serious question.
05-23-2001, 06:39 PM
#1
in a week or two i'm going to be getting my focal utopia 165w3 front speakers.. before i do, would anyone recomend anythign that is better? i'm building a competition car, adn for the amp, what would anyone recomend, mcintosh is out of my league (i'm dont' have that kind of money) the most i'll want to spend is 1000 on amps. and that is at the very most.. i'm considering the pc48 . but then ppi came out with a new line called the pcx. is that any good? it has been brought to my attention that ppi amps have gone down in quality. so should i still go with their amps? as for subs, i'm going to stick with my original set up, alumapro alchemy 12 dvc in a custom sealed enclosure powered by a phoenix gold zx600ti amp. what would any of you recomend for eq's? i was thinking of an analogue one. perhaps the eqt concert series by audio control? or teh ppi eq? i already have the phoenix gold powercore capacitor adn a blue top battery, i'm going to upgrade my power cable to i/0 guage and i'm considering moving the blue top to the trunk and getting a factory/generic batter in the engine compartment, i'll be using a huge relay for that too. so any recomendations before i shell out the cash? thanx in advanced.
05-23-2001, 07:35 PM
#2
Hm...let me see..where do i start...well, first of all, excellent choice on the speakers...It doesnt get any better than that..Too bad i'm selling my 180W for financial reasons 
Anyhow...if you are going to run those speakers all active, then reply here, otherwise for a simple 2 channel amp i recommend orion xtr 900 or something that will put out at least 175+ watts per channel ...And you can pick up those orions on ubid pretty cheap..They are great amps and especially the prices you can get them for these days.
For eqs orion deq30 is the best choice, since its a fully digital eq and if you have a head unit with an optical out that will make things even better. or eqt or even p.g 1/3 octave model. Make sure your doors are extremely sound deadened...those focals will pound....are you gettin kicks built?
One more thing about the amps...Just get a nice reliable brand with as much power as you can afford such as kicker, r.f, mtx, orion, zapco. Dont go for the high buck amps, you wont hear a difference..Put that money on getting a better install...it will pay off..and don't forget...its 80% install and 20% equipment....
Hope this helps
Anyhow...if you are going to run those speakers all active, then reply here, otherwise for a simple 2 channel amp i recommend orion xtr 900 or something that will put out at least 175+ watts per channel ...And you can pick up those orions on ubid pretty cheap..They are great amps and especially the prices you can get them for these days.
For eqs orion deq30 is the best choice, since its a fully digital eq and if you have a head unit with an optical out that will make things even better. or eqt or even p.g 1/3 octave model. Make sure your doors are extremely sound deadened...those focals will pound....are you gettin kicks built?
One more thing about the amps...Just get a nice reliable brand with as much power as you can afford such as kicker, r.f, mtx, orion, zapco. Dont go for the high buck amps, you wont hear a difference..Put that money on getting a better install...it will pay off..and don't forget...its 80% install and 20% equipment....
Hope this helps
05-23-2001, 10:46 PM
#3
Originally posted by SWEETSOUND2001
Hm...let me see..where do i start...well, first of all, excellent choice on the speakers...It doesnt get any better than that..Too bad i'm selling my 180W for financial reasons
Anyhow...if you are going to run those speakers all active, then reply here, otherwise for a simple 2 channel amp i recommend orion xtr 900 or something that will put out at least 175+ watts per channel ..Put that money on getting a better install...it will pay off..and don't forget...its 80% install and 20% equipment....
Hope this helps
Hm...let me see..where do i start...well, first of all, excellent choice on the speakers...It doesnt get any better than that..Too bad i'm selling my 180W for financial reasons
Anyhow...if you are going to run those speakers all active, then reply here, otherwise for a simple 2 channel amp i recommend orion xtr 900 or something that will put out at least 175+ watts per channel ..Put that money on getting a better install...it will pay off..and don't forget...its 80% install and 20% equipment....
Hope this helps
and forgive me for not knowing the term "running the speakers active" but can you please elaborate on that? i'm not a super duper familiar with car audio. i'm just the kinda guy taht knows how to put it in and make it sound good (to be modest)
05-23-2001, 11:01 PM
#6
tube drivers? aww man, then it'll take me twice the time to warm up the car, first gotta warm up the motor, then i gotta warm up the amps... grr... actually i was considering tube drivers, i heard they are really inefficient, but produce really clean sound.. is that true??? and are they alot more??? i'm not at all familiar with the arc amps.. can you please elaborate more on them, or point me a direction where i can learn more about htem??? thanx white max..
05-23-2001, 11:13 PM
#7
Ok guys.....buy an amp that is reliable and as much power as you can afford...there is no audible difference between a $2000 mcintosh amp and a $300 mtx as long as neither one is clipping. If you don't beleive me, call Richard Clark and take his $10,000 challenge
05-23-2001, 11:24 PM
#9
then again, i need an amp that can push out sufficient power at high ohm rates.. and something that is consistant, i know ppi has two built in power regulators that makes the power supply constant, and the cap i got should help tremendously too.. i'm ont sure how judges do systems, i think they just hook it up to machines since the differneces can not really be heard by human ears..
05-24-2001, 06:44 AM
#10
Disco Biscuit
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,791
Tube Drivers are far from ineffient. Since it's a solid state amp section and the Tubes are in the preamp section, warm up time is negligable. I'm looking for the site that sells them for around $450 each. It's out there, I just can't remember which one. You can also call Peter Lufrano at www.theautophile.com and see what his prices are. Thats who I got mine from. When you say high ohm rates, do you mean like 8 ohm instead of 4 or like 2 ohm? Tube Drivers although rated to go to 2 ohm, don't do too well with it. At 8 ohms they sing like a bird...
05-24-2001, 07:24 AM
#11
Can I Interject here?
Sounds like you are trying to build a nice little competition system. But let me give you some alternatives as far as amps are concerned.
a/d/s (PPI and Orion are subdivisions of a/d/s). When you listen to them, you will be amazed at the clarity and detail.
Rockford Fosgate (Power Series, not Punch. I cranked a Power 250.2 and that amp was so crystal clear. I ran it on some Focal KS components and loved it)
JL Audio (So far, I have heard these amps are the $#@!)
Soundstream Reference Series
Alpine V Series
MTX
The Newer Kenwood Excelon Amps
a/d/s (PPI and Orion are subdivisions of a/d/s). When you listen to them, you will be amazed at the clarity and detail.
Rockford Fosgate (Power Series, not Punch. I cranked a Power 250.2 and that amp was so crystal clear. I ran it on some Focal KS components and loved it)
JL Audio (So far, I have heard these amps are the $#@!)
Soundstream Reference Series
Alpine V Series
MTX
The Newer Kenwood Excelon Amps
05-24-2001, 03:46 PM
#12
Re: Can I Interject here?
Originally posted by PrinzII
a/d/s (PPI and Orion are subdivisions of a/d/s). When you listen to them, you will be amazed at the clarity and detail.
a/d/s (PPI and Orion are subdivisions of a/d/s). When you listen to them, you will be amazed at the clarity and detail.
05-24-2001, 09:18 PM
#13
Being a competitior myself, I see LOTS of the Orion XTR amps, XTant, Rockford (all types), and PPI's amps- either the PowerClass or older Art or ProArt series.
I personally run the older Art series stuff and was given huge compliments from the PPI and Focal reps on my choice to stay with those amps.
The head focal designer guy (who designed the Grande Utopia home system) told me he's collecting them himself and buys every one in good shape he can get his hands on.
If you stick with the recommendation of the PC 4800, you'll be very happy.
As for the speakers, you're doing great. just buy the biggest, cleanest amp you can put on 'em. (pc4800 is GREAT!)
I'm running 250w RMS to each side of my focal 165KS components, and I've actually had several high-place finishers say they were amazed at what they could do...
With the stuff above, your subs may be a tad underpowered though. With my system, the subs get to about 135dB, and the fronts are very well balanced with the subs. I've got 3 JL 10w6s on 600W in the trunk.. I think you'll be okay, as long as you don't expect to blow your mind with subs while listening to your highs at full tilt too.. it'll be pretty balanced, or maybe a tad soft on the bass end of things. you MIGHT want to consider a loarger amp, maybe going with a PPI if you can find one (just to make things match. the judges like that.
As for EQs, good recommendations were already done in this thread.. I agree completely.
Then again, my head unit is a Premier DEX-P1R.. it's got two built in 13 band EQs (one is auto-setting) and another paremetric EQ I believe.. I forget all the goodies now..
but I scored up to a 19 on RTA with using that as my only EQ.. this was at the same show that cars with 30 band EQs were getting 16 and 17s...
at finals, my RTA scores were equal to the guys with $$$$$ systems with dual 30 band EQs per channel, etc etc...
"going all Active" means that you're running a seperate amp to each speaker.. crossovers are done on the RCA level signals before they reach the amps.
In order to run the system the way I did, you MUST do it that way. the outputs on my head unit are RCA only- it has a built-in 3 way crossover with adjustable frequencies and slopes.. blah blah blah..
Weren't you are Maxus in Atlanta? you might have seen the system.. I made a few small changes before IASCA finals, but not a lot..
I personally run the older Art series stuff and was given huge compliments from the PPI and Focal reps on my choice to stay with those amps.
The head focal designer guy (who designed the Grande Utopia home system) told me he's collecting them himself and buys every one in good shape he can get his hands on.
If you stick with the recommendation of the PC 4800, you'll be very happy.
As for the speakers, you're doing great. just buy the biggest, cleanest amp you can put on 'em. (pc4800 is GREAT!)
I'm running 250w RMS to each side of my focal 165KS components, and I've actually had several high-place finishers say they were amazed at what they could do...
With the stuff above, your subs may be a tad underpowered though. With my system, the subs get to about 135dB, and the fronts are very well balanced with the subs. I've got 3 JL 10w6s on 600W in the trunk.. I think you'll be okay, as long as you don't expect to blow your mind with subs while listening to your highs at full tilt too.. it'll be pretty balanced, or maybe a tad soft on the bass end of things. you MIGHT want to consider a loarger amp, maybe going with a PPI if you can find one (just to make things match. the judges like that.
As for EQs, good recommendations were already done in this thread.. I agree completely.
Then again, my head unit is a Premier DEX-P1R.. it's got two built in 13 band EQs (one is auto-setting) and another paremetric EQ I believe.. I forget all the goodies now..
but I scored up to a 19 on RTA with using that as my only EQ.. this was at the same show that cars with 30 band EQs were getting 16 and 17s...
at finals, my RTA scores were equal to the guys with $$$$$ systems with dual 30 band EQs per channel, etc etc...
"going all Active" means that you're running a seperate amp to each speaker.. crossovers are done on the RCA level signals before they reach the amps.
In order to run the system the way I did, you MUST do it that way. the outputs on my head unit are RCA only- it has a built-in 3 way crossover with adjustable frequencies and slopes.. blah blah blah..
Weren't you are Maxus in Atlanta? you might have seen the system.. I made a few small changes before IASCA finals, but not a lot..
05-24-2001, 09:34 PM
#14
wow that helped me out alot.
Originally posted by Matt93GXE
Being a competitior myself, I see LOTS of the Orion XTR amps, XTant, Rockford (all types), and PPI's amps- either the PowerClass or older Art or ProArt series.
I personally run the older Art series stuff and was given huge compliments from the PPI and Focal reps on my choice to stay with those amps.
The head focal designer guy (who designed the Grande Utopia home system) told me he's collecting them himself and buys every one in good shape he can get his hands on.
If you stick with the recommendation of the PC 4800, you'll be very happy.
As for the speakers, you're doing great. just buy the biggest, cleanest amp you can put on 'em. (pc4800 is GREAT!)
I'm running 250w RMS to each side of my focal 165KS components, and I've actually had several high-place finishers say they were amazed at what they could do...
With the stuff above, your subs may be a tad underpowered though.
Being a competitior myself, I see LOTS of the Orion XTR amps, XTant, Rockford (all types), and PPI's amps- either the PowerClass or older Art or ProArt series.
I personally run the older Art series stuff and was given huge compliments from the PPI and Focal reps on my choice to stay with those amps.
The head focal designer guy (who designed the Grande Utopia home system) told me he's collecting them himself and buys every one in good shape he can get his hands on.
If you stick with the recommendation of the PC 4800, you'll be very happy.
As for the speakers, you're doing great. just buy the biggest, cleanest amp you can put on 'em. (pc4800 is GREAT!)
I'm running 250w RMS to each side of my focal 165KS components, and I've actually had several high-place finishers say they were amazed at what they could do...
With the stuff above, your subs may be a tad underpowered though.
about matching the amps, i've considered switching my phoenix gold amp to ppi to make it match, but then again, my phoenix gold amp and my phoenix gold capcitor match up real nice. i was also planning on running a good digital signal processor, posibly one made by alpine. i also wanted to add a center chanel, but that will come much later (if ever).
as for my subwoofer. well i used to have 2 jl 12w6 which i sold to a member on this board. i'm not too much into bass. do you really think running 600 watts to one sub is underpowered? i'm not too clear on that. i have the alchemy 12" dual voice coil made by alumapro, it says it runs around 300 watts rms so i though i'de be ok with it. i've wired the sub to be parallel and bridged the amp. so would you suggest a better sub or you really think i should swap out the amp, i have been made a deal to switch amps, i can trade in my old amp, and pay a lil money for i tink the 1x800 watt ppi amp.. so it matches.. then again i was told that phoenix gold makes better amps for powering subs, that's the main reason i wanted to keep the phoenix gold (other than because it'll save me some money) Thanks for replying.
05-25-2001, 01:07 PM
#15
Re: Re: Can I Interject here?
Originally posted by mingo
OH neat.. i dind't know that.. so are you saying "yes go with PPi." ? i've talked to a friend of mine, and he is suggesting that i go with pc4800, it's 4x200 @ 4 ohmz which is good enouhg for all of the speakers i plan to run (for now). and he said to get the older model, (the one prior to the new line pcx) since rumor says that quality has gone down.. so should i or should i not?? and how much should i look to spend? he's saying 700 or under for that amp.. thank all of you for your help on this thread.. i really apreciate it.
OH neat.. i dind't know that.. so are you saying "yes go with PPi." ? i've talked to a friend of mine, and he is suggesting that i go with pc4800, it's 4x200 @ 4 ohmz which is good enouhg for all of the speakers i plan to run (for now). and he said to get the older model, (the one prior to the new line pcx) since rumor says that quality has gone down.. so should i or should i not?? and how much should i look to spend? he's saying 700 or under for that amp.. thank all of you for your help on this thread.. i really apreciate it.
As for subs.. you could get a class D .. not into bass? Get something like a IDQ, sound quality with pretty decent umph.. or you can get A/D/S 310's .. (10in cuz u dont like bass
)Good luck, music rocks.
05-25-2001, 06:29 PM
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 778
Re: Re: Re: Can I Interject here?
Well I must say that I have been converted. I had a PPI amp years and years ago. It was one from 1994. I bought it used from a guy for $50 and it was a great amp! It was the predecessor (sp?) to the art series. I then bought an MTX amps and have had several of them in different wattages and such. I recently got looking at the PPI again and yeah I've started back into thier stuff. I have heard and studied just about every amp out there (or at least it seems that way) and I went with the PPI powerclass. Got the 4400.2 and the 2600.2 to power my system.
Anyway just get what sounds best and the most wattage you can afford and have fun!
Just my 2 cents...
Anyway just get what sounds best and the most wattage you can afford and have fun!
Just my 2 cents...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
litch
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
123
01-04-2024 07:01 PM
pears
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
15
09-18-2015 05:25 AM