97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

After all said and done...*sigh* I finally picked my car up from the shop and said byebye to those stock cardboard POS speakers. I'm running Alpines all around and a Sony xPlod 604 multi-channel amp. All of this is new to me (still need to fine tune the equalizers n stuff) but eventually I'll get it to sound the way it was intended. Just wanna thank all you guys who shared your wisdom with me (Prinz, Synki, Dusty, Randy...and others)

Hope to see some of you in June meet
AnGe

mrdeucie

Hmm what do you think of the sony amp. Most people say that the sony car stereo stuff is ****. I have one a sony amp also but haven't really been in anyone else's cars with an amp in it ao that I could compare. I'm running the Sony 405EQX.

Synki

Sony was always decent for car audio. Their new Xplode line has been rated good. This is suppose to be Sony's best so far. Their speakers sound really good. Their amps are suppose to shine pretty well too. I have been very impressed by the Xplode lines.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

I know some of the Sony audio stuff are POS, 'cause they got mad $$ to back their marketing. But I must say, the amp u and i have are one of the few xPlod products they did right. Looks great, got the juice (60x4) and got a built in EQ.. you get what you paid for...I'm not complaining If you decide to come to the June meet, you get to see it

AnGe

mrdeucie

My amp doesn't pump out as much juice as yours. It's 40x4 and 100x1. I hope I can make it to the meet. Sounds like fun. I might be the only altima there seeing that our site hasn't been up for weeks.

Gary95

Where is the June meet being held?

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

in NJ- Liberty State Park
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....threadid=36311

AnGe

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

Too bad you aren't coming this way (Chicago). I'd really love to listen to it. BTW, did you see the "revised" version of my proposed system? Now I am going to have a bi-amped system running Focals and JL Audio along with my Eclipse.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

Damn- Focals are $$$. I should say, too bad you don't live near me...otherwise I'd love to listen to it once u do ur upgrades...hehehe

BTW- I'm looking into getting these for some extra bass.
http://www.carmedia1.com/inbasslink.htm

Lemme kno what u think...
AnGe

mrdeucie

I'd be against that sub. I'm not to thrilled about sub set ups like that. It looks like it would save space though. Plus you wouldn't have to buy another amp. Have you looked into the bazookas?

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

One thing with those you might want to consider is distortion. Some of those (Bazookas as well) do have higher distortion than a separate amp/sub setup.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

That's what I don't like...even though the new setup has higher toleration for output...the bass is STILL distorted when I turn up the dial. Those Alpine tweeters sound beautiful, but that's just high end. Now I need some 'clean' bass to even out the sound. Do I make sense?
(or maybe I just need to 'tune' the damn thing...meaning the EQ)
AnGe

mrdeucie

Yup makes total sense.

mrdeucie

I was just browsing www.groupbuycenter.com and I saw this groupbuy:http://www.groupbuycenter.com/buy.asp?row_id=2419
I've never heard of this brand but damn they puch wattage wise.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

However, they left out the THD percentage in their display of the specs. But from what I am reading, they sound impressive.

SWEETSOUND2001

iTrader: (30)

It doesn't really matter what you got in there..
My question is. how does it sound?

Gary95

Hey AnGe,
"Sounds" like a great system--congrats!

Got a quick question about your Alpine; were you able to have it linked with the Maxima lighting system, so that lights come on when the parking/headlight switch is on?

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

Clean bass is best achieved with a seperate amp and sub. The most obvious advantage is lower distortion. A secondary advantage is that there is greater room for flexibility in terms of system design.

For example, I am looking at 2 JL Audio 12W3s running on a Rockford Fosgate Power 250.2 (Much clearer and more refined than the Punch series). In your case, I would recommend 2 JBL or Alpine subs and a second Sony Xplod amp.

Dustyroads

Well, it sounds like you might be playing the components at too low of frequency levels, this would definitely cause some distortion when you crank it up. I would crank up the crossovers on the amp. Put is on high pass with the crossover point set to 80-100Hz. This will cut out all of the real nasty bass that your speakers just plain can't handle.

Since you already have a 4 channel, the next step would be to purchase a 2 channel and a sub or 2, or purchase a Bazooka or whatever. I agree with Prinz that the Bazooka's aren't the best when it comes to distortion and the best setup is a dedicated amp and subs, but you gotta do, what you gotta do. The nice thing about the Bazooka, is it is fairly compact and it has an amp built it, so all you need to do is run a couple of wire and hook it up. Bang, you're done. Good luck and happy listening!!

Synki

She already has the Alpine X-overs the components came with. The amp has built in X-overs as well. It distorts either b/c there is too much power going, not tuned properly or just turned up too loud.

Dustyroads

Yeah the components have crossovers, but usually the section for the woofer just includes a low pass filter that is set at the upper limit of the woofer. Maybe it has a high pass section at the bottom end as well, but I didn't think that the crossovers usually did. The lower limit of the component set can be set by the amp that way or if you are running an external crossover. Now, I'm not totally familiar with her component set, so I don't know how the crossovers are setup.

Distortion is caused if the speakers are played beyond there response, which could happen if there is too much power, but I thought her amp was only 60x4 or something like that so, this shouldn't be the case. Now there is a point where the signal itself will begin to distort, this may be becasue her gains are set correctly and when she cranks it to maximum volume, then the whole system degrades, but she said that the high were okay, so I concluded that if was probably the crossover on the amp that could be adjusted to make up for it. Just my 2 cents. Let me know if this makes sense, I can clarify it more if need be.

Synki

The Alpine X-over has the high pass (non sloped) and a low pass. I dont know the specs on this x-over. Im sure Ange can look this up on teh box. As far the Amp, i havent really looked at this for her yet. Maybe the ALpine X-over for low-pass is set to low. Since it didnt come with a mid bass only mid, i know the woofer is trying to play for both. Thus can be causing distortion as well. I do understand what your saying.

Dustyroads

Cool!! I'm glad we are on the same page here. I would efinitely look into the crossover points and make sure that it is not too low. You can of course change that by turning up the crossover on the amp. This will more than likely get rid of the distortion. However, setting the gain properly might help to get rid of some of that noise. Just a thought. The process is pretty simple.

1. Turn the gains of the amp all the way down.
2. Turn the volume of the HU (head unit) up until distortion is barely audible, usually 80% of full volume.
3. Back the volume down just a bit.
4. Turn up the gains of the amp until distortion is again audible.
5. Back the gain down just a bit and you're ready to rock and roll.

A side note here. Since you are setting the gains to around 80% volume, if you try and crank it all the way up, then distortion will occur. This is just the limitation of the hardware. There will be a point where even the HU signal will begin to distort also called clipping, so you have to base your amp gains on that point. If the gains are set too high and you crank it up, this clipping can cause speaker and amp damage. Just a warning here.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

Sorry guys- just got back from Miami over the wkend... what did I miss? ...hehehe

Synki- your place is a PITA to get to during rush hours... we'll have to look at the system together soon.

AnGe

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

What do you mean? My Alpines ...meaning the speakers... there aren't any power switches associated with speakers.

PS- The only wiring I've ever played around with was installing the digital indiglo gauges.. and they work!!

Gary95

Man, do I feel stupid ... Friend of mine has an Alpine receiver/CD player and somehow--never mind.

Let me rephrase that. How does your Sony 604EQX work with your electrical system? Were you able to have the lighting integrated to work with the car, or is it separate? Did you have to buy a converter or was the wiring completely redone? Hope that's not too many questions.

thanx!

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

You need to get an 'amp kit', which comes with all the necessary wiring and fuse(s) for running the amp. My friend had to drill a hole underneath driver side and run the power feed through there all the way from the amp (mounted in the trunk) all along the left side of the car (underneath the carpeting) to the battery (powersource). There's a fuse involved in the connector, situated by the battery. Another wire goes from the amp to the headunit. That wiring runs 'behind' the central console and under the carpeting. That's how the amp turns on whenever the headunit is 'on'. Hope that's not too confusing.