It's still not setup right, I had to stop because I was getting frustrated. This is a tiny unit once the cover of the cover (lol) is taken off. I was going to put it in the trunk but it's probably going inside the car somewhere due to it's size. I could almost squeeze it next to one of my amps under the seats. I actually have a very good idea of where to put it that would hide it from thieves but still be easily accessible.

The range of adjustability is immense. I'm having communication problems between the laptop and PS8 right now so I haven't gotten to mess with it too much just yet. I did set the crossover points though and I've been playing with the software for a while now to get some familiarity.

So my first impressions which really aren't fair considering it's not set up at all other than crossover points.... The dynamics are back. There's a richer sound about it, not thin like the MS8 but far from muddy either. More of a natural sound. The stage is somehow surprisingly ok considering there's no TA on it right now. Maybe that can be attributed to the speakers or their placement, who knows. The subs sound so much better. They're sharper, quicker, all of the above while blending better too.

The electronics used in this processor are supposed to be some of the best, many people are saying there's no need to upgrade, even for the serious competition guys. I have not begun to EQ or TA or mess with phase or levels and it's pretty damn good. I expected it to sound terrible like this. There's a certain sound that's there, a more life-like quality than I've heard to date. I know this thing is going to be amazing once I can get these damn communication issues worked out and start tuning.

So I'm starting this thread as a log, to show progress with the PS8 since there's very little info out there. No owner's manual is included, none can be downloaded. You're literally completely on your own and very few people have these, very few people will be getting one anytime soon, until the second shipment goes out which might be a while. I've been sending PMs and e-mails to anyone I can think of that might have one for some tech support.

If anyone is interested in the software, here it is: http://arcaudio.com/downloads/ps8_setup.zip

 

Nice. I'll be interested to see your progress as you get further into tuning. The software interface seems very intuitive and the amount of tuning capability is impressive. I just picked up a Zapco DC 200.2 and a DC 1000.4 so I'll be spending a lot of time tuning as my system as well. What are you using for an RTA setup?

 

I got it linked up today. It's been a weird day, I lost a tooth and I've been in crazy pain but I managed to get the PS8 linked to the laptop finally. It's been a blast. Within an hour or so I had it sounding at least as good as the MS8. The stage is so easy to get centered. I can't believe I was worried about taking on manual tuning. The software is simple but there's a huge amount of adjustability. I'm still surprised it was that easy to get a decent stage. There's still room for improvement but the stage is already more focused than it ever was before and the subs have completely disappeared.

 

I like how the PS8 has the check boxes to mute each individual channel. That's one of the things that's kind of a pain with the Zapco DPN software, you have to switch to a channel then mute it then switch back to the one you want to work on. Several times I have muted a channel and forgot to switch back to the correct one and I'm wondering why my changes aren't showing up on the RTA. Seems small but when you are individually EQing six channels it gets annoying.

 

It is easy. If I can figure it out without screwing up too much, anyone can. I just spent another 45 minutes tuning. I muted all but the midbass and centered the image with TA. Muted all but the midrange and centered. I centered the image with the tweeters playing by altering tweeter level. I know this isn't the correct way but it got vocals amazingly centered and sharp. There are certain songs such as many Candlebox songs I could never tell exactly where the singer and instruments were. Now I can tell on many of the songs, singer is near center, drums are slightly to the left but mostly behind the singer, one guitar to the left of the drums and one guitar far right stage. This was never possible with the MS8. I have the tweeters in the kicks, in fact every speaker is down there, in the kicks and doors and the stage is just below the rearview mirror. I did not think that was possible. Now I see what a dumbass I must have sounded like asking if it were possible to get a high stage with kick mounted tweeters.

I was showing it to the GF and sitting in the passenger seat, it's not that bad, not like the MS8 where it sounded awful. Image is to the right but not that bad. It's definitely listenable. I really wish I had done this sooner.

 

Yeah this is one thing I miss about the 3sixty.2. You could do that with it, but it was a POS and didn't work half the time


Ever? or just on Candlebox songs? I have separation from slightly outside the a-pillar on each side and seems like the stage is about a foot above the dash. Pulls down sometimes, but I think that's because of small vibrations still. Now that I have a garage maybe I can really tackle some of those vibrations without freezing my ass off or burning up in Oklahoma's 100+ heat.

Glad you like the PS8 though! Wish I could hear it

 

Candlebox seemed to confuse the MS8 the worst. Occasionally I had a decent stage on other music. Some live recorded music did ok on the MS8. There's a Brian McKnight Live CD and now I can tell which way the piano is facing and I can tell the audience is all the way around the stage. It must be the mic placement but it's like you're behind the stage, then the singer, then the audience. When he stands up, his voice is nearly coming from the rear view mirror which I don't like. Now that I can adjust the stage, I keep it slightly left of center, toward my seat. I don't like it when it's perfectly centered. It makes me feel like I'm at a concert with crappy tickets way off to the side.

The stage no longer pulls down ever. I'm a bit surprised because when I mute all but the midbass I'm surprised at the rattles from the doors. I tried running them from 35hz and up and they do very well, they sound just like a normal sub but the door panels don't like it much. I'm getting ready to start playing with the sub's TA to see if I can get it in better phase with the midbass. Another thing, TA seems to have no effect on the tweeters, only amplitude. These midbass are so surprising, probably the single most impressive speaker in the system. I had only the 9s playing 35hz to 20khz and they're not a bad alternative if you want a true 2-way with no subs. They cover the sub bass ok and they play well into the treble, well into their beaming frequency.