SQ System

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I use CDTs personally, but by all accounts, the Germaniums you mentioned earlier are hard to fault, though I have not heard them myself.

From there you want a solid amp with plenty of power. You want the amp to be able to power the speakers to the level at which you want to listen to them without breaking a sweat. Having an amp capable of supplying more than twice the power you really need is not a bad thing. Use the amp gain to limit the output and you never approach clipping and the amp stays comfortably in its linear range. If you have the money, look at DLS or Audison. You would probably want around 100w per side. If you are on more of a budget, there are plenty of solid amps out there, but you have to be careful and conservative with how much power you try to get out of these amps. If you push them near their limits they will begin to sound bad. For these, I would be looking in the 150w per side range, planning on only using 50W of that to get the desired volume wih comfortable headroom.

Once you have selected good components, don't cheat yourself with the install. Time and effort spent making the install its best will prove well worth it in the final product.

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

I use CDTs personally, but by all accounts, the Germaniums you mentioned earlier are hard to fault, though I have not heard them myself.
From there you want a solid amp with plenty of power. You want the amp to be able to power the speakers to the level at which you want to listen to them without breaking a sweat. Having an amp capable of supplying more than twice the power you really need is not a bad thing. Use the amp gain to limit the output and you never approach clipping and the amp stays comfortably in its linear range. If you have the money, look at DLS or Audison. You would probably want around 100w per side. If you are on more of a budget, there are plenty of solid amps out there, but you have to be careful and conservative with how much power you try to get out of these amps. If you push them near their limits they will begin to sound bad. For these, I would be looking in the 150w per side range, planning on only using 50W of that to get the desired volume wih comfortable headroom.

Once you have selected good components, don't cheat yourself with the install. Time and effort spent making the install its best will prove well worth it in the final product.

thanks alot man very informative...mind if i add you to my buddy list?

 

[Hebrew Hammer 10+ year member]

1st question would be budget...

2nd question would be how critial are you?

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

3rd question would be how much time do you want to spend on it?

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

budget is around 3500-4000 including my headunit(haven't decided if i want video or not)

i'm pretty critical..scale of one to ten...7(i liked being immersed in good clean sound)

im not trying to build "rome in a day" so time isn't a problem

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

wow nice budget we can definately have some fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif.

I'm going to list some of the stuff i would buy if had that budget

HU: Eclipse CD7000 (~$500), P9 Combo (~$900), Pioneer 880prs (~300), Alpine H701 Combo (~$1000)

Speakers: Seas Lotus Reference (old set - $750, new set - $900), Rainbow Power CS (600-800?), Morel Elate (?), Rainbow Platiunum (~$1200), Dynaudio 240 (~$400), DLS Iridium (~$400)

Amps (for front stage and 2 way): Arc Audio 4150xxk ($400), Arc audio SE 4200(retails at like $1200 or so?), Zapco Reference 650.5 (~$5-600), DLS A4 ($500), Tru Tech 4.100 ($500), JL 450/4 ($500), Brax X2400 ($1000)

Subs: Seas Lotus SW300, Arc Audio Flatline, IDMax, SI Mag, DIYMA (//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif) and too lazy to think.

Sub Amp: whatever you choose for front stage amp, find a matching amp.

So what would i choose if i had your money?

HU: P9 Combo

Speakers: Seas Lotus Reference

Amps: Arc Audio SE 4100 bridged to mids, Arc Audio SE 4200 for tweets and sub

Sub: DIYMA //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

cool..seems pretty nice

anyone else?

 

[Curel 10+ year member]

Great info there helotaxi. I totally agree.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

I would like to officially mention HLCD (horn loaded compression drivers) as an option //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Personally my favorite. Image Dynamics and USD Audio make very nice horns.

Go active and mate them with a good mid, add a little EQ work, and you'll be in sonic bliss.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

cool..seems pretty nice
anyone else?

Me, me, me....boy o boy is this fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/woot.gif.aaa6090e619a97b6090d16dd863c5a69.gif

Passive -

HU: Denon CD-500

Front stage: Rainbow Profi 3 ways with kick bass

Amps: 2 x Eclipse 34230's...on for the fronts, one for the subs (frees up some $$$ for the rest)

Subs: Pair of Alchemy MX's

Active -

HU: Clarion DRZ 9255

Front stage: Seas Excel W22EX 8" midbass , Seas Excel W12CY 4.5" midrange, Seas Millennium tweeter

Amps: 2 x DLS A3's, DLS A5

Subs: Pair of Seas Lotus SW300's

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

Cool thanks for all the help...just one last question whats the difference between active and passive...i'll leave you guys alone after that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Passive is frequency division done after the amplifier. Active is done before the amplifiers. With a passive setup you will run one amplifier channel on each side of the front stage and the frequencies are divided between the mid and tweet by a series of caps and coils. In an active system, the frequency division is done at line level and the correct frequency is sent to a dedicated amplifier channel for each individual driver.

Passive is simple to set up, just connect the passive crossover to the amp and run wires to the drivers. It is also cheaper since you only need two channels of amplification for the front stage.

Active is more complex to set up but more flexible as well. Unlike a passive setup where the crossover frequencies are fixed, and aactive setup allows you to adjust the frequency to give you the ability to fine tune the response curve. Also you have individual level control for the mids and tweets. You additionally have the ability to run time alignment for each driver to optimize the soundstage. The drawback to active is cost. You need a channel of amplification for each driver you plan to use. This can be done with a multichannel amp of several two-channel amps but running a 300W four channel in a two way active setup will not give you the same volume or head room as a 300W two channel run in a passive setup.

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

taxi you're pretty knowledgeable thanks man...now all i got to do is match up good equipment...i can't wait to get started //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[BM23 10+ year member]

I think i've decided what equipment i'm going to put in my car. As recommended im going to get my front stage together and worry about everything else later.

Headunit: Pioneer FH-P099MD(japanese model)

Front Stage: Rainbow Germanium 465.25

Amplifier: Arc Audio 4150xxk

what do you all think about this?

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

First, you probably don't want the Japanese model of a HU if you ever listen to the radio. The freq range is different. You will have a range of radio freqs that you don't need and there is part of the radio spectrum here that you can't tune in.

Second, do you have room for 2 6.5" woofers on each side up front? If not, I would suggest the 265.25 instead of the 465.25.

Are you planning on running an active crossover or the passive that comes with the comp set. If you are using the passive unit I would go with the Arc 2100. It will give you a bit more power. Of course if you were to go with the 465 set, the 4150 would let you go active and have 160W for each side on the midbasses and 80W for the tweets in an active setup (crossover in the amp).

The component choice looks good. The install will make it or break it of course. Don't forget to budget in wiring and electrical upgrades to feed the amps. It would be a shame to have great stuff and a good install and not have the juice to run it.