vqt1988

Hello Audio Enthusiasts,

I recently installed my JBL Ms-8 and everything went smoothly except for one big problem: My CD player does not work anymore. I believe the laser has crapped out. In the manual, JBL stated that it is essential/necessary to run the calibration CD for oem headunit installations.

So I skipped the CD calibration part (not sure if the MS8 identified my headunit as an after market since I skipped this portion) and just went straight to the filter adjustments.

First question: How necessary is it for me to get my CD player fixed to calibrate the MS-8? Add a single din after market headunit below my navi maybe?

Right now I'm running my Rainbow Vanadium set passive...

Second question is: when switching to 2-way active, does everyone run new, good quality, speaker wires from output of the external amplifier back to the fronts? 4 separate speaker wires to be exact? Or do people do 2 only for the tweeters, and tap into the front factory speaker wires for the midwoofers?

I do apologize for the repetitive/ sorta novice questions but I just want my money pit of car audio to sound good during my long commute hours to work,school, & home. So far it's a huge improvement from my previous set-up with Audiocontrol's LC7 with no added EQ. I'm really enjoying the clarity and soundstage the MS8 brought up!

System in 05 Acura TL w/ Navi:
Front: Rainbow Vanadiums 265 (2-way - currently passive)
JBL MS-8
DLS A7 amp (bridged - 3 channel)
12" Image Dynamics IDQ
rears running off amp of MS8.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

djtsmith007

iTrader: (1)

I would def get the CD player fixed.

It's always good to run higher gage wire to the speakers since they will be powered by a new higher wattage amp. But you can get away with stock wires if you have to. All depends on how much more work your willing to put in and do it right

vqt1988

How does one fix the CD player? Is there a specific part number that I can replace? If it's going to cost more than $300 (which I suspect) to replace the darn thing, I'd rather just get an after market head unit dedicated to play CDs and Ipod connection.

Also, my HandsFreeLink crapped out on me last year too! I just want to keep my oem Navi because it looks good and since there are no specific after market market dash kits for the 3G TL.... customizing it sounds pricey...

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

Aftermarket will cost you MUCH more than that. These cars aren't like most where you can just replace the head unit. No kit is made. There's info on Cd repair on this site for sure..try searching.

I'd definitely run new wire also

JerZDevil

iTrader: (1)

See if you can have the dealership check it out and possibly replace it. They replaced mine with a refurb with warranty.

Does it play other CD's? You might have one of the "bad batch" of the MS-8 CD's like I did. If you find out the CD player is fine then download the MS-8 CD file and burn to a disk.

Good Luck

vqt1988

Okay I'll look into CD repair first. If I don't decide to go that route, I was thinking of taking out the whole bottom half under the navi where the XM, cd/tape player is and somehow make a dash kit for an after market single din. I've seen others do it on here.

Yes and I will run new speaker wires

vqt1988

Yes, no other CDs play at all. I can eject and inserts disks, but after it plays silence for 30 seconds, it automatically turns off.

How much did it cost you to replace the CD player with a refurb one? My TL is an 05 and sorta high mileage so no warranty here..

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

If the MS-8 doesn't need this CD for setup after all, I'd say look into an Isimple as the price will likely be quite a bit cheaper

For my 3sixty.2, the setup disc is just to get the correct input voltage without clipping. I know the MS-8, since it has auto-tune, will likely have something that deals with time alignment on that CD too though. I don't know enough about how the MS-8 works to say if it's completely necessary or not. Maybe IHC will chime in shortly

JerZDevil

iTrader: (1)

It's been a couple of years since I had mine replaced and it was under warranty.

pohljm

I would think you would want the cd or dvd audio drive to work so you have the best source for your material that you listen too! Why spend alot of money on amps and speakers to only have a sub par source?

I hate cars

MS8 has an aux input so you can run whatever device you want off of it.

The calibration disk is not mandatory but it helps to flatten the signal. If you're using more than two RCAs to feed it, the disk is mandatory. It will default to #1 and #2 only. If you're running your front speaker inputs into these two MS8 inputs you're ok. It's still better to run the calibration CD but not completely necessary. I found I got a little deeper bass and less harsh highs by running the disk. Currently my #1 input on the MS8 is broken so I use 2 and 3. Without the disk it won't pick up #3 and only one side plays.

It still auto eqs everything but you use up some of it's range by not running the disk.

A brand new stock HU is $300 delivered to your door. The HU contains part of the navi so you lose navi if you go with an aftermarket HU. The alternative is to "gut" the stock HU for the piece you need and tie it up behind the dash.

The first sweep it runs is time alignment, the rest are for EQ.

There are many tricks to getting the best sound out of the MS8, let me know when you get to that point and I'll try to help out.

Trunk Monkey

iTrader: (1)

I always forget my 360 and most processors have an aux! I wonder how the SQ is on it. Wouldn't mind having an iPod for trips, etc.

Also wouldn't mind my Audison working...but that's not for this thread lol. OP, i didn't know you could replace the HU & CD player for that cheap so shouldn't be that bad.

vqt1988

You're right about the sub par source. I was planning to create some DVD-A's once my new setup was complete.

Oh that is some valuable information you have just given me. I will have to fix the CD problem asap. I am currently running my tunes off the AUX input.

First question: Care to shoot me a URL to the site where I can buy the new CD player unit?

2nd Question: If I plan to go 2-way active, would that mean I would have to assign 4 channels for the front stage? How would I go about doing that?

hi-signal input configuration? Wiring?

The aux is acceptable for me. I know it could be better with CD or DVD-A. Definitely more convenient using an integration unit such as the US-Spec or iSimple (I plan on getting one of these for steering & oem button controls & battery charging).

I hate cars

Looks like the prices have gone up slightly. All you need is the 3 digit code printed on the tape cassette door to get the right one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-04-05-06...sories&vxp=mtr

The Aux input of the MS8 by itself is just as good as the RCA in, the source material may be a different story though.

All you need is one left and right full range input signal for the MS8 no matter what configuration you run if using the RCAs. The MS8 splits it up and sends it where it needs to go. Use as few inputs as possible. You could hook the stock fronts, rears, and sub to the MS8's inputs if you wanted but it gives it more work to do in leveling everything. The stock signal from the left and right fronts straight from the head unit is full range so that's all you need, just two RCAs going into the MS8. If you don't use the calibration disk, these must go to #1 and #2 inputs. If you use the calibration disk, they can go to any of the 8 inputs.

You can also use the high level inputs but if you take the signal after the stock amp, it's not full range. To get every frequency you would have to run 3 inputs, the left and right fronts and the subwoofer into the MS8 or you would be missing the sub bass.

To summarize, the input side is just to get a full range signal, 20hz to 20khz. Once you have that, there's no need to run additional channels into the input side. During setup is where you will assign which output channel goes to what speaker. Take your time because if you accidentally make a mistake like assigning the subwoofer to a tweeter, the tweeter is going to have a bad day.

There are many tips and tricks to getting it to sound good but we can get to that later. The most important is during calibration, have your sub amp turned way down. If the sub is turned up too high during calibration, you will be lacking bass. Calibrate at a low volume as well. I calibrate at -55. If you have less power you might want to calibrate at a slightly higher level but not much.

Most importantly to getting good sound from the MS8 is to level match your speakers. You don't want one speaker much louder than the others. The MS8 automatically levels everything out but if it runs out of boost and cut, you will get distortion at a low volume.

vqt1988

Darn here goes another ~$400 if I purchase brand new. I'm going to my buddy's family car shop to check if he has any wrecked TLs with working radios. I can probably get a really good deal if they have some.

I really appreciate you sharing all this knowledge with me. I learned 3 new things. Probably more to come.

I used 5 inputs because I was thinking every output needed an input. 1 & 2 for fronts, 3 & 4 for rears, saved 6 for the sub. If I could do it over, I'd take the signal before the stock amp.

Also, during setup I had the bass really loud lol! When it was doing the test tones during seat measurements, the last bass note shook my car. I thought that was pretty cool!

Until I replace my cd player, I'm going to redo the setup at a range of (-40 to -30db) with the sub gain decreased. No wonder why my bass felt lacking! It wasn't as loud as before, so I boosted the sub +1, the bass +1, and turned the gain up a little more. Then when I bumped it at a loud volume, my lights were flickering. I normally don't experience light flickers.

Also, do you have any suggestions for grounding kits? I still need to do the "big 3" upgrade. Basically, I don't have many tools to work with so crimping those metal attachments to the end of the power wires are going to be a tremendous amount of work.

Thanks IHC!

I hate cars

During the sub sweep, you barely want to hear it and you definitely don't want to feel it. I always make sure my sub amp is turned down during sweeps and I can always turn it up after calibration. I find doing it this way gives plenty bass.

Remember that turning the sub level up on the MS8 also turns the midbass up to match it so bass will still come from the front. Turning the "bass" level in the tone controls menu up boosts just the really low end bass. I prefer using the tone control menu for the days I want to bass out vs turning the sub level up.

If you didn't use the setup disk, only inputs 1 and 2 are being used when you use the radio (if it works) so it will be lacking bass.

Using the aux input you should be fine as far as inputs are concerned.

I'm not sure how the rears work without the center, I've never seen anyone do it before.

Once the MS8 does calibration, you shouldn't adjust any other settings such as the iPod or the headunit. Every control on the MS8 affects something and it's all made to work together to keep a good stage and the bass coming from up front. It took me a while but after playing with all of the features, I learned I can make any range of adjustments I need with just the MS8.

One other tip, if you want to switch between two different tunes, when you're done with the driver's side calibration, do a calibration under "passenger" but stay sitting in the driver's side. Mine are pretty consistent now but you might find that you like one tune better than another. When you switch to the "passenger" setting it's really like "driver 2".

vqt1988

My center speaker is not connected to the MS-8. reason is because let's say I'm using my AUX source, I would want to dedicate my center speaker for navi sound in conjunction with my iPod. Should I consider upgrading the stock center? It looks like a huge amount of work to get that thing out.

Do you think it's a good idea to lower the gains of the front speakers before the setup? Same method you used for the sub level? Then after the test, raise the levels for the fronts + rears?

If that applies only to the sub, I'll only do it for the sub.

Did you ever upgrade your grounds? The "big 3?" If so, did you go with a preconnected kit or you made the stuff yourself?

I hate cars

It really depends on the amp you're using and the sub configuration. I have a pair of 15s infinite baffle. The subs themselves are very efficient. Infinite baffle is very efficient, and m amps are class D so they are efficient. My subs only require about 100w to get loud. I have 500w available to them and that's enough to push them to their physical limits. With the class D, 500w of output might only need 600w of input power. I haven't had to upgrade any electrical component unless you count the Sears Diehard Platinum battery. No light dimming at fill tilt.

If you're using a powerful class AB amp and an inefficient sub in a small sealed box it's possible you would have to upgrade the electrical.


I wouldn't worry about lowering the gains to the front. You just want the sub to have a lower level in comparison to the fronts. During calibration you want the front sweeps to be no louder than normal talking level with the sub even quieter than that. The MS8 has always wanted to boost 50hz in my car. If you bass sounds boomy, cut 50hz in 3db increments until it sounds tight and quick.

vqt1988

Thanks for all the advice. My amp is a 5 channel class AB. I'm bridging the fronts and rears giving the front speakers 200 x2 & the sub 600x1@1ohm. I have redone the setup many times and it sure sounds a hell of a lot better now. The bass is boomy. However, my sub is clipping when I do the set up at 1/3 gain and after the setup, increase it to about nearly 1/2 level. But at 1/2 it's too loud for my music taste. I'm going to have to play around with it some more to get it to my preference without clipping.

So far I like my sub at -30db on the MS-8 during setup and gain at 1/3 and kinda keeping it there.

I am not quite sure how this works anymore because at 1/3 gain, I'm not pumping the full 600 watts I should be getting @1ohm but it sure sounds like 500 to 600 watts tho!

I'll take your advice and play with the eq adjustments, in increments of -3db.

I bet your 15s are punchy and tight. I've never heard a good infinite baffle setup before...

Thanks man! Any other tips?