Anyone have any experience with the JBL MS-8

[Nikuk 1]

I've decided that I need to address the stock 12 speaker Sony system in my 2010 Fusion Sport. I can't believe that in a top of the line package you are only allotted options to change "treble & bass". I honestly got better sound in my 99 Ranger with a $50 component set and a pair of 6" mids, with a 5 year old Pioneer HU's eq.

That being said, I DO use and have decided to retain Sync & Steering wheel controls. The only alterations I have in mind (for now) are signal processing. The amp is plenty for everything above midbass range and the sound can be decent from the speakers. I am adding a small subwoofer / amp combo and associated accessories otherwise.

This leaves me two paths:

Buy a decent aftermarket HU ($300-1200) with Bluetooth integration and an aux input, and add on a Ford retention module for Sync et al ($200) and hope the ($50) Schoshe dash kit isn't horrible. I stil have to delve into retaining the factory amp (I/O options). Finally, possibly, pick up an Audiocontrol unit ($100-200) to retask my factory subs (which aren't horrible) to mid-bass duty specifically.

-or-

Buy a JBL MS-8 ($600) or very similar and retain the stock HU & factory features, as well as the stock dash which I'd prefer. It appears that the MS8 is simply an advanced inline signal processor which will allow me to tweak the audio stage & bands (moreso then most aftermarket HUs) as well as expand upon the system as a whole.

It seems I can spend an "extra" $250 or so on going aftermarket HU and may still lose some functionality, or I can spend $600 total and get what I'm looking for in total. So I ask, has anyone had any actual experience with the JBL unit?

Nick

[Impious 1,476]

I have one.

What questions did you have Nick?

[///M5 2,833]

Are you lucky and the processing done on the amps in that car? If so there are plenty of ways to solve concerns without. I can't say I am the biggest fan of it, but if you have to undo the done then perhaps it has a fit.

[Nikuk 1]

Well, ordered it yesterday... Along with an amp, sub, and wiring.

Processing is in the HU. Going to bypass the stock Sony amp & remove it, going to run the MS8s internal amp for now and tweak awhile before jumping to aftermarket drivers & amps.

Squmpoius - is it as good as it is often advertised / reviewed? What are YOUR overall impressions?

To be fair, I'll be happy if it can give me level tonality and an effective 31 eq. Given the price point and reviews, if it lives up to the hype (i assume I'll have to tweak the options) then i'll be ecstatic.

[Impious 1,476]

In my previous installs the auto tune actually did pretty good, that's both with a 2-way front stage using door mounted mids and a kick mounted 3-way. It provides good imaging and tonality without major deficiencies. Some minor tweaks to personal liking, but generally overall good results. Took care of a major midbass peak I had with the 3-ways in the kicks. It took a little bit of "edge" out of the midrange, an edge or aggressiveness that I sort of enjoyed, but it improved the tonality a little by doing so so it was a trade off I could live with. I could probably do just as good if not better myself with a quality processor and measurement equipment, but it probably would take me an entire weekend or two (if not more) compared to the couple hours I spent with the MS8 to get generally the same results. I've always used aftermarket HU's so I've never used the unit to EQ the incoming signal.

It's not quite as plug-n-play as advertised. The first few auto-tunes I did with it were shit. Once I figured out what was going wrong and why I was able to get the issues corrected and get some good tunes going. For example, level matching. The subbass was either non-existent or overwhelming. I followed all of the suggestions from other users (level match prior to auto tune, auto tune at a low volume level, etc) and couldn't get it right. So finally I just left all of the amp gains at minimum during the auto tune and then went back and level matched via the gains to my preference after the fact. Another issue was the xover for the midbass. With the xover set any lower than 80hz, the MS8 applied way too much boost to the midbass and tried to make their cones jump out of their baskets. It's just stuff like that where you need to run it a few times, figure out what you didn't like and how to fix it. Once you start getting it sorted, results get better and better.

I've got my qualms with it. I wish you could leave the processing off to try different xover points before auto-tuning instead of having to do the entire process every time. I wish you could kill processing to individual channels so you could compare different drivers or aiming without losing the auto-tune to the entire system, but you can't. Having the 31 band EQ at your disposal still is a nice feature though. The xovers are very flexible.

Overall I like it, but I'm also fidgety and like having control over things, so there are times I miss a normal processor.

[Nikuk 1]

thats the best user review Ive found on the unit, other then the 110000 page thread on another site. Thanks.

That is overall about what I expected, so I feel a bit better as I dont have it in hand yet.

I appreciate it.