Need Advice from the audio gurus on "planned" audio system upgrade
12-27-04, 11:39 PM
#16
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Great Falls, VA
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Installers In the Mid-Atlantic
This equipment and the discussion are amazing. I want this for my old LS-400 alot.
Problem is, in the DC metro area I can not find an installer who want hatchet the car.
Fit and finish is very important to me as I redo the LS to its version 2. I, too, am emphasizing SQ with little bling. Bling is cool don't get me wrong, but it is secondary.
Who is the closest really good installer? I don't mind traveling and dropping the car off. Its no longer my "must have now" car.
HELP!
Problem is, in the DC metro area I can not find an installer who want hatchet the car.
Fit and finish is very important to me as I redo the LS to its version 2. I, too, am emphasizing SQ with little bling. Bling is cool don't get me wrong, but it is secondary.
Who is the closest really good installer? I don't mind traveling and dropping the car off. Its no longer my "must have now" car.
HELP!
12-28-04, 12:56 AM
#17
Search Function Inc.
Hameed, one of the reasons of me staying away from sealed applications is the lowend response. On IASCA CD there is a superman theme (track 5) and it is used for testing your lowend response. In that song, there is a base line that starts around 1minute 9 seconds into the song that should shake up your whole car (in US IASCA likes bass a lot). The bassline goes into 18hz regeon and on most systems bass will not go that low. With IB and ported applications low bass and good beat is not too hard to accomplish. With sealed boxes it is harder since you need to make the box big enouth to have that low end and small enough to keep the "boomyness" (is that a word?) away.
Also, any kinds of good quality subwoofer boxes are heavy.
I suggest picking up an IASCA CD and checking out that track in a couple of SQ cars that some good shops in your area have on demo. (PM me if you need the CD)
Also, any kinds of good quality subwoofer boxes are heavy.
I suggest picking up an IASCA CD and checking out that track in a couple of SQ cars that some good shops in your area have on demo. (PM me if you need the CD)
12-28-04, 05:49 AM
#18
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by retrodrive
Hameed, one of the reasons of me staying away from sealed applications is the lowend response. On IASCA CD there is a superman theme (track 5) and it is used for testing your lowend response. In that song, there is a base line that starts around 1minute 9 seconds into the song that should shake up your whole car (in US IASCA likes bass a lot). The bassline goes into 18hz regeon and on most systems bass will not go that low. With IB and ported applications low bass and good beat is not too hard to accomplish. With sealed boxes it is harder since you need to make the box big enouth to have that low end and small enough to keep the "boomyness" (is that a word?) away.
Originally Posted by retrodive
Also, any kinds of good quality subwoofer boxes are heavy.
Originally Posted by retrodrive
I suggest picking up an IASCA CD and checking out that track in a couple of SQ cars that some good shops in your area have on demo. (PM me if you need the CD)
That is so funny considering how little I know about car audio systems in general.
12-28-04, 05:53 AM
#19
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Lexis11
Hameed I dont stock that stuff but I can get a price for you but that still wouldnt really help ya because u need someone close to you to warantee it for you but I will check.
Also wait until the spring because Pioneer is coming out with some unreal stuff that should blow you away it did to me, got me thinking about going Pioneer over my Alpine and I love Alpine.
Also wait until the spring because Pioneer is coming out with some unreal stuff that should blow you away it did to me, got me thinking about going Pioneer over my Alpine and I love Alpine.
Originally Posted by Pirate400
Why not mount the eq in your glove box?
Not sure where to put the DVD player though that is for the back seat passengers. Perhaps the Nav syst***s dvd player can double as the dvd movie player for the back seats when a route has been placed in memory and the DVD nav disc is removed............ This means I need to have the Nav brain and DVD player in the car and not in the trunk.
I wonder if it will fit in the glove box as well as the EQ.......
12-28-04, 07:44 PM
#20
Originally Posted by Hameed
The problem with waiting for the new stuff is that it will probably be out of my price range as well.
Yes, probably the EQ and the Nav brain will have to go in the glove box.
Not sure where to put the DVD player though that is for the back seat passengers. Perhaps the Nav syst***s dvd player can double as the dvd movie player for the back seats when a route has been placed in memory and the DVD nav disc is removed............ This means I need to have the Nav brain and DVD player in the car and not in the trunk.
I wonder if it will fit in the glove box as well as the EQ.......
Yes, probably the EQ and the Nav brain will have to go in the glove box.
Not sure where to put the DVD player though that is for the back seat passengers. Perhaps the Nav syst***s dvd player can double as the dvd movie player for the back seats when a route has been placed in memory and the DVD nav disc is removed............ This means I need to have the Nav brain and DVD player in the car and not in the trunk.
I wonder if it will fit in the glove box as well as the EQ.......
I have the Pioneer Navi and the Pioneer DVD player mounted in my glovebox where the factory changer was. That's all there's room for unless you want to drop the equalizer in the lower glove box area instead of in the cd changer area. I'd put the EQ in a custom mount and get rid of the ash tray in the center console.
Dude, we need to talk offline. I think you'll be interested in what I'm doing.
Last edited by RMMGS4; 12-28-04 at 07:47 PM.
12-28-04, 07:56 PM
#21
Originally Posted by retrodrive
Hameed, one of the reasons of me staying away from sealed applications is the lowend response. On IASCA CD there is a superman theme (track 5) and it is used for testing your lowend response. In that song, there is a base line that starts around 1minute 9 seconds into the song that should shake up your whole car (in US IASCA likes bass a lot). The bassline goes into 18hz regeon and on most systems bass will not go that low. With IB and ported applications low bass and good beat is not too hard to accomplish. With sealed boxes it is harder since you need to make the box big enouth to have that low end and small enough to keep the "boomyness" (is that a word?) away.
Also, any kinds of good quality subwoofer boxes are heavy.
I suggest picking up an IASCA CD and checking out that track in a couple of SQ cars that some good shops in your area have on demo. (PM me if you need the CD)
Also, any kinds of good quality subwoofer boxes are heavy.
I suggest picking up an IASCA CD and checking out that track in a couple of SQ cars that some good shops in your area have on demo. (PM me if you need the CD)
Retrodrive,
I'm looking into using a single IDmax 12 v4, powered by 900 watts mono of Zapco Competition amp @ 2 ohms.
I 'm thinking of using an aperiodic mat set up. I have the AP mat that USD sells and the qts value of the ID max is within the spec they are requiring for Ap mat usage.
So basically the best of both worlds (IB and sealed) using the AP mat?
Your comments on SQ for that set up?
Also, do you think a single IDmax 12 with the ZAP power will be enough to reach the IASCA 135db limit in the SQ class?
12-28-04, 09:22 PM
#22
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: College Station, Texas
Posts: 1,547
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
900 watts going to the IDMAX.... I would sure hope it could do 135dbs. As long as you have everything installed correctly, proper enclosure setup and so on, I wouldn't think you should have a problem.
Nate
Nate
12-28-04, 10:59 PM
#23
Originally Posted by Pirate400
900 watts going to the IDMAX.... I would sure hope it could do 135dbs. As long as you have everything installed correctly, proper enclosure setup and so on, I wouldn't think you should have a problem.
Nate
Nate
Yeah doing the math says I'm there, but retro knows the ID product well so I thought I'd get his opinion.
On the other hand, I'm not BOOSTING bass to get that SPL, so I need to hit 135 db, equalized relatively Flat for SQ.
If I crank up the EQ to BOOM, I know there's no problem, but I need to do this with a SQ setting on my EQ.
BTW I have Zapco 1/3 octave 32 band EQ's so they are not adjustable without going to the trunk and using a screwdriver ! So that's another reason.
12-29-04, 05:26 AM
#24
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by RMMGS4
The newest Pioneer Navi does not play DVD's so not sure which model you are getting, but take note of that. I have the old Pioneer Navi so it does play DVD movies. In my car I didn't want to compromise not being able to Navigate because a movie was playing, so I got a separate DVD player. The time I navigate the most is on long trips and of course that's when I play a movie as well.
I have the Pioneer Navi and the Pioneer DVD player mounted in my glovebox where the factory changer was. That's all there's room for unless you want to drop the equalizer in the lower glove box area instead of in the cd changer area. I'd put the EQ in a custom mount and get rid of the ash tray in the center console.
Dude, we need to talk offline. I think you'll be interested in what I'm doing.
I have the Pioneer Navi and the Pioneer DVD player mounted in my glovebox where the factory changer was. That's all there's room for unless you want to drop the equalizer in the lower glove box area instead of in the cd changer area. I'd put the EQ in a custom mount and get rid of the ash tray in the center console.
Dude, we need to talk offline. I think you'll be interested in what I'm doing.
Dude, this whole project is so daunting and I would like to do some of the install myself to save on some costs, but don't know where to start.
We definitely need to touch base offline. Let me know a good time to call in the next couple of days when you can spare some time. Thanks!
12-29-04, 05:27 AM
#25
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The newest Pioneer Navi does not play DVD's so not sure which model you are getting, but take note of that. I have the old Pioneer Navi so it does play DVD movies. In my car I didn't want to compromise not being able to Navigate because a movie was playing, so I got a separate DVD player. The time I navigate the most is on long trips and of course that's when I play a movie as well.
12-29-04, 01:05 PM
#26
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Lexis11
Ya the rep came in to the shop because we arent going to CES this year to show me the products and I was pretty pleased. You are correct the double din does not play dvds but I can add a dvd player in the glove box.
What would I be losing going this direction? I really want to compete in IASCA SQ competitions, and am curious to know what kind of chance I have if I deleted the HU and EQ from the system and went with an all-in-one Nav system? Am I spinning my wheels here...........?
12-31-04, 06:03 AM
#27
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Hameed
Perhaps I should just sell off the Pioneer HU and EQ and just get an all-in-one Nav system (like the AVIC-N1 or upcoming N2) that has the audio and eq functions to reduce the complexity of this install?
What would I be losing going this direction? I really want to compete in IASCA SQ competitions, and am curious to know what kind of chance I have if I deleted the HU and EQ from the system and went with an all-in-one Nav system? Am I spinning my wheels here...........?
What would I be losing going this direction? I really want to compete in IASCA SQ competitions, and am curious to know what kind of chance I have if I deleted the HU and EQ from the system and went with an all-in-one Nav system? Am I spinning my wheels here...........?
After doing some more research, if SQ is high on my priority list, I need to have an excellent HU and EQ which means I somehow have to integrate a NAV system into the Pioneer DEX-P9 and DEQ-P9.
Man, I sometimes wish I had never started out on this path..........
12-31-04, 06:11 AM
#28
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hameed obviously if you have the HU and the EQ then yes it would be more efficient but I am not sure how much sound quality you would lose with an all in one solution. That may be left up to the gurus I am just an enthusiast 
. I have an all in one and Ilove the way my system sounds. The new double din from Pioneer is so classy and sleek, I may just get it.
. I have an all in one and Ilove the way my system sounds. The new double din from Pioneer is so classy and sleek, I may just get it.
12-31-04, 06:15 AM
#29
EV ftw!!!
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Lexis11
Hameed obviously if you have the HU and the EQ then yes it would be more efficient but I am not sure how much sound quality you would lose with an all in one solution. That may be left up to the gurus I am just an enthusiast . I have an all in one and Ilove the way my system sounds. The new double din from Pioneer is so classy and sleek, I may just get it.
. I have an all in one and Ilove the way my system sounds. The new double din from Pioneer is so classy and sleek, I may just get it.What exactly is this double din you are talking about? Do you have any pics and specs to share?
12-31-04, 06:58 AM
#30
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 3,124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hameed,
It is a new unit that they will be releasing at CES this year. It is very nice, looking like the Eclipse double din. Perks of being a dealer for Pioneer is seeing their products before they are released.
It is a new unit that they will be releasing at CES this year. It is very nice, looking like the Eclipse double din. Perks of being a dealer for Pioneer is seeing their products before they are released.