Hello all,

I just had a Clifford Matrix 3.5 installed in Long Island. I actually shopped around quiet a bit before deciding on Audio Planet in Huntington. The place did a really good install, and I am very happy with it. The install is very clean with absolutely no wires hanging under the steering column. (I still have to check under the panel though, its been snowing the last couple days so I haven't had time to take it apart yet) Under the hood the wires are all loomed together and twist tied to the factory loom.

I got an amazing price also, so if you are looking for an alarm installer in Long Island go there. Ask for Mike, and tell him Johnny sent you.

 

sounds awesome!!! hows the alarms response and such? hows the transmitter distance and the 2way capability???

 

How is the pager range?

I was about to get that same alarm, but my friend who worked in car audio for a long time...kept telling me the whole pager thing is a gimmick and doesn't work as well as people think they would.

I still wish I had gotten it though....it seems so cool! It would be interesting hear how you like it.

 

I like the system. The range so far is excellent, and the pager is surprisingly useful. I park in the very last spot in the lot at work (the lot is probably 80 cars long) and can start the car from inside the building probably 40 feet from the window. Its a neat thing to have the pager because it allows me to start the car and know its on without having to get a visual confirmation, especially since it was only 10 degrees last night in NYC)

I would definitely recommend getting this system, although I have no experience with the other competitors Viper, Compustar, etc. I do know however it is much better than the Valet system that I have on my X5, even though it is made from directed also?

 

I have the 3.5 RSX Clifford. The range is great! I deffinately recommend one.

 

WOuld you mind quantifying great? And do you mean transmission range or receiving range?

yuhoo 22, I am curious about your receiver range, which is supposed to be much greater than your transmitter range. You may need a friend with a cell phone to test it properly...

The clifford should be higher end than the Valet - Valet are basic units and most were engineered over a decade ago. Current Clifford is the same as current Viper as far as the guts - QC levels, component quality, etc. They do have different SW features and often have better-looking remotes.

 

Well the range is very good, than the features also. The only thing I dont like about mine is that the siren isn't loud enough...thats just me though. You can add extra sirens for abt $50-$100. But the Remote b/w the Viper and Clifford have the same functions, just different colors. And the Viper is one where you can actually get that talks. The Clifford doesnt talk its just a siren w/ different tones. The quality is really good. I've had mine for over a year and no problems only one but that a lose wire so no problem there. It has a Imobilizer, it works alright. The LCD is accurate, it will tell you whether someone is messing with the hood, trunk, or doors of your car. Than it has the impact icon, that shows that your car has been hit by something. You can add on shock senors and noise sensors. Also features like auto-roll-down-windows. and Vice Versa for windows and sun roofs. Its just alot packed into a small little remote. I paid about $150 for mine w/ an empoyee discount through DEI. But after install it ended up costing about the same as purchasing it retail. But my install was at hifi buys w/ a lifetime warranty on install. Plus the Clifford has a lifetime warranty on their products also. So its a great combination so you dont have to worry about anything going wrong.

 

The siren on DEI products hasn't been loud enough for years - ever since they squared the siren shape. You could change out the siren for a standard off-the-shelf round siren IF your alarm uses a 12V siren - many high-end cliffords use a speaker and put the siren's amp guts inside the alarm brain for siren tone programmibility. If yours has siren tone programming as a feature of the brain programming (as opposed to an option that requires siren disassembly) then you have a speaker and it can't be replaced with a standard siren.

The better way to solve the siren volume issue is adding Horn honk. Then they are both going - the siren constant and the horn pulsing. The siren is kinda muffled if you do a good job of hiding it (I usually conceal it inside the inner fender well or below a filter or something like that) and for that reason horn honk is recommended.

The pager doesn't tell you if someone is messing with your hood, trunk, or doors - it tells you if someone has opened your hood, trunk, or doors, or if the impact detector has triggered - which does NOT mean someone hit your car. It's a vibration detector and how it's installed is crucial to what it triggers to (see my threads https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12879 and https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12878 )

It's worthwhile to know the difference- I would respond to a sensor trigger very differently than I would an open door, for example. Note that the more sensors you have, the less likely you are to have a false alarm, IF you adjust them accordingly.

 

Oh, and you still didn't quantify great, BTW... : )

Are you a salesperson at hifibuys/tweeter? Just wondering...

 

Elduderino, how would I test my receiver range? If you tell me how to, I'll test it out and post results.

 

I don't know if the pager will tell you about open doors WITHOUT setting the alarm off, but...

Get your spare remote. Get a friend with a cellphone and a car. One of you stays with the car and the other takes the pager remote and the car, and drives some distance away.

When you are ready, the person by the car sets off the alarm or opens a door that the alarm will see (you can see why I wanted to be able to trigger the remote pager without the siren!: ) The person with the pager checks for reception, and when it's received, the person at the test car disarms the system and re-arms it.

I would probably do two sets of tests myself, since I want to test parking-garage range and open-air range. I know how manufacturer range numbers are derived (the tech department tells marketing what the tests showed, and then marketing makes up a number), so I wouldn't trust the brochure.

NOTE. The Clifford has a feature called FACT (actually, I think it's now FACT II, which is just Directed's NPC nuisance prevention circuitry). After three triggers close together by the same sensor or input, NPC will shut down that input until the ignition is cycled on and off. FACT II/NPC is probably turned ON as a default. You either need to turn it off in programming, which is NOT intuitive to perform, or you want to jut expect to cycle ignition after every third trigger. (The original FACT actually resets with disarm/and rearm, so no problem there).

 

The Clifford maxtrix only comes with 1 remote.

 

Sure enough, the second 1-way remote is an option on Matrix 2-way systems. First DEI alarm in 20 years with only 1 remote - my bad.

I'd get a second one just 'cause you need a second one.

 

Get a second one for sure...I think you can get them on Ebay pretty cheap. Not 100% sure though.

 

The fcatory confirms that the only two ways to do range testing are either with a second remote, or by setting of the alarm and letting it run while you are out of the remote transmitter range, which is a real pain in the as unless the siren is disconnected.

(For those unclear, the alarm's ability to send pager signals to the remote should work from farther away than the remote's ability to transmit arm/disarm commands to the alarm...)