1999 Camry Rainbow Germanium/JL 12W6 Thread! (Picture heavy! 56k beware.)

[headless 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I can feel the woofers moving my pants when i'm at 2/3rds volume, so i know they are there, and putting out. I'm sure the doors' resonating is robbing me of huge amounts of sound though. I'll be switching to my Punch 100 on the 12w6 to see if that helps with the volume imbalance at high volumes. Maybe it's time to finally get another 12. The punch 100 on 2 12w6v2's @ 1 ohm would be kick ***.

I'll definetely be giving my impressions on the improvements that deadening brings. Not going to go insane in my car, but i am going to do both doors and the trunk, and do some general buzz-maintenence to get rid of some buzzing vibrations. I really thought it would be cool to have a before/after comparison anyway //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif That way i can justify to myself the '5% equip, 90 % install, 5% beer" motto i've seen //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Nice write up man. But I got a feeling Part TWO will be coming once you strengthen those doors...You may never hear your W6 behind you again the same with the up front midbass impact
And yes the crossover flexibility on those are insane! Untouched anywhere near to double the price range.

Copper sleve in the motor of the mid, chamber on the tweet...its a nice package.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Nice stuff!! And yes with proper sound control you will definately enjoy your investment so much more.

Were are the Germaniums in the current Rainbow pedigree??

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Nice stuff!! And yes with proper sound control you will definately enjoy your investment so much more.
Were are the Germaniums in the current Rainbow pedigree??

Well, They are listed between the Sound Line SLC and the Profi line, but are a completely new design (not based on either of those) apparently. I was told that they don't need the KickBass version, implying that they are comparable to the Profi's in Midbass response...i'll leave the real explanation to 3.5max //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif The tweets on the germaniums are CAL-25's whereas the Profi's come with CAL-26's (.97" vs 1.02") You can do direct comparisons here:

http://car.rainbow-audio.de/products/technology.php?lan=2&pro=1&lin=17

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Well, They are listed between the Sound Line SLC and the Profi line, but are a completely new design (not based on either of those) apparently. I was told that they don't need the KickBass version, implying that they are comparable to the Profi's in Midbass response...i'll leave the real explanation to 3.5max //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif The tweets on the germaniums are CAL-25's whereas the Profi's come with CAL-26's (.97" vs 1.02") You can do direct comparisons here:
http://car.rainbow-audio.de/products/technology.php?lan=2&pro=1&lin=17

I've used both the aluminum and fabric versions of the cal 25's and they are sooooooo nice....you'll will likey for sure //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

I've used both the aluminum and fabric versions of the cal 25's and they are sooooooo nice....you'll will likey for sure //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

I wub my silk CAL-25's. It's really opened my eyes -- it seems like the vast majority of sound i hear comes from the tweets in most of the music i play, though all my trance/techno has strong mid/low basslines too. I think sometimes people overlook the tweets alot and go for badass woofers, missing out on the clarity of vocals and mid-highrange instruments. A+ for the CAL-25's.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Nice stuff!! And yes with proper sound control you will definately enjoy your investment so much more.
Were are the Germaniums in the current Rainbow pedigree??

They are actually between the Power Line CMX and the Profi Line. Although the reason it was not released in the US initially was that its competition to the Profi line itself. It has superior xovers and performance is very competetive.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Well! Today, i decided to try the fourth "Reference Soft" setting for Tweet attenuation on the X-Over's. I learned a couple of things after this modification.

(1) You can actually change the low pass from 2.2hz OR the high pass from 2.2hz, to 2.6hz. So you could adjust one but not the other. Interesting possibilities there.

(2) The tweets were too loud still! Upon checking this out @ the fourth attenuation level, i discovered the sound to be much more balanced and smooth. This brings me to my next discovery! The system was sounding so much more balanced, i realised (after 3 days of wondering why the hell it sounded too 'bright'/highs heavy) today that my right door woofer was just not nearly as loud as the left. It wasn't so noticeable before the change, because the tweets were overpowering the woofers anyway, but i do remember noticing my stereo separation/field just seemed 'deeper' on the right side since i bridged the amp. I think you guys probably see where this is going. I left the HP crossover on the amp that was previously on the tweets channel on! DOH. The right channel/woofer wasn't getting anything below ~150hz (200hz HP, lol). So, i turned that off and went riding around and was once again amazed at the difference some changes can make to the sound. Lesson learned - Don't be an idiot. Yay!

I am jonesing to deaden my doors now -- with the tweets down a little i can hear those woofers going crazy now and i know they are just going to kick *** when they get into a deadened + sealed, stiff door //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I'm really noticing the added benefit of those 80w RMS now that both freakin' woofers are producing the lows I was able to adjust my x-over to 63hz/6db without hearing anything bad but left it at 63/12db for now, and adjusted my JL 12W6 DOWN from 80hz/24db to 63hz/12db which resulted in a much smoother combination with the woofers.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Nice man. When bridging an amp take your time level matching, its much more tricky..

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Nice man. When bridging an amp take your time level matching, its much more tricky..

I've got the gains set identically -- i set them with a DVM and a test tone... but! Unfortunately, the test tone was way above 200hz //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif I think it was a 1khz tone. Blech. Next time perhaps i should set it with a dual-tone dealio, playing @ 1khz and 100hz or something at the same time...or 2 tones?

I'm toying with bi-amping...eclipse 2x140 for the woofer channels, Punch 60 for the tweet channels, Punch 100 on the JL 12w6. Will have to listen for a while and see how the deadened doors sound before i make that big of a switch up though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif On the plus side, i've got the rca's run for the channels already //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Hehe. Fun week this week..prophetic post up there ^^ maybe

My shitty stock battery died, so i got a new one -- had to replace the fuse leading to the optima because the puny 40a blew when i tried to crank the car with my front batt dead //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif. Replaced it with a 100a in preparation for the future.

Today, i went and cruised down the highway for lunch and listened to the system...i'd say about 40mins of pretty high volume listening in...and the eclipse amp went into protect. Went back and touched it and it was instant pain to touch...spit did not sizzle though, so i'd say less than 80c on the case. Nevertheless, fronts just stopped //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif LOL. Well. I think that means i need more wattage for these germaniums. Tonight, i think i'm going to add the punch 100 on the 12w6, switch the wiring up on the eclipse so it's pushing 2x140 to just the woofers, and put the punch 60 on the tweet channels.

Comments? Do? Don't? Should i be scared ima blow up my germaniums? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Starky 10+ year member]

Where did you get that empeg? how much was it?

 

[baseballer1100 5,000+ posts]

Nice setup!

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Where did you get that empeg? how much was it?

The empeg has been discontinued now for 6 years so it's a bit tricky to get one. Only 5,000 were ever made -- They ARE out there to be had, however. I bought mine from a fellow on empegbbs.com. I think there's a guy on there selling one right now for 400$ with a 60gb drive installed. I paid 350 for mine with a 20gb drive which i intend to replace with 2x100gb. They originally retailed for 1000$ and were only made in the UK.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Bump... Anyone have any input on my plan in post 25? I think it'll just work but i value you guys input.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Well, i've got the 12w6 running on the Punch 100 now. I think the punch 60 was struggling at higher volumes because the 100 sounds clearer and 'richer' to me. Could be psychoaccoustics or it could just be that it gets way louder now too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Had to really tweak the gain down alot to keep it from overthrowing the sub.

For any new germanium owners, FYI I've settled on a 63hz 24db/oct high pass xover on the germaniums. Am using 12db 80hz lowpass xover on the 12w6. I settled on 2 - reference soft (i think) for the tweeter attenuation - with the tweets mounted where they are they blend great with the woofers.

Rather than go with the plan in post #25, i decided to wait and buy a badass 4ch when i have some spare cash. Zapco or DLS i think.