Osamu

i finally got my new amps. well not NEW, but used, but i've been trying to get a matching pair of tru tech amps for a while, but it's just hard to find good deals on these.

here's some pics, what do you guys think?




sorry if the pictures are too big.


i'm VERY slowly trying to put together a decent SQ system, but there's so many choices out there. I fell in love w/ these amps since they were first introduced a few years back. too bad this line is discontinued, and now it looks like they are just going to be offering the billet and copper series.

now i have to decide on sub(s) and speakers. I was going to run RE8's but i'm feeling they won't offer the SQ i'm looking for, and might be a little too cheap, as i got the ones i have for like 80 shipped for both. Maybe you can chime in on your opinions (just don't tell me to get a type-r or something like that, haha). i'm looking for something small that won't use a lot of truck space, and i only have like 400W to work with. I've always loved the audiomobile evo's so maybe if i can find them i'll go that route, but now i might be leaning towards a single seas sw300, or some morel 9's. maybe i'll even try out some IDQ's, or go back to DD, since my 9515 was the best sub i've ever owned. Then comes the box, cause i would like to go vented, but for SQ i'm debating if i should just go sealed. I'm even considering trying to use a passive radiator just for fun. haha

i won't even go into components yet, as there are even more choices in that department. I want to try horns or ribbon tweets, but i'm not sure how they'll fit into my car (whatever that is). then comes the debate as whether to go active or stay passive, ugh. as you can tell, this is going to take me a while, and watch by the time i'm done, i'm gonna want different amps, it's a never ending cycle. I'm kinda saving everything, to start over w/ a new system in a new car, cause i don't want to rip up my car now, to lay deadening, just to sell it in a few months. so hopefully i'll have everything somewhat ready for a new car..... just don't hold your breath to see what i decide what to do. I figure nothing good ever comes out from rushing something. Maybe if i sell my current system, it'll get the ball rolling. any interest in some memphis amps (st1000, st300) or an RE HC Quad1? haha.

sorry for the long thread. any opinons on any of this would be more than appreciated. Every audiophile has their own opinons so it's hard. i have to make it out to more shops and meets to hear things for myself.




*edit* i bolded some stuff, so you can skip all the riff-raff inbetween.

CJams

They look cool, but why did you take such dark pics? Are there 2 amps there? or is it just 1 of the amps? Congrats on finally getting what you wanted for a good price. I love the whole "retail stalking" method myself. wait wait wait (good price) POUNCE!!!

Osamu

yea, sorry about the dark pictures, all my other pictures turned out really blurry

here's another small picture and i resized the original pictures


it's 2 amps, 2.100 and 4.65

Accurate

Looks pretty badass. Good job!

TLBaller

I believe REs are known for their sq and sp, if im not mistaken? But REs can be very sp though. So you are going from 9515 down to a RE 8. Is the 9515 too loud to the point where you're downgrading to 8s?! LOL its cool man. I think you'll want a bigger sub though.. How about RE se10 or sx10?

Osamu

i sold my 9515 like 3 years ago, and went down to an 12" RE HC (1st gen), and i've missed the 9515 ever since

i just find myself not turning up my bass all that much, and for a while, i would just turn it off. Plus since IMO, all the new hip hop pretty much sucks, i've found myself not needing the bass for the music i've been listening to.

since so far i'm basing this system on stuff i fell in love w/ when i was first getting into audio, and was an SPL junkie, i've pretty much decided to spend another few months looking for some audiomobile evo's in good condition. even if there are better subs out there, it's like buying the classic car you always wanted. and like i said, i'm in no hurry

jpswanberg

go active between the sub and mid/horn. go passive between the mid/horn. my choice for horns would be usd audio. they have component sets with passive x-overs mids and horns all put together to work together. i have heard a number of different horns previously, but the usd always sounded best. as always, go listen and let your ears decide what sounds best to you. jps

Osamu

Did you personally use horns?
my major concern w/ horns is the size of them. Anyone ever use horns on their CL/TL?
i wonder how well they would fit under the dash. i wouldnt' want them being an eyesore

jpswanberg

i competed against a bunch of guys with horns and many of the usd horn equipped guys sounded great. jps

elduderino

The one thing about going with horns is that you often want to drive your midbass much harder than you want to drive your horns... so many folks want two different amps in that situation.

If you DO go wih horns you gotta have a good clean EQ...

And I have ALWAYS found horns to be an eyesore, so if aesthetics are an issue, I say dynamic drivers all the way, baby.

I had heard that DD were more SPL oriented, but I haven't heard them.

I would be VERY concerned that the Morel won't play loud enough.

I have heard some good things about Ascendant Audio subs.

We are thinking about picking up ID...

Osamu

thanks for the input.

i'm kinda leaning against getting horns. as much as i want to try them, i don't have a good eq, and i don't think i have enough power for my mids as it is. I even see a lot of people preferring running a midbass, midrange, horn config, and i don't think i have enough power for that. Plus since aesthetics is an issue, and imaging will be very hard trying to keep them rather concealed.

I've heard good things about the ID pro mini horns though. They are smaller than the USD, and i've heard people getting good results without much EQ. But that's a lot of money to drop to just test them out.

i think i've completely ruled out trying ribbon tweets. some people love them, but most people say the imaging is too hard, and they are too big, and to harsh.

CJams

Those amps look petty cool!

GSteg

Nice system! what a coincidence, I have a TRU 4.65 myself too! Its gonna go in my car soon (next car) to power the tweeters.

I would not mess with horns, unless you want to have the awe-factor of having something not many people heard before? lol.

With horns, you'll want to put the horns near the firewall as possible, and outside of the car as much as possible. Typically in most Hondas, the driver side has the fuse panel there. Most people relocatte the box somewhere else through the means of lengthening wires. Good thing about Honda/Acura is that they basically have dead space inside the kickpanel area. You can cut out some metal frame thingy and fit your horn driver in there, but I doubt you'll want to do that

Ribbons sounds nice if you have the space. They sound dynamic and have almost no fatigue. They dont sound harsh at all. Downside is that they might sound metallic if you dont tune it right. Imaging does require a bit of work though.


As for subwoofers, if you want, I have the Seas SW300 here with me if you want to hear it. Well it's my friend's, but I'm positive he'll let you take a listen. I prefer it over my IDMAX and my former IDQ any day of the week.

Go active if you can. A lot more control over passive and you can tweak your system to your likings instead of depending on a fixed passive xover. I went from passive to active and could never see myself using passive in a car again.

What midrange do you plan to use?

Osamu

yea, i still haven't decided if i want to use my 4.65 to run a lot of power for an active set up up front, or if i want rear speakers w/ a passive set up up front. I know most SQ people will tell you rear speakers are bad, but just personal preferance i kinda like them. If i had more money, i'd pick up another cheaper amp for my rears, and just be able to shut them off when i wanted to. but maybe the stock amp would make them loud enough, it just might be a problem turning them off.

i haven't decided on the comps yet, i'm probably not going to be running ribbons or horns, just cause it's too much trouble for what it's worth. i would prefer to run active at this point, so i can mix and match my mid/tweet and tune it myself. I have a old set of diamond hex, i'll probably keep around, cause it's not worth anything to sell. i blew a mid, and they fixed it so it sounds fine, but they inverted the cone so it doesn't match. i also blew the tweets and replaced them w/ focal tweets, so nothing matches. maybe i'll just throw those in the rear, if they'll fit, and pick up something at madisound for my active set up.

el dude: i'm really curious about the new Ascendant subs, the specs on them don't sound that great compared to the older ones, but usually they have very good quality subs. i think i'll wait to see how people like them. they are still just taking preorders right? The Seas SW300, i just can't justify the price of it.

i have to put myself on a pretty tight budget. it's nearly impossbible to make a great cheap SQ system, so i can't be too picky. In total i'm only looking to spend maybe 1200 on the hardware, and i'll tell you i've already spent like almost 500 on the amps, and maybe another 100 on some signal processors. we'll see if i can stick to my budget, hahah....

GSteg

You can easily get great mids and tweeters for under $300. I've done it

7" mids in doors and large format tweeters in kick panels (about 4" diameter and 1.5" deep".)

If you're on a budget, just get yourself an IDQ. I'm sure a single 12" would be loud enough for any SQ-based system.

Osamu

actually that sounds pretty good, but it'd require me to learn how to build kicks (which i would prefer, but i've never even used FG before) or pay more money to have someone do it for me

i also have to factor in deadening into my budget , which i almost forgot about.

GSteg

62.5sq feet of raamat is enough. I did 5 layers on my door and still have about half left, which is plenty to do the trunk!

Fiberglass is easy. Your car will kinda smell for awhile though, but you'll get use to the toxic smell. I know I did

Or you can get yourself some budget mids and tweeters. Dayton Reference 7" and Dayton large format tweeters. Probably the best bang for the buck setup that'll cost less than $150 for the drivers. My dayton reference midrange is almost the same as my Seas Lotus Reference driver, except the Dayton is $32 each oppose to the Seas' $150.

DIY components for the win!

Osamu

do you know if the new Dayton RS series is released yet?
i was looking around at PE for it, but i could only find the old 8ohm shielded ones...


i'm in no hurry, so if it's true they're going to release the 4 ohm, where you don't have to debuck the magnet, that sounds like a VERY good option.