Hey KHA,
I imagine its pretty rare to find someone with your credentials who has a very similar car and the same amp, so I hope you don't mind me bugging you again. I have an upgrade install coming up in two days and before I do it, I would love to get your opinion. This ended up being quite a bit longer than I anticipated so I'd be happy to send you a gift certificate to a restaurant or something for helping me make these choices. You can PM me.
I attached drawings of the current and proposed setups to try to make it more clear. I'm an orthodontist not an engineer so I hope they make sense.
My
current setup is
Front Stage: Focal 165 KRX2 components plus
Subwoofer: JL 12W6 subwoofer
Amp: Vx1000/5 off the factory EX-L touchscreen unit with the signal tapped
after the factory amp running into a JL Fix. I am not getting enough volume to make me happy although the SQ is excellent. Currently the passive crossovers are being used, biamped (jumpers connecting the W and Tw removed so that each channel can be individually time-aligned).
I feel like I should be able to get more volume out of just the front stage and the sub... Focal says these speakers are "extreme power handling" but they don't get that loud with the current setup. We got 107 dB using an iphone's internal mic and Audiocontrol's app. Older tracks from the 70s and 80s max out in the 95 dB range. I am planning on adding rear speakers because I don't want to decide I need them later and then have to pay additional to have it re-tuned.
Speakers are two ohms so bridging channels is out. They call for 120W RMS and I am only feeding them 90-100W. When I designed the system I was thinking that 100W to the Woofer and 100W to the tweeter was like giving them 200W. I guess I was wrong and I am learning this as I go.
I would like to see what you think about my
proposed setup It's a little different in terms of normal configurations.
1. Tap the signal ahead of the amp as you suggested. Ditch the JL Fix-82 for full refund. (I asked for this originally but I don't think the installers knew how to handle balanced signals and they thought it was non-variable. I really appreciate your input, the wiring diagrams etc.)
2. Add a Vx600/2 and power the woofers in the front doors. The speakers are rated 120W/240W and the 600/2 would feed them 225W/300W at 2 Ohms at 12.5V/14.4V. Thinking is that the tweeters are getting plenty of power off the Vx1000 but the woofers could use a little more juice.
3. Run fully active in the front with 90-100W from the Vx1000 to each tweeter and 225-300W to each woofer from the Vx600/2.
4. Add rear coaxial K2s and run channels 3 and 4 from the Vx1000 to them.
A couple of questions:
1. What kind of SPL should I expect to get in an Accord Coupe with a front stage and a sub? I don't really want to make all these changes if I don't have to add rear speakers and what I have could be improved by changing to say the HD 600/4 for the front stage and XD 600/1 for the sub and then adding a separate DSP. My fear is that if I do that and its still not enough volume I will be switching amps again and incurring additional tuning and installation costs.
2. How do you feel about the SPL I am getting? Should I just **** it up adn add rears or would I be able to get a jump from a combo of (A. tapping the 3V from the radio, B. going fully active, and C. adding power to the current speakers)
2. How would you connect the factory signal into the Vxi amps? Do I need all 5 wires (FL FR RR RL SUB) or should I just connect to FR and FL to get a full range signal. SInce I am running two amps should I run the signal to each of them using the rear outputs? Are the rear outputs full range?
2. Alternatively, would you connect all five wires to the VX1000/5 and connect the Vx600/2 via optical?
3. Anything jump out at you that you don't like? I know it seems a little overkill but I couldn't figure another 2 amp setup that gave me: 1. 150W+ to the woofers, 2. allowed me to run fully active in the front 3. power rears 4. 600W to the sub.
4. I was told advised not to go with the Audiocontrol 6.1200 or the Focal 900/6 with a Mono for the sub and a separate DSP. The AC would have given me 150W/6 allowing me to power all the front and rear speakers and then add a mono. There would have been some cost savings there, but the lead installer/manager said I would take a hit in quality according to some of his colleagues he polled. The JL Vx 600/6 didn't give me anymore power to the front stage. I have ordered the 600/2 but I could always put off the install and reschedule if you think I need to make some changes. Thank you! And again, I know this was stupid long, so I'm happy to buy you a few drinks at a restaurant near you
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