I am thinking about upgrading the front stage only...just L&R + 2 channel amp, and keeping the stock speakers and oem amp for the center and surround channels. I do listen to a lot of DVD-A/DTS recordings however, and don't want to drown out the center and surrounds.

If so I'd be using an eDi NINe.2 amp (100/ch), and a pair of eDi 6500 comps.

Has anybody else tried this method, and if so, what were your results?

Thanks.

 

I'm running a pair of DLS Ultimate Nobellium's up front, sourced from a carputer via Alpine processor (toslink) for my CD/44.1k sources...I'll tell you, I don't miss the 5.1 capability of the head unit one single bit (and neither does anyone else who listens to it), and I haven't even moved out of the stock locations with my front stage. If I could make an undue and politically incorrect comparison, CD on my aftermarket system slaps around the stock 5.1 DVD-A experience like its little beyatch.

That being said, I listen to mostly stereo, but when the odd occaision comes for me to play DVD-A, I can feed my front stage via line output converter (el cheapo) tapped from the factory amp, and leave the rest of the factory system intact. I had it like that for a while, now I have the stock rear stage removed with a piece of MDF over each of the holes....I'm thinking of putting the factory rear stage back just for the occaisional DVD-A, but it's really not a concern since I have only invested in a few of that format.

My processor/eq is set up with a preset I made for going hybrid factory + aftermarket via line output converter, when I'm in that mode I use the factory volume knob to maintain coherence to a certain degree between front and rear stage. It actually sounds much, much better than factory this way, just with the upgrade to the front, but not better than stereo with just the aftermarket stuff... it's nothing I'd take to a competition...without the factory speakers holding me back, the system is everything I'd hoped for...even CD sources from the factory head unit via the line output converter sound better with the fader all the way front and the center and factory sub channels "off".

You sound like a prime candidate for an RF 360 feeding a 5-channel amp, with a focus on stereo staging up front for all your everyday CD needs, while maintaining 5.1 for when the DVD-A bug bites you. There are a number of these installs on the forum. Trust me, if you get the front staging right (crossed over, eq'd, and time aligned) for CD sources, you won't miss the rest of the system during stereo playback. When I have people in the driver's seat, I have to prove to them that the center channel isn't on and that the rear stage doesn't exist (make the listener move his head from the normal position toward the center channel, and the illusion of the center channel goes away).

 

In your case, you could also go with a less expensive line output converter and a less expensive digital processor for stereo. If you're more into the personal audio experience, and not concerned about maintaining staging for passengers, you can go whole-hog with time alignment and really get the staging dialed in with this car. If you want imaging to be right for the passenger, however, you'll probably want to move the tweets to a higher position on the A-pillars. But then, the 360 would be good on just two inputs for the fronts, and leave room for 5.1 expansion later.

 

Thanks Hi There. You sound pretty geeked out, which is a trait I certainly respect. I think my wife wonders about me sometimes when I'm either in the car, or in front of my HT charting readings from my SPL meter while listening to test tones. Given the flexibility of the 360, I'm sure I'd be happy with that so that I can flatten out some of the major peaks and valleys the stock system has. There's definitely only a finite amount of fixing you can do with the OEM setup.

 

btw, if you don't choose to bi-amp, and use passive crossovers instead, you can still get a pretty good front stage without separate time alignment on the mids and highs. The factory tweeter/door locations for a given side, L or R, are only 1-2" difference in path length from the listener's position, so you wouldn't necessarily have to take up four channels on your amp or the RF 360 just for your front stage...although, I would certainly run it in this mode (bi-amped with separate TA on mid and tweet), if possible, until you upgrade the rest of the stock system. The extra degree of control is nice.

 

If I did the bi-amp/360 method to the front stage only like you suggest (without passive crossovers), how would I wire the input and output sides of the 360?

Thanks.