W7 is incredibly awesome. The subwoofer has been described as “Tight”. We would like to add “heavy”. It is not only physically heavy but also technologically heavy. With 6 patents to its name, this monster is the flagship of JL Audio as well as other brands of equal caliber. The patents are in Overall Surround (the large surround allows extended excursion without sacrificing the cone area), W-Cone (a unique cone assembly that provides torsional rigidity maintaining voice coil alignment at the suspension limit), Floating Cone Attach Method (a cone attachment method to the voice coil for better excursion and dynamic voice coil alignment), Plateau-Reinforced Spider Attachment (an extension of the VRC technology that relieves stress from the spider material at high excursion) , Radially Cross Drilled Pole Piece (an innovative venting system that enhances thermal dissipation and power handling by directing air flow behind the voice coil) and Massive Forced Air Cooled Aluminum Alloy Frame (an excellent basket design that delivers cool air through slots directly above the top plate to the voice coil). In plain language, JL Audio knows its business and this monster really bites.

At the last CAR + SOUND Show in Sinsheim, Canton moves with its new line up of 2 way and 3 way real hifi quality system. The use of high quality rapid pulse aluminum woofers and midranges coupled with aluminum-manganese tweeter dome provides optimum reproduction quality of natural, precise and unadulterated sound performance. Its made in Germany claim has inadvertently pitted itself against the more renown MB Quart in both cosmetic looks and sound quality since there are only small differences in their retail prices. There are no "official" reviews / tests on these speakers in any magazines yet. There are however feedbacks from installers and end-users that Canton is ahead in getting the "thumbs up". Reasons are plentiful including but not limited to better cone material, better crossover components, better speaker construction, more versatile in application and no fakes (see - MB Quart -Fakes Available).

MB Quart has been a formidable player in the car audio industry for a long time. It went down on its knees last year and has to be propped-up by Rockford Inc. During the “turbulence” months, fake DSD 216 and DSC 216 have been making their rounds in Asia. Could this be the primary reason for the substantial fall in prices of MB Quart speakers ? Some MB Quart die-hards swear though that the quality has indeed fallen. This is a clear departure from their claim – Expect The Best in various media advertisements. An urgent “cleaning” of the markets is needed or a later “resurrection” of brand image is the order of the day.

Status is recognized as a home loudspeaker manufacturer in Denmark. Its foray into the car audio industry should come as a surprise since car audio industry is really the killing field. Status is probably aware of this fact. Its products so far include 6x9” 3 way triaxial speaker and 6.5” 2 way component system speaker in the SRT (Status Road Taboo) series and 6.5” 2 way component system speaker in the SVX (Status Vortex) series. Status has “admitted” that it is really a taboo to talk about its products as the blood red woofer will be the bloodbath of the competition. It also expect strong vortex in the competition of its class. A quick check of the products should give comfort to those who are budget conscious. Perhaps, this “gives more at affordable prices” strategy would win some supporters. Let’s give Status the benefit of time.

High end products are always associated with high prices. Not anymore ! Dynaudio has come up with another excellent product - System 240 GT, a 6.5” 2 way component system speaker for the car enthusiasts. For the first time, Dynaudio uses a metal basket rather than its trademark die cast basket for its woofer (could this be the reason that the price is more down to earth ?). A quick test on System 240 GT should reveal nothing short of first class sound performance that is typical of Dynaudio. While the System 240 MKII provides a warmer sound on the mid-bass, the System 240 GT is still an excellent system that is unattainable for many others. The ease of installation is another plus point. Lastly, the affordable price should call for the celebration.

The theme to the Audiobahn 2002 line up is We’re on Fire. With the chrome-plated housings in the shape of raging fire for all its amplifiers, die-cast baskets of its subwoofers and grill covers of its subwoofers, perhaps Audiobahn intends to scorch the competition without hesitation. Departing from the usual base mount, Audiobahn introduces the rack mount car amplifiers, processors and capacitors (very much in the sense of a pro-audio set up). The amplifiers, processors and capacitors can be stacked up with daisy chain ability, arguably for neatness in presentation. So, what’s new ? Besides the new cosmetic looks of the raging fire and rack mountable units …………... nothing mentionable here.

Perhaps, some of you already know that the present Soundstream (organization as well as products) is different from that of the “old” one in outfits and product philosophy. While all efforts and claims are directed at maintaining the high-end image of the Soundstream, it is more of an exercise of resurrection. The image of Soundstream has suffered a serious setback since it went into financial trouble the last couple of years. No much new product development and poor after sales service. The current owner Power Acoustik Inc that deals with entry level products made in China and Korea for its Power Acoustik and Fahrenheit, should find its going in Soundstream an uphill battle. The dealers and the customers alike have long forgotten the Soundstream. While maintaining most of the old names for the new line up - Da Vinci, Tarantula, D’Artagnan, Rubicon, just to name a few, the products are essentially different. The new line up does not strike out as anything technologically advance products in the car audio industry. Cosmetic changes to the heat sinks are the order of the day.