New System installed
10-04-2005, 09:38 PM
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New System installed
All the parts are together now. The HU is a Pioneer P8MP. The amp is a JL Audio 300/4, the front speakers are Focal 165KPs, the rears are Focal CA130s and they sit in S-Pods.
The Fronts are driven by the bridged 4 channel amp which goes out at 150W RMS per side. The rears are driven by the HU which was originally going to be set to 60W peak, but we lost concentration and ended up buttoning everything up before we realized that the HU was still in the default setting of 40W. Oh well, we will finish off that detail tomorrow.
How do I describe the sound quality? How about that I went out tonight to tweak the HU and ended up sitting through 2 CDs. The sound is really quite sweet. The front Focals are apparently very happy with the head room offered by the JL Audio. BTW, I was really surprised to hear as much difference between amps as I did while in the demo room. I A/B'ed the JL with an Alpine of similar output and the Alpine seemed to drive a harsh sound quality. No matter what hooked up to the Focals, I kept coming back to the JLs and, the SQ difference was significant.
Since the HU puts out 6.5V, the gain on the amp is set pretty low for the moment. I'll need to get a feel for the maximum I will get to the rears once we reset the HU to the higher output. At that point, I can decide on the gain setting for the fronts.
This be serious sound...
The Fronts are driven by the bridged 4 channel amp which goes out at 150W RMS per side. The rears are driven by the HU which was originally going to be set to 60W peak, but we lost concentration and ended up buttoning everything up before we realized that the HU was still in the default setting of 40W. Oh well, we will finish off that detail tomorrow.
How do I describe the sound quality? How about that I went out tonight to tweak the HU and ended up sitting through 2 CDs. The sound is really quite sweet. The front Focals are apparently very happy with the head room offered by the JL Audio. BTW, I was really surprised to hear as much difference between amps as I did while in the demo room. I A/B'ed the JL with an Alpine of similar output and the Alpine seemed to drive a harsh sound quality. No matter what hooked up to the Focals, I kept coming back to the JLs and, the SQ difference was significant.
Since the HU puts out 6.5V, the gain on the amp is set pretty low for the moment. I'll need to get a feel for the maximum I will get to the rears once we reset the HU to the higher output. At that point, I can decide on the gain setting for the fronts.
This be serious sound...
10-05-2005, 09:21 AM
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Do you have a sub installed? How is the bass with just the focal speakers? I was thinking about doing focal speakers for now and maybe doing a subwoofer later when I have more money. Are you getting any ratteling in the doors? Did you dynamat the doors?
10-05-2005, 11:06 AM
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No sub at this time. So far, I have been impressed with the bass (then again, the fronts are getting 150W RMS with a 6.5V pre-out from the HU).
I have a 25 year old set of Energy Ref Conns in my home theater that perform almost as well as the NHT sub in the system. That tells me that the right 6" speaker can do pretty impressive bass things with the right amount of clean power.
The focals handle some pretty demanding cello music that made the stock setup rattle (actually, with this music, the Focals began to distore a bit with the stock HU), but with the new HU and outboard amp, the Focals can play the piece brilliantly with not a hint of distortion and at levels that go beyond safe listening. I think installing the fronts now (with at least a better HU) and seeing how it feels is a good idea. You might not feel the need for a sub.
I have Dynamat surrounding the front speakers. So far, no rattling. My guess is that rattling might occur based on taking the panels off and on and weakening the clips/posts, but so far, not yet. I will soon do pretty much everything (rest of the doors, floors, transmission hump, trunk, etc.) with B-Quiet Ultimate (said to be similar to Dynamat Xtreme at about 1/2 the cost) and possibly some QuietCar coating.
I have a 25 year old set of Energy Ref Conns in my home theater that perform almost as well as the NHT sub in the system. That tells me that the right 6" speaker can do pretty impressive bass things with the right amount of clean power.
The focals handle some pretty demanding cello music that made the stock setup rattle (actually, with this music, the Focals began to distore a bit with the stock HU), but with the new HU and outboard amp, the Focals can play the piece brilliantly with not a hint of distortion and at levels that go beyond safe listening. I think installing the fronts now (with at least a better HU) and seeing how it feels is a good idea. You might not feel the need for a sub.
I have Dynamat surrounding the front speakers. So far, no rattling. My guess is that rattling might occur based on taking the panels off and on and weakening the clips/posts, but so far, not yet. I will soon do pretty much everything (rest of the doors, floors, transmission hump, trunk, etc.) with B-Quiet Ultimate (said to be similar to Dynamat Xtreme at about 1/2 the cost) and possibly some QuietCar coating.
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