Old One Eye's CES Report
Pg. 3 of 23
JL Audio
Well, JL Audio had the same booth it had last year as well. It also had the same A4 from last year (as well as being featured on the JL website). I was lucky enough to have Manville Smith give me a demo of the A4 (which I didn’t get to listen to last year and is what I think a show car should be like, with excruciating attention to details, great sounding and flashy when it needs to be) as well as a tour of the booth. It’s always nice when you have a pro show you around (instead of having a sales rep that used to sell aluminum siding or something like that). Still no W7s. You can visit JL at www.jlaudio.com if you want to see more info on the w3, the A4 or anything else (and they are lightning fast to put new products on their page as I found out last year).
22 new models this year. Five brand new Evolution models, including a 3.5 inch coaxial, 6.5" coaxial, a 6x9" three way, High end 5x7" driver and a three way component set. The first three are pretty much basic stuff. The 5x7 on the other hand is supposed to be aimed as a high end replacement for all cars equipped with 5x7 stock speakers and it will be available in the third quarter of 1999. Apparently Ford has announced that all of the new models will come equipped with 5 x 7" speakers worldwide in an effort to simplify their audio systems worldwide. Other manufacturers also use this size as well so this will just drop in. For the most part, it’s a high end mid with the high-end tweeter and a dedicated outboard crossover. It can handle 70 watts and has the same efficiency as the 6.5" coaxial. For the three way system, JL had to specially design and manufacture a 4" mid to ensure that the midrange mate well with the tweeter and the woofer. While it would have been easier to take the 4" mid that they used for their 4" component set, they decided to design a new driver instead. These will be available in mid 1999.
They had one new PowerWedge enclosed subwoofer system. It houses 3 12w0 woofers in a wedge enclosure that fires towards the rear of the car and the front butts up against the seats. The woofer baffle is shaped like this \_/ and seems that it could probably shake your car apart if you give it enough power. Also introduced is the ProWedge, a step up from the PowerWedge enclosure. First enclosures to incorporate the new w3 drivers. They have an enclosure with a 10w3, a 12w3, 2 10w3s and 2 12w3s. Also released were 4 new bandpass enclosures with a 10w0, a 12w0, 2 10w0s and 2 12w3s.
More stealthboxes available and the prices have come down for 1999 due to new manufacturing facilities. I would imagine that once the demand for the w3 dies down, they will begin designing the stealthboxes around these drivers, maybe modifying some of the older enclosures to accommodate them. They introduced stealthboxes for the Dodge Durango, VW Golf, Nissan Pathfinder, GM Full-size truck, Ford Super Duty trucks, Ford 150 trucks, and Toyota 4-Runner. This increases the number of stealthboxes to 41, the most in the business.
Here is a picture of the new Three way XR seperates (and a rather flashy picture of Manville Smith’s hand. I might like to add that he’s considering a career in hand modeling.)
A picture of a 12w3 (finally shipping). They had a killer excursion display from last year showing you that its got a relatively huge excursion.
This is a PowerWedge that is designed to fire towards the rear of the car and contains 3 12w0 subs. Supposed to pound, with the front of it angled to fit the back of the seat.
Polk Audio
I was lucky enough to be able to talk to Paul DiComo at the Polk Audio booth. I emailed him and he responded and invited me to come to the booth and take a look at all the new stuff in the booth. When I showed up, he pretty much dropped what he was doing, and had a car audio product specialist give me a tour of all the new stuff. The most important news is the fact that they have released a new dX series. Apparently, the dB series was selling well, but they were just too inefficient. Mass retailers would pair up the dB stuff with a high powered deck and it just wouldn’t do the stuff justice, which would lead to quite a few returns (and it would cost Polk and retailers lots of cash in returns and uninstallation fees). The dX was designed to take the best features of the dB and EX series and combine them to give you the best of both. They have 5 different models, a 3 way 6 x 9, a 6.5" coaxial, a 3 way 5 x 7, a 5.25" coaxial and a 4" coaxial. They have polymer/mica cones with rubber surrounds (good stuff). I also got a chance to take a look at their demo vehicle. Unfortunately, I was short on time and didn’t get a chance to listen to the home theater stuff they have (since its quite nice) but I guess there is always next year. The dB line seems to have remained the same (this is the woofer that had an add with a guy standing on two of these cones… very stiff cones, almost impossible to puncture (although I bet a screwdriver through the surround isn’t that hard). If you have any questions about the line, head over to www.polkaudio.com
Here is picture of the new DX series. Not very flashy I guess, but it gets the job done.
Soundstream
Soundstream pulled out the same booth that it has brought for the past couple years. No demo vehicles. Its reliability problems continue, although they have instituted a new policy to cover all Rubicon amplifiers. Soundstream will be offering a 6-month, over the counter guarantee in addition to the multiyear warranty that the amps already come with. The question remains if they will be able to keep the pipeline to retailers open (if Soundstream can’t keep up with demand, which dealer is going to want to have to chose between selling their last Soundstream amp, exchanging that amp for a bad one or having to recommend another brand to a customer to make a sale. Tough choice if you ask me.) For more info on the Soundstream line, head over to www.soundstream.com and check out the full line.
Soundstream released a few new products. Seems that Soundstream has discovered something that Phoenix Gold has also found out. Limited Edition amps sell. Continuing the trend it started with the Continuum and Da’Vinci, they have released the D’Artagnan. It’s a limited edition 5 channel amplifier, with 50 x 4 + 200 x 1 @ 4 ohm. It only has balanced inputs, but it includes a 4 channel balanced line driver so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. It appears to have the same finish as the 10.2 and Picasso amplifiers (chrome/polished aluminum finish). The amp includes 2 of the "fins" that cover the wiring, one Plexiglas and one chrome finish). This thing looks quite nice. I would envision a competitor would gobble up two of these (only 1000 are going to be produced, so my guess is that the average Joe Schmoe isn’t going to have much luck buying one of these unless they run down to their dealer ASAP) and use some of the balanced processors from Zapco and a balanced head unit and have a balanced system from front to rear.
Soundstream’s big news seemed to revolve around the "Amazing Lil’ Wonder" amp. Its official ratings include the following: Power at 4 ohms: Lots!, 2 Ohms: More!, 2 ohms 14.4 volts: Even More!. The ratings that have been appearing in the magazines with tongue in cheek specs are the specs the amp is going to ship with. I’m not sure why they decided to do this, or what IASCA is going to think about the wattage ratings, but this is their way of causing a commotion. At $299, they hope to offer Rubicon pricing at a lower price point. They are building an entire advertising campaign around the amp, with buttons, T-shirts, etc. In addition, there should be a review in the following months in one of the magazines. Smoke (no pun intended) and mirrors if you ask me.
In addition to the D’Artagnan, Soundstream released 3 new 5 channel Rubicon amps. The Rubicon 255 at 22.5 x 4 + 65 x 1, the Rubicon 355 at 25 x 4 + 100 x 1, and the Rubicon 555 at 40 x 4 + 150 x 1 models. All have built in crossovers and all the other features of the Rubicon series. This is a step in the right direction. Lower cost, yet lots of performance (frankly, I don’t think too many beginners will be able to afford something like an 805 or 604.
Another interesting item in the booth was a burnt orange colored amp running on 36 volt. For those of you who don’t know, the automobile industry seems to be heading into the 36 or even 42-volt direction. I really don’t know what all the advantages are, but I think it involves smaller wires (less weight) among other things. They also showed what looks like a bass knob called the Large Mouth Bass Control. Looks like an indash bass knob. Last but not least is the updated SPL line of separates now called the SPLg. These are the 2 ohm separates and coaxials which received a cosmetic update, better performance as well as a new 3 way 8" coaxial (where is this going to fit?!?).
