An alternate to OEM Audio + that's actually affordable

[Simon99]

Originally Posted by buzznasa

I like the look of the enclosure and $250 isn't bad for one custom designed to fit the 86. I went with a different solution and got great sound and the ability to remove it easily for track days. However, I am all for supporting a member of the 86 community.



I would be interested to see their CF hood in person to see how it compares with the Seibon. I need to get one for myself.

I have no problems with the enclosure and love to encourage communities.. I just find the thread title misleading as I consider OEM+ really affordable for what it does and the OP to be utterly based toward that company..


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[BMHumanic]

Originally Posted by Tromatic

Dude, it haz teh carbon fiberz! And it plays one note really loud. Don't you have to be a sponsor to advertise?

Funny, because I actually read your name as "trollmatic". I'm not sponsored by them, they're a friend that come to the valley meet and they make quality products so i'm trying to help them out.

[BMHumanic]

Originally Posted by Simon99

I have no problems with the enclosure and love to encourage communities.. I just find the thread title misleading as I consider OEM+ really affordable for what it does and the OP to be utterly based toward that company..


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I'm biased towards OEM+ because I had the option to get it in my car for a very good price. I sat in their car for a good long while, listened from the outside, inside, 20 feet away & with my face right against the speakers and I simply cannot justify spending that kind of money on it. I listen to mostly heavy metal, so in a sound system I simply want very fast bass kicks. No deep bass (though I did have 2 12's in my last car) just a little kick to feel it. OEM+ is crisp and clear, but the sub does nothing in my opinion, and there for I cannot justify the money for it.

[BMHumanic]

Originally Posted by buzznasa

I like the look of the enclosure and $250 isn't bad for one custom designed to fit the 86. I went with a different solution and got great sound and the ability to remove it easily for track days. However, I am all for supporting a member of the 86 community.

I would be interested to see their CF hood in person to see how it compares with the Seibon. I need to get one for myself.

Jose wasn't at the meet tonight or I would have taken a picture of it for you. The system sounds great, again it all depends on what you're looking for (weather it be deep bass kicks or rapid double bass, pick your own sub and amp). As for the carbon hood, I will vouch for it absolutely. This thing fits absolutely perfectly, not a single misalignment at all. I will admit though I don't know much about sub enclosures it probably doesnt have "perfect airspace" but the hood is 100% perfect. I'll take pics next time I see the car. (if you ask nicely he can put custom vents and make you a 100% custom hood which I may or may not be in the process of getting )

[thill]

Originally Posted by BMHumanic

I'm biased towards OEM+ because I had the option to get it in my car for a very good price. I sat in their car for a good long while, listened from the outside, inside, 20 feet away & with my face right against the speakers and I simply cannot justify spending that kind of money on it. I listen to mostly heavy metal, so in a sound system I simply want very fast bass kicks. No deep bass (though I did have 2 12's in my last car) just a little kick to feel it. OEM+ is crisp and clear, but the sub does nothing in my opinion, and there for I cannot justify the money for it.

So you want good bass but don't care about the sound that comes out of the crappy stock speakers, horrible stock amp, and the weak head unit that has limited EQ?

Got it.

If you price out the cost of putting in improved speakers, more powerful amp, DSP, and a subwoofer the OEM+ is actually a really good value. Even getting a good DSP system installed and tuned by a pro if going to cost $600-700. Just for the DSP alone.

[Integrity Concepts]

Interesting product.... However, its not a direct replacement for a full dialed in set up like the OEM +, so you can't really compare the two. As a stand alone piece of the puzzle it may hold merit but does raise some important questions.

A few thoughts from my experience (while trying to stay as unbiased as possible):

The Good...

- The finish looks great.
- They have taken the time to include a mounting solution.


The questionable...

- As previously stated, there are no specs on the enclosure volume and the description they have provided about the ported vs sealed doesn't make much sense. From my own knowledge of this space, the enclosure appears to be between .80 and 1.0 cu ft in size (depending on wall thickness and the degree of the tapering areas), which can be ok for a handful of subwoofers in a sealed application, but less subs fit this volume in a ported application especially when taking into consideration the woofer and port displacement. Which brings to question, what are the port specs? The JL Audio 10W6v2 that is mounted in the enclosure in the picture is recommended by JL Audio to be in a .75 cu ft "net" ported enclosure (after woofer and port displacement), given the port and woofer displacement JL's recommended ported enclosure is roughly 1.05 cu ft in "gross" volume. They recommend a port surface area of 13.125 sq. in. by a length of 30.625" in order to be tuned at 37.89 Hz which they recommend after thoroughly testing the W6 in their facility. Now giving the enclosure in question the full benefit of the doubt (for ported applications), lets say it is 1.0 cu ft in gross volume. In size reference to the sub, the port appears to be 2.75" in diameter and so in order to achieve the recommended 37.89 Hz. the port would need to be 9.4" long, and in its current location this would be very unlikely given the wheel well and W6 magnet. So lets say you want to hit what some believe to be the commonly accepted magic number for SPL at 33 Hz, the port would need to be 12.7" long. So what if the enclosure is more like .8 cu ft and you want to hit 33 Hz, the port would need to be 16.35" long. Keep in mind the lower the Hz tuning the better it should be for sound quality so in this case the port just gets longer (though the subwoofer and vehicle's cabin plays a significant role in all of this tuning as well)... But you see where this is going, the smaller the enclosure and the lower the tuning, the longer the port gets at its current diameter. In the pictures the port appears to be double stacked 3/4" at the opening, but it is hard to tell if it extends beyond this. If the port is truly only 1.5" long at 2.75" in diameter, in a 1.0 cu ft enclosure it would be tuned to about 75 Hz, and in a .80 cu ft enclosure it would be tuned to about 65 Hz. In short it simply raises a lot of questions, mostly how does it sound? Simply put, an enclosure makes or breaks a woofer.

- The price is low, though this is usually good, its too low and I have to agree with others that it makes one wonder if corners are being cut. A well built fiberglass enclosure being fabricated from a mold by even a professional should take at least 6 - 8 solid man hours (not including the time spread over days for proper cure times) and this is even before the finishes are applied. Overlaying and correctly finishing the carbon Fiber surface takes almost just as long in manual labor, and the material costs for the enclosure doubles. When you take out the cost of the materials, I would estimate that all that is left to pay a very diligent worker for a properly built enclosure like this would be between $8-$10 an hour. Even that would leave little to no room for overhead costs such as shop rents, heating for proper curing, and keeping the tools running or the lights on. You would have to either mass produce this enclosure by the boat loads or pay the workers below minimum wage just to turn a profit. That is all unless the time is being made up somewhere by the cutting of corners. I guess a profit could be made if the product was coming in from overseas, but even then.

Maybe we are all missing something here, but either way it just simply raises questions that cannot be ignored, and ones that I truly hope someone can answer to at least clear any confusion.

I feel that these guys are probably great custom fabricators that make very nice interior and exterior styling products, and have decided to branch into an audio arena unknown... and if this is true they owe it to their potential customers to do the research and or be more specific about the product they are offering. Likewise, if they are turning out truly quality work then they owe it to themselves to be charging what their labor is worth.

[Integrity Concepts]

Originally Posted by BMHumanic

Just like anything, you're paying for a name brand. Their company also makes Kevlar parts if you'd like, its more expensive but damn near invincible. The hood is an actual Seibon mold, but they trim the mounting points themselves for theirs to make it fit perfectly. As for the other parts (tray liners, sub box, soon to be other parts) they make themselves in house. Its strong fiberglass with a few layers of carbon for the look. Like I said you can get it in all fiberglass too to save yourself some $$ if youd like.

After reading all of the entries, I guess I have something else to give input on :

Their enclosure completely aside, I have quite the problem with this entire above statement. I for one do not believe you are paying for the name brand when it comes to companies like OEM + or even the stand alone enclosures of a slightly higher price, that I developed. You are paying for the countless hours of research put into every product, the tooling time needed before the first part is even made, the quality materials and components used in each and every product, the time consuming process of building a product of the highest quality craftsmanship, the time dedicated to customer service and cost of having knowledgeable staff, the overhead costs of a facility and all that comes with it, and even down to the time it takes for ordering parts, billing, packaging, running a website, and advertising. To say that you are paying for the name in cases where a truly amazing product is being offered, only holds true when they are being exorbitant with their pricing. Even then, they may just want to be catering to a small group or control the demand.

The other thing I can't stand hearing is that they are actually using a mold from Seibon in order to make their hoods. This is a big no no in the composite industry and beyond, and usually happens when a cheaper foreign knock off sees an angle. They usually find some very small thing to change, feel no remorse in stealing the intellectual property, and are rarely held liable for their actions. So I hope this is not true.

[soundman98]

thanks @Integrity Concepts, i was hoping you'd give an opinion on this box..


all too often people just assume that the cost of an item is overly inflated to pad the pockets of the original creator...

my own example of that would be the led tails that i custom built for my last car-- even if i were to charge $1,200 for a completed set, i'd still only average about $5/hr in terms of profit off them-- not even enough to squeak out a living assuming i could have sold 100 sets of them... but i didn't cut any corners, and made sure to use quality parts throughout so they should outlast the car..


honestly, i would expect a 1cu ft carbon fiber-faced box to go for around $500 or so at the least to account for the added material cost and work required to get a smooth, clear finish...

[BMHumanic]

Originally Posted by thill

So you want good bass but don't care about the sound that comes out of the crappy stock speakers, horrible stock amp, and the weak head unit that has limited EQ?

Got it.

If you price out the cost of putting in improved speakers, more powerful amp, DSP, and a subwoofer the OEM+ is actually a really good value. Even getting a good DSP system installed and tuned by a pro if going to cost $600-700. Just for the DSP alone.

I personally don't believe the stock speakers are that bad. They're far better than what came in my 06 tC, and that's besides the point that its no where near why I bought the car in the first place. I personally just want to feel the music a bit better, but it sounds fine to me

Trust me I get what you're saying, OEM+ is a full replacement of everything, but from what I was demo'd it wasn't worth it to me, maybe that's just my $.02. Figured id share this for the people just looking for a little extra kick, and it lets you pick your own speaker/amp

[BMHumanic]

Originally Posted by Integrity Concepts

After reading all of the entries, I guess I have something else to give input on :

Their enclosure completely aside, I have quite the problem with this entire above statement. I for one do not believe you are paying for the name brand when it comes to companies like OEM + or even the stand alone enclosures of a slightly higher price, that I developed. You are paying for the countless hours of research put into every product, the tooling time needed before the first part is even made, the quality materials and components used in each and every product, the time consuming process of building a product of the highest quality craftsmanship, the time dedicated to customer service and cost of having knowledgeable staff, the overhead costs of a facility and all that comes with it, and even down to the time it takes for ordering parts, billing, packaging, running a website, and advertising. To say that you are paying for the name in cases where a truly amazing product is being offered, only holds true when they are being exorbitant with their pricing. Even then, they may just want to be catering to a small group or control the demand.

The other thing I can't stand hearing is that they are actually using a mold from Seibon in order to make their hoods. This is a big no no in the composite industry and beyond, and usually happens when a cheaper foreign knock off sees an angle. They usually find some very small thing to change, feel no remorse in stealing the intellectual property, and are rarely held liable for their actions. So I hope this is not true.

I understand what you're saying, and to be honest im not sure what research went into the enclosure (ill ask Jose next time I see him) but ill absolutely stand for the quality of their products. They know what they're doing with fabricating, making their own custom molds and being commissioned by outside companies to make products for them. I did contact him and asked about the Seibon molds because I never thought about it until you brought it up. His company makes hoods for Seibon on large work orders, and there for they have Seibons molds. However, the only hood that they sell they molded themselves from the OEM hood, so there's no hijacking of products so-to-speak. Sorry for that confusion

He also informed me that he would be glad to work with individual people to make 100% custom hoods, with any sort of vents or designs you'd like. And as I said before, they also have Kevlar available for a truly one-of-a-kind look!

[Integrity Concepts]

Originally Posted by BMHumanic

I understand what you're saying, and to be honest im not sure what research went into the enclosure (ill ask Jose next time I see him) but ill absolutely stand for the quality of their products. They know what they're doing with fabricating, making their own custom molds and being commissioned by outside companies to make products for them. I did contact him and asked about the Seibon molds because I never thought about it until you brought it up. His company makes hoods for Seibon on large work orders, and there for they have Seibons molds. However, the only hood that they sell they molded themselves from the OEM hood, so there's no hijacking of products so-to-speak. Sorry for that confusion

He also informed me that he would be glad to work with individual people to make 100% custom hoods, with any sort of vents or designs you'd like. And as I said before, they also have Kevlar available for a truly one-of-a-kind look!

Good to hear. Thanks for the clarification.