Kenwood / JVC arsenal products any good?

[Supra_DT]

Question to the audiophiles out there. Are the JVC arsenal and Kenwood products any good for car audio? I'm looking at getting the following items:

--new headunit,
--amp
--single 10" or 12" sub.
--component speakers + tweeters to fit factory loaction for 94 Supra

I have a direct buy membership and they offer these 2 manufacturers and the prices are pretty inexpensive.

Looking at the JVC CS-AWxxx series subwoofers and the Kenwood Excelon. Which of the 2 is better?

I have a Phoenix gold MS2125 old school amp and audio control epicenter in conjunction as well.

Any input would be appreciated.

Danny

[PhatRoyale]

I would stick with Kenwood, their Excelon line of products is simply superb.

I sampled some of their headunits and use Excelon speakers in my car, so they are definitely top notch.

[Supra_DT]

Thanks for the info. How about their amps? Looking at the class D amps

[PhatRoyale]

I don't really have any experience in dealing with amps and subs, but if the quality of their other Excelon products are any indication of Kenwoods standards, I would say that they are a safe choice.

A quick glance at crutchfields web-site revealed some good reviews.

[BLUEMEANIE]

I've been using Kenwood amps for years. They're top notch too.

[aznlunatic206]

Kenwood isnt bad, my friend has the kenwood kvt-512 flip screen in his car and it works wonders.

[dr_green]

I have gotten the top of the line jvc deck years ago, called the digifine series. But I just recenlty got the JVC Arsenal DVD double din deck, and that shits golden. man. specs blows away the kenwoods, hands down. also it plays divx files unlike kenwood, which it doesn't. it has a 7 band equalizer, and kenwood has a 3 band eq. Not to knock the kenwood, but the jvc got the better deal, and sound clarity wise the specs and head to head the jvc is the winner. As for amps, they are about the same. I just recently saw a mag reveiw for the kenwood exceleon x1200m amp, and they tested it to hit 1324W, rated @1200W. So that was actually the first kenwood amp that did really good in a test. All kenwoods will meet it's CEA rating and that's it. Good luck if you want it to meet the specs. Usually there fusing is on the smaller side, and that tells you the amp it self puts out less power. But for jvc, i didn't really here anything about there amps. For Coaxials, kenwood excelons hands down. There speakers make seperates sound like shit. I've heard them in cars where they actually sounded better then some other peoples compnents speakers. As for subs, I don't know about those brands, go with other brands. Go with soundstream T5-12's. The magnet is fucken huge now. they improved the sub majorly, plus it's economically friendly. Well hope this helps. Good luck!

[heartdisease]

Get an alpine type R sub. Online carstero has them for about $100, hard to beat that

[dr_green]

Originally Posted by Supra_DT

Question to the audiophiles out there. Are the JVC arsenal and Kenwood products any good for car audio? I'm looking at getting the following items:

--new headunit,
--amp
--single 10" or 12" sub.
--component speakers + tweeters to fit factory loaction for 94 Supra

I have a direct buy membership and they offer these 2 manufacturers and the prices are pretty inexpensive.

Looking at the JVC CS-AWxxx series subwoofers and the Kenwood Excelon. Which of the 2 is better?

I have a Phoenix gold MS2125 old school amp and audio control epicenter in conjunction as well.

Any input would be appreciated.

Danny

hey so what did you do? after all that input? let us know!

[Supra_DT]

I havent done anything yet....lol. The input is great and I appreciate it. So from what I gather here is go with the JVC headunit and go with the excelon sub and amp as well as the component speakers?

So what should I do for the amp? I currently have a old school phoenix gold ms2125 (2x125 watts per channel) amp and these are the ratings:

into 4ohms @ 13.8V DC 160 RMS
into 2ohms @ 13.8V DC 255 RMS RMS
bridged power into 4ohms - 510 RMS
bridged power into 2ohms - (not rated)

I want to run 1 single 12inch sub (do I go balls out and get a superwoofer) and replace the factory components with the excelons as well based on what you guys said. Should I use the phoenix gold above as the main amp for the sub bridged into 2 ohms or use it to power the components and get a excelon class d amp for the sub? Also what ohm rated sub should I get (dual 2ohm voice coils or dual 4 ohm voice coils) in order to get it bridged down for good power? Or do I even bother bridging it?

If you guys have part numbers that would help greatly!!

Danny

[dr_green]

Originally Posted by Supra_DT

I havent done anything yet....lol. The input is great and I appreciate it. So from what I gather here is go with the JVC headunit and go with the excelon sub and amp as well as the component speakers?

For the Subwoofer I wouldn't recommend the excelon sub, If you buy a new Class D amp, I would go with the Soundstream sub T5-12, dual 2ohm, 800W RMS. This sub is good, because it's efficient with power, it takes less power to create sound with this one.
If you plan to use your pheonix gold amp I would get a Alpine Type R SWR-1222D, dual 2ohm, 500W RMS. This sub should match the amp, and Alpine's and Soundstream are more known for subwoofers then kenwood. that's a fact! Kenwood is a good brand, but not for subs, my opinion and many others.

Originally Posted by Supra_DT

So what should I do for the amp? I currently have a old school phoenix gold ms2125 (2x125 watts per channel) amp and these are the ratings:

into 4ohms @ 13.8V DC 160 RMS
into 2ohms @ 13.8V DC 255 RMS RMS
bridged power into 4ohms - 510 RMS
bridged power into 2ohms - (not rated)

I want to run 1 single 12inch sub (do I go balls out and get a superwoofer) and replace the factory components with the excelons as well based on what you guys said. Should I use the phoenix gold above as the main amp for the sub bridged into 2 ohms or use it to power the components and get a excelon class d amp for the sub?

No you shouldn't run your Pheonix gold into 2ohms, only if you know it's okay. If it's not rate, it's most likely not recommended. Using your old amp or buying a new amp can work for your system. It all depends on how loud you want it. If you buy new, you can control how much power you want. With your existing Pheonix Gold, your limited to 510W RMS. Which to me is okay, only. I started my system with atleast 800W RMS, but now days 1000W RMS is better. I currently have 1750W RMS in my car. I love it!!!

Originally Posted by Supra_DT

Also what ohm rated sub should I get (dual 2ohm voice coils or dual 4 ohm voice coils) in order to get it bridged down for good power? Or do I even bother bridging it?

If you guys have part numbers that would help greatly!!

Danny

For the subs if you use your PG amp then go with dual 2 ohm sub, ultimately you want a 4 ohm load for your PG amp. If you plan to get a Class D amp, then it will depend on what the amp is set for. Like if you get the Kenwood Excelon X1200m amp, then the peak RMS power is 2 ohms. So you would want to get a dual 4 ohm speaker, ultimately a 2 ohm loading to the Kenwood Excelon X1200m amp. Yes you will bridge your PG amp, but most likely you will not be bridging your Class D amp because you only have one channel coming out of the amp. Not real important, because the amp manuals should explain how to hook them up correctly. If not, just ask.

I've been running my Kenwood Excelon X1200m amp for the past two weeks, and I'm loving it so much better then my old school rockford fosgate amps(Punch 200x2). Those amps are solid, but man the new technology, sounds better, yes even the subs sounds better. So much tighter sound, and much more accurate. I haven't played the amp to it's fullest potential yet but it seems to have the power behind it so far. exceeds my rockford amp already, that was rated at about 580W RMS. So I'm happy so far.

Good Luck!

[dr_green]

Check Out My Sig Now, Atleast You Can Read What My Set Up Is. It's Not All Complicated, But It's Sounds Good!