So the System is installed, in place, 'calibrated' and everything works exactly as it should be...except for one problem: It doesn't sound HQ!!!
I'm going to outline what roads I took to get to this point and list my equipment, all of which should be fairly good sounding stuff. Nothing ultlra high-end but I've had systems in the past the sung like magic and were much less -
I got almost everything on-line and found a friend's shop to do the install:
Alpine W505 head
Imprint w/mic
Kicker 850 4 channel amp
(Appx 165w / 4oh)
Kicker 500.1 D amp
(500w / 2oh)
Diamond 6.5 comps,
2 sets, rear & front.
Bravox sub in box (from earler system)
THEORIES:
The last system I had was a Kenwood Excellon 979 running the 'Keg'
under the seat. Pure digital connection with removal Phat hard drive cart.
The speakers were not super-high end, just Kenwood 6.5 Excellons.
The amp was a modest 5 channel from around the year 2000.
While there was never enough power to jam at high volumes without clipping and
lighting up the X-overs, it was still a stunningly clear sound with terrific fidelity.
ALPINE W505 HEAD UNIT:
I got the Alpine now because everyone swears by the name. Had Alpine when I was a kid, it wasn't bad at all. This thing promised everything, DVD, Nav, BT, iPod direct control over the GUI and the name itself, not to mention the Imprint control, which we calibrated thru the steps. I personally cannot tell much difference at all between the Imprint curve selection and off. I have a great audiophile setup in my livingroom so my ear I like to think is very astute to listening.
Could this model of Alpine be more of a multimedia device and LESS of an audiophile piece? Without the Imprint, the Pre-outs are only 2v. With the Imprint, they're 4v.
My Kenwood was 5v I believe. Can that be the difference??
With the Imprint selected, there are virtually no adjustments that can be made, except Sub control. But even if I could tweak, the problem is beyond that. There's simply NO sound stag, or imaging or even great fidelity for that matter.
KICKER AMPS:
I know I've heard that Kicker has gone down the tubes the past few years but can they really be that much worse than they were 8 years ago?!? The awesome power is there, for sure. The gains only turned up to about 40%, I can't play the head unit at more than about 2/3 max before my ears start to bleed and my hair itches on my scalp. The older Impulse amp had a beautiful clarity about it, the high-end just shimmered, and every tone was audible and instrumentation was just so well defined.
These amps were great value for the dollar, watt-for-watt.
Amps would probably be the easiest component to change out to test if this is the culprit....
DIAMOND HEX SILK COMPS:
I know I chose the silk versions over the Aluminums because some said the latter were so brite they'd make your ears bleed. The woofers should be the same though. Is there something about these speakers that makes them more flat than others? The Kenwoods I had in the Xterra previously, as I said, I chewed those up from loud volumes with an underpowered amp, but when they were fresh they sounded unreal. Even FM sounded alive, electric. Perfect level of mids & the tweets were extremely bright but if you could imagine a finger-symbal or chimes shimmering across the car, I mean you heard every little detail.
I bought these thru Woofersetc.com and they came looking great, with terrific reviews and the shipper had nothing but good reviews and reputation within this forum.
INSTALL & CABLES:
The previous install was ok, nothing real high end. The cable off the battery was probably only 4ga, this time we used 0 ga, and a splitter in the back deck with 2ga. running to the amps. The last install done at ABT had the X-overs in the doors, average cable, and like a 16 ga. wire going to the sub, so I couldn't consider that a serious installation. And it still sounded pretty **** good.
Last install, the speakers were just placed in the doors, this time
we took the time to FatMat all 4 doors for vibration control and the tweters were carefully placed in knockouts from the pillars and the rear doors.
So in summary, most of my income comes from April to Christmas, with now being the dry season so there isn't anything else I can budget for new stuff now.
But when that time comes in a few short weeks, what would YOU get first to try to diagnose the problem? My friends get in the car and they think it sounds great, but I know better. My last system sounded just so sweet, even if it was underpowered and rattling in the doors from plastic on plastic!!!
Can the Alpine be the cause, more of a multimedia toy than a serious listener's component?
Can the Speakers be tailored to be so anti-brite, that they lend no transparency to the fidelity? Even the Sub in there now doesn't sound great, it's muddy and confused, not much separation, so that makes me think it's not the speakers.
Can the Kicker name really be SO much way worse than they were just a few years ago? How could a company de-evolve from a pretty good sound?
What would you do if you were me?
I'd like to think I have some scarves left in the doors like gauze after a heart operation, because that's what it sounds like, but I helped put the doors on so I know that's not the case....
Any ideas or constructive thoughts would be most appreciated and be a learning experience for any other DIY'ers here.....thanks in advance!!!
I'm going to outline what roads I took to get to this point and list my equipment, all of which should be fairly good sounding stuff. Nothing ultlra high-end but I've had systems in the past the sung like magic and were much less -
I got almost everything on-line and found a friend's shop to do the install:
Alpine W505 head
Imprint w/mic
Kicker 850 4 channel amp
(Appx 165w / 4oh)
Kicker 500.1 D amp
(500w / 2oh)
Diamond 6.5 comps,
2 sets, rear & front.
Bravox sub in box (from earler system)
THEORIES:
The last system I had was a Kenwood Excellon 979 running the 'Keg'
under the seat. Pure digital connection with removal Phat hard drive cart.
The speakers were not super-high end, just Kenwood 6.5 Excellons.
The amp was a modest 5 channel from around the year 2000.
While there was never enough power to jam at high volumes without clipping and
lighting up the X-overs, it was still a stunningly clear sound with terrific fidelity.
ALPINE W505 HEAD UNIT:
I got the Alpine now because everyone swears by the name. Had Alpine when I was a kid, it wasn't bad at all. This thing promised everything, DVD, Nav, BT, iPod direct control over the GUI and the name itself, not to mention the Imprint control, which we calibrated thru the steps. I personally cannot tell much difference at all between the Imprint curve selection and off. I have a great audiophile setup in my livingroom so my ear I like to think is very astute to listening.
Could this model of Alpine be more of a multimedia device and LESS of an audiophile piece? Without the Imprint, the Pre-outs are only 2v. With the Imprint, they're 4v.
My Kenwood was 5v I believe. Can that be the difference??
With the Imprint selected, there are virtually no adjustments that can be made, except Sub control. But even if I could tweak, the problem is beyond that. There's simply NO sound stag, or imaging or even great fidelity for that matter.
KICKER AMPS:
I know I've heard that Kicker has gone down the tubes the past few years but can they really be that much worse than they were 8 years ago?!? The awesome power is there, for sure. The gains only turned up to about 40%, I can't play the head unit at more than about 2/3 max before my ears start to bleed and my hair itches on my scalp. The older Impulse amp had a beautiful clarity about it, the high-end just shimmered, and every tone was audible and instrumentation was just so well defined.
These amps were great value for the dollar, watt-for-watt.
Amps would probably be the easiest component to change out to test if this is the culprit....
DIAMOND HEX SILK COMPS:
I know I chose the silk versions over the Aluminums because some said the latter were so brite they'd make your ears bleed. The woofers should be the same though. Is there something about these speakers that makes them more flat than others? The Kenwoods I had in the Xterra previously, as I said, I chewed those up from loud volumes with an underpowered amp, but when they were fresh they sounded unreal. Even FM sounded alive, electric. Perfect level of mids & the tweets were extremely bright but if you could imagine a finger-symbal or chimes shimmering across the car, I mean you heard every little detail.
I bought these thru Woofersetc.com and they came looking great, with terrific reviews and the shipper had nothing but good reviews and reputation within this forum.
INSTALL & CABLES:
The previous install was ok, nothing real high end. The cable off the battery was probably only 4ga, this time we used 0 ga, and a splitter in the back deck with 2ga. running to the amps. The last install done at ABT had the X-overs in the doors, average cable, and like a 16 ga. wire going to the sub, so I couldn't consider that a serious installation. And it still sounded pretty **** good.
Last install, the speakers were just placed in the doors, this time
we took the time to FatMat all 4 doors for vibration control and the tweters were carefully placed in knockouts from the pillars and the rear doors.
So in summary, most of my income comes from April to Christmas, with now being the dry season so there isn't anything else I can budget for new stuff now.
But when that time comes in a few short weeks, what would YOU get first to try to diagnose the problem? My friends get in the car and they think it sounds great, but I know better. My last system sounded just so sweet, even if it was underpowered and rattling in the doors from plastic on plastic!!!
Can the Alpine be the cause, more of a multimedia toy than a serious listener's component?
Can the Speakers be tailored to be so anti-brite, that they lend no transparency to the fidelity? Even the Sub in there now doesn't sound great, it's muddy and confused, not much separation, so that makes me think it's not the speakers.
Can the Kicker name really be SO much way worse than they were just a few years ago? How could a company de-evolve from a pretty good sound?
What would you do if you were me?
I'd like to think I have some scarves left in the doors like gauze after a heart operation, because that's what it sounds like, but I helped put the doors on so I know that's not the case....
Any ideas or constructive thoughts would be most appreciated and be a learning experience for any other DIY'ers here.....thanks in advance!!!
