Stereo component opinions

[NICKYPOO]

A good 10" sub with the right power and correct size box will give you more bass than you need and will be simple. As Dogbert said, I've been bragging about my little 10" RE sub. With a 250w Fosgate Punch going to it, it P O U N D S! The thing is, it pounds all the way through it's freq. range. Some subs hit extremely hard in a certain range and then kind of fall off through the rest. My little RE sounds great with all types of music. Nice and tight and accurate. The JL marine stuff does sound great, but damn it's pricy. I've got just about $250 in my bass set up (sub, amp, box) and couldn't be happier with it. I'll put it up against any single sub set up on the lake.

So far as head units, I went all Pioneer. One big key factor to go along with the Ipod control was the wired marine remote with display. The only other wired marine remote with display at the time was a Sony. Like I said, I went Pioneer. The sound quality and sound control are stellar IMO.

Speakers. I need new ones. This was the only part of the system not upgraded. I put some marine JVCs in when I bought it and they are done. Tower has a set of Spektrum Audio 6x9s. Eh, they're OK, but I'm still looking at going all MB Quart throughtout the boat.

[Razzman]

I keep going back and looking at the Pioneers, the price sure looks good. Which unit did you go with?

[Coach]

I have used Pioneer like I have said, but am currently and staying with Alpine. They have the best I-pod controler out there at the time being. The Pioneer controler was not bad but slow. I am running the AlpineCDA-9857 on the new boat.

As for Subs Dog hit it on the head. I was running a Crossfire 10 with a crossfire 404 (400 x 4) ) running 4-5.25 and the sub and the sub was thumping. If I ran a single mono to the the same 10 it would have been insane. Crossfire makes some of the best stuff out there.

[spharis]

I picked up an RFX9220M.....that plays mp3s on ebay for $120 or so. Also grabbed a wired remote for it. If you hold out and watch ebay, i see these on there occasionally. Mine was missing the trim ring, Rockford sent me another for free! Not many marine radios will play mp3s from a cdr....if I were going with a non-marine, I would look at the JVC EXADs as they can play mp3's from a DVD.....nice to have 4GB of music on a dvd in the drive. i have this feature on the Head Unit in my truck , RAVDVD2, and it is awesome.....i rarely use my player because its easier to just use the disc, and the cost of the adapters.

This unit also has the fancy clock, and a built in voltmeter alarm that warns 10V. Other marine specific features.

If I ever get time to do the install, I'll post some pics. I am still amp shopping. Hard to find exactly what I want.

[spharis]

Any pioneer HU with a wired remote input can use these marine remote.....



I like this one....
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-K26R5l7...0&i=130DEHP680
notice the front panel mini aux input for players......

[Moki]

Spharis,
I always enjoy reading your posts. You are a fountain of knowledge. That is a pretty sweet system you have put together. In addition to Ebay, I have found some pretty good deals on Ubid.com. Although it is hit and miss. I got a Sony head (I know you're not too fond of Sony) and a Digital Audio Amp from there for a good price. I still need to get a sub and an amp for the sub yet and another amp for my boat speakers. I will probably use the Digital Audio amp for my tower speakers.

DA3200 Specifications:

PWM MOSFET Power Supply
1/2/3 Channel Operation
THD: <0.02%
S/N Ratio: >100dB
Chrome Plated Finish
Red High Gloss Red Anodized Heat Sink
Fuse: 40A X 2
3-way Protection Circuitry
Thermal, Short & Overload
Low Pass Crossover: 50-120 Hz, 18 dB/octave
0dB-18dB Bass Boost
Cooling Fan
Double Sided Circuit Board
Red Circuit Board Illumination
Dim: 10.4" W X 2.4" H X 16.9" D
DA3200 RMS POWER RATING:

300 Watts x 2 @ 4 ohms
420 Watts x 2 @ 2 ohms
840 Watts x 1 @ 4 Ohms

PS I just bought some infinity speaker for my boat, but couldn't pass up that deal on the Rockford Fosgate and bought 4 of those.

[Moki]

Spharis,
One more question. Where are you mounting your tweeter on the rockford fosgate component speakers?

[spharis]

Originally posted by Moki
300 Watts x 2 @ 4 ohms
420 Watts x 2 @ 2 ohms
840 Watts x 1 @ 4 Ohms

PS I just bought some infinity speaker for my boat, but couldn't pass up that deal on the Rockford Fosgate and bought 4 of those.

Thanks!

Nice buy on those Rockfords.....I really think they are a nice set at a super sweet price. Rockford sells all the old season stuff on ebay un der that username. You can get some good deals on install kits too, but those are a dime a dozen on ebay.

That amp has crazy power. You could definiately run a good 2 channel setup off that thing, or a 2 channel with a mild sub.

I have been rethinking and may end up going with a 4 channel Clarion APX-480M for my power. It should drive 2 sets of comps per channel, and bridge the rear for the sub.
It does 115W @ 2ohm for the front channels, and the back will do 230W @ 4ohm.....so I can put both sets of comps on a channel wired to 2 ohm and have 57.5 watts on each set.....It will not quite be RMS, but I am hoping the amp will be a little underrated. Then the sub gets bridged to 4 ohm for 230 watts.


As far as the comps go, the Tige' will be going under the knife to put the tweeters in. I am going to cut mouning holes for the tweeters an a typical satellite setup. The tweeters are flush mount with an inverted grill, so they do not poke out.

[spharis]

Look what just got listed....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Rockford-Fosgate...QQcmdZViewItem

If you buy it, just send it back in to Rockford for repair. They will refirb it back to new condition. I am going to watch this bid, so let me know if you are bidding that way I won't counter bid you!

I wouldn't go over $75-$80 because of the non functional condition.

[dogbert]

Ok, so I considered myself an audiophile, but you guys clearly take the definition to a whole new level.

So, currently my tower speakers are from Monster (single barrel w/ Tantrum drivers...ok, so they're really an MB Quart private label). They're rated at 60W RMS (180W Peak) at 4Ohms. The amp driving them is a Kenwood KAC-7202 2 channel amp rated at 150W RMS per channel @ 4Ohm and 230W per channel @ 2 Ohm.

So if I add a second set of speakers on the tower, will that essentially double the decibels that what I currently have (assuming I wire them in parallel)?

[Moki]

Originally posted by spharis
Look what just got listed....
http://cgi.ebay.com/Rockford-Fosgate...QQcmdZViewItem

If you buy it, just send it back in to Rockford for repair. They will refirb it back to new condition. I am going to watch this bid, so let me know if you are bidding that way I won't counter bid you!

I wouldn't go over $75-$80 because of the non functional condition.

I saw this last night, but was scared away due to the non functioning condition. So, are you saying that Rockford Fosgate will refurbish it for free or for a low price? Did you see the Marine Radio with 6 disc changer for $155? What do you think of that unit?

I am interested in seeing some pics where you cut your holes for your tweeter when you do it.

Here is a link to a sub and an amp that I am bidding on at Ubid:

http://www.ubid.com/Actn/Opn/getpage...ionId=10827925

The 15 inch may be overkill and I don't think that I will win it at the price I am willing to pay

Here is the amp:

http://www.ubid.com/Actn/Opn/getpage...ionId=10829618

(Don't outbid me ) Once again, I don't know if I will be willing to pay what this may go for.

[Razzman]

Originally posted by Moki
I saw this last night, but was scared away due to the non functioning condition. So, are you saying that Rockford Fosgate will refurbish it for free or for a low price? Did you see the Marine Radio with 6 disc changer for $155? What do you think of that unit?

I saw it too, but don't want to hassle the return, etc.

I saw the Head unit/changer for $150 and emailed the guy. He said it didn't have an aux in or ipod connection so i nixed it.

This is becoming somewhat of a pain to find everything i want, Ipod connect, cd-rw and MP3 readability. So far I'm leaning towards the Pioneer DEH-P3800MP, DEH-P4800MP or the DEH-P5800MP with the wired remote. Gotta have the blasted remote as my unit goes in the glove box.

[Moki]

Originally posted by dogbert
Ok, so I considered myself an audiophile, but you guys clearly take the definition to a whole new level.

So, currently my tower speakers are from Monster (single barrel w/ Tantrum drivers...ok, so they're really an MB Quart private label). They're rated at 60W RMS (180W Peak) at 4Ohms. The amp driving them is a Kenwood KAC-7202 2 channel amp rated at 150W RMS per channel @ 4Ohm and 230W per channel @ 2 Ohm.

So if I add a second set of speakers on the tower, will that essentially double the decibels that what I currently have (assuming I wire them in parallel)?

Dogbert,
It sounds like you have a nice system as well. Why are you adding additional speakers? Are the two monsters not loud enough. My understanding is that if you add additional speakers and wire them in parrallel that you are going to cut your ohms in half to each speaker which will create more watts from your amplifier, but it appears that your amplifier will handle the lower Ohms and additional watts required, so you should double your decibles. The question is will your speakers be able to handle the lower Ohms and higher watts.

However, I am going to let Spharis have the last word, because he appears to be a Zen Master of audio.

Speakers - Parallel Wiring; In Phase

4 ohm loads - total load = 2 ohms

formula stolen from a website:

The impedance decreases. The equation is
Total Load = (S1 x S2) / (S1 + S2)
Where:
S1 = the impedance of Speaker load # 1
S2 = the impedance of Speaker load # 2

Another was to define this is:
1/Total Load = 1/S1 + 1/S2

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Moki
Why are you adding additional speakers? Are the two monsters not loud enough.

Because I can Yes, the speakers are pretty darn loud, but I have to crank down the bass to get them that way. My hope is that I'd be taxing the speakers less because I don't have to push them as far and get better sound.

[Moki]

If the bass is causing your speakers to distort at loud volumes. You may want to consider adding a high pass filter to your tower speakers and let the sub provide the bass. Also, add a low pass filter to your bass, so the sub is not trying to reproduce the high frequencies. This will take a strain off both your tower speakers and sub.

Make sense?

Here's a good article that explains more:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Car-Audio-...-Them&id=74801