mpunklil

WAAAAAY TOO MANY INCONSISTENCIES with what you have and desire. First, buy yourself a Dayton WT3 so you at least know what the speakers you have ARE capable of...even if it comes w/ a output graph, every speaker has a different signature. THEN decide what you want for x-over points. THEN get yourself a legit processor. You are robbing peter to pay paul. Unless you have a spectrum analyzer, I would shoot for a pxa-h650 or ms-8 processor. Drop the coin, you will THANK yourself for years. If you want a stand alone crossover, keep an eye out on ebay for an old school JBL GTX-47. Theyre cheap, and they should have NEVER stopped making them. If all else fails, get an EQX and spend hundreds of dollars on drivers just because "they dont sound how I want"...btw, $400 for an MS-8 costs the same as blowing money on drivers

I had my front speakers running off of an old school Sony XM-2252HX, another one for the rear, and another for the subs...three in total. I decided to consolidate amps, and figured the Cadence F100-5 would be enough for my Image Dynamics CSX65CS components...christ was I wrong! Going from 225w down to 100w just isnt cutting it, my mid bass and highs are seriously suffering. I'm picking up a line driver tomorrow, as I have always needed one...I simply was able to crank up the gains more on the Sony's and get the desired outcome (factory headunit, spliced some rca's onto the line out). So, here is my question...I am desiring a 5-channel amp that is around 175-250rms on the 4 channels, 5th channel only needs to be around 500rms due to the infinite baffle setup. Does anybody make anything close to this, or am I honestly asking for too much? I technically could go with a 4 channel for the highs and a seperate amp for the subs, but I still run into the problem of not having enough power out of a 4 channel either. The only amp I have seen so far that is UNDER 300 bucks would be a Hifonics ZRX2000.4, but that amp is a beast in size and I just pulled out a beast...trying to go smaller in physical size! Besides, I dont have a whole lot of faith in there quality...nor have I gained much faith with Cadence. What else is out there?? I really dont want to put those big ass Sony's back in.

Agreed, impedance on the subs would be at 2ohm. Subs are 2 ohm DVC wired as series/parallel. The zed interests me, and I'm sure the quality makes up for the power output. I can fudge a little on the price, but not sure I can fudge THAT much. At that range I would end up going for the Cadence ZRS-C8, which is 150x4 @4 + 600x1 @2. Clearly no comparison between the two, but the ZRS-C8 comes with a $350 price tag vs. $875. The other thing I'm going to try is to bridge the F100-5 and see what the headroom is at...distortion should be negligible and I would end up getting a second one. The lack of midbass output is killing me though, its almost there but just not what the Sony's had.

My Alpine PXE-H650 processor will not do a hard reset. According to alpine, I need to hold down the reset button for 10 seconds and it will do a factory reset. This does not happen with mine. I spoke with technical support twice today with no avail. Does anybody know where I can get a copy of the firmware for it? I really do not want to send my processor to them. Thanks!

It's been a while since I have posted on here...busy busy busy. Anyways, I'm not a new kid on the block when it comes to car audio...I was an installer for over 6 years and play with it as much as I can now. I am requesting some insight from somebody with good experience in chasing down engine noise, because I'm at whits end!! Setup: 2004 Audi S4 Factory deck, using the common ground preout on it (hard wired into rca's) Alpine PXE-H650 processor 3 Sony XM2252HX amps (1 front, 1 rear, 1 sub) Image Dynamics CX62 components front/rear 2 Polk DB12 (circa 1999, running free air in rear deck) SO, I think I have isolated it down to a bad capacitor in the power supply on the factory head unit: 1. When rca's (just L and R, no other rcas are connected) are disconnected from head unit to processor, noise goes away 2. Ran new power wire to head unit, straight from battery, noise still present 3. Ran new ground to trusted ground location, noise still present 4. Ran tracer grounds to everything, including processor, amps, and head unit, noise still present 5. Disconnected antennas, noise still present 6. Seperate ground to processor, noise still present 7. RCA noise suppressors (grounded or not), noise still present 8. 12V noise suppressor on the power/ground, noise still present 9. New RCA's ran down the middle of the car, noise still present No matter what I do, I cant ditch the ghost. It's not very loud, you cant hear it with music on...but you can hear it in musical pauses or changes in songs. I dont have a spare head unit to try and trouble shoot with anymore. Only other thing I can think of is that my alternator could have some weak diodes. I dont want to start throwing money around for a new oem radio just to have the same problem. I could go buy an aftermarket, install it real quick, see if it goes away, then return it...but I would rather not unless I have to, and that still wouldnt answer my issue with it being an OEM radio problem. Could it be the fact that my signal is common ground coming out of the radio? Thanks in advance for reading all this crap, I'm just getting desperate. Please leave all comments aside suggesting that I run my RCA's on a different side or if I ran my power with my RCA's...Thanks!

Thanks, thats a good link. Looks like some muting plugs will get me a little further into the trouble shooting. Can't believe I didn't remember to use them...I've been on graveyard shift for 4 months, I'm lost in life lol

do you have any audiocontrol equipment No I dont. im having the same problem but only when my audiocontrol dqxs is connected and when i disconnect the dqxs it goes away i did all those steps you did and nothing worked for me i didn't have this problem before i order a new audiocontrol dqxs lets see if the processor is to blame I do have an Audiocontrol Epicenter...BUT it has never been hooked up in this vehicle, havent been able to find the remote. i have it too but my issue is not with the epicenter only with the dqxs which is a digital eq / digital crossover / line driver 3 in 1 Before my Alpine PXE-H650, I hooked up a JBL GTE22 eq that I picked up off of ebay. The engine noise that that came out of it was astronaumical. I figured it was a bad eq considering it looked a little beat up, and maybe it just didnt like the signal I was giving it. It even made its OWN engine noise sound when I had the stereo on without the car running.

I have hooked up one RCA side only as well before, no luck. This car is a coil on plug with resistor plugs.

Thank you, you always provide good info. I will run through this checklist tomorrow hopefully

Does it without ipod hooked up. Ipod is a direct audio connect spliced into the Sattelite audio input. Even when disconnected (seperate factory harness) the noise is still there.

do you have any audiocontrol equipment No I dont. im having the same problem but only when my audiocontrol dqxs is connected and when i disconnect the dqxs it goes away i did all those steps you did and nothing worked for me i didn't have this problem before i order a new audiocontrol dqxs lets see if the processor is to blame I do have an Audiocontrol Epicenter...BUT it has never been hooked up in this vehicle, havent been able to find the remote.

Currently about 1.5-2'. If I reground it, which is POTENTIALLY a better ground (next on my list) to the seatbelt, it will extend all the cables about 6-8"

Yes, noise still there

Dont worry about it, it will be fine

After I completed the installation of the highs in my car this weekend, I decided I dont need much sub...two 12" IB3's please Unless of course the new lineup is going to include a 10" this time

Crystal CMPx215...can you recone it for me? Thanks!

Here is the TEMPORARY setup: 04 Audi S4 Deck: stock, low signal outputs converted to RCA with Soundgate LOC.22 Highs: stock components, 2ohm each Subs: (2) Crystal CPE 8" in rear deck, infinite baffle, 8 ohm woofers Amps: (2) Sony XM2252HX. One is on the highs, high current mode @ 1ohm/channel. One is on the subs, high current mode @ 4ohm bridged My question is, the subs bottom out real bad...worse than my stock 8 and at less amount of volume. I still need to seal up a major leak from the trunk to the cabin, which I will be taking care of tomorrow but that should only fix the volume portion. Considering they are just 8's, should I just run the built in amplifier high pass filter on them at 50hz since I don't have a subsonic filter? I would think that with my particular setup that a subsonic filter would be too low anyways. I am also tapping in a JBL GTE422 22 band eq, so I'm thinking that with such a high pass filter on the subs that I might be able to compensate by tuning in a little more bass around the 40hz region and overcome the crossover a bit. Could the bottoming be from not having a bumped back magnet? I fully understand that I'm overpowering a woofer, along with using a woofer that is out of it's context...I just want to get a good idea of what I have to work with before I start dropping money on a sub. Hell, I might even end up happy with what I have if I can get it setup right...or I might just be at all losses. Does anybody know if Fi is going to make an IB3 in 10"? I cant stuff the 12" in the rear deck, and a good infinite baffle woofer that can take some power is hard as hell to find! Anybody know where I can get a Crystal CMPx2 voicecoil repaired as well?

The LOCB.2 is designed for stock units w/ a line out, not intended for an amplified input like all the other line output converters. I was more worried about having signal issues since its a common ground signal. Granted it doesn't really matter that much since it's not balanced. I guess I could bypass the LOCB.2 and see what happens. It's possible that it could be what is creating the minute noise floor.

Noise is only apparent with the head unit off, or in between songs. I'd vouch for it being pink noise more so than white. It's very faint, but the second you turn the head unit off WITH the amps ON (the remote output off the stock deck is a bit odd in function), then you will really notice it. It was worse before, but then I adjusted the dip switch's on the Soundgate LOCB.2 down and that helped a hair. Its kind of like a really weak audio signal. Maybe turn the dip switchs to the lowest sensitivity setting and getting a decent line driver? Stock amp was very underpowered, so the noise wouldn't be as amplified, therefore less apparent. If I remember correctly though, I think I remember hearing it every once in a while, but I also wasn't listening for it on the stock setup. The amp over-current issue is fixed, my amp didn't like the impedance curve of vocals/highs to a sub As for eq, granted it's probably speaker related, but the 1-2k range is just piercingly loud, and the vocals need a lot more 500-700...just trying to dial in some stock components lol. Besides, my ear is an experienced ear...just not an educated ear, so for now they like the highs with what people would call a bit bright and harsh. I'm ok with it because that's what MY ears like Besides, my left ear has some hearing loss (minimal) from a fight. Good news? Those stock highs are still alive and kicking perfectly fine, they can take a real a$$ beating! hahahahahaha I can crank em up pretty good, and I still haven't heard them bottom out. Good Job Audi, you put 4 things right in the car lol.

Does the jbl ms8 work better in your opinion?

Agreed, I mainly want the eq to compensate for the in vehicle acoustics. I already had it laying around from my last setup. The pxe it supposed to correct time alignment and phase, which I know are definitely off considering the use of stock speaker locations. Yes, the install does need to be tightened up, just wanted to get a trial run in on this car and see where my problems are goin to fall. I'm surprised the deck has a linear output, not used to seeing that on a factory deck. It does have a pretty high noise floor though, and I'm hoping the pxe will correct that as well.

In the end they were properly installed by technical terms, just not so much visual hahaha. It should all be starting in the near future/less than a few months. Need one more month to catch up on all the newborn baby b/s and knock off a couple loans I have out.

Fixed for your good will. Interesting, they seem to claim some good specs...I figured they didnt look too bad. On the other hand, Bravox is certainly on sale right now.

What features do you need in an eq? Well the line out off a stock deck isnt exactly desirable. Looking into the alpine pxe-h660, looks ten times easier to use than my old eq hahaha. So basically the standard eq features, I dont know how else to explain it other than needing an eq to increase or decrease certain frequencies that lack.

Fried the 8's on my way to work yesterday hahahahahaha. dropped in a dual 10 box with some orion xtr pro's.