Kmart Blue Light Special Sparkomatic 6x9's from 1984

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9 ай бұрын

#sparkomatic #kmart #vintageaudio
Here's a Throwback amp from the late 1984 with these Sparkomatic KS2269 6x9 speakers right off the Blue Light Special Cart at Kmart. I even have the receipt to prove it!
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Пікірлер: 555

@jrrob75 9 ай бұрын

Man the first car audio I had was a set of sparkomatic 6x9s a Realistic eq/amp and a Roadmaster cassette player. Back in the late 80s and I was 12yrs old. Little did I know they were a gateway drug that would lead to a lifetime car audio addiction.

@raymo6795 9 ай бұрын

yes, well put...they were a gateway drug..I am 57 years old, sitting in my cave with 60 plus vintage car amplifiers, from every American made legacy brand imaginable. I would like to hear the Sparkos with a decent amp. My first systems were Sparko, Kraco, Jenson, Craig...with a power booster/eq...and alternator noise...wish I knew then what I know now..peace Brother

@MarvinHartmann452 9 ай бұрын

Oh man so many memories.. I had MCI door speakers and a 40w booster in my 1985 camaro rust bucket. And one of my friends has your exact setup and awesome "ProPlus" subwoofers with an amplifier in his Nissan pulsar. It's nice to remember this.

@MarvinHartmann452 9 ай бұрын

@raymo6795 "alternator noise" Yeah, these 40W boosters were famous for it. You surely remember the kenwood pull out cassette radio and their Alpine counterparts?? The alpine were too expensive for me, so I had a kenwood, it was decent.

@raymo6795 9 ай бұрын

@@MarvinHartmann452 …I do remember those slide out units. I would go to a party and a bunch of the kids were carrying around their car stereo to prevent theft, then came the detachable face units. I bought an Eclipse because they would not work unless a specific cd was inserted, after the power was disconnected.( the disc I used was “ Seal , Crazy”). I remember trying everything to eliminate the alternator. Various chokes and filters etc. Then I tried hooking up direct to the battery, rather than tap a fuse…I think I used lamp wire…only to have a dead battery the next day. I learned a lot from the Crutchfield catalogs…I couldn’t believe they sent me those for free. I learned what was available, and bought my first quality amp, a Soundstream SA 120, which powered a pair of 6x9 Jensen Tri Ax. It sounded pretty good, it was the best I had to that date…but I had a bunch of booster/ eq’s. I would love to have a to have one Crutchfield catalog, of each year since they have been in business, that would be an interesting trip through time..Peace Brother ✌️

@derray5473 9 ай бұрын

Realistic amp from radio shack

@Hines-73 10 ай бұрын

Take me back to the 80's! This should be video of the year. SPARKOMATIC, PYRAMID, AND VU METERS, all in one place. Love it. Great video 🔊🔊🔊😎

@MarvinHartmann452 9 ай бұрын

"Pro plus" subwoofers lol awesome

@quiyaomah9 9 ай бұрын

Don’t forget KRACO!

@marcmo7138 9 ай бұрын

@@quiyaomah9 Craig was the super-premium if you had the money

@Bamafpv 9 ай бұрын

love to see the mine blower 6 x 9 again.

@OneRoomShed 8 ай бұрын

@@quiyaomah9 just was looking through the comments and wow I forgot all about Kraco! I owned a few of them 6" X 9"s back in the day. They were completely unrated in my book. I had a set that survived my early teenage years up to when I got my first car. I switch them out with the stock 6" X 9"s in my first car and powered them with a small 50 watt Realistic amp from Radio Shack. Used them for like than for years. I definitely got my money's worth. I can't believe I completely forgot about Kraco. Thanks for stirring up the memory 🍻

@SuperWooba 9 ай бұрын

Those Sparkomatic 6x9 speakers with the orange surrounds were the speakers the first time I felt bass in a car. They actually sounded pretty good when they have the whole trunk for an enclosure and decent power.

@Bradimus1 9 ай бұрын

Pretty much all 6x9s need a trunk to play open baffle if you want any bass out of them. These boxes are not good if you aren't running them high passes at 80hz or so.

@davidroberts6594 9 ай бұрын

Agree the speaker boxes just won't give as good of sound as when they are installed in the rear deck using the trunk as a huge box. Would have liked to hear the same setup but with boxes tuned for lower bass.

@kirbyswarp 9 ай бұрын

How would gutting the trunk of all the carpets affect the sound? Just curious as my trunk is bare metal for weight reduction purposes. Never considered the effects it would have bass lol

@zzoinks 9 ай бұрын

Does that also mean that if you have a hatchback the speakers won't have the chance to produce as much bass?

@codyserucsak2501 8 ай бұрын

@@Bradimus1i tried 6x9s in boxes. And yeah they sounded like absolute crap. Slap em in the rear deck. And bam. Perfect. .. oh man that old cadillac was nice... 1989 a sony cassette deck. Lear jet 100+100? Idk if it was actually 100 or 200 watt. That amp ran a set of 8 inch woofers that were drilled right into the rear deck. And then a set of 6x9s in the original holes. New front speakers and some door speakers added in (properly) just for bass up front. Like 6 inch woofer type. Dash was just mid/tweeter. And a PhaseLinear amp 200x4 running the rest. . Solid class A amp circuit. Massive size. Heatsinks. Class A runs hot cuz its always doing its thing. That Lear jet i think was A/B circuit. So it wasnt as bad. But that PL was the biggest fricken 200 watt amp i ever saw. . . That was a clean sounding system in that car. I forget the brands of all the speakers but i do seem to recall sparkomatic in there. . Honestly ive never had a gripe with the better line of spark-o-matic. .. like any brand they had good and bad. Just find the good stuff.

@Hippie459MN 9 ай бұрын

My first aftermarket system in my first car was a Kraco cassette deck with a pair of Sparkomatic 6x9's. It didn't sound too bad. I later added a 7 band eq to the system and it was a huge improvement. I still have the eq in a box somewhere. I can't remember the brand off hand. All this was in late 1989 early 1990. Around 1992 I really discovered the car audio scene and I've been poor ever since. 🤣🤣🤣

@dustinpomeroy8817 9 ай бұрын

I had a realistic powered eq, when that thing died I almost cried

@TRDOffRoad2020 9 ай бұрын

Probably the Craig Equalizer. I had the same one same time period with my Sparkys 6x9

@Hippie459MN 9 ай бұрын

@@TRDOffRoad2020 I don't think that was it but I could be wrong, but I did have one of them at one point. I'm gonna have to go dig for it here. I know I still have it somewhere, along with a bunch of other old car audio stuff from the 90's and early 2000's.

@CDJF1 9 ай бұрын

Mine was Audiovox head unit. MEI 6x9 + 6.5 door speakers. And a Pyramid PB 800 4 ch. amp.

@liamkilroy9478 9 ай бұрын

They definitely deserve a chance on some clean power. Surprised no-one has commented on the eq settings yet, isn't most testing supposed to be done "flat"? Obviously these tests are more for fun than anything, but give em a fair shot 😂

@williamjones4483 9 ай бұрын

If nothing else he's got the low end set too high, especially the 60 hz.

@Choralone422 9 ай бұрын

I can totally hear the 10% THD out of that Pyramid "booster" amp. I'd totally love a full video on it to see how much power it actually puts out. The Sparkomatics would probably sound a little bit better if hooked up to a decent amp but it is still very cool to see them at all! Takes me back to the car audio sections of discount stores like K-mart or Venture and your average auto parts store back then!

@v12alpine 9 ай бұрын

Early H bridge chip amp, I'd guess 12-15W rms

@wesalbright9817 9 ай бұрын

The output chip is rated 7 watts per channel RMS when I was in high school electronics class back in the early 80s kids used to bring them to the class wanting to fix them would tell them to just buy a replacement because the replacement Chip cost you as much as another pyramid amp

@SlinkyStoney 9 ай бұрын

That booster amp thing is crap, they hiss and farts on bass.. Probably can only do 20 watts or less using those cheap boombox chip amps.

@davepritts494 9 ай бұрын

Wow these exact speakers were my verry first audio up grade to my first car…. I rocked them for awhile lol….I had a buddy of mine a few years back give me a pair of the 6.5 3 way sparkomatic’s still brand new in the box and I still have them.

@MarvinHartmann452 9 ай бұрын

@@wesalbright9817Was it a TDA xxx chip? If so, they do were expensive back then. But for more power, you could by a MCI 100W channel amplifier which worked decent.

@defaultdriftco00 9 ай бұрын

I can’t believe the surrounds are still in good shape!😮

@narmale 4 ай бұрын

its all about the storage environment

@defaultdriftco00 4 ай бұрын

@@narmale or is it proof of time travel?…🤔🤣

@narmale 4 ай бұрын

@@defaultdriftco00 nope, in a humidity controlled environment the surrounds can last a long time

@DR-wp6gy 9 ай бұрын

You shot me back. Man, I had a '73 Nova with Sparkomatic speakers, Kraco radio, and a 20 watt booster. Wow! The 80s !

@OneRoomShed 9 ай бұрын

Sparkomatic was the first piece of car audio I owned. This was back when I was like 10 years old. I bought a set of 4" Sparkomatic door speakers from K mart. This was when they had the orange inverted foam suspension. Being that I was 10 years old, I promptly mounted them in a cardboard box and powered them with my boom box. I loved those things and used them for years in different enclosures. Definitely got my money's worth.

@waynejones4005 9 ай бұрын

Lmfao, man you went way back with the cardboard box.. Good times , I had 4 tens in a cardboard box with 2 sparkomatic 6x9s ..🤣😅😭😂😅😅😅

@OneRoomShed 9 ай бұрын

@@waynejones4005 🍻 my man. I figured I wasn't alone on this one. My first set of 6" X 9"s were Sparkomatic too. I got a piece of plywood from a friend's older cousin that had cutouts for 6" X 9"s. It was probably something like 3ft long by 1ft tall. I screwed the speakers to plywood and leaned it up against my bed with the back of the speakers under the bed. I inadvertently found out this basically turned the space under my bed into a big speaker box. I was only powering the speakers with a small amp (probably like 10 or 15 watts). But at that time it was impressive how much bass I couple get from some 6" X 9"s in a piece of wood leaning up against my bedframe. I think I was 12 or 13 years old at this point and thought I was the shit discovering this. It really was some good times learning (playing) with speakers as a kid.

@pgboyinthehouse9041 9 ай бұрын

My first set was a pair of 4 inch Jensen from k-mart. Mounted to a piece of plywood I found next to the dumpster. My mom let me put them in the back of her Datsun b210. I think I was 10 years old. Good times man.

@OneRoomShed 8 ай бұрын

@@pgboyinthehouse9041 I always liked Jenson back then. I just replied to another comment about Kraco if you remember them. Sparkomatic, Kraco, Jensen and Pyramid were the brands I used back in the late 80's & 90's. All were a good bang for buck.

@michaelbyrne8860 9 ай бұрын

God I loved being in a Kmart when they had Blue Light Specials! People would lose both of their minds!

@bluelithium9808 9 ай бұрын

6X9 revolutionized car audio. Amazing how good they sounded coming from a single center dash speaker.

@TheRepos296 9 ай бұрын

The ink on the receipt is incredible ! The new stuff just vanishes after a week 😅

@volvo09 9 ай бұрын

It was real ink back then... now it's thermal paper.

@n.a.2156 9 ай бұрын

You will find that's by design, especially when the receipt is required for returns or warranty purposes. Case-in-point: A friend worked for a certain big-name discount auto parts store that might begin with the letter "A." They were there when the company changed ink in all the printers to a specific blend that faded quickly - a maximum fade resistance of two years, regardless of UV, temperature, or humidity. They also noticed, by amazing coincidence, that the company now REQUIRED the receipt instead of a telephone number for warranty coverage - a policy it had previously used since the company's inception.

@PrydeWater901 9 ай бұрын

…or one squirt of freshener!

@robertnelson2728 9 ай бұрын

New receipts are thermal print.. old stuff had real ink

@hom2fu 9 ай бұрын

real ink bad for environment. blame the tree hugger

@haroldkidwell6703 9 ай бұрын

Had a set of sparkomatic speakers in my car and they believe it or not were actually pretty decent sounding speakers

@raymo6795 9 ай бұрын

they were an upgrade to factory speakers.The sparkos in the video would sound decent with a decent amp

@DARKDUDE187 9 ай бұрын

You may find that these speakers like a much larger enclosure. They were intended for trunk mounting which gives them an extended bass response you won't be able to get with out using so much power that you will have the voice coil over extend and burn up. Cool thing is it sort of works both ways so when you park and open the trunk the car interior becomes the baffle, Be gentle with them. The Sparkomatic 100w per channel chip amp will kill them before you need to reverse the tape.

@RichardJohnson-GW 9 ай бұрын

I'd love to hear those 6x9s with a clean amp. They're no Elacs, but they sounded a lot better than I expected even with the Pyramid booster.

@TechGorilla1987 9 ай бұрын

Yes. This.

@craiglizt8074 9 ай бұрын

Hell yeah! Man, this brings back lots of memories of all the crappy brands of the 80s and 90s. I love it!

@jaydawg4065 9 ай бұрын

Man!!! My heart skipped a beat with this video!!! Loved all those brands. They kept me satisfied in car stereo and helped me love car stereo even more back in the day!!! Ty sir.

@dionm.basssr.133 9 ай бұрын

I hope someone has a set of the crickets 6x9s with green surrounds to be tested....those babies were the bomb

@SadLifeIndustries 9 ай бұрын

My brother is ALWAYS joking, asking me if I’ve added some Sparkomatics to the setup yet… lol. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this! I shared it with him. And this gives us something to bond over.. which can be challenging with an 11 year age gap. Still both gen-X weirdly enough..

@shaneewing5300 9 ай бұрын

My friends and I make jokes about stuff like that too. Pyramid, Sparks, and Realstic like Radio Shack.

@randywolfe44 9 ай бұрын

The very first thing I bought in car audio was a blue light special in 1988. It was a no name cassette playing AM/FM raidio. I thought I was balling so hard! 😂😂😂

@fardali6654 9 ай бұрын

Yes, those are the speakers I started my car audio journey, along with the 40 watt booster.

@TRDOffRoad2020 9 ай бұрын

We used wire home box speakers in ours cars. It actually worked. Got that extra bass. Put a amp to them it rock the neighborhood. This was back around 1988.

@vwbug1975 9 ай бұрын

My dad got a Sparkomatic cassette radio box set with the radio, two 6.5" coax speakers, two grilles, and wiring at Roses department store, and he installed them in his 1984 Chevette. When he bought the car new, it had no radio, and a plastic blank-off plate over the radio hole.

@cpufrost 9 ай бұрын

I had a set of those! And yes I remember the dark grey almost black paper cones with orange surrounds. Almost matched Cerwin Vega colors.

@Keith-me4zw 9 ай бұрын

Good job bringing these to today's video This is so cool going down memory lane .Way back in the day had a pair hooked up to the 40 watt Sparkomatic eq- booster with the green vu led green lights thinking we were audiophiles 😅

@SteveOuimette 9 ай бұрын

Man, that Kmart receipt is so familiar. It took me right back to that era and the receipts I saw so many times as a kid.

@AraceaeFanatics 8 ай бұрын

That noise without signal really takes me back.

@dansgarage5121 9 ай бұрын

Wow the memories this video has dug up! The amp/eq and vintage 6x9's we thought we had the moon! Thanks for sharing!

@VolenBoyadzhiyski 9 ай бұрын

Wow, the audio equipment back in the 80s had so much better quality than today's junk. Man, how I want a time machine!

@davidantell2855 9 ай бұрын

Would be cool to hear them on a decent amp, form back in the day, or current. To see what they could really do.

@johnofsometrades405 9 ай бұрын

My dad had some of those back in the day! Sounded decent in his Bronco

@jasperscott5426 9 ай бұрын

Takes me back,to the days a few of my friends knew how to hook these up Everybody was trying to get the loudest groove of music, many shopped at Kmart 😊❤

@caryburkett43 6 ай бұрын

As teens we would buy from K-Mart or Service Merchandise, since we could put the stuff on layaway😅

@joeyholthusen6495 9 ай бұрын

Awesome the old pyramid Eq, I had one hooked up to my kraco truck box speakers with a passive radiator. Vintage was in my 78 Ford courier

@jonasefternamn9315 9 ай бұрын

Nice to see some Sparkomatic stuff 😎 have a lot of stuff collected over the past years made by them, both used and "new" in sealed boxes, keep up the good work 🤘🔊

@RJSDZNS 9 ай бұрын

That is some old school car audio gold! I had an old kraco 5 band eq booster in My 84 Honda accord 27 years ago! Love these old school videos D!

@ksavage681 9 ай бұрын

I had that same Kraco!! we bros!!

@RJSDZNS 9 ай бұрын

@@ksavage681 Ballin on a massive budget back then!

@puddleduckist 9 ай бұрын

What a flashback! 6x9's were a bigger thing in the 80's! Thank's for taking us back!!! Cool stuff!!! Even the receipt ink was better back then. If that was a receipt from now it would fade away to nothing in no time. 😂😂😂😂

@TS1964 9 ай бұрын

I bought a set of these in 1984 and was shocked by the bass! Made my 78 T/A sound great ... Even when the motor wasn't running!

@TurboDog73TX 9 ай бұрын

Wow, I used to see those Sparkomatics in tons of older rides I worked on back in the 80's and early 90’s. Haven't seen them in quite some time now. Great trip down memory lane big D.

@bobsoft 9 ай бұрын

I remember those speakers from back in 83 when they were endorsing the Supertramp tour. We all bought those for our Datsun 510's

@mkp3824 5 ай бұрын

I have a bunch of Playboy magazines from the late 70s to 90s, and in one 83 issue, they mention the Supertramp sponsorship.

@2011joser 9 ай бұрын

I remember the red surround version of these being sold everywhere. As a kid in high school I thought they looked cool but the fact that you could get them at K Mart defenitely put a stink on them. I needed 4 x 10s so I pulled the trigger on a pair of Audiovoxes instead 🤷‍♂️. Keep these coming big D.

@c.j.s.2767 8 ай бұрын

I was building enclosures for stuff like this for my friends older brothers before I was old enough to drive. I had a book on building speaker boxes & pops was a carpenter so I had all the tools. Beat the hell out of mowing yards!

@fitfogey 9 ай бұрын

Buddy in high school circa 87 had a pair of these in his 72 Grand Prix. They were mounted at the rear glass and had the entire trunk space to use for the sub (no boxes). He had a decent amp for them. They actually sounded pretty damn good.

@uncleelroy6011 8 ай бұрын

Back in the day that was all you needed. Some 6X9s and a power EQ. Good times. Simple things.

@MickeyKamer 9 ай бұрын

I used to have a set of Jensen Mind Blower 6X9's in my 68 Torino GT Fast back. I loved those speakers back in 1975. We didn't know what THD stood for, nor did we care. No subs, just 6X9's. I don't remember what they did as far as power is concerned, I think 60 watts, but it might have been 75. But we had 8 tracks, and FM. The good old days!!! Now what I am referring to is the nostalgia of them, not that they sounded good as far as today's stuff. But back then they were something. Cruising through the Sonic and playing Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane or the like.

@ikejennings1154 9 ай бұрын

I just text em, bout the TENNA MINDBLOWERS, HOOKED UP TO THEE, ORIGINAL ,PIONEER SUPERTUNERS, ROUND DIAL, KEF 7 OR 900, PIONEER TUNER / DECK ANDA SET OF 6X9 TENNA MINDBLOWERS..YOU HAD THEEE BEST 6X9s I've ever heard..

@jamessouthworth1699 9 ай бұрын

This brings back so many memories! Thank you.

@1993paai 9 ай бұрын

Hey, Those Sparkomatic 6X9's were definitely better than ANY OEM 6X9's in 1984.

@VB-bk1lh 9 ай бұрын

I had the same amp/speaker combo in a 1975 VW Beetle back then with a Pioneer SuperTuner radio/cassette unit. The rear speakers ran off the EQ, the front speakers, a pair of 5.25 Pioneer three ways in the doors, ran off the receiver. If it was anything, it was LOUD. Especially in that small car.

@michaelparker5640 9 ай бұрын

Memories 😢😂 my brother let me have his around 85 or 86 RIP brother 🕊️🕊️🕊️ I wired them up to a Clarion cassette deck I was tickled it they sounded good but the following year I got my first pioneer super tuner 3 keh 5252 and the rest was history 🤣 I still have my super tuner 😊 thanks for bringing back a great memory of my late brother ✌️

@shaneewing5300 9 ай бұрын

Big D going old old school for the old school stereo segment. My aunt had a car when I was a kid with spark 6x9 and one caught 🔥.

@houseoffire72 9 ай бұрын

Brings back alot of good memories. Appreciate the upload.

@adamn7516 7 ай бұрын

God, I remember having a Sparkomatic headunit and speakers in the mid 80's with my first car. A then 8 year old 1978 Rabiit. Great brand for those of us on a budget as 16 year olds with our first cars.

@Josh-qk8us 9 ай бұрын

Great old speakers and sweet old amp/eq… thanks for the demo. Took me back to my childhood.

@russelldaniels1797 9 ай бұрын

You just had the exact same setup I used to have in my 1983 Pontiac Bonneville! I'm having flashbacks, thanks big D!

@hankshobbies 9 ай бұрын

Great video…..love the old school stuff brings back such memories for me

@klafong1 9 ай бұрын

It's amusing and cool that the packaging was designed to show off the size of the magnets.

@vaughanwarburton9623 9 ай бұрын

The speakers and especially the booster amp bought back the memory's ,,,,,brilliant 😂

@cafe80s 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for another awesome video Big D!!

@TheKurtsPlaceChannel 7 ай бұрын

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

@issacehowardjr679 8 ай бұрын

I had a pair of those in my 68 Mustang in the mid 70's. Those were excellent speakers back in the day, sounded great.

@K0Kaz 9 ай бұрын

Bought the day before my 10th birthday. You really should've used a period cassette head unit to round out the retroness, though they probably sound marginally better by NOT using that EQ/booster. Also $50 seems like a LOT for a K-Mart sold speaker from that time.

@mullinperformanceaudio5902 9 ай бұрын

I was 8yo when someone bought these...lol I was shocked at the weight too.

@Cookie-Dough-Dynamo 9 ай бұрын

Love the new channel name! This is the content that brought me to you.

@gregbenwell6173 9 ай бұрын

I remember installing my first car stereo in a 1974 Mustang II fastback Mach 1, and I had a set of Sparkomatic three way 6X9 speakers in the rear, and a pair of Kraco 5 and 1/4" three way round speakers in the doors! My "stereo" was a Sanyo under the dash mounted Cassette Tape Deck, and I had a Kraco Power Booster hooked into the system too, that DID NOT have the EQ feature, which the power booster/ EQ cost more money back then!! The year I did that install was back in 1982!! And the modern component amplifiers, crossovers, head units basically didn't really "exist" back then!! YES you could buy a decent stereo from manufacturers like Alpine, Pioneer, JVC, Clarion, and Sanyo, from a stereo shop! But a lot of us could only afford the Jensen, Kraco, Sparkomatic, Sound Design, Realistic (Radio Shack), and OTHER low budget stereo systems from Kmart, Sears and Jamesway! BESIDES those stores like Kmart had lay away, so you could put your COMPLETE stereo on lay away, pay for it weekly and have it in a month after it was paid off!! And the more money you put on your Lay Away bill the faster you could own your new stereo system!!

@raymo6795 9 ай бұрын

...Another great show my friend, thanks Big D

@melvinartis1918 9 ай бұрын

I had the exact same pyramid 200 watt power booster equalizer back in the 80s. Pioneer 3 way 6/9s with a 8in realistic woofer and two realistic horn tweeters, and Pioneer head unit. My system was loud and clear. No one else in three towns had anything that was as good as my system. Bass head 4 Life❤.

@roccoelleto9900 8 ай бұрын

Awesome Video. As a kid who went through his teens in the 1980's I can relate. I saved for weeks to get a set of Infinity 6x9 3 way speakers that I paid $180 for in like 1983. Fantastic sounding in my 1974 charger. I still have my very first stereo set up: Sony STR-V1 receiver, Technics 3 way speakers, and and Technics direct drive turn table. They all still work. Things were just built better back then.

@Wheresthepepsibismol 7 ай бұрын

I'm trying to save up to buy some 6.5 inch kicker cs speakers for I can build my own hifi system from car audio at home

@mathuetax 9 ай бұрын

Rather shocked the foam surrounds are intact! I suspect in better enclosures and a clean 40watt amp they would improve but I'm sure they ..won't.. sound stunning :D I think that '200' watt booster needs a dyno. I had a booster/EQ as well, made by TARGUS that I bought at Highland. It was adequate for the front JVC 5" speakers. With a TARGUS headunit and a "120" watt amp in the back and a 10" dual would paper cone Pyle Driver (Back when Pyle made ok stuff) it was decent but not earth-shattering. That sub stayed with me through 4 cars eventually being retired due to the sun destroying the surround.

@csj9619 9 ай бұрын

SPARKOSTATIC six-by-nines were similar to Roadmaster 6×9"s, which were also available at Kmart back in the day.

@raymo6795 9 ай бұрын

I had 4x10s in my 87 cutlass

@fadingbeleifs 9 ай бұрын

Walmart also sold the Roadmaster brand for several years, they were okay... Not great, but they did the job... Then they went to selling Scorche

@StonerCreek74 9 ай бұрын

I remember the days of seeing stacks of these boxes and others at flea markets. I was in the car audio industry from 1989 to current, and my how things have changed.

@jeffmccrady9456 9 ай бұрын

That's hilarious 😂😂, 1984 i was a senior!! We blowed up everything in our cars!!!! Awesome video BIG D!!!

@derrickgordon1164 9 ай бұрын

You took me back !!!! Seeing those speakers reminded me of the old school Pioneer Ts 6909's and 6907's !!!! , powered by a Pyramid Pb 300 amp !!!!

@elgugo2050 9 ай бұрын

My first setup was the Sparkomatic Loud and Clear 6x9 and a little power booster - this reminded me of those good old days 😊

@joeyjustin6895 9 ай бұрын

THOSE ACUALLY SOUND REALLY GOOD IN A BACK DECK WHERE THE BASS IS REALLY AMPLIFIED. THANKS BIG D. AWSOME VID. ALL I RUN ARE OLD SCHOOL EQS LIKE THAT ONE BECAUSE THE Q FACTOR ON THE BANDS ARE REALLY WIDE AND IT KEEPS THE SOUND FROM GETTING PEAKEY ON EACH BAND. THE BANDS RUN INTO ONE ANOTHER AND THAT KEEPS THE GRAPH SMOOTH WITH NO PEAKS.

@stratman3026 8 ай бұрын

I had some 1982 6x9” Sparkomatics trunk mounted back in the day. The bass response was much better than the usual go to speakers of the day, Jensen 6x9s. Many of my friends were surprised by the sound of the Sparkomatics. The woofer foam surrounds eventually gave up the ghost. I wish I still had them.

@MacNifty 9 ай бұрын

Those bring back super memories, holy Moly.

@junkyardhemi 9 ай бұрын

Man you come across some of the coolest stuff!!!!

@stormyyoung6344 9 ай бұрын

Cool speakers you still coming up with the Unique equipment thanks for sharing.

@generationjones-le8ge 9 ай бұрын

I had a Sparkomatic cassette player with EQ and Sparkomatic three way speakers in my first car in 1981. Sounded fantastic back then.

@Nickword1 9 ай бұрын

Bro that Pyramid EQ amp is some of the coolest old school stuff I ever seen you use!!! Them old speakers still sound better than all these new 5 watt junk Bluetooth speakers coming out today too.. Man I miss Kmart! spent lots of hours at the arcade back in the 90s and early 2000s at my local Super Kmart. lol

@markshade8398 9 ай бұрын

I had my share of that kind of audio equip back then. The hiss was just atrocious. We tried adding coils here and there to get rid of it but almost never could. Also, the alternator whine on that kind of gear was absolutely unbelievable and could not be removed. Also... How cool to have an "echo control"!!!!!

@RustyTheGeek 5 ай бұрын

This really takes me back. I remember the best 6x9s were Kricket (Lime Green) and Jensen (Blue). And I also remember the Sparkomatic being (Red). In reality, they were all about the same. LOL And of course, it was all wired up with 24 gauge speaker wire either included or from Radio Shack.

@1stprinceoflite 9 ай бұрын

Today's car audio systems can make those speakers sound a lot better than back then.

@markhatcher4325 9 ай бұрын

I had a set of those orange ones. A friend of mine had a pair Kricket brand they green and black 6x9's they where pretty Amazing on clarity aroind 1985 ish. then I had a couple of pairs of pioneer 6906 and 6907. those rocked. oh ya Don't forget the jensen tri axles And jensen axles 2's. then went to sony 6x9's in 88. Using sony radios and pioneer supertuner 2's and 3's tape decks with old jensen 100 x100 watt amp with glass fuses for power and speaker protect wish i still had. good times back in the day 🤘🏁🏁🤘

@cburgess5294 9 ай бұрын

I love this stuff Big D! keep it coming! I am currently rocking a set of 90's Optimus bookshelf speakers (from Radio Shack!) powered by a Fosi Audio amp for my PC audio!

@91CavGT5 9 ай бұрын

I bought a “kit” of Optimus raw speakers from a coworker back in the day. Made them into small bookshelf speakers and they sounded pretty good! Had them for many years till the surrounds started disintegrating.

@halseyballistic 9 ай бұрын

Awesomeness at its finest!

@aaron71 9 ай бұрын

I love the three icons on the speaker face to show it's a 3-way 😄

@juanmangerita 9 ай бұрын

Great video! Reminds me of my younger days. Thanks

@nickcrossno8272 9 ай бұрын

Those were purchased on my birthday, awesome

@martinneps9387 8 ай бұрын

I live in Connecticut. And I have not heard that store Nameen over at least 8 to 10 years. I loved that store. There is no more stores named K mart in Connecticut and it is a shame. That store was absolutely magnificent for clothing and other things

@surgemeister01 9 ай бұрын

Good ole 80's spark-o-static speakers, and the pyramid amp/equipment, got to love em. Went through guite a few of those in the 80's, lol.

@colinallan2976 9 ай бұрын

Ahh the memories!! Live this stuff!

@jeepinspence 9 ай бұрын

Yeah my first radio in a 67 GMC pickup that my Dad and I restored when I was 15 (circa 1981?) had a Kraco cassette and two sparkomatics that were like 3" round in their own little enclosure that I mounted to the back of the cab between the two Leatherette Buick Park avenue electric seats that Dad had installed. :) Kmart was a great source for me since my Dad was a mgr at Kmart here. I got a NICE set of BFG TA wide whitewall tires in the style of the time the were wide ovals.

@koprcord5338 9 ай бұрын

Man, first stereo as a kid was sound design, kmart 1980 with cassette and 8 track integrated with 3 way speakers. Great stuff as a kid.

@bedlamite42 9 ай бұрын

I had a similar setup way back then, but mine was 150 watts. We called that the ILS rating. it stands for "If Lightning Strikes"

@michaelmyers3892 9 ай бұрын

Wow talk about a blast from the past I was fifteen going on sixteen and 84 had a couple pairs of these and a six and a half's would a pioneer head unit and a realistic EQ that looks similar to what you have all in my 74 Dodge van needs to say a year later I upgraded speakers from sparkomatic to pioneer but that was good to see this brought back good memories

@hadbl12 9 ай бұрын

Bringing Back good memories

@joeyjustin6895 9 ай бұрын

5:17. THE ONLY ISSUE WITH THOSE BOXES IS. THEY ONLY GO DOWN TO 100HZ. TO GET THE 30 HZ THE SPEAKERS CAN DO. IS TO PUT ON A INFINITE BAFFLE AKA YOUR TRUNK DECK. OR IN 2CUFT BOXES PORTED TO 30 HZ

@joeyjustin6895 9 ай бұрын

THE HISS IS FROM THE AMP CHIP INSIDE. THIS MODEL OF PYRAMID USES A THE CRAPPY SMALL AMP CHIP. WHEREAS ALL THE OTHER BOOSTERS USE THE NEC AMP CHIP AMD THE HISS ON THE NEC IS LESS

@amandaloveman8049 9 ай бұрын

That's awesome I'm amazed the surrounds survived and I've never seen sparcomatics without red surrounds

@621ELECTRONICS 9 ай бұрын

This gear waited a long time to finally have its moment. Back in 1984 no one would have imagined youtube, and making your own content with this old stuff. Those small boosters were kinda funny. My dad had a booster in the glove box of my parents 1977 Dodge B200 van, wasn't an EQ, just a booster, might have been a Kraco or something like that; was pretty small with one button on the front. I almost cut it out when we had to sell the van off for scrap, as a keepsake, but alas I left it as my dad installed it.

@cecilmckeithan5088 7 ай бұрын

My first radio was a sparkomatic tape deck that was purchased at a Scotchman gas station. Picked up a couple speakers and a Eq booster. Boy sure thought we had something back then 😂 We didn’t have audio shops anywhere to buy anything back then. You used home stereo speakers whatever you could get. But man those were some fun times