sarkastro

Hey Percy, I don't suppose you're anywhere near the Dallas area are you? You're alot more knowledgeable than any of the guys at the audio shops around here (or at least alot more honest)... Thank you much for all the great info.

Percy

I wouldn't worry about the cost of a replacement door. They're VERY well built and they're actually quite durable! One of the many features of a TRUE luxery car.

Percy

Percy

I'm actually near Chicago. As for the info, as long as you can put it to good use, then I'm all for it!

Percy

hlee1169

Percy,

Would adding Dynamat further improve the sound quality when replacing the mid-woofers in the door?

Percy

Dynamat works well for insulation, but in terms of speaker backwave control, nothing compares to Deflex. With Dynamat, the sound still bounces all over the place...it won't sound like a tin can but it won't sound controlled. Get the Deflex...great stuff. You can get some at http://www.sonicfrontiers.com/tpc or over at Michael Percy Audio Products. You'll have to do a search on the latter. Go for these two sources since they're about HALF the prices of the Cascade Audio Engineering material. They're exactly the same material but a different color. The home stuff is cheaper than the auto ... go figure.

Percy

Ira Senoff

If you are looking to do something like mod the ML and do it properly, you had better talk to someone that knows what he is doing. I recommend calling my installers, Bill Acevedo & Omar Buker of Sounds Impossible (732) 291 8808. Bill and Omar have 8 serious IASCA competitors tearing up the circuit this year. They are very knowledgeable and extremely talented. They also do unbelievable work and have a great eye for detail.

Credentials - they built the following vehicles:

1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee - 1999 2nd IASCA World Finals; maxed out creativity 2 years in a row @ world finals (only vehicle ever to do it in amateur ranks)

1987 Mercedes Benz 560 SEC - USAC CPU Champ, IASCA Spring Break Nationals (SBN) QPC Challenge Champ, 2000 IASCA points champion, 2000 Perry Champion

1991 CRX - 2001 SBN Champion (1-600 ama street)

1993 S-10 Blazer - 2001 SBN Champion (600 & up ama street), 2000 2nd in World 301 -600

1998 Ford Ranger - 2000 3rd in World 601 - up

1999 Neon - 2000 4th in World 151-300

2000 PT Cruiser - 2000 4th in World 1-150

MX3 2001 sbn 2nd place (601 - up novice)

Percy

Have they worked on any Lexus vehicles? I see from the list that most are American cars... Any examples of their work online?

Percy

Ira Senoff

They have worked on everything from a crappy old Festiva to a Ferrari F 40. Recently, they have done an ML 55, BMW M3 for Sirius, R & D work for BMW and a third party vendor for in car stuff (hush hush), a new conversion van w/ dvd, ps II, huge plasma monitors, 2 cpus, and satellite tv, demo Hummer for Coors beer, classic vettes, luxury yachts, speed boats, etc etc. Basically, these guys are friggen nuts and can and will build anything so long as it makes sense.

They will be starting my Lexus within 30 to 90 days, we are waiting on equipment to be built.

On line pics - uh, have all my construction photos on disk but don't know how to post. (1996 Jeep)

See Car Sound Mag w/ Blue Mercedes Benz on cover, that is one of theirs.

Or call them, Bill loves to talk and he is a nice guy 732 291 8808;

e mail "soundsimpossible@worldnet.att.net"

Percy

Ira,

Just out of curiousity...what are you putting in?

Percy

Ira Senoff

It appears that the following items will make their way into the system:

Image Dynamics ID ONE or an equivelant item to be released in the near future by some other company (can't say, still in R & D & I am one of only 3 people outside of the company aware of it)

6 ZAPCO 1.0 amplifiers
Focal 2 way or DynAudio 3 way
2 Illusion 15" subs
lots of custom made "black boxes"
Stock head unit w/ cd changer (many mods)

For IASCA 1-300 amateur ultimate competition purposes, expected debut - 2002 SBN, Daytona Florida

Percy

Ira,

Don't tell me that ID *still* hasn't released the ID-ONE yet. They've been on the drawing board ever since '99. It's a slick unit though..30 band eq, xover, pretty much all the goodies and you can program it with a Palm Pilot or equivalent PDA. I was about to snag one but it didn't have a parametric eq. IMO and IME, more precision with a parametric 6 band than a 30 band graphic.

Brian Morris, World Champion in I believe the Expert or Pro class (601+?) was about to experiement with Kimber crossovers that didn't use the standard capacitors or resistors. Very hush-hush but this didn't materialize. They were probably using some sort of semiconductor in a passive state to do all of the filtering. Then he got a sponsorship with some company (I don't like sponsors...too much hype) but he tuned it right ot snag the World Champ title. Seems like some of the companies out there have taken the old Image Dynamics approach of building up demand.

Good luck in the 1-300 amateur class...lots of competition!

Percy
Krell McIntosh Dynaudio Velodyne Monster M Series Sony ES Optima Deflex/Cascade audio engineering
Slight overkill SQ system in a GS400

burnswhenip

I just sold my 01 gs 300 w M/L sound for my 99 GS400 and the sound quality in the GS400 is very Toyota and unimpressive.The gs w M/L was awesome for stock I would definately get M/L sound If I had a choice!!!

Ira Senoff

Percy,

OK, ID released the ID ONE (I am lying). The "other" company making the ID ONE style piece should be releasing their 1st unit just before IASCA finals but the remainder won't be released for 1 year after (unless you got some pull). I am waiting..........

I read your list of equipment, impressive. What is the layout......

BTW, you know anyone interested in acquiring a ton of lightly used high end equipment, some stuff one of a kind? Got alot of this stuff in the garage after I gutted the Jeep. Amps, speakers, subs, d/a, electronic x-overs etc etc

Percy

Ira,

Yeah I figured that ID didn't release the ID-ONE yet. They almost pulled a "Sony" when Sony was about to release their XDP4000X unit. Great unit (Sony released it in '98) Only problem was that Sony kept the programming software. The hardware, by itself, was useless. But, thanks to a couple of guys up in Canada who actually got the software included (and graciously posted them on a server) the unit is actually programmable by us "untrained personell". Sony wanted the shops to make the bucks in reprogramming and any shop within the US would have their ES liscense taken away if they made copies of the software. Too much red tape. That also meant that everytime you wanted to retune your system or change out the speakers and retune that you had to pay the shop for it. Sony probably got a kickback from this....they also figured that the "average joe" couldn't tune out a system without damaging it. Sort of like a corporate guru selling his "insurance". Dumb idea. (Much like Divx)

System specs.
Sony CDX-C90 head unit MSRP 1200
Krell analog board MSRP 4200
Mod parts for Krell board + time and labor ~2000 (ton of parts to desolder and solder...headache.)
McIntosh MEN456 crossover/processor MSRP 970
Mod parts for men456 + time and labor ~450
McIntosh MEQ452 parametric eq module (4channel, 6 band) MSRP 800
McIntosh MEC459 remote parametric/crossover controller MSRP 350
soon to be modded (mec459)
McIntosh MC4000M amp (4 channel config for front speakers and sub)MSRP 4000
Mod parts for MC4000M + time and labor ~400
McIntosh MC440M amp (4 channel config for tweets and rear fill) MSRP 1800
Mod parts for MC440M + time and labor ~400
Dynaudio MW160's for front mid bass MSRP ~400
Dynaudio MD100's for front tweeters MSRP ~200
Dynaudio MW160's for rear fill MSRP ~400
Velodyne DF12sc sub MSRP ~1200
Monster M Series (M1500 and M950i) for interconnects MSRP ~2500 lots of inteconnects. Home stuff.
Monster XPHP speaker wire MSRP ~300
Optima battery MSRP ~150
Deflex/Spectra Dynamics panels MSRP~50

The mod parts consist of OP275 op amps, machined sockets and BlackGate capacitors. Almost all companies will use a cheapo 15 cent op amp (ne5532,TL074, MC'078's) and this WILL compromise on sound quality since its often the first component AND last component that an amp or processor will actually "see".

The 275's have a hybrid difet input which has lower odd harmonic distortions. (Hook it up to an o-scope and you'll see). Much more revealing in the sound and much more at "ease" than the standard op amps. Machined sockets are used in case they come out with a better dual op amp package. Just pull the old one out and drop in the new one.

As for the Black Gate capacitors, this is for lower distortion and better filtering. The changeout alone in the MEN456 processor made a night and day difference. The stock unit has a slight hissing which is noticable at the sensitive gain side. With the Black gate caps, this is eliminated. It's like going from an FM radio to a good CD player. Quite a bit of difference. Stock caps are 12 cents each. The Black Gates are varying from 5 dollars each up to 13 dollars each. They have very large caps for several hundred dollars each but these won't fit into any audio component.

Stock McIntosh amps sound great "out of the box" but with the mods, they blow everything else out of the water. Easily. Total system cost...about 22k$. Enough for a nice down payment on another GS4. Or a supercharger. Or a twin turbo.

System goal...to match up a Dynaudio Evidence/Krell Master Ref series combo. Big bucks there.

Other considerations in the "ultimate SQ system" goal. Zapco. Good amps, but they're not compatible with Velodyne subs (says in the manual). Plus their slew rate that's listed in their specs is based on the amp only, not on the "front end". I spoke with one of their engineers sometime ago and asked him what op amp they were using. He remarked "TL074's and NE5532". Those are probably the WORST two op amps you can put in the front end. But, manufacturers use them because they're cheap and easy to get. Others will use the BA15532 (Rohm semi) or the MC'078's (Motorola) but these too are general purpose. The only thing lower would be the 5 cent 741 op amp used back in school.

Another consideration was for Audio Control processors. But this was blown out of the ball park when I found out that they were using potentiometers for their controls. Potentiometers (variable resistors) will drift over time and can get all sorts of contaminents in them. Smoke, dust, etc. Also, due to their nature, variable resistors will have a capacitance effect. They can't help it...they're mechanical. The contact points and metal seperation of a potentiometer will act as a capacitor. All this adds up to a headache when trying to adjust a system. Especially one that has been exposed or has aged more than a few months. For every potentiometer that is in the system, you can expect a slight degradation in sound. TIP....you can get some "ProGold" contact cleaner that will help reduce the problem and help keep the buggers clean. So, the only REAL choice for the system was McIntosh. Digitally controlled ANALOG filters. No drift, perfectly repeatable settings and no headroom constraints of a pure digitally controlled processor...i.e. DEQ30 or the crappy ERAG-320 from Alpine. Plus with the Mc I can use it with virtually ANY combo of head unit and amp out there. Try that with Alpine or Sony who forces you to use their "own" data bus. ID-ONE came close...but no parametric.

Amps. This was an easy choice. McIntosh again. Extremely high s/n ratio, excellent channel sep, extremely low distortion, military like construction (heavy duty, inside and out) and easy to work on or modify. They sound awesome out of the box...but wait till you hear them modded. Mindblowing.

Speakers. Started off with MBQ, and /a/d/s. Dumped the MBQ for Dynaudio. Nuff said.

Interconnects. I couldn't see buying Kimber for their outrageous cost and "name brand" mentality. They actually sounded WORSE than the stuff that I was using so I passed them up. So I'm using Monster M Series (Home...not car) since these had a good "bang for the buck" factor. IMO and IME, better than Streetwires, Phoenix Gold or anything else on the market today for car audio. Good insulation, excellent design, well shielded.

Optima battery. No brainer.

Deflex. This is to help control the backwave of the speaker. Great stuff.

Sub. The only one that I've ever had was the one that I'll never sell. Velodyne. Worlds most accurate sub. Never did it any other way. While other guys are busy hyping technobabble about larger voice coils, differnet cone geometry and surround suspension, only one of them did it right from the start. Velodyne has the specs and the measurements to prove that they are THE most accurate sub. Everyone else just happens to be missing their measurements...or they're "classified". (I forget which company told me that one...I was laughing at them though.)

Krell. I got this board from Dan D'Agostino himself, though it took several months to get it due to clearance on his part. The board is mine as long as I don't duplcate the design, mass manufacture the board or reverse engineer it. I use this as a buffer between the C90 and the processors that I'm using. Results in a more organic sound. Sounded good stock...but once when modded...yikes. Go to a high end shop and listen to the Krell KPS series. The board came from the KAV but it's been modded so extensively that it wouldn't be fair to compare it to it's original $4200 price. Will give the KPS25 a run for the money...it's that good. KPS25 is a player that goes for 20 grand. http://www.krellonline.com

Percy
The overkill SQ system.

Ira Senoff

Percy,

You have lost your mind. (that is a good thing) That sounds like on of the most overengineered systems on the face of the planet. I would love to hear this thing. Where are you located and do you compete in IASCA at all? I will be doing SQ judging at several events this year while the Lexus is under construction. Maybe we will cross paths.

Not sure who you spoke to at Zapco but you haven't been speaking to the right people, if you know what I mean. Just like cars, some amps perform better than others that came off the same production line....

The "other" company's release will be nothing short of amazing if it does 1/2 of what they said it will. I am waiting to see what eventually rolls of the line and finds its way into the box........

Ira