A trade!

[1sty]

I am willing to trade my Alpine CDA-7965 flat out for a Stock mazda CD player with 6 disc indash changer.

Heres why:
I want to build an insane system with a stock head unit. Competition level. Possibly wiht 8 8" subs!

The Alpine:
The Alpine is 3 years old
In perfect working order
Has 3 sets of 4 volt preouts
Has the BBE adjustments
Adjustable crossovers for preous
It has no internal amp as it is a strict SQ peice.
Button illumination switch from red to blue.
It is an AI net peice so AI net changer will work with it.

 

[acidbug]

Well..i am willing to trade..but i only have the single cd player...if you need feel free to email me!

Chas
acidbbg@aol.com

 

[mountjonas]

i just pm'ed you

 

[chuyler1]

I'm pretty buddy-buddy with the guys at my local stereo/rice shop (I say rice cause they sell more body kits and rims now than they do stereos). Anyway, the head installer who I'm friends with is from florida and has done tons of award winning installs. I always bug him for info on my DIY installs. I find out what he would do, sometimes buy equipment from them, then install it myself to save the money.

I ran the stock 6-disc changer idea by him and he totally trashed it. I tried to ask him questions that would help me figure out why exactly this was a bad idea but all he wanted to talk about was the voltage output of the new Eclipse Head units (8volts) and why that will improve SQ. He's an eclipse diehard, probably why I own the 6.5" Eclipse components.

People got good SQ with the 2v units they were selling 5-6 years ago so I wanted to know what else was going to increase SQ. I didn't get an answer so I'm going to stick with stock. My P5 will look completely stock and be completely functional when I'm finished.

1st MP3 in NH,
What's your plan for converting the signal to low-level? or are you going to use the amp's converter?

 

[1sty]

I have been talking to Dave Navonie a bit about an article he wrote concerning stock head units out perfoming aftermarket ones. Once i get the OK I will post it here. By the way navonie is one of the most repected poeple in the car audio world! An Eclipse may have an 8 volt output, but the speaker level output of the headunit are oing to feed into an Audio control EQS whic outputs up to 13 volts!

Voltage on a preout just rejects noise but also helps to keep the gain lower on the amp which can further reject noise. But if you don't have noise in the system anyways its not all that important.

Some installers hate stock headunits but many love them aswell. Youwill find no doubt what I have tha installes are the most stubborn and biased people in the world. I have 2 friends, each exceptional installers. 1 Says Xtant is the best amp manufacture ever. The other says Xtant amps are terrible. they can't both be right. They're just both installer, thats the way installers are.

What did you want to do to your car?
Amps, subs speakers?

 

[chuyler1]

My plan is to put my Eclipse Components in the front. If they won't fit then I'm going to do some component shopping...there are a bunch on my list right now.

Then for the back I'm not sure yet. I have an MTX 4x25 that I was bridging to send 100x2 to the components, plus i have an MTX 2x75 that was sending 300 to a 12" eclipse sub.

I might stick with the amps, they are a good power combo, but I'm not so sure about the sub. I was thinking either a lower clearance single sub like the Illusion Audios, or perhaps dual 10"s one on each side or something.

I haven't even thought about signal processing though, I have usually just done it with the head unit so any suggestions in that direction would help.

 

[1sty]

the Aluminum Elcipse Subs are 500 RMS so you may want to reconsider the sub or the amps. The rear speakers should match the fronts as best as possible.
High end Eclipse components are nice.
Processors are kind of the next step and if your using stock loactions many times not needed but with kick panels they are a must from all the Fd up frequency resonance and muddiness you get.

 

[chuyler1]

The sub I have is the 86 series, punched steel, non-aluminum, 170watts rms. its a leftover from the PPI amp. It will not be installed regardless...The MTX could handle a single 12" Aluminum as it will put out close to 450watts at 14.4 volts, but they are pricey.

The 4-ch will put out 250x2 at 14.4 volts...and the Eclipse 6.5"s sucked up every bit of it in kickpanels in my Grand Marquis...There is obviously not enough room to do a 6.5" kickpanel install in a Protege, but you're right they needed some tuning beyond what I could do with the amps and head.

For rear speakers...either they will be turned off or I am considering Diamond Audio components. The hex series allows you to connect rear speakers to the crossovers which are attenuated -10dbs. That combo would be a good candidate for the 250watts of the MTX.

 

[1sty]

The sub I have is the 86 series, punched steel, non-aluminum, 170watts rms. its a leftover from the PPI amp. It will not be installed regardless...The MTX could handle a single 12" Aluminum as it will put out close to 450watts at 14.4 volts, but they are pricey.

Sounds like a decent match then.

The 4-ch will put out 250x2 at 14.4 volts...and the Eclipse 6.5"s sucked up every bit of it in kickpanels in my Grand Marquis...There is obviously not enough room to do a 6.5" kickpanel install in a Protege, but you're right they needed some tuning beyond what I could do with the amps and head.

The 6.5" JL VR compnent fit fine in my kick panels.

For rear speakers...either they will be turned off or I am considering Diamond Audio components. The hex series allows you to connect rear speakers to the crossovers which are attenuated -10dbs. That combo would be a good candidate for the 250watts of the MTX.

I looked into Diamond but i found there tweeers to dull especial in kick panels.

 

[chuyler1]

You got a pic of the kickpanels? I'm 6'3" so I don't really want to give up any foot room...Is there a way to do it w/o giving up the dead pedal?

I listened to the Diamonds the other day in a store and I wasn't as impressed as I am with my eclipses. I've read tons of positive reviews on them so it must be an in-car and installation specific thing. The thing is, none of the new components use silk-dome tweeters. They might lack with the 20KHz+ range, but their smoothness pays off in the long run.

 

[1sty]

Look at ADS then. Also the VR Jls are silk. i have pics but the kicks still need a sanding and to be wrapped.
You have to give up the dead pedal.

 

[chuyler1]

Did you tap into any space behind the kickpanel or did you just make a mold of the space in front of it?

post the pics when you're done then. I'd like to see how much space is left over.

 

[1sty]

I had to relocate the fuse box, which is actauly easy and then use the stock panel as a backing of the new kick. The mids go into the area behind the stock kick.

 

[chuyler1]

Do you plan to also put attenuated tweeters in the stock A-Pilar locations to raise the sound stage?

(sorry bout all the questions, getting kinda off topic here)

 

[1sty]

Not at all, I don't mind.
I am completely undecided as to what to do.
I want to do a 5.25" componet in a kick panel, matching dual 6.5" midbasses in each door and a set of ambiant tweeters up high. A matching rear 5.25" component in the back and maybe even use its tweeter as the ambiant.

 

[chuyler1]

Sound good. One thing I'm considering is placing my primary tweeters in the kicks with an angle mount, then a secondary set in the stock locations, but I'm unsure on how to power the second set. They don't need much power so maybe I could pick up another 75x2 amp for the main components and use the 4x25 for tweeters up front and drivers in the rear.

so many decisions.

 

[slug420]

lemme got o the junk yard real quick and ill be back to trade ya

 

[ZoomZoom]

I have been talking to Dave Navonie a bit about an article he wrote concerning stock head units out perfoming aftermarket ones. Once i get the OK I will post it here. By the way navonie is one of the most repected poeple in the car audio world! An Eclipse may have an 8 volt output, but the speaker level output of the headunit are oing to feed into an Audio control EQS whic outputs up to 13 volts!

Voltage on a preout just rejects noise but also helps to keep the gain lower on the amp which can further reject noise. But if you don't have noise in the system anyways its not all that important.

Some installers hate stock headunits but many love them aswell. Youwill find no doubt what I have tha installes are the most stubborn and biased people in the world. I have 2 friends, each exceptional installers. 1 Says Xtant is the best amp manufacture ever. The other says Xtant amps are terrible. they can't both be right. They're just both installer, thats the way installers are.

What did you want to do to your car?
Amps, subs speakers?

Haha, this is so true. Installers are a strange bunch of people. I just think that is has something to do with the fact that we are technically minded people and we just view things differently. I am sure a lot of tech minded people are like that. One of the phrases that I always hear at work when it is time for something new is "damn installers, they always have to make things difficult" and I love it. I have been installing professionally for almost 10 years and I have a B.S.E.E.T. I don't think that I am smarter than other people, I just think differently than other people. Yea, we are weird and proud of it!!

peace
Griff

 

[1sty]

We are techs.
For those of you not familair with a tech we are as stubborn as Engineers but 20 times more persistant to prove ourselves, we take no s*** from engineers and usualy find them responsible for making our lifes a b****. We tend to respect average people as our intelectual equal but like engineers we can think your an idiot but we just don't show it. oh yeah and if you step on us we will rule your ass!

 

[ZoomZoom]

We are techs.
For those of you not familair with a tech we are as stubborn as Engineers but 20 times more persistant to prove ourselves, we take no s*** from engineers and usualy find them responsible for making our lifes a b****. We tend to respect average people as our intelectual equal but like engineers we can think your an idiot but we just don't show it. oh yeah and if you step on us we will rule your ass!

One of my favorite things is when some DIY'er comes in and asks me a question and then argues my answer. I look at it this way, you came to me for advice because I have most likely already done what your wanting to do, so when I give you an answer and you tell me I am wrong....I will try shortly to convince you that I am right, if you keep argueing from that point, I will tell you the same thing, but in a different way that is much harder to do, lol. Don't F@#$ with me. I am glad to answer questions for anybody that has the nerve to try things themselves, but if you think you know it all already, don't waste my time. Anyway, I try not to be an arsehole, but man, some of these know-it-alls really drive me nuts and it is not always young folks either, it is often the older generation that used to install this stuff (back in the 8-track days maybe, lol) and the other is the father who is an "electrician"...I had one guy give me that line once on a day that was not going well...I said fine, can I come to your house and put in a new panel? Just cause you can wire a house, does not mean you can install an alarm? I was actually a jerk to that guy, but it felt real good, lol.

peace
Griff