MS8, Amps, Set Up Question

[Chrisw21 10+ year member]

No luck in the "General" forum, so I'll try here..... Getting ready to set up the system and now I'm getting down to the details. Now a few issues have popped up. The amps are ARC FD4150 for front/rear and FD600.1 for the sub.

1.Aux Input - I was going to use the input on the MS8 to listen to Pandora, Grooveshark, etc. thru my phone, but then I remembered reading that the MS8 doesn't process the aux input the same as the HU input. Is this true? I may just buy the aux input cable for my HU anyways so I can control volume from there rather than the MS8 remote.

2.Crossover Settings - Do I let the MS8 handle the crossover points or use the adjustments on the amps? If I use the MS8, what do I set the amps at? If I use the amp crossovers, do I set the MS8 to "Full" for all settings?

3.Bass Boost Knob - I want to have the bass boost knob hooked up even if I don't use it much. The recording levels between some types of music and some older recordings just requires it in my opinion. So if I use the remote knob, where do I set the bass boost adjustment the amp at? 0dB??

Thanks for your help guys!!

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[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

I see few posts on this board about the MS8, you will likely find a lot of info on it over at DIYMA, as there is a JBL tech that has posted a lot over there about it.

It was a forum b0ner there for a long time.

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

Because I have had my fair experience with the good ol' MS-8, Ill tell you what I know. First off I never got a very good response from the AUX input, the output was very low and as far as I can tell it wants to be setup and calibrated to one of the other and you cannot switch between HU and AUX without recalibration or it will **** on one of the inputs. Secondly, you turn alll crossovers from your amps and HU off! let the MS-8 take care of you, I also recomend you use the full 24 db/oct slop to get best results. And lastely as far as I know you set your amp to 0 db on bass boost because plugging the remote in takes over the control, make sure you calibrate your ms-8 with it all the way down as well. Then you can turn it up but keep in mind that when you turn up the bass boost your changing the "ideal" sound created by the MS-8 and it may drown out the other frequencies... I would actually say its better to just calibrate at 0 bass boost and then control the level from the MS-8 control screen