Going Tuesday to discuss what I need for my goal of achieving a killer sound system to be envied...............

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...2&forum_id=103

 

Do you want to retain a mostly "factory" appearance? Do you want a show quality install and system? Do you want to keep it "stealth"?

How many amps? How many subs? What music do you listen to? How much room are you willing to give up on the interior of the vehicle?

As I mentioned I like your front speaker choice a lot. I would give up the rear speakers altogether. A nice front stage set up like you have will easily fill a vette interior with sound.

Help us help you bro

Fej

 

I miss Randy

Anyhow, I read your entire other thread. Good choice on the Focals for the fronts. I agree with Scott on no rears. JL Audio makes a great amp (can be ordered in chrome for flash effect ) Many on this site have gone with the double Din Pioneer Nav units.
Best wishes

 

I'm looking for clear concise sound to blast some R.E.M. and Morrissey. I want others to be so depressed from the Mozzer's crooning that people are just driving off of the road. As far as the amp setup, I need advice as I do not know the difference. As for cargo space, it's so limited as it is with the vert, especially with the top down that I'd like to keep some small trunk area operational. As for stealthy appearance, that is not necessary as the car is always garaged, never unattended and I'm looking for the best possible setup that I can get for under $5K, including install. How many amps or speakers that that requires I don't know. If I have to sacrafice what little room I already have in the vehicle, then so be it if that means a much better system. If that means no rear speakers, then so be it as well. i am relying on you guys along with the shop to put the best possiblr scenario together for me. Also I would like an in dash CD changer with satellite capability. I have no experience with an MP3 or Ipod so I don't think that I would need one.........help!!!!!

 

3 way front set up is definitely recommended and the Focal (fO-Kal) Utopia you are choosing will do you quite well. So that you know the Utopia is their "audiophile" line ... very uncolorized and natural sounding, some people would even call it somewhat "flat" in response. This is purely for accuracy but if you want a really "bright" sound I would recommend Polykevlar over utopia.

As for the amps JL makes a nice amp as does Zapco, ARC audio, and my personal amp which I am really happy with is the Genesis line made in England. I have the Profile line which is their lower end amp in a 5 channel that runs my entire system. I have it installed underneath my non power passenger seat and it pushes my 3 way front stage (mainly Focal) and my Image Dynamics IDQ 12" sub with the gains all at minimum and my Eclipse headunit at 70/80 as loud as you would want to hear any music

At the end of the day, when you buy an amp you are paying for THD (total harmonic distortion, lower the better) and advertised, or hopefully better than advertised RMS watts. Example would be a 4 channel 50 watt per channel amp (50x4). You could buy one of these amps for $150. And it would likely put out 30x4. You could also buy one for $500. And that amp would likely put out 57-65x4.

Many people build an amp rack behind the seats on that rear shelf and set up all of their components there. Check out the install thread in the audio forums here.

As for a Headunit I would recommend the Eclipse line. The Pioneer line is very nice and popular here with the Vette folks for the Navigation option as well. The new Alpine line has started getting some pretty decent reviews as well. Stay away from the "glidetouch" IMO. I personally have the 8053 eclipse with built in crossover functions and EQ as well as a 24bit DAC (just think slightly better reading of the CD for better accuracy over a 1bit DAC)

Hope this helps some.

Fej

 

best way that i can compare pioneer units to the eclipse units is:

pioneer: gps unit that also plays music
eclipse: high end head unit that also has gps.

make sense? you can see where each companies priorities are. doesnt mean that either one of them is a bad product but more what they are focusing on.

i have sacraficed very little trunk space with my install. mount your amp(s) behind the waterfall, right below where the top folds down (not very usable space anyways) and get a subthump box with a decent sub (i went with an idq12 and am very happy with it)

for amps. in a vert with mods like ours get as close to or above 75 watts for the door speakers. 300+ watts for the sub and you should be happy. along with the brands recommended above also check out audison and xtant. I have an xtant and it's the best am *I've* ever owned (my past amps have been ppi, eclipse, phoenix gold (ti series), as well as a kenwood when i was in highschool

for amps selections, maybe ed amps:
http://edesignaudio.com/category.php?type=amps
nine.4 for the front speakers (bridged)
and nine.2 for the sub. (get a 4 ohm sub or dual voice coil 2 ohm sub) or if you're going to get a beefier sub go with the nine.1 and we'll have to figure out the impedance of the voice coils (measured in ohms like above) based on the power requirements of the sub

 

actually you could just get two nine.2 amps. one for the sub and one for the front speakers.

oh...and you dont need two amps you can just use one if you rather. you wont get as much power but you could be happy as well. my xtant is a 3 chan amp that will power the front speakers with 75 wrms (watts rms) and the sub with about 300 wrms.

 

Do you recommend rear speakers with an enclosed box where the factory changer resides on the vert or nothing at all out back? Will it be loud enough with sufficient bass with a front only setup? Also I am leaning towards Focal speakers (Polykevlar or Utopia Series), Eclipse head unit, Xtant or Genesis Amp(s). Also do we need a custom faceplate bt Vrum Vrum, here on the forum or the kits that the shops use are sufficient? Thanks

 

i say ax the rear speakers. you wont ever miss them. you are going to have plenty of volume (gobs more then the bose is putting out) so you wont benefit from rear speakers. (usually they do up the overall volume of the system..in factory/oem setups, but you're amping your fronts with plenty of power and also adding a sub so you dont need the added power...with 75+ watts to the front and 300+ watts to the sub it will amost hurt at full volume) the added benefit of going with more power is that you dont have to turn it up as loud to get the same volume. how does that benefit you? the lower your volume is the less distortion you introduce into the system.

you dont need the custom vrumvrum faceplate it's more of an asthetic thing. I think the vrum vrum kit makes a single din unit look great in the factory location, if you're already investing that much into the system i think it's a nice finishing touch.


let us know as you start picking components and we'll help you narrow down what else you need. the sub will seem tricky with all the different impedances, but it's pretty straight forward when you're familiar with it. we can help you with that when the time comes.

 

Where do we mount the sub if not in the rear?

 

you could put 7" mid bass drivers in the door but it'll never hit as low as a sub. so the rear is really the only place. you can put it in the center storage bin or have some custom corner enclosers made.

 

maybe you're misunderstanding what we mean by no rear speakers. By rear speakers we mean the full-range 5.25" or 6.5" that are in the stock rear locations.
Yes, the sub goes in the rear. Since it willl only play low frequencies it does no screw up the front stage.

 

Got ya. No rear speakers but do the Woofer in the box out back. Also heard good things about McIntosh @ Nagamichi products.....pricey though.

 

woops...sorry, never even thought about how easily that could be confused. yeah..no rear speakers but yes to a rear sub.

mcintosh and nagamichi butler too! they have some tube amps that are supposed to be amazing! If i had focals and were redoing my system i'd really think about butler tube amps...oh well... if i had knewblewkkorvette's credit cards still.

 

oh man!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-Pha...spagenameZWDVW

get these!!!!

i'm tempted to even get these for myself!

 

Looks good. I'd rather not bring equipment to the installer cause I'd just get banged out on the install. Plus if it is put together by them then it's on them to make sure that everything works well together.

 

Looks like you are headed in the right direction. With the sub out back for tonality and stage accuracy it is important to be able to manage your crossover points. I would definitely look in to at least a headunit that has a built in 3 way crossover with at least an 18db rolloff point or an external crossover. Most passive crossovers (those that come with the front components) are 12db rolloff. Some good ones are 18db but its rare. Most amp crossover points are 12db as well with the occasional 18db (mainly on the sub low pass). Just use the rear speaker money for a nice Audio Control 4xs or something My current set up is:

12" sub 63hz and down (18db)
7" midbass 63hz to 400hz (24db)
3" mid 400hz to 3.5k (24db/12db)
1.1" tweet 3.5k up (12db)

Certain songs will have the bass bounce around a bit between front and rear but not so much that it bugs me (yet ) With your proposed set up you really will NEED good quality sound deadening in the doors in order to support some nice upper sub to midbass frequencies up in your front midbass speaker. The crossovers on the Utopia line I believe are 18db. I think the Polykevlar are still 12db.

Fej

 

 

Also, I have the carpeted convertible partition installed. Will the rear sub necessitate that I remove it or will the sound be able to go through it? I believe that one reason that we install the partition is to eliminate noise. Any experience here?

 

it'll muffle it a bit but it wont eliminate the sound. a lot of people put subs in thier trunks and still have nice sounding systems.