Knowing all that you know about your C6 installs, and what will fit and what wont, what would your dream set-up be?

$ and time are of no object, and if this were to happen, you would have it professionally installed, etc.

I'd like to see what kind of Signal Cables, Speaker Wire, Damping Materials & location, Intergrades/Processors, the entire enchilada...

The more pics & links the better!

This should be a good time, and show others where the individual's audio tastes lie...

 

Did you check out the sticky, What do you run in your system?

 

I'm interested to see the "dream systems" that the others, especially our gurus, would like to have.
Audison Bit 1 would be a part of my dream system. Or maybe the JBL MS-8 when it is released.
I recently met a "High Muckaty Muck" with JBL, who happens to own a beautiful C6, and he says that the MS-8 WILL be out this year.

 

I've seen what people run, but I'm more interested in seeing what you would run if time & money were no object.

Obviously there would be far fewer JL amps & speakers if this were the case.

 

I take it you're not a big fan of JL.

 

They're ok, by far the best with respect to the Made in China stuff goes, but not Audiophile grade equipment.

It's what they sell in the stereo shops now days, pushed as "High End" equipment. Again, not bad, but I'd never buy it or recommend it. Same goes for the Kicker, Alpine, etc. stuff.

 

You've made the claim before about JL being made in China. Can you verify these claims? Never heard this before. JL as far as I know are made in Germany and in Miami. I would love to see some solid evidence of your assertions. For the record, I love my JL system even if its not "audiophile grade" ....in your opinion.

 

JL is made mostly in korea, some may be china, but not in germany or miami as for proof, just go to a JL store, find aproduct and see the made in korea stamped on the box. this doesnt mean its a bad product of course, very few brands are acutally made in the US anymore, there are a few still phyisically made int he EU but they tend to be very expesnive

 

lets see, i dont own a vette, but, if i did, here is prolly what would run, provided hta its a coupe, not a vert. and the focus is on pure sound quality, versus, say, multimedia or what not.

also, this dream system is still wtihin a real world budget, i mean if i had an unlimited budget, i would prolly have manufactuers design proprietary drivers for me for this particular car lol

HU: Denon Z1 or similar SQ specivic headunit

Processor: Dual zapco DSP6-SL processors, i would consider a bit-one, but the teething problems thus far would prolly prevent me from doing it.

Midbass: Seas Lotus reference 8" midbass driver, in stock location door mounting

Midrange: Seas Lotus reference 4.5" midrange, in kick panels, installed by sinking it into the car body so it takes up very little room and vents outside aperiodicly.

tweeter: seas lotus reference tweeter, in kick panels along with midrange, on axis

imaging tweeter: another seas lotus reference tweeter, A pillar mounting off axis.

I normally never do imaging tweeters, but the deep footwell of the vette means kicks would be great for path difference, but also means the stage would be a bit low, so a second set of tweets will help pull the stage up a bit.

subwoofers: 1 x image dynamics IDMAX10 10" subwoofer

amps: DLS TA2 tube amps x 3 for midrange, and the two tweets

DLS A3 x 2 bridged each on midbass (900 watts ish RMS each)

DLS A3 bridged 1x1200 on subwoofer.

so thats about it. lol

mainly overboard on the tweets and the amps, i think the system i did for headpapago, already would achieve nearly 90plus percent of this systems SQ with the setup he has.

 

I have to disagree. While I do not know where all their equipment is made, I do know their subwoofers and enclosures, including the stealthbox are made in Miramar FL. I have visited the plant.

Here is also an excerpt from the JL Site at this link.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/gallery_pages.php?page_id=132

"Driver Engineering & Manufacturing Our Miramar, Florida loudspeaker assembly facility is unlike any other in the world. It is specifically designed and equipped to build our cutting-edge, ultra-long excursion drivers. These special, patented drivers require proprietary assembly techniques and tightly monitored production disciplines to ensure consistency and quality. Critical to this, is having the same people who design the drivers also oversee their production. No subcontractor can do that for us."

 

It just so happens I have the box my C5-650 components came in. Drum roll please...............Made in Germany printed on the box. and right under that Fabrique en Allemagne which Im guessing is Made in Germany in French.

 

interesting, things must have changed a bit in the past few months cuase all the JL boxes i got here, most say korea on them

 

okay, doubled checked stuff.

i apologize for the korea statement, i was thinking of another brand completely. sorry.

here are the FACTS about where JL products are made, i promise you 100 percent true. again, i dont think made in asia is really a bad things nowadays, nor does made in the US neccessarily mean its the best. I think it comes down to QC, where the parts are sourced and the manufactuer quality itself. for example, you can source superior grade electrical components, build in with strict QC in a good manufactuer in china, and end up wtih a better amp than one that is using cheaper components sourced from less than desirable sources, assemble and built in the US.

my opinion of JL has always been up and down the line they are a quality product, ar ethey the best? i woudlnt say so, are they the best for the money? i prolly wouldnt say so either, but i think a company deserves to charge a bit more for their product with the name they have built up. I think for hte mass market, they serve their users very well. Would i consider their stuff as part of a "dream" system? prolly not

lowest line subs: China
other line of subs: FL
Stealthboxes: FL
lower and mid line spekers: China
higher and highest line speakers: Germany
Anything electronics related (amps, CS, wiring etc): China

so in short, based on sales quantity, you can say the large percentage of JL's products are made in China...but again, that doesnt really mean anything IMO
so hopefully that will clear that up

 

You jumped the gun with your earlier post but redeemed yourself nicely. Im glad I went with their German made speakers front and back and a Good old American made Stealthbox I have two Slash amps (made in China I guess) but the have very good reputations in the audio world and you make good observations. My system is loud enough and has the clarity I require. Everyone whos heard my system is impressed "audiophiles" included. I could have spent a ton more than I did for marginal improvement but the cost of return was not worth if for me. I equate it to buying a mod for a car that costs mega money but gives only six HP. Others may want an even better system and thats cool. Whatever makes someone smile when they flip on the sound is the way it should be.

 

i would rock a stock bose system all day...

 

Hmm, don't have a C6. Personally I would be torn between doing some sort of mid/tweet kickpanel, and utilizing the upper door mount. I would probably experiment between a stock midbass, kick mounted mid/tweet setup, a stock midbass, kick mounted mid, upper door tweet, and a stock midbass, upper door mid, A pillar tweet arrangement.

As for gear the Z-1, maybe some of the older f#1 Status stuff. Zapco processors (I like the dual setup, reminds me of the old Audio Control days) Power would likely be OS Soundstream, Orion HCCA, Linear Power, or very old USA amps, somewhere in the 200w to the midbass, 100+ watts to the mids, 20-50w for the tweets. Might run Zapco Reference stuff to match the processors.

Subs, hmm ID IDW 15? Maybe dual IDQ 10's for small space requirements? Even a JL (gasp) 8w7? 400-500watts for a vette. Too small a cabin to need any more than that in a coupe.

As for the JL stuff, I remember when JL made basically not a single audio component, outsourced all of their drivers and amps, and were nothing but a marketing office. Glad to see at least some of their stuff is still made here (coincidentally the only sub I like from them, the W7 line) and they outsource their "high end" (cough) components to Germany.

IMO at the end of the day, you are still in a car with glass and plastic everywhere causing reflections and lots of other problems.

As NPdang says, "a driver is only as good as the box you put it in".

Fej

 

Just put in my dream system. I started with the Kenwood DNX6140 w/XM module and iPod interface. For speakers I went with Pioneer Premier TS-C720P. For sub enclosures I went with 2 of the Subthump enclosures that fit into the cubby's in the back. Those were fitted with the Rockford Fosgate Punch P3SD410's and the subs are being driven by 2 JL 250/1 class D sub amps. To power the Pioneer's I went with a JL300/4 bridged to 150 wpc x2. The amps, crossovers and wiring are attached to a custom made Subthump amp rack with matching amp cover. In the amp cover is the C6 symbol cutout and two larger vent holes. These will be covered by screens painted body color. The entire system is installed and tested and I'm just waiting in some black screws to secure everything to the amp rack and make it all neat. I will post some pictures once I get home.

The system sounds the way you'd expect a good system to sound. Sound quality is outstanding with plenty of hard hitting bass. All wiring used was Stinger and I used Crazy Cowboy's insulation throughout the entire interior.

Special thanks goes to TheKomoman for helping me put the hardware order together and also for spilling his blood yet again on one of my cars helping with the install. I couldn't have done it without him!
-Mike

 

Wouldn't the kick location require some surgey to the cage structure ?
That is of course, so they don't protrude into the footwell much.

 

this is very true, as i tell people who come to me for advise on sound, in the end, if they are happy with the sound, thats all that matters.

however, i do also tell them that if they want to know what is possible in the realm of car audio sound quality, the best way is to go and listen to cars, eithre at car audio meets, or sq competitions.

Put it this way, take cars for example, most of us start with a certain car, and then after we make some money, we purchase something else that for the time being, makes us happy. but when we go out and experience something else, eventually, something may catch our eye when we sit in it, test drive it, that make us realize that our old car isnt as great as we thought it was.

I would think that being this forum is dedicated to corvette owners, many of you have experienced a similar thing somehwat, and thats how you even tually ended up with a vette. for some of you, this may be the dream car, while others, still looking to advance, may go from a normal vette, to a z06 or ZR1, or to other alternatives such as 911 GT3, GT2, ferarri, etc etc...

my point, when referring to the original debate about JL, is that it is a good company overall. regardless of where htings are made. but the truth of the matter is, it is not unlike a mustang GT of the car audio world. it works well, is a solid product, and is extremely popular within its realm. but it is not without faults and by most standards, aside from perhaps the w7 woofer, not considered to be very high end or exotic. And i think that if you had a chance to listen to a true high end SQ system, you may think a little differently about what you have. if SQ is part of your listneing preference

b

 

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!

BTW, I didn't mean for this to turn into hate the Beasty because he doesn't care for JL amps. I apologize if I hurt any ones feelings by insinuating that they weren't good equipment. Like I said, they make good equipment, they just aren't the best.


PEACE!