Phoenix Gold Phorum

let me first say i don't like most of pas mag.reviews. but all my audio is older clarion 2007-2010 and i have used clarion since 1998. when i think of clarion products i don't think elite or top end but great price and do normally more than you think. they reviewed the 12 model.
this is the case for my new subs
i own a dpx1851 amp 460 x1 4ohm and 860 rms at 2ohm. with the big 3 upgrade i still feel the car is stressed at 2ohms. so
i bought a set of new old stock wq2510d dvc 4ohm sub x2 i will be underpowering them by almost 50% so i was worried.
but got a good price at $75cnd each for them and put them in a bassworks ported box that was a perfect match sorry just lazy.

im not going to win any spl but the bass for 2 10 is the best i have used in years. clean not muddy tight and loud imo super great value. i have own a ton of jl over the year and i would say these also sound alot like a w3 not wx or w0 or w1

for the cheap price these are a great set up.
i did install a set of these svc 12" in my buddy car with a tanturm 1200.1 so i thought they were going to blow up with how loud they were in a jetta. but a year later and they still rock

i have used focal 15spl,16k2", jl 10w7 12w6 jl 12w1v2 10wo 13.5 shallow jl, pg octane,rsdc,Alpine type r 10,rf punch 12,soundstream spl 10dvc,eathquake sws8" clarion sw1001 ect ect in the last couple of years.

it been a bit since i installed a set of subs that i really like with very little tuning ect

I always liked Clarion gear. Never worked with their amps or subs, but they have pretty much always made good head units and mids. At least they did, not sure about the new breed. For a while in high school I had a pair of Clarion 6x9 coax in the deck of a Sunbird running off of just the Clarion head unit, and at least a half dozen times I had to open the trunk to prove to crazy people that I didn't have a pair of 10's. That's been 20 years though.

gosh I think that might be the only big-name deck manf that I didn't work with. Just never was in a shop that carried them but never had anything bad to say about them. Was never the best looking decks imo but as you said they were never really lacking features either.

Pasmag is still out? They finally quit calling me to renew that trial subscription and finally after the 4th call I spelled it out for them. Imports are cool but how about balancing them with some American made cars? - Silence.

While they say "sound" in their title I was amazed if they had more the 2 to maybe 3 small paragraphs to cover even the most elaborate stereos? - more silence

Finally I said that the most time I ever spent inside on of those magazines was maybe 10 mins and then I had seen and read everything I wanted too. I mean it was good shitter material, for a day or two...

Basically pasmag is a website with car audio content these days.

Older Clarion head units were geared towards installers and enthusiasts much more so than any other brands (IMO).

For example, by entering a combination of buttons on Clarions you could disable the volume control all together and lock it at a fixed point. On a 4V deck it would become something like a fixed 3V output. This was for anyone running a preamp or remote volume control like an AudioControl four.1 or three.1. You don't need two volumes up front, and with most customers that just leads to problems.

Also you could enter combinations to disable the bass and treble controls. Again, this would be great for preamps with a few bands of EQ, or anyone running a chassis EQ in the rear. I had a Clarion myself for years and from the day I got it I disabled the bass and treble never to use them again.

Also, Clarions are one of the few head units with some kind of permanent memory. I took my Clarion out of my truck about 5 years ago and set it on the shelf, then about a year ago hooked it up on my test bench prior to selling it. It was tuned to the same radio station it was when I removed it, and it had all my station presets and names in it as well. In the case of my Kenwood, even the slightest glitch in power to it and all that information is gone, having to then be entered again.

Clarion also made some powerful EQs, which could be installed in the rear, and adjusted from the head unit. They have been a big innovator in the market for years, and I think they continue to be.

-Clarion used to be a big OEM supplier and may still be. It seems many of the foreign cars from the 90's had Clarion head units stock.

-Clarion also builds some of the best marine head units money can buy. They use epoxy coated boards and stainless steel chassis in some of them.

-Clarion owns McIntosh, and made their high end head units for them. Plus, the Clarion branded DRZ9255 is considered by many to be the best head unit ever made (don't know if I agree, but I probably do).

Clarion, need I say more?. ....

I Will actually when i get home and am not on my phone.

Clarion is good stuff.

I have played with them today and I have to say I like them more than the sws1001 clarion subs I had

I have owned a few Clarion HU's over the years and dont have one bad thing to say. That played a big part in me deciding to run a DRZ-9255 in my next install. That and it basically fell in my lap. Clarion have been nothing but totally reliable for me which is more than i can say for the $800 Sony deck i bought back in 97. I know, i was dumb and it took voice commands. Cool shit when you are in high school. Although i have never used any of their other gear, i would not hesitate if the opportunity presented itself (if no PG was available, lol).

Here we go, now I'm on the laptop. At DIYAUDIO ALL of them know I'm a Clarion freak, As MOST here know, I'm a Clarion freak. Collect all I can of them, from HU's to speakers, to amps, to DSPs. You name it, I have it, or have played with it. There are very few Clarion items haven't had the pleasure of using/playing with.

Their HU's were, and to me still are some of the best out there, even at todays standards where things are cheaper I'll choose Clarion. I currently own over 30 of their HU's from as late as '86 with the 8825RT to their, well IMO THE best HU ever in the ADCS-1 to the current day CZ702 which I use in my truck. From 90 to 2005 they were, to me, some of the best looking HU's out there, come on Scott- UGLY? Just kidding man.

I currently have over 10 amps of theirs, 12 DSPs, sadly just 2 subs, and about a dozen comp sets in my collection. I fell in love with Clarion for a reason. Great quality, good reliability and leading the way, as Eric pointed out, in innovations and advancement in car audio.

Eric, you'll have to get with me on the disabling of the volume control. I'm unaware of that feature. The EQ defeat (bass/treble) is holding down at the same time, "disp" and preset "3", illumination switch is "disp" and preset "1". On the DRX9375r it has a feature that allows you to switch fonts. "disp" and preset "4" I believe, can't remember. Not all of their HU's have a permanent memory that I'm aware of either. The DSPs do, but factory presets????? None of mine have other then the DRX9175/9275.

Mike, I'm glad you pointed out that review. I'm going to have to give it a read. I love my SSW1200 you got me, but with the new setup I'm running (lower power, sort of) I'm looking for a good sub that can take 400-500 wrms, get loud, but stay clean doing so. I was looking at a TREO TE.

On that note, if anyone has any questions about Clarion, past/present, feel free to ask me.

you can't deny that sony had a better looking deck at the time

How f'd up does that sound?

ttocs wrote:you can't deny that sony had a better looking deck at the time

How f'd up does that sound?

Not as f'd up as Sony's gear does.

Sony had a good looking deck, yes. But not as nice looking as the Clarions. Though this is also personal preference.

till the sony's exploded.... Took them 10 yrs to recover from that one.

ttocs wrote:till the sony's exploded.... Took them 10 yrs to recover from that one.

So you think Sony recovered...

yes actually just this last year was the first time in a long time that I have not heard the usual explode stuff. Dealers are once again getting into them and having really good luck from what I have heard. They put some time/money back into their 12v line and again from what I hear on the dealer side again is nothing but good from those that have started to use them again. I could consider one of the new ones myself.

eric i think sony as a company is doing good winning the hd/bluray battle ps3 but are almost dead in the car audio

smgreen20 if you love your sws1201 i got you than for sure pick one or two of these up. i find them just as clean but much louder
not muddy or boomy even with a ported box. im only running 450 rms 4ohm load with 2 10" dvc. i would not run 1000 watts into both of these as i feel they are getting what they need off my power.
also on a side note they are dirt cheap to buy

if these had a differnt brand name alot more people would buy these
I would put them up there with my top 5 fav. subs i have ever owned so far but i have only 2 day with them. i want to see how they sound after the jl clean sweep dsp, after they break in and do a light tune

They look like they are built well. The 82db sensitivity makes them a hard purchase for me without hearing them in person first.

I was specifically referring to Sony's car audio business. In the case of their other products I love the company and have for years. I have some nice ES home audio gear, and a few Sony cameras, plus some other random items as well.

Sony: Great all around company with crap car audio equipment...

zztunnell wrote:They look like they are built well. The 82db sensitivity makes them a hard purchase for me without hearing them in person first.

Thats what I thought but theae get crazy loud and clean with only 250watts. I read some item say they go down to 25hz other say 35. I put a bass cd hitting 25 30 35 hz and I can say 30 up they are great

kg1961 wrote:

zztunnell wrote:They look like they are built well. The 82db sensitivity makes them a hard purchase for me without hearing them in person first.

Thats what I thought but they get crazy loud and clean with only 250watts. I read some item say they go down to 25hz other say 35. I put a bass cd hitting 25 30 35 hz and I can say 30 up they are great

For the past few years I know Clarion uses the same or similar boards to the Arc Audio KAR and now KS series I believe.

Looking at those subs they look like quality and are built by a good build house....more than likely the Korean build house that does JL and several other highly regarded brands.

I know last Summer I was making MDF spacers for alot of guys that had those Clarion subs and I thought maybe there was a favorable review somewhere along with the low price.

And I've always felt that Clarion put their name on top notch gear. Back in the late 80's/early 90's my buddy that got me into car audio got a Clarion deck while I got the Alpine 7800....little brother to the venerable 7909.

Considering the price difference between the 2.....$300ish for his and $600 for the Alpine I always thought his system was better....and I had better amps and subs.....it was the Clarion since it did indeed put out more clean voltage than my Alpine.

He bench tested them both and I believe the Clarion put out close to 3 volts and that was unheard of in those days.

The Alpine barely reached maybe 1 volt before going into serious clipping.

I sold the Alpine right after that and recouped most of my money.

When my brother and his friends got into car audio in the mid to late 90's I told them to go with Clarion and I had very good results tuning all their systems because of the better than average preamp sections.

Right after that I believe is when the 4v decks were coming out but Clarion actually had everyone beat for several years and never used it as a marketing/sales pitch.

So yes....Clarion was always the installers choice especially when theres a modest budget and the gear just needs to work.

I went back to Alpine but only because of the PXA-H700.

If I didn't have that I would go with a different headunit.