Getting back into sound, help me!

[SlowPoke]

Hey folks, first post but no stranger to forums...

40yrs, married w/children from Ontario Canada. I was into sound a while back but life got in the way. I think it's time to dust off some of the equipment and steal some back from the wife's van!

99' Suburban with rear heat/air and spare tire in the cargo area (drivers side). I listen to a broad range of music and lean towards SQ but I do love bass. I ready to build a sealed box and have room for 6.5 components in front doors, albeit shallow - may need to play with the door panels. 6.5 in rear doors, also shallow. I would consider 6.5 mid-bass or 6" sub in rear doors and I'm not against components or coaxials back there. It's a daily driver; stealth, not show.

Here is what I have...

Mcintosh MX401 (keeping this)

Alpine ERE G180 EQ (might go new)

(3) MTX Blue Thunder Pro 752 (way underrated but not enough juice)

(2) Infinity Perfect 12.1 svc 4Ohm (love 'em, prefer to keep 'em)

Here's what I'm thinking...

MX401

Recommend an indash EQ (5+ bands, rotary knob, sub control, varible sub freq, Main/Aux inputs Sub/Front/Rear outputs)

Recommend amps (Thinking JL 1000/1 & 450/4 OR JL 1000/1 & 500/5)

Recommend speakers (Thinking Focal 165W Utopias in front, I have a line on new/old stock & dunno for the rear doors - depends on the amp setup)

I have a host of other questions but they may answer themselves once I narrow down my choices.

I am considering the 5 channel amp for a small front sub/s - maybe in the kick panels or in small sealed boxes under the seats. If I go that route, I'd consider a ported box... maybe.

I don't have a lot of money to blow and I'll be doing the install myself. I'm even considering bridging the MTX's (1L/1R in front 150w+/side) and standard hook up for the rears. Then I just need a sub amp.

Will bridging degrade the SQ for the fronts?

Critique and suggestions?

Click to read more...

 

[WOT]

Go Canada! I see JL in your post (overpriced, overhyped) So Im just gonna stick with my orig saying

GO CANADA!

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

Theres nothing wrong with JL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif Although it is on the more expensive side of things if you're trying to save money.

I would say that setup sounds pretty nice! I've never heard the Focal Utopias, but I did get a chance to listen to some Focal 165's and I imagine they would sound much better //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Bridging the amp's shouldn't degrade the SQ... as long as you dont go below the recommended impedience while bridged, I would imagine.

 

[SlowPoke]

Go Canada! I see JL in your post (overpriced, overhyped) So Im just gonna stick with my orig saying

What would you suggest? I'm looking for 800-1000w for subs, 100-150w for fronts and 75-150w for rears.

Theres nothing wrong with JL //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif Although it is on the more expensive side of things if you're trying to save money.
I would say that setup sounds pretty nice! I've never heard the Focal Utopias, but I did get a chance to listen to some Focal 165's and I imagine they would sound much better //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Bridging the amp's shouldn't degrade the SQ... as long as you dont go below the recommended impedience while bridged, I would imagine.

I listened to the Utopias several years ago but they were way out of my price range. I remember noting the K2 sounding twice as good as the Polyflex and the Utop's twice as good as the K2's. They have been in my head for years and always wanted a set. I might just give the old Blue Thunders a shot. I love those amps, as ugly as they are. So efficient and compact.

 

[way2sl0 10+ year member]

What would you suggest? I'm looking for 800-1000w for subs, 100-150w for fronts and 75-150w for rears.

I listened to the Utopias several years ago but they were way out of my price range. I remember noting the K2 sounding twice as good as the Polyflex and the Utop's twice as good as the K2's. They have been in my head for years and always wanted a set. I might just give the old Blue Thunders a shot. I love those amps, as ugly as they are. So efficient and compact.

Kicker zx1500.1 etc, JL is fine IMO if you can get a good deal on them.

P.S Also in Ontario

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

since you have infinity subs already, go all-infinity with their new kappa amps (kappa one and kappa four) and components

 

[SlowPoke]

since you have infinity subs already, go all-infinity with their new kappa amps (kappa one and kappa four) and components

It's tempting.

If I don't get the Utopias, 6.1 Perfects will be in the front doors. How are Infinity amps these days? They used to be one notch above ****.

 

[SlowPoke]

Bump for Infinity amp opinions??????????

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

I had one of the infinity amp's with the clipping light, I thought it was garbage.

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

any idea of a price range or feature wish list on the hu? there are probably over a hundred decks that fit your vague specs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

bridging your amp will be fine for running your front comps and should match nicely with the focals.

throw whatever you want to in the rear doors just pick the best that fits into your budget. you will never be sitting there so why spend if you don't have to.

i have never used jl amps but i did love the subs i had. i run alpine pdx amps (4.100, 1.1000, pdx5) in both of my cars and i am quite happy. mine was more a decision based on available space in the car but i am very happy with the results.

 

[SlowPoke]

Here is what I have...Mcintosh MX401 (keeping this)

Alpine ERE G180 EQ (might go new)

Recommend an indash EQ (5+ bands, rotary knob, sub control, varible sub freq, Main/Aux inputs Sub/Front/Rear outputs)

any idea of a price range or feature wish list on the hu? there are probably over a hundred decks that fit your vague specs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
bridging your amp will be fine for running your front comps and should match nicely with the focals.

throw whatever you want to in the rear doors just pick the best that fits into your budget. you will never be sitting there so why spend if you don't have to.

i have never used jl amps but i did love the subs i had. i run alpine pdx amps (4.100, 1.1000, pdx5) in both of my cars and i am quite happy. mine was more a decision based on available space in the car but i am very happy with the results.

Thanks for your input. I quoted myself because I was looking for an EQ with those spec's and I'm not changing the HU. Agree, pretty vague if I were looking for a new HU but pretty specific for an EQ upgrade.

Bridging the Focals would be fine power-wise but am I not adding distortion? I can't remember the arguments for and against bridging from when I was last into car audio! I just don't want to blow a bunch of cash on premium components only to feed them with poor signal.

I'll probably throw coaxials in the rear doors and fade in or out just for fill. This is one of the reasons I was looking at the JL 450/4 because it seems like a perfect fit 150/2 front x 75/2 rear. These spec's seem to offer plenty of headroom for a component/coaxial setup without paying for four channals of big power. The downside? Since you can't bridge FR(L)/FR®, only F/R giving you 300/1 front and 150/1 rear. Not a lot of flexibilty.

 

[energizedsbs 10+ year member]

why dont you keep the mtx's.. bridge two. one for the left and one for the right fronts. and run the other one for the back speakers. I had four of those amps and they were pretty clean sounding.

 

[SlowPoke]

why dont you keep the mtx's.. bridge two. one for the left and one for the right fronts. and run the other one for the back speakers. I had four of those amps and they were pretty clean sounding.

That is an option... but...

If I steal the amps back from the wife, I have to replace them. I'm taking the deck and subs for sure but I have an Alpine deck I can pop back in there and I'll downgrade the subs. Yanking the amps will require some serious effort! LOL

I really do like those Pro 752's. When I pound those Perfect 12's people are astounded when I show them what I'm running. I know they'd make the components dance! I even debated bridging the 752's for the fronts and finding a pair of 3002's bridged for the subs.

That would make for one heckuva "750 watt" system!

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

i have a couple of mtx blue thunder amps...they are really nice quality...