Cuspid USA Speakers & AMPs?

Dr. Bogger · Post by **Dr. Bogger** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:17 pm

Hi,
I'm new to this car audio stuff.
I have read some bad reviews about cuspid, but i just wanted to clearify this...
Why is cuspid amp's so bad? I read somewhere that it is suppose to be 1600 watts, but it is not, may i ask exactly how many watts these amps are?
They are only 160 Watts *RMS* Per Chanel, and 400 Watts Peak, so is it realy 160 watts RMS? or is that not true?
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Now about their speakers, are they any good?
I am looking to buy this kit: http://www.caradditions.com/index.cfm/fa/items.home/parentcat/16293/subcatid/0/id/195234
It has the amp, and two 700 watt speakers, i was wondering what the quality is on their speakers are?
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Remember, I am just looking for something that sounds okay, and is not like totaly distorted, i do NOT want "the best" out there, my budget is only about $100 for everything....
If the quality of the system is equiv. to most stock systems in cars, i am happy....
will this system sound equiv. to most stock radios?
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Please let me know.
Thanks a lot!

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 7:07 pm

Im gonna speak, but please bare in mind last night was very rough. So if this doesnt come out right, sorry.

Cuspid is about the absolute pile of shit you can find.

If you have experience with the older JVC Whitney that used to offer that "1,000 WATTS" amp about 10 years ago, then you can think of Cuspid on par with that.

If you only have $100 and you want good sound, get yourself a NICE set of coax's for the front and forget about an amp.

BLuntly, $100 aint shit. You can get a decent set of coaxs and hook them up to your factory radio. If you try stretching that $100 and swing for crap equipment, you will end up spending more sooner than you expected. But dont take my word for it, theres about 100+ episodes just like that here on this forum and 1'000's more on others.

So in ending:

a) buy a set of coax's and be happy
b) buy that junk and be mad because its junk but you still bought it after being warned
c) save some more money and buy something worth while

d) buy the cuspid and know no difference between it and Zapco

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 10:20 pm

if you only have around a $100 to spend, then you wont be able to get much, especially qaulity stuff.. if you Will go the Ebay route, you may be able to get lucky, with a decent/good set of speakers and an amp.. but dont get your hopes up..

what do you have for a stereo now? is it completely stock? stock radio, speakers..etc..?

if you have a stock radio, then just look into getting a set of coaxials, and forget about the amp.. you can go to Wal Mart and buy a set of Pioneer 4ways that will suit you fine.. but.. you can still use an amp with the factory cd player, you will need to buy a line out converter, but make sure the amp accepts them..

also.. if you have an aftermarket hu already... then check into Ebay.. it will definately be your best bet to find decent quality stuff thats new or barely used that will be cheap... i picked up a nice set of Kicker speakers off of there a few years ago for around $30 and a brand new amp for $32.50 a month ago.. Ebay is a great place, so dont be misled.. if you take the time, and check out the persons reviews and everything, you will usually have good results like i have and many others, be sure to read the auction thoroughly too.. other than that.. a good set of coaxials will do you fine without an amp.. the amp will make them sound cleaner and louder, but not if you buy a really cheap built amp like that Cuspid.. i have a hardly used Power Acoustik OV2-400 amp i may sell, check into it.. its a decent little amp, got a little hot at high volumes, but it works perfectly fine.. email me if you are interested..

cargodz · Post by **cargodz** » Sat Sep 09, 2006 11:42 pm

Ok my turn.
Now before I start let me just say that I have watched this industry grow from back when radio was what you listened to because you weren't rich enough to have a TV. This said and the fact that I am a car audio dealer I can tell you that if you buy cheap poor quality equipment you will get cheap poor quality sound.
There are many people like you out there and this is where I like to step in as an Teacher and like to point people in the right direction. There are a few lower lessor brand names that are better than stock, but cuspid is not one of them. These types of units are sold to the un-educated consumer and usually leave a bad taste in ones mouth for anything aftermarket for a long time.
On a general ratings scale I would put Boss Audio as being about 10 times better then cuspid and slightly better than stock, this is why Boss is the cheapist thing I sell..... Can I get cheaper stuff? Sure. Will I sell it to you? NO! That is a part of service... If you sell some one cheap stuff... in the end they'll think less of you than of the product that you "Let" them buy.
So in closing if you have a stock audio system and $100.00 you have 3 choices:
1) Buy junk and wish you hadn't later
2) Buy a decent set of speakers
3) Save your $100.00 and keep adding a little at a time & save for a better system

I know lots of

, but I hope it helps :)

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:03 am

Three words for you. SAVE YOR MONEY.

The guys are right. It better to save now, and get something that will last you, than it is to go cheap, and spend twice as much down the road.

Dr. Bogger · Post by **Dr. Bogger** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:29 am

ok, thanks for the info everyone!

Let me start by saying i have a head unit that is very very cheap its self, it cost $50 at walmart... and the amp that is inside of it, is only 5 Watts per chanel.... i'm sorry, but imo, 5 watts is crap... what is your opionion on that? is 5 watts good enough?

Plus in my car, when i got it, it didnt have any stock radio at all, and it didnt have any speakers at all, not even a place to put the speakers...

Now what brand name do you recomend that is equiv. to stock radios, that is as cheap as possible?

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:56 am

IMO your best bet is a better radio. Even stock speakers can sound worlds better with a little clean power. But don't be fooled, even a 500 buck eclipse deck doesn't put out more than 20 or so watts rms. Yeah a nice amp might help, but it won't correct for a poor input signal.

I say save up another 100 or so bucks, and look for a better cd player. 150 to 200 should do nicely for what you want. Then, if you still want more, look into some decent 2 (or maybe 3 way) coax speakers.

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:56 am

IMO your best bet is a better radio. Even stock speakers can sound worlds better with a little clean power. But don't be fooled, even a 500 buck eclipse deck doesn't put out more than 20 or so watts rms. Yeah a nice amp might help, but it won't correct for a poor input signal.

I say save up another 100 or so bucks, and look for a better cd player. 150 to 200 should do nicely for what you want. Then, if you still want more, look into some decent 2 (or maybe 3 way) coax speakers.

Darthness · Post by **Darthness** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:09 am

shoot Justin a message (Justin From Detroit on here) and see if he stil lhas his elevation audio coaxils, those might do good.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 6:33 am

SMoker has a set of Coax's up for grabs @ $75. I heard them in person and I was quite happy with thery way they sound.

As for your car audio purchases, I think its evident that your aware you bought a POS head unit. I almost question the validity of this post as it seems as a troll but I guess I wont draw conclusions.

Get with it man. Save some money and buy decent stuff, even if its older.

I just bought a CD deck off E Bay that dates back to like 1998. But back then it was a $450 ALpine and I had the same one way back then! WHile it doesnt have a ton of flexiblity, play MP3s or anything, it has some of the best sound I can remember hearing.