your whole life music catalog is only a click to youtube away, or any of the other streaming music apps. Hard to support the idea of top shelf gear when the source material is going to be compressed garbage.
This all made the pool of buyers of mid to high end gear too small for the number of companies/brands to fight over.
I don't own high high end gear. Mine is mid to high end range. And it sounds sweet. But I have a room full of analog music to play on it. People today have their music collection on a 3"x6"x1/4" wireless computer.
To top it all off, forvehicle audio, the o.e.m.s offer systems from the factory that are light years better than what was the top option radios decades ago. So even less of a pool that feel the need to upgrade.
MBQ is just one of many that found their standing in an F4 storm.
Sadly the younger generations will never get a chance to hear an analog format recording that offered large DB punch.
And gear with enough headroom to product that sonic punch. Today only sonic punch they get is the boosted bass. not the full range sonic db rise punch that is missing in most of today's music. No matter what type of music.

 

[metanium]

Blah, Blah, Blah...said the sad guy suffering from a lot of "good 'ole day syndrome" that found/joined DIYMA 4 days ago...Get off my lawn!

 

[WhiplashMotorbreath]

Blah, Blah, Blah...said the sad guy suffering from a lot of "good 'ole day syndrome" that found/joined DIYMA 4 days ago...Get off my lawn!

Well that is your opinion, and you are welcome to have it.
Some lived it, and saw it happen, it was their reality. Sorry if that hurt your feelings.

 

[JohnTB72]

Well that is your opinion, and you are welcome to have it.
Some lived it, and saw it happen, it was their reality. Sorry if that hurt your feelings.

I saw it... And I lived it (Still have most of my CA&E mags from the 90's so I can go back and relive it from time to time). Happened pretty much how you said it.... Still being in home audio retail to this day I put most of the blame on the manufacturers though. They could've protected their brands like the home side did and supported their dealer network. Instead most chose to look the other way and let the guy who was willing to make $10 a transaction on ebay rob our customer base from us. Once they realized the mistake it was too little too late... There were 11 successful car audio shops all within 30 minutes of me in the mid 90's. By the mid 2000's that was 5. Mid 2010's.... 3. Now it's 1 and he stays in business because he also wires and outfits all the new police and fire vehicles for the county and that's his real bread and butter.

Meanwhile I can still get a pioneer head unit at "dealer cost" through my distributor. But unless you are buying the biggest baddest one by the time I pay to ship it to me mark it up $25 and charge you sales tax it's still cheaper on ebay.

The OEM's have ruined the head unit market but the new cars have more options for big speakers and 3 way component sets in great factory locations than ever. Still plenty of opportunities to make money on that from for the people that stock will just never satisfy if you can keep them from bargain shopping themselves into garbage.




Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Sancetiano]

MEH.
The bottom fell out of high end car audio and home audio in the mid 2000's.
Most hifi shops folded leaving the hi end gear with no where to market and sell their gear.
Walmart and best buy ,etc are not going to move high end stuff if they even entertain carrying it.
The I-pod also had a big part of this. Many took function over pure sonic sound,as the tiny player could hold a LOT of music.
Auto makers started making their radios in odd sizes and sometime the tuner was oe piece the cassette deck another, the c/d changer yet another. and not standard din shaped.
Many of the better names in audio expanded too much thinking the good times would never end.
And when the bottom fell out they were on the razrs edge, Then ebay happened and anyone could sell the cheap gear and you could window shop for it at home, Where you used to haveto goto the once or twice audio convention. (at least here). now it was on your computer shipped to your home, and wally world was forcing brands to meet THEIR price point if they wanted to have their product in the store.
As this is going on, the auto makers are now, making the car audio unit part of the central command center with nav, heater and ac controls, at first then almost all user controls/setting. Making it even harder for high end audio to sell a unit that fit a bunch of vehicles and not JUST that one, and only a few years of that nameplate.
As this is going on, the US economy took a dump. The last thing people were thinking about was buying high end car audio or home hifi .
The buyer pool was not big enough to stay afloat at the high end or even the mid range alone.
Some added cheaper lines to move product and get their gear into box stores as the stand alone hifi stores were now too small of a pool to be able to move enough product.
Some to lower cost, BECAUSE people were buying the ebay cheap stuff, moved production to China and others.
The economy and timing of auto makers intergrting more and more with the radio. But many AUDIO brands in the icu. on life support.
Home gear was in the same boat. buying a 2900.00 B&K receiver was out of the question for most by 2008. IF you could find a audio shop that carried them. or other mid to high end.
People changed, Those that enjoyed playing music/movies on hifi gear, hearing is on the way out. So less need to bother with replacing stuff with the mid to high end, and they buy the Sony.
The younger folks are used to compressed music and could not afford the mid to high end hifi gear anyways.
I mean, most homes if they have a stereo it is a sound bar and maybe a small sub. And maybe a small set of bookshelf speakers.
Today even getting the music in a good format to play on mid to high end gear is a pain. But your whole life music catalog is only a click to youtube away, or any of the other streaming music apps. Hard to support the idea of top shelf gear when the source material is going to be compressed garbage.
This all made the pool of buyers of mid to high end gear too small for the number of companies/brands to fight over.
I don't own high high end gear. Mine is mid to high end range. And it sounds sweet. But I have a room full of analog music to play on it. People today have their music collection on a 3"x6"x1/4" wireless computer.
To top it all off, forvehicle audio, the o.e.m.s offer systems from the factory that are light years better than what was the top option radios decades ago. So even less of a pool that feel the need to upgrade.
MBQ is just one of many that found their standing in an F4 storm.
Sadly the younger generations will never get a chance to hear an analog format recording that offered large DB punch.
And gear with enough headroom to product that sonic punch. Today only sonic punch they get is the boosted bass. not the full range sonic db rise punch that is missing in most of today's music. No matter what type of music.

What you said is all true. The old analog format songs has much better sound quality than many mainstream digital MP3 songs available for free. Most audio enthusiasts know that.
Humbly saying, I don't understand what is the point of mentioning àll that while discussing about a car audio brand.

 

[Old'sCool]

I was already blowing fuses when the first car CD players were released. They had a CARTRIDGE to hold the single CD, and many of them were practically worse than the cassette decks they replaced.

There was no "double DIN," unless it was OEM.

We sold Proton, Coustic, MTX, Atomic and Linear Power. Eventually, we offered Phoenix Gold and HiFonics.

I remember when a JENSEN head unit was considered an upgrade.

Hell, I even remember when the Metra rep showed us the "state of the art" wiring adapters they were offering for 1984 Fords. You could install a head unit without clipping a single factory wire. Yippeee.

I ran the 1st gen aperiodic membranes from Autosound 2000 in the mid 1990s, and my car system rivalled the best home stereos you've ever heard (and that's not hyperbole).


I remember the sweet sounds of REAL Boston 6.4 pro components and A.D.S. sq amps.

There's a Phoenix M25 in my shed, and somehwere buried in my attic is a Soundstream 50.2 "50 Watt" amp that I used to MOLEST a pair of MTX Blue Thunder 10s with.

MB Quart always struck me as sweet sounding, but I was never overwhelmed with their longevity or imaging compared to other high-end players like Boston and even some of PG's highest line of components.

There are a handful of decent players left in the car audio scene, but today I'm content with Kappas and a decent 4-ch amp. As stated by others above, with most source music compressed crap these days, you're really wasting money on anything higher-end than Harman's mid+ level gear.

The Class AB, Made in USA days are long gone. These are the days of China, Korea, eBay and Amazon.

Sadly, it's not just audio; even Swiss watches and German medical devices are outsourced to Asia, with just enough labor in their supposed countries of origin to carry "Made in Germany," or "SWISS MADE" logos.

We went from audiophile-grade gear to Flea Market surplus in the past 20 yrs, for sure.

 

[mat3833]

I currently run a set of Quart 218.61q comps on the original crossovers in my system. They are powered by a Zed Mikro IV, fed off of a Kenwood x704(non-cd). I have had them for 12ish years through 4 vehicles, at least a dozen different installs, 7 stage amps, and uncountable substage. Here shortly I'll be "upgrading" to a set of Hertz Mille legend comps or a similar "high end" 2 way passive set.

I absolutely love my quarts, "harsh tweeter" and all. I believe they were the top of the line before the "QSD" series came out with the silver cones. Mine use the same tweeter as the QSD but the mid is different. I WILL NOT be selling my QMs. They will be installed in my second vehicle. And honestly, I don't expect whatever speaker I replace them with to sound any better, so I may end up keeping them in my daily and putting the "new" and or "better" comps in my new vehicle.

I don't know many people who have old quart sets anymore, nobody local to me for sure. If anyone happens to be in the Central Florida area and wants a listen hit me up. My recent install isn't completely finished and I'm sure my ears aren't true "audiophile" quality, but I love giving demos and looking at people's reactions when I tell them they are hearing a 20+ year old speaker.

Matt