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Old 09-24-2017, 07:08 PM
  #21  
racebum
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
I am thinking if one could get a pair of Elates for up front for maybe around a grand and then put some hybrids in the rear would be a decent set up. I think then I would see how it sounds with my existing amps and if still not happy then proceed with a new class A/B amp and possibly a DSP. My thing is, do the JL Audio Slash amps have enough power or do I need to look at Audison or someone else? My system now is crisp, clean, loud as MF'ing hell but is slightly harsh for my ears and doesn't have the near audiophile sound I crave. Everyone who has listened is like geezuz christ that sounds good, even my original installer who thought it sounded bad azz with the putrid sounding Pioneer but I am so ridiculously picky that my system now is a stopgap. I am tolerating it until the next round of "mods", LOL.
slash amps are 100x4 before the distortion ramps up. they do about 20-30% over rated power. bigdwhiz tested a 500/1 and found the same thing 660w amp.

the elate hybrid combo with slash would be better than lesser speakers with more expensive amps

you could do older mcintosh or misconni or even high end zapco but you pay dearly. a slash 300/4v3 is $400 shipped which makes them the bargain play for entry level good gear

do you "need" more power. well.....it's maybe 1-1.5 db putting 150w to the elate vs 100. one perk to slightly less power is a lower crossover point. with a slash you could cross all 4 at 60-70hz no problem. brings a lot of midbass to the front stage and lets you cut the sub hard and low to keep the resonance out

the reason i went slash 300/4v3 and 600/1v3 is because i would have to spend 2x as much or more to get better. like always budget limits how good a guy can get. also the dsp consideration before ultra high end amps.

Last edited by racebum; 09-24-2017 at 07:12 PM.
Old 09-25-2017, 05:15 PM
  #22  
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Originally Posted by racebum

do you "need" more power. well.....it's maybe 1-1.5 db putting 150w to the elate vs 100. one perk to slightly less power is a lower crossover point. with a slash you could cross all 4 at 60-70hz no problem. brings a lot of midbass to the front stage and lets you cut the sub hard and low to keep the resonance out
That is exactly what I am after and exactly how my crossovers are usually set. Right now I have almost elite levels of mid bass out of the 6.5's in my doors and I attribute it to the extensive mods to the door to make it a better enclosure for the mid woofer. And yes, that allows you to cross your sub out in that 60 hz neighborhood to keep that mid bass resonance away so that is already working well for me but I bet even better with improved quality amps and speaks. Did you know these are available now? https://www.crutchfield.com/g_120/Al...=FFBrand|Morel

Old 09-25-2017, 05:28 PM
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
That is exactly what I am after and exactly how my crossovers are usually set. Right now I have almost elite levels of mid bass out of the 6.5's in my doors and I attribute it to the extensive mods to the door to make it a better enclosure for the mid woofer. And yes, that allows you to cross your sub out in that 60 hz neighborhood to keep that mid bass resonance away so that is already working well for me but I bet even better with improved quality amps and speaks. Did you know these are available now? https://www.crutchfield.com/g_120/Al...=FFBrand|Morel

wow

i wonder who is making those. prices are extremely competitive

i really want to hear one. if i can get my hands on that 70x4 i would love to A/B it against my slash. this is very new

this is the coolest car audio thing i have seen this year. so few good players making affordable amps

Last edited by racebum; 09-25-2017 at 05:29 PM.
Old 09-25-2017, 05:35 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by racebum
wow

i wonder who is making those. prices are extremely competitive

i really want to hear one. if i can get my hands on that 70x4 i would love to A/B it against my slash. this is very new

this is the coolest car audio thing i have seen this year. so few good players making affordable amps
I was really intrigued when I saw them and the 4 and 5 channel both have class A/B sections and they don't cost a fortune. If their speakers are that good why would they skimp on an amp??

I also noticed in searching there are very few places selling them.

Last edited by 02BlownZ06; 09-25-2017 at 05:36 PM.
Old 09-25-2017, 06:18 PM
  #25  
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
I was really intrigued when I saw them and the 4 and 5 channel both have class A/B sections and they don't cost a fortune. If their speakers are that good why would they skimp on an amp??

I also noticed in searching there are very few places selling them.
they are particular about their dealers. this is also a really really new product.

i agree with your line of thinking.
Old 09-26-2017, 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by racebum
they are particular about their dealers. this is also a really really new product.

i agree with your line of thinking.
Which one of us is willing to be the guinea pig???
Old 09-26-2017, 07:18 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
Which one of us is willing to be the guinea pig???
https://www.ceoutlook.com/2017/07/31...-12v-amp-line/
Old 09-27-2017, 08:49 AM
  #28  
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They might be on my short list.

Last edited by 02BlownZ06; 09-27-2017 at 08:50 AM.
Old 09-27-2017, 07:14 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
They might be on my short list.
i would be prone to take the gamble. morel has a LONG history. they very rarely release bad sounding products

there is an almost uncanny start to all of the best audio companies out there. in the 70s a couple guys who were working at morel founded dynaudio and not long there after JL audio was born in the US by a different set of guys. these guys were all hobbyists with a passion for sound.

it may also be worth noting the best drivers from all 3 brands are made in house under their own controls. dynaudio doesn't even make low end but JL and morel do. sound is much different than their high end. anyway, like i was saying. all 3 companies focused on the sound. graphs and response curves were what they were but the resonance. the sound. that's what the hobbyist mentality started and eventually tweaked and perfected into some of the best loudspeakers on the market.

on the amp side JL prices the slash a little higher than morel is with a looks to be similar design. however, JL is paying the old head of PPI to design these and he likely gets royalties along with a full 100% dealer margin. with every JL product i have seen dealer cost is exactly half of full retail.

morel is making slightly less powerful amps in a smaller chassis. they are also using a less expensive power supply design from what i can tell. it's not RIPS design which has yet more patents

morel may well be making the bargain amp of the year in regards to quality v price

Last edited by racebum; 09-27-2017 at 07:15 PM.
Old 09-28-2017, 08:02 PM
  #30  
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Ok, I installed my new Focal K2 KRX2's a few days ago. It took me a good part of the day to install them and also some sound deadening mostly to the outer shell of the doors. (I definitely should of bought more sound deadening) Also had to run some new wires wires for the tweeters to the new crossover location since my original install had the crossovers inside the doors.

My initial impressions so far is that I don't really hear the improvements I was hoping for. I'm not sure it's the speakers so I am not ready to pull them out just yet. There was a slight improvement in sound with a tiny bit of the previous harshness removed but overall it sounds very similar to what i had in there already. I have 60 days to send them back but I'm hoping not to. So before I decide if I'm going to keep them or not, I'm going to look to replace my amp with something else to see if that can maybe improve my sound quality some. Looking at going with maybe an affordable AB amp. Maybe a 4 channel for the highs and a small separate amp to run the sub. I noticed you guys were mentioning the Morel amps. I may look at the 4 channel one for $350 (cheap price makes me a little nervous though). I wouldn't mind and would prefer going with the 5 channel, but the size of it wouldn't fit in my amps current location.

Other amps I was looking at;
1: JL HD900/5 D class (if I can find one used)
2: JL Slash 300/4 AB
3: Alpine PDX-V9 5-channel D class
I've heard good things about the Alpine considering it's price (about $430) but since my problem is trying to improve sound quality I have been leaning towards one of the AB amps. Also, if I go with a separate amp for my sub, does it matter much if I go with a cheap mono amp?
Old 09-29-2017, 03:00 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by TorchRedFred
Ok, I installed my new Focal K2 KRX2's a few days ago. It took me a good part of the day to install them and also some sound deadening mostly to the outer shell of the doors. (I definitely should of bought more sound deadening) Also had to run some new wires wires for the tweeters to the new crossover location since my original install had the crossovers inside the doors.

My initial impressions so far is that I don't really hear the improvements I was hoping for. I'm not sure it's the speakers so I am not ready to pull them out just yet. There was a slight improvement in sound with a tiny bit of the previous harshness removed but overall it sounds very similar to what i had in there already. I have 60 days to send them back but I'm hoping not to. So before I decide if I'm going to keep them or not, I'm going to look to replace my amp with something else to see if that can maybe improve my sound quality some. Looking at going with maybe an affordable AB amp. Maybe a 4 channel for the highs and a small separate amp to run the sub. I noticed you guys were mentioning the Morel amps. I may look at the 4 channel one for $350 (cheap price makes me a little nervous though). I wouldn't mind and would prefer going with the 5 channel, but the size of it wouldn't fit in my amps current location.

Other amps I was looking at;
1: JL HD900/5 D class (if I can find one used)
2: JL Slash 300/4 AB
3: Alpine PDX-V9 5-channel D class
I've heard good things about the Alpine considering it's price (about $430) but since my problem is trying to improve sound quality I have been leaning towards one of the AB amps. Also, if I go with a separate amp for my sub, does it matter much if I go with a cheap mono amp?
slash is a great amp. morel also released a new class AB amp with a low $349 retail.

imo the slash is a better SQ amp than the jl HD, not a huge fan of the alpine amps either. if you go micro size ARC is a thought

i like class a/b on the mids/tweets personally, class a is even better but very few exist and they are major $$
Old 09-30-2017, 03:30 PM
  #32  
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I am now considering getting the Morel 5 channel amp from Crutchfield. Crutchfield has a special offer on the amp that expires today where I can get 25% off the amp if I add one of the selected Morel speakers to my cart. If I go with the cheapest set of speakers (Morel Maximo 4") for $80, I'll get the amp for $487.50 plus $80 for the speakers. Total cost is about $567.50. The amp is pretty big though, so I'm not sure where I would put it.
Old 09-30-2017, 07:03 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by TorchRedFred
I am now considering getting the Morel 5 channel amp from Crutchfield. Crutchfield has a special offer on the amp that expires today where I can get 25% off the amp if I add one of the selected Morel speakers to my cart. If I go with the cheapest set of speakers (Morel Maximo 4") for $80, I'll get the amp for $487.50 plus $80 for the speakers. Total cost is about $567.50. The amp is pretty big though, so I'm not sure where I would put it.
Fred, I was thinking the exact same play. You can be our guinea pig!!! Go for it!

Place it right on the rear deck behind your seats.

Last edited by 02BlownZ06; 09-30-2017 at 07:04 PM.
Old 09-30-2017, 11:02 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
Fred, I was thinking the exact same play. You can be our guinea pig!!! Go for it!

Place it right on the rear deck behind your seats.
Well, I ordered it earlier today. I should have it by Wednesday. I'm probably a bad guinea pig though, since I don't have enough experience with enough different amps to give you an educated evaluation. I will probably only be able to compare it to the Kenwood amp I have now and hopefully it will be no contest, I hope. I had to get a set of speakers with it to get the discounted price, so I ended up getting a pair of cheaper 5-1/4" Morel's. It dropped the price from $650 for just the amp, to $577 for the amp and speakers combined. The only problem is I don't really need or want the speakers. Also, so I have to worry about heat issues if I put it behind the seat? It's kind of tight back there on the C6.
Old 10-01-2017, 03:54 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by TorchRedFred
Well, I ordered it earlier today. I should have it by Wednesday. I'm probably a bad guinea pig though, since I don't have enough experience with enough different amps to give you an educated evaluation. I will probably only be able to compare it to the Kenwood amp I have now and hopefully it will be no contest, I hope. I had to get a set of speakers with it to get the discounted price, so I ended up getting a pair of cheaper 5-1/4" Morel's. It dropped the price from $650 for just the amp, to $577 for the amp and speakers combined. The only problem is I don't really need or want the speakers. Also, so I have to worry about heat issues if I put it behind the seat? It's kind of tight back there on the C6.
probably not. most modern amps run pretty cool. speakers will be useful for something down the road.
Old 10-02-2017, 11:25 AM
  #36  
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Not for me, but I saw an old Zapco amp on craigslist if anyone is interested. I know I have heard a few of you guys mentions these in the past.

https://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/e...316565506.html

Edit: I just saw they still sell these new at woofers etc., discounted for $550 so not a huge discount going used. These amps are enormous though at 31" in length.

Last edited by TorchRedFred; 10-02-2017 at 11:34 AM.
Old 10-02-2017, 11:27 AM
  #37  
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That is one long amp.. 31†due to the other dimensions it just looks much longer

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Old 10-02-2017, 05:38 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by TorchRedFred
Well, I ordered it earlier today. I should have it by Wednesday. I'm probably a bad guinea pig though, since I don't have enough experience with enough different amps to give you an educated evaluation. I will probably only be able to compare it to the Kenwood amp I have now and hopefully it will be no contest, I hope. I had to get a set of speakers with it to get the discounted price, so I ended up getting a pair of cheaper 5-1/4" Morel's. It dropped the price from $650 for just the amp, to $577 for the amp and speakers combined. The only problem is I don't really need or want the speakers. Also, so I have to worry about heat issues if I put it behind the seat? It's kind of tight back there on the C6.
That's awesome. I bet you will be able to tell a huge difference between the Morel and Kenwood.
Old 10-06-2017, 01:41 PM
  #39  
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I received the amp from Crutchfield, along with my Morel speakers. Also, I had ordered some additional Second Skin sound deadener so I can go back and finish doing the doors. This sound project has been a work in progress. Hopefully these upgrades can get me to a happy place. Some pics of the amp, hope to get it installed this weekend.

Old 10-06-2017, 02:20 PM
  #40  
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amp is a bit of a monster


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