Matrix will take care of it!

 

If your signal is post amp, nothing will get rid of the hiss without hurting SQ. You can cut the high end but then it won't sound right. The factory amp is dirty, your aftermarket amp is amplifying the dirty signal. The only cure without going pre amp is to turn the gains down. This isn't noise that's picked up from a bad ground or a power wire, this is what the stock amp is sending the aftermarket amp and there's no way around it.

 

Didn't know people were having this problem with the post-amp signal. I'm helping another member here and he's claiming he's got some hiss using the post-amp signal AND using amps that DO accept balanced. Thanks Matt

 

Thanks guys for the input. I'm relieved to know that I didn't drop $200 for something that wouldn't fix it. I also bought the remote gain for the sub since it takes forever to access the HU sub volume control.

 

You'll like that remote gain control. Perfect add-on for listening to different types of music.

 

If you pulled the signal after the stock amp, the hiss will still be there.

 

I had to live with that for years. I kept the gains at the minimum level I could live with. Getting rid of the Infinities helped a little but it's just there, especially with no music playing.

 

I finally got my Matrix to work this morning!!! Odd thing about it, is that I didn't really need to do anything to get it to work. I hunted around for the setting requirements for our car with no luck. That usually means it's easy and obvious.

I spent a few hours working on it last night with no success. So, assuming that this thing was supposed to fix our pre-amp signal, I switched the jumpers and ended up with the same noise, but louder. I thought to myself, "I guess I wasn't supposed to flip the jumpers to unbalanced", and switched them to balanced. On balanced, it gave me the same sound as when I hooked my pre-amp inputs into my amp: noise. So I switched it back.

I hit the internet for settings but again, nothing. So I swithced from isolated ground to ground, and to the 200 setting hoping that was the issue Toasters had. No change. Thanks to Trunk Monkey, he suggested the balanced setting this morning. I had nothing to lose so I even gave it a shot, and it worked. I left it disconnected from power all night, could that be why?

So there is no magic about this device. The factory settings are what I needed (balanced and isolated ground). I'd also like to add that the remote volume control for the sub channel is awesome. I listen to a wide variety of and it's nice to be able to fine tune the sub volume or turn it all the way down.

I'm just so relieved it works, I was getting ready to put it all back to stock.

 

Nice! Enjoy and try not to think about upgrading immediately lol. I hate car audio

 

Well, I'm not that picky, I just needed more highs and lows. I don't really like how the tweeters look from the outside though! I'm kind of a poser, I'm into the aesthetics of the TL mostly. Those huge tweets can be seen a mile away from the outside of the car.

Someone said tweets are cheap, would it be a bad idea to change them and leave the mids?

 

that was me too lol. And nope, wouldn't be bad at all. Give me a budget if you wanted to swap em out and I'll tell ya the best near your budget for your setup. I've been looking into this a lot lately. I'm likely going to mount mine on-axis in the a-pillars or on the dash near the factory location. If I don't like the sound of them on-axis, I might just have to add a 3" mid. These tweeters sound incredible already, but I like to try different stuff out. They'll dig low too (2.25kHz/24db), which is what you need for a 2-way most of the time

 

Thanks for the help. I probably could get away with spending another $100. But as you know, I'm more into aesthetics so it would be nice if they fit in the stock location without any modifications to dash or stock grills. I guess I could always buy OEM grills again if I need to hack up the ones I have. I like the installs where they are below the stock grill. I know they sound better facing toward the listener, but I think they'll sound fine for my use.

 

The Dyns fit with no mods:



It's a very smooth, very detailed tweeter.

 

That looks great. Except they probably break the bank.

 

My ID xs28's fit even further down that that. I'll snap a pic and post it when I get home. They can be had for about $100 and sound pretty damn good crossed at 2.5kHz/24db or 12db


OR!

You could put a little pod up there and the CDT ES-02 2" tweeter...or the Fountek FR88ex 3" mid or a few other things. All about $100. And you could have it shipped to me first so I can inspect it and make sure it works lol . I really want to try these both out in a 2-way and see what it sounds like. I think a guy near me has the FR88's on-axis and in a 2-way, might make a trip to him to have a listen. But anyways...just a few thoughts

 

How they are now...




How they might be very soon (on-axis or 15deg off-axis)..


Or I'll go like this. I don't know enough about these setups so I'll just have to try them and see which works the best for stage width and height

 

Those cracks are PRETTY

 

Oh man, broken links are just a tease.

 

 

So those are the ID xs28's? They look good. So you didn't need to modify the dash at all?

 

nope

 

Okay, on to my next challenge. My rear pre-amp wires don't match all the diagrams floating around:


Radio Outputs:

12 Volt DC: -------- White
Switched Accessory: ------------ Red/ Yellow
Ground: ------------------- Black
Power Ant: -------------- Yellow/ Green
Remote turn on: ---------------- Red/ Yellow
Illumination: -------------- Red/ Black also red
Mute: ------------------ Yellow/ Green (for amp mute), Blue/Red (for hands free link mute)
Steering remote wire: ----------------- Green/ Red
Left Front ------------ Green+ / blue-
right Front -------------- Black+ / Grey-
Left Rear -------------- White+ / Yellow-
Right rear------------- Orange+ / Red-
Center CH------------- Brown+ / green/white-
Sub ---------------- Red/ Blue+ / White/Green-


Anyone know why my 2007 base pre-amp wires for my rear speakers are not white+, yellow- and orange+, Red-?

I can't find a diagram anywhere other than this one. Can I use the fader and balance to determine which wire is which or does someone know? My wires are all light colors with stripes.

 

I was able to spend a few more hours working on the car today. Pulled her out of the garage and worked on the driveway. Summer is almost here! It was nice working in the natural light. Since this is the first time I started the car since I installed the Matrix, I was happy to hear the hiss wasn't any worse. However, I do hear a very faint alternator whine. I can live with it.



As far as the rear speaker pre-amp wire colors go, I was able to figure them out by simply using the same cavities as the 04-06 wire diagram. Here are my wires:





So for my car:

RR: Green/Yellow+, Blue/yellow-
LR: Green/Blue+, Yellow/Blue-

Then I finished running wires to the back. The wires before I zip tied them:



And this is my temporary setup in my trunk until I figure out a better solution.

 

Yeah! I have the same color wires! Cant find a diagram for it anywhere!!! BTW im installing my Audio control LC8i in place of the stock amp, just an idea for you.

 

Are you sure it will fit? I've read the matrix doesn't fit. I want my stock amp anyway.

 

Well, guess I'm gonna find out...ill let you know how it goes, as soon as we get the wiring figured out...!

 

If you have the LC8i you will need to leave the stock amp hooked up and take the post-amp signal. The LC8i is a line-out converter, not a line driver like the matrix.

 

Audio controls website says that its a line out converter and line driver, but ill look into it a bit more. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Need some advice. My wife noticed some distortion in a particular song coming from the rear speakers (infinity kappa 63.9i). She said it was a buzzing. I heard it too but assumed it was in the recording. I then heard it in a different song and now it has me worried. It only does it at a mid level volume. When I turn it up, it goes away. It's hard to find a song that does it. I'd hate to put my rear seats back in only to have a plow speaker or speakers that sound like crap.

Anyone have or recommend the Image Dynamics CTX-6.5cs? I was thinking of putting these up front and my infinity kappa 60.9CS in the rear. Only problem is that the 60.9cs is a component set. I could mount the tweets under the sub mesh I guess. Or I can say screw it and buy ID for all 4 like I should have done in the first place.

Anyone have any low cost speaker recommendations (under $200)?

 

You don't want tweets in the rear.

I ran the CTX65cs for a couple years and really liked them. Midbass and power handling are improved over the infinities and the tweeter won't make you want to crash into the nearest concrete wall.

 

^ Yup. The stock speaker is midbass (midrange) only...

The CTX are fine for the money. Very few dislike them, from what I have heard, in that price range. Hertz ESK are OK. If you can find some Focal Polyglass that cheap, they are good. Morel Maximo are pretty good too.

Make sure that the crackle/buzzing is not just a rattle.

 

Oh, that's funny! I like how the tweets sound on the 63.9i. They have the tweeters built in. I like how it sounds with tweeters in the back. They seem to be sharper than the component set up front.

I hope there is a market for "used for less than an hour" infinity kappas. One buzzes, and a tweeter with stripped allen key. I guess that's $250 down the drain.

 

My Image Dynamics CTX6.5 came in today. I installed the tweets and the crossovers up front. The front woofers wouldn't fit with the spacers I have. I'll order MDF ones tomorrow. The rear wouldn't fit either. It's as if the holes in the rear deck are too small. Anyone else have this problem? Here are pics of the IDs next to the Kappas.

 

Nice pics! I like the all-business, no-flash look of the ID's. I had to cut some of the metal in my doors to fit the CTX's. Tin snips worked the best for me. I tried cutting it with the Dremel, but it shot sparks all over my interior. Plus I didn't have any safety goggles.

 

Thanks Rich. Yeah, I didn't have the time last night to cut metal. How much power are you sending to your IDs? As you can see, I also bought the coaxials for the rear but they didn't fit either. I wired one side up for a Kappa vs. CTX comparison. The Kappas were about 20% louder but that could just be the bright highs. I might not use the CTX in the rear and just use the stock amp to power the Kappas in the rear and bridge the front channel to power the CTXcs up front.

I did install the the tweets and the crossovers up front and holy crap it sounds SO much better. Those kappa tweets are going in the trash. No one should have to hear music out of those.

 

I'm currently running them active with 200rms to each of the mids and 75rms to each of the tweeters but that's only because I had an extra amp and wanted to try an active setup. When I first got the CTX's I was running them on the passives with 75 watts. They sounded great and got plenty loud.

 

What are you running in the rear?

 

Passives soak up power first of all. Second, run them with whatever power you want or can. It's unlikely the speaker will EVER see upwards of 150-200 watts. Always good to have headroom.

Also, if you're going to use the rears constantly..I would definitely install them. Nothing worse (personal opinion) than having multiple sonic signatures (brands, etc) that are playing the same frequencies.

 

Polk DB651 shallow mount coaxials. - Cheapest 4ohm speaker I saw that would fit in there without a fuss.

 

So you are saying use the ID's in the rear too? I do have another 50x2 kicker amp. I was trying to avoid multiple amps and assumed that the kappas would be a better choice if running off of the stock amp.