First post in this forum (hi all!) I caught the bug bad

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

About a month ago one of my buddies started looking at car audio gear. I've been basically out of "it" for the better part of 8 years, even though in my last vehicle I threw together a respectable complete system. Back in the day, car audio was my number one enjoyment. Well, in researching current products, and what people are doing these days, so I could more accurately help my friend out, I ended up catching the bug myself (again). Honestly, I didn't want to keep my current vehicle long enough to make it worth doing a system in, so I just let the idea go... until now.

So I went out and did what any recovering addict did... I researched for weeks, every waking moment, until my eyeballs were popping out of my head and I couldn't afford the gas prices in my SUV from driving around to all the shops, and bought a bunch of stuff, with more on the way of what wasn't in stock.

I figured I'd post a quick report on what's up with that and see what y'all think.

Now in the vehicle as of the last couple weeks:

* Alpine CDA-7878 head unit (love that thing)

* Phoenix Gold Titanium 6 Comp Elite (Morel Isreal/PG) components up front @ 100 W RMS / side (400 W was WAY over the top for this setup, but they sounded great)

* Infinity Perfect 10.1 pair subs in sealed .77 ft^3 enclosures @ 400 W RMS each

* Two of: MB Quart RAA4200, powering everything

* Two of 1.2 Farrad caps

* Optima Yellow Top battery

* all good cabling, connectors, and signal

* Dynamat Extreme (just on both layers of the doors and cargo floor area)

On the shelf awaiting installation

* Alpine SPX-17MB midbass components with crossovers for rear doors @ 100 W RMS each

* Performance chip for the engine

On order

* Alpine SPX-107R components to accent the 17MB midbass drivers for front

* Alpine SWX-1242D pair of 12" subs to replace the Infinity Perfect 10's, will get 500 W RMS each

* MB Quart RAA1000 class D sub amp to replace one of the RAA4200 amps

(yea, I'm a big Alpine fan from way back. Their newest type X stuff seems awesome)

So, on with your thoughts, recommendations, hates, likes, whatever.

Cheers!

Click to read more...

 

[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like a decent setup to get you back into the game!

Welcome, and protect your wallet.....

 

[Worlddre 5,000+ posts]

yes welcome back and.....

Bwa hA hA hA we got another one!!!!!

 

[bimma85 5,000+ posts]

What box are you putting the subs in?? Either I am on crack or you are talking about the type x. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I would not recommend only sending them 500 watts. Also were you planning on sealing or porting them? I have heard many say they weren't happy with them sealed. Everything else sounds pretty good. My buddy is building his box tonight for his, ported to alpine specs. Its only 1.8 cubes with the port and sub displacement included.... Does this seem small too anyone else? Maybe its just the dumb noob in me, its seems small to me but is what alpine recommends.

 

[Rattlebrain 10+ year member]

Welcome!! The "bug" bit me again a couple of years ago.

Crap it hurt.

Right in the back pocket. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

What box are you putting the subs in?? Either I am on crack or you are talking about the type x. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I would not recommend only sending them 500 watts. Also were you planning on sealing or porting them? I have heard many say they weren't happy with them sealed. Everything else sounds pretty good. My buddy is building his box tonight for his, ported to alpine specs. Its only 1.8 cubes with the port and sub displacement included.... Does this seem small too anyone else? Maybe its just the dumb noob in me, its seems small to me but is what alpine recommends.

My enclosure will be sealed @ 1.31 cubic ft per Type X 12" sub. I can probably squeeze a tad more volume but it's looking pretty good with 3dB down at 32 Hz and a Qtc of .87, according to calculations. I'd like to get the Q closer to .7, but this woof would need a ton of space for that. Yea, I've heard they really eat the Watts, but I'm going to check it out at 500 W each, which some have had fine experiences with. If they're not happy, I'll re-evaluate my sub amp situation.

Actually, I just checked the theoretical open air response and calc's on 1.8 ft^3 tuned to 24 Hz and it looks surprisingly good. Optimum appears to be just under 4 Cubic feet, but I'm not sure what xmax has to say about that, depending on your power.

Thanks for the response

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Welcome!! The "bug" bit me again a couple of years ago. Crap it hurt.

Right in the back pocket. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

I'm hearing (feeling) that myself. Can I justify it by all the rewards points I'm earning on the Platinum card??? *heh!*

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

welcome //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Jayhawkk 10+ year member]

Welcome to the fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Savstyle 10+ year member]

Welome back to the world of car audio and welcome back to losing a shitload of moeny on your system

 

[cjjackson85 5,000+ posts]

Welcome... to the shithole.

 

[Logikalliquid 10+ year member]

Welcome. How do you lik those MBQuart amps? I hear they are pretty underrated.

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Welcome. How do you lik those MBQuart amps? I hear they are pretty underrated.

To be honest, I haven't had them very long, and certainly haven't had them on a bench. But, from my limited experience so far...

I was a bit skeptical at first, but that faded quickly. The sound is superb. They're built like tanks, but it's a look I definitely appreciate. I have a Xtant 6.1 and 4.4 that I haven't even mounted because these Quart RAA amps audibly pounce on them with power that I need for my SUV (more, it seems, than just the amound of their higher rated power). There really aren't any bells and whistles. I think Performance Auto and Sound Mag's Dave MacKinnon said it best in his test report (linked below): "They aren't flashy, full of gizmos and the "latest craze" features. They just reproduce music faithfully and accurately. Sign me up!".

Link to article

On the bench, he also found that the RAA2400 definitely was under-rated (but not by a ton on his pre-release production model). On my Ti6comp's, I wouldn't be able to tell you a difference between 100 WRMS or 120 WRMS, but when I ran 400 into them, it was pure, unadulterated painful insanity. As for the subs, the last time I ran these pups was in a vehicle with less than a third the internal listening space to pressurize, so they sound worse now (but still loud and powerful) -- a little boomy and audibly muddier than in the tight cab they had before. Also, I'm not getting the extreme low bass extension they exerted previously, which I'm sure is due to the acoustics of the vehicle, and not the amp's fault (which is why I'm upgrading to the Type X 12" subs). The Quart amp I have running the subs seems to be trying to push the cones right off of the baskets. It is definitely powerful, and sucks down its 1.2F cap handily too.

I'm still getting used to them though, and tweak the tuning of the system a little more every day. As of yet, no complaints. But... if it's between the Quart RAA series and an equally powerful Zapco Reference amp, it should go without saying that Zapco is the way to go. Compared to the new lineup of Alpine, Hifonics (non gen xx), and many others in its class, I personally believe the Quart amps are the way to go if you have the room to mount them. This is just a preliminary take though, so please take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Nightskye 10+ year member]

Mr. Anderson! Welcome back...we missed you...muhahhaha

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

I see quality posting - thank god.

But, I'm gonna call you a n00b anyway. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Welcome.