[Gary Tayman]

What exactly failed on your 230, and what were you using for speakers? As for other dealers, had they done any work recently or are they speaking from units made 5 or more years ago? Every so often I hear about how much the USA Stereos stink; when I press them on it I find their experience has been with an older one.

Although most stereo orders are drop shipped, customer feedback has generally been acceptable. However I've had a LOT of DVC and Stealth speakers pass through here and they're wonderful. I actually removed Kickers (and Pioneers) from my T-Bird in favor of the DVC's.

A couple more comments: the power ratings of the 230 and 630, 200 and 240 watts respectively, are peak. A conversion, rated at 180 watts RMS, will blow away a 230 on the bench; it's approximately equal to the 630.

Also, when the 630 and 230 first came out, there was a fake-stereo problem that lasted for a short while. Custom Autosound originally made their own stereos; as far-fetched as this sounds they also built Kenwood stereos by contract. Yes, CAM (Custom Autosound Manufacturing) built Kenwoods. Later in an effort to improve reliability, they contracted the stereos be built by another vendor. The later USA 1-6's with the rocker switches were built by this vendor. When they offered the new 230/630 series, they rejected the prototypes made by this vendor, and went to yet another vendor -- who still makes them. That first vendor jumped the gun and built thousands of 230's and 630's that CAM did not buy. What to do? These guys set themselves up as a major distributor and started contacting dealers, offering USA-230's and 630's at a price below that of CAM. Several dealers indeed purchased these stereos, were were NOT CAM-approved but rejects. Indeed, these guys contacted me and I turned them down. Lawsuit city, these guys removed the CAM logo and continued selling them until they ran out. But there are enough of them to cause confusion and raise quality concerns with the real product.

The DVC speakers are made by contract, by the same factory that makes a lot of other name-brand speakers, many of them high-end. Those who purchase everything based on name brands have a lot to learn. The DVC's over the years have jumped factories as well, but no deceitful practices to my knowledge in the speaker department.


Again, my own experiences, I've shared.