mumbles

The aperiodics are nice, and do a good job of creating an enclosureless environment for speakers that are supposed to have a box. But, adds one more link in the signal chain which can add noise if you're not careful. I don't think the Vels were available when I bought my equipment, and I'm sure they sound great... I know I like my home model!

rhart00

~Panasonic CY-VMD9000U (In Dash Monitor and DVD Player)
~Panasonic CA-TU9000U (Multi Channel AV Control Unit)
~Panasonic CX-DP610 (6 Disc Changer)
~Phoenix Gold XS2500 (2 Channel Amp)
~Phoenix Gold XS4600 (4 Channel Amp)
~Remote gain control for XS2500 amp in dash
~JL W3 12" Subwoofer
~Focal 165 W3 Utopia 3-way Component System
~Playstation 2 mounted in glovebox
~5" TV's in the headrests
~Dynamat everywhere
~Lightning Audio 1 Farad Strike Capacitor
~Stinger Wires
~5" TV's for visors (not installed yet)
~Digital Dakota Guages
~a lotta other stuff but I can't think of it all.

Rico's Revenge

Hi guys!!! This is my first post as I am a ClubLex virgin!!!

I have a 1995 GS300 that I bought with the intention of it being a show car, but I've enjoyed it so much I still keep it as my daily driver...

My system consists of...

a Clarion VRX610 flip out monitor with inputs from a Clarion 655Tz 6-disc changer and a Playstation2 which was dissassembled, folded in half and placed in a custom plate right below the monitor in the dash (trust me its wild!!!)

From there I have an Audio Control EQL

Mids and Highs run to an Orion 800.4 then to (4) MB Quart Comp X-overs, then to a pair of MB Quart RSC113 components in the factory door locations and a pair of PKC113 coaxs in the rear doors.

The lower level is fed to an Orion 900.2 pushing an Orion Pro12 DVC which is built into a band-pass enclosure that fires through a port built into the rear deck. Its all finished off with about 12 feet of white neon. It sounds amazing, and its tuned to MY ears, not to some judge who tells me what it should sound like, however, even with one 12 I can still get the maximum points for an IASCA comp.

You can see it pre-video, body kit and paint at www.expertcaraudio.com

PS...thanks to Todd Zier and Jim C. at Expert!!

Percy

Welcome aboard! It's rare to have a first post on the Car Audio/Electronics board as this is usually reserved for the "main" GS/IS/LS/RX/ES boards.

Have you auditioned Dynaudio components? I used to run MBQ extensively but dumped them all for the Dyns. 100.03, 130.03, 160.03, 2 218.03's, HX25's were my system components at one time from MBQ. Give the Dyns a listen...very neutral sounding and the tweets don't have that annoying 17k peak. Better midbass and they're MUCH easier to tune out. I know MBQ's website will say that the peak is caused by the wiring/electronics, etc but it wasn't in my case. MBQ also WILL NOT publicly publish their speaker distortion figures (7 to 10 percent, depending on where you look on the graph...thanks to a tech at MBQ for this info!) nor will they publish MLSSA results. Dynaudio will. MLSSA is how a speaker/driver will react when an input signal is switched on and off to measure any stored/transmitted energy over time.

If you have a shop near you that has the Dynaudio lineup available, give them an audition. HIGHLY recommended.

Percy
Sound Quality Supercarrier

Rico's Revenge

Hey Percy!

Thanks for the reply...I did check out the Dynaudios and I chose the Quarts specifically for the reason you discounted them. I found that you could tone down to make the Quarts sound like Dynaudios, but you couldn't tone up the Dynes to sound like the Quarts.

I did have a tough time choosing between the two and I have been happy with the result so far!!

Percy

They're two very different breeds of speaker...it's hard (almost nightmarish!) to picture a MBQ sounding anywhere in the least like the Dyns! IME, I had a very difficult time tuning out the MBQ's, especially in the midrange. Had to use 2 bands of parametric EQ (-12db at 1k and -15db at 1k) with my McIntosh equipment. This went down to -4db at 1k with the Dyns and I freed up the other parametric band. Says alot in itself...and it wasn't from the install. Just a straight speaker swapout.

BTW..In your listening tests, were they both on the demo board or did your shop actually let you install them, tune them out (RTA PLUS your ears) and THEN listen to them? I've listened to Dyns on the demo board and they sound different enough in the car versus the demo board.

Percy

Percy

mumbles,

You're right...the Vel's didn't come out until '95 and that was in a 13 inch prototype. Dyn also had some special midranges and tweets that were made from the same aluminum as their subs. Magnet structure looked HUGE compared to the 12 inch and that was due to the speaker frame. 1996 is when they released their DF10sc, DF12sc and the ultra rare DF15sc. Dyn came around that time and so did McIntosh. Before Mc, Adcom and Orion red amps were the king of the hill, and they're still highly respected among the SQ realm.

Still, it's very cool that a 1991 piece of equipment is among the top in SQ ever made. 1994 for Mc amps, '95 for Vel, '96 for Dyn. 10 years for the XES-P1 and it still rocks! Adcom was around the same time as Vel prototypes. IMO, sure beats out the "entry" to mid level pieces that use nothing but technobabble jargon to sell them. Buy something top end and it'll usually last.

Percy

SQ-LS

My car is still under construction right now but it is decked with all Eclipse stuff.
There are some pics of it on the LS Gallery.

retrodrive

I tried out Dynaudios...great speakers! The best thing about them is that they sound awesome without any hardcore tuning. You just put them in and they sound good!

However I chose to go with Rainbow Pro's 3 way set. MBQ's are good speakers, but their tweets sound like ***

Percy

retrodrive,

You're the first one that I know of using a 3 way component set! Was it difficult to tune out? Never heard of Rainbow Pro before! But man o man...a 3 way! If each driver has it's own tunable xover and amp plus parametric...geez...you could get lost tuning that thing! But what fun!

Percy

retrodrive

Well, I went the better way...I use kickpanels. You are right, its a nightmare to tune midranges, but the sound is absolutely out of this world. Even IASCA judges say it will be one of the best sounding systems out there. Its like you have a scene right in front of you and the live performance is on. You can literaly know where the drummer is, where the vocals are what DJ does and how bass guitar comes into play. I use IASCA dru track to establish the width of the soundstage, there are also a lot of other test tracks on that CD to get the separation right. I only use midranges to tune kickpanels, everything else is off...that alone takes about 2 weeks.

mumbles

Hmmm, sounds like ***? Not sure what *** sounds like, other than a fart, but I'm guessing it means you don't like the sound?

Percy

It's a high pitched fart/whine noise. Usually you die from the odor first...unless it was recorded properly. Then it's just the microphone that melts!

Percy

retrodrive

lol...if you install like 16 sets of their tweets in a car, I think you can break all current records in SPL! I like how their woofers sound though. Also they are more safe to work with. I mean if there is some water touches the paper cone, the speaker is messed up. MBQ's are usually plastic.

Percy

Still surprising on how many manufacturers will still use a paper cone vs plastic. The cones are so THIN on the MBQ's that they actually flex near the coil when a good note hits them. I've actually gotten one to pop out and the coil jumped WAY past the magnet...and it stuck on top of the magnet! Slightly misaligned from the factory. When I showed the shop this, they gave me a replacement...no questions asked. Must have been about 30 watts on a good bass note and it "jumped the track". Yeesh.

I've NEVER gotten a Dyn to do this. 85 quality checks does something to a speaker. Their plastic is fairly thick and dampened to a point where you really don't need a crossover for the midwoofer, at least not on the lowpass anyways. An engineered 12db/oct rolloff...from a speaker! Impressive.

Now that Donkey fart would be properly reproduced with full staging and dynamic range. You'd probably die in the car. Roll them windows down!!!

Percy