Epic 160 review

[braggpawn 10+ year member]

I might sound like a noob asking this and yes I did a search, but what does an epic 160 do and does it make a big difference in your numbers and you sound quality

or is it the epicenter that actually dumps low notes into your signal? I want something that will lower the notes in music. I tried to say that without sounding dumb but I failed LOL

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[dejo 10+ year member]

it makes freq's lower and also has somehwat of a spl mic. some music they are great for some they are worthless.

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

You need to feed it a full range signal, not an SW out, or it is worthless.

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

I recently got an Epic-160. It's primarily a volt-meter and SPL meter. The accuracy of the SPL measurement is questionable at best, but it's consistent.

The Bass Resortation circuitry is a fancy (?) adjustable equalizer for bass. You can tune the width and position of your bass boost. Then, use the big knob to control how much boost.

Imagine your frequency spectrum is a flat line. Bass restoration does this:

Bass Boost _______/--------\_________________

| width |

Fq

​

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

chill dude... I'm trying to help you out. Monster red letters only cause //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif

I've read about side-by-side tests that said it was off by 2 or 3dB's and some that say it's dead accurate...

My comment was that you shouldn't expect it to be perfect. But it is plenty good enough for most people.

 

[braggpawn 10+ year member]

I just didnt want to spend $150 plus on one and have it be a big piece of crap like the other 60% of the car audio out there!

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

Besides the backlight being a little weak, the Volts are accurate, and according to home-cheese, the dBs are too. (cough)

If you're getting it for the Bass Restoration... it is an Epicenter. Same circuitry, according to the manual. So yes, it dumps more bass into your signal... at the cost of possible clipping.

If your music's got heavy bass peaks already, you'll see lots of clipping, but for Classic Rock, Oldies, etc. it adds bass quite nicely. It also adds alot of clean bass to radio, which tends to be broadcast at lower volumes.

If you like SQ music, like Dave Matthews Band, Galactic, Dream Theater, etc... that is elegantly recorded, then the Restoration circuitry is a waste. I unhooked mine... but the dB and Volts are extremely convenient.

 

[CobraStang98 10+ year member]

Alot of people just use it to find what frequency they get the loudest at, instead of buying a much more expensive TL. Doesn't need to be on point with a TL, really doesn't matter how much testing any meter will do to compare to the TL currently. Its the gold standard and regardless if another meter is close or on point it's not nearly as respected as TL numbers will be.

 

[Bass911 10+ year member]

They are not really needed if your box is tuned right. Imo, they sound really bad on 15's and 18's because big subs play low naturally. When you start listening to music that has a low bass note you heard before the Epic, it will be gone because they drop the bass so low. It will sound like your sub is missing low notes. You can save some money and get the Soundstream BX-12 unless you need the meter. The quality is very close to the Epic. I have the BX-12 but it stays unhooked most of the time. I know what songs it sounds impressive on, so I just plug in the rca's when I want to use it.

It seems like they should help you meter higher, but the ones I've seen in comps hurt them on the termlab. To the ear it does sound more intense depending on the song.

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

Fun toy, Had mine for a year now. Ok here goes Same system, same tone cd, Same car. The db meter reads any where from 152-161. Yes I've had it hitting 161. On the ac mike my car does 148-150.

Just today I was checking the volt meter against a dmm. Pretty much read 1 volt higher throughout. Alt running alt off, Motor running. motor off. Didn't matter.

I finally figured out the secret to big numbers though. Get your car hot. The mic is heat sensitive. Hotter I got the epic 160 the higher I would score.

As some one posted above it is good for finding your tone, Box placement that sort of thing though.

I don't have the bass enhancer hooked up with mine.

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

hum... some say accurate some say real off....

At what temperature is it the most accurate? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

Forget about cranking it to 11, Alvitae pegged the 160 dB meter at 161! Someone's been eating their Wooties.

Unit does get hot pretty fast. Not sure why... I'll check for temperature variation on it.

If the volts are off by one, my stock Toyota alternator is a 15 V champ!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

I just bough one, i hope it's not that off

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

were you testing the same power sourceor was it hooked up and grounded in differant locations?

In my Ford it was hooked up behind the dash, Stereo store installed it so not sure what sources they were using. Probably the same as anyone else would when hooking it up.

Stock alt and it would say it charged at 15.8 and rest at 14.6. Always thought it was high.

So when I put it in my Crx I wired it to a cigarette lighter plug. And used velcro to mount it. That way whenever some one wants to tune on theor system they just come grab it from me and stick it their car. As far as voltage goes I checked up at the front battery and at the back 2 kinetik 1800s. And at the lighter plug. And it read about pretty much 1 volt higher. No big deal since I just subtract 1 volt when I look at it.

 

[Xprime4 10+ year member]

any of you guy got problem mounting it in a 1/2 din location? i mean i got my headunt and 1/2 din equalizer in a double din dash kit... the 1/2 left should be ok or the unit ain't really a 1/2 din?