enginyr

Percy, Your link did not work. What speakers would you recommend for me concidering the weight concern and that I'm not to big of an audiophile. I don't want major booms just something better than stock that wont crack my wind shield.


Would just replacing my stock woofer with the JL 10 IB4, suffice? (No external amp)

RON430

Hi Percy - I have run into a slight hiccup. My front right channel on my premium system is cutting out on an intermittent time frame. I have been back to Lexus and of course it won't do it for them. My problem is that if it is the head unit or amp, I want it replaced under warranty before I start changing anything because I intend to keep the head unit. It went off yesterday and I was going to take it in but we had to make a stop first. As soon as my wife opened the passenger's door, the channel came back on. I am hoping that this means that it is either the wiring or speaker in the door. If that is it, putting the dyns in should solve it. Any thoughts? Probably still going to wait a while to see if i can manage to get it into a dealer when it has cut out just to be sure. First step will likely be taking the door apart and seeing if I can see something obvious. Not very Lexus like.

enginyr

How about starting another thread for this....???

BabaBooey

Woah, calm down there sizzle chest. He just wants to share the thread a little bit, nothing to act a donkey over.

RON430

Wasn't really sure it warranted it's own thread. Just responding to Percy. Got the manual and had a few PMs so I just thought I would respond to his question. Not sure we have made progress on this issue of free air subs. Been discussing for a long time. Mean Gene is the one who got folks started on the JL and when they have used it, they have been very happy. Obviously the Vel can be used either way but finding the doggoned things, and insuring they are in good shape, is the problem. Are we finally getting enough will to try for a group buy from Vel and see if they will run a batch? Otherwise it seems that the hot shoes for subs aren't interested in free air with the exception of they dyn which is not badly priced and they will carry Percy's blessing although I have never heard him say anything about the big dyns. I also think it is Peter Lufrano's site where he says the ads is OK free air. I keep going back and forth on the use of a box, most recently with some good reports on the helix precision 10 inch and they even sell it already mounted in their own box, assuming you can get it here. Unfortunately, Percy is rubbing off on me and even my old ears are getting unsatisfied with my stock premium system but I have that pesky channel cutting out issue to contend with. Because I will be using LLCs and keeping the head unit, I want to make sure it is working. Miserable intermittent electronic problems. Could be worse, I could have another Jag or a new 7, guess I should be thankful...

Percy

That should work out fine. Here's the link for the Dyn sub, kinda surprised the other link didn't work for you. I just tried it and it worked fine.

http://www.dynaudiona.com/products/car/drivers/190.htm

Percy

Percy

Ron,

Try taking apart the door and use a meter on the connections. It could be just the wiring. Those intermittent problems are a pain in the a-- to say the least. As for the subs, I've never listened to the big Dyn. I'm just wondering how many people would actually be interested in Vel. Has to be more than just a couple of units. Pretty sure it takes quite a bit of machining to run off the cones.

From the feedback I've been getting, the Bimmers are a pain to work on.

Does it cut off with the ASL off?

Percy

RON430

Percy - ASL doesn't make a difference. When it cut out yesterday, I didn't tough anything, volume/channel - nothing. But unfortunately instead of being able to go right to the dealer, we had to make one stop and as soon as she opened the door, the channel came back on. I am trying to not kid myself but I think that gives me a good indication that it is either the speaker or the wiring in the door or going through the jamb. However, when it goes, it loses both the mid and the tweeter in the door.

You never know about group buys. Don't know if we have any cattle around here or just guys with big hats around the camp fire but it seems like we could get five or ten orders together for the Vels. Don't know if that is good enough. When it was posted that Vels were available, I think it was etoys, I went right over and ordered it. Took two days to get the email saying they couldn't fill the order. I am not trying to overstate or understate the work involved in replacing the speakers and putting an amp in the GS (I have been going over the manual a lot) but it is going to be a fair amount of work and I would like to make sure I wind up with something that I will enjoy for a lot of years and not want to start ripping out again. I think the sub is the single issue left for me to sort out before tackling the upgrade, assuming I get this intermittent sorted out, so I am sympathetic to enginyr's question. Not sure what the SQ alternative is for free air if you write the Vel off.

retrodrive

IDQ is a great sub, it does have more quality then JLw3 and hits about the same. Now ARC Audio took that sub and improved on it. Both subs work freeair, both sub come in 10" size and both subs have extrimely clean bass.

Audiomobile subs are good but the company are sh|t...don't buy from them. If you need the sub right now, I suggest ARC Audio sub, if you can wait, IDMAX ten will be out very soon.

I'll keep my 2 12" IDMAX

enginyr

How much will the IDMAX 10" be when it comes out.....Anyone have any links to literature?

Percy

Ron,

It sounds more like the wiring than anything else. The worst possible thing it could be is a cold solder joint within the amp, but it's VERY tough to get cold solder joints on electronics when they're using wave soldering. Could be a bad crimp on the wire or the plastic socket that houses the metal contact could be a bit on the loose side.

The sub took me about 1/2 a day to install. But that's taking my time and doing everything right. You know how I am..no outside shops due to the horror stories, but for those thar have good shops available and trust them...use them. I save the bucks in labor and then funnel the money into other projects.

I've never tried the ARC audio sub or anything from ID. Audition them at a shop that carries them and then decide for yourself. Make sure they have a good return policy in case you don't like them.

Percy

stevie

I've been scouting through the driver catalogs for a replacement free air woofer and putting them through my box design program. The JL 101 computes well.

If you want to avoid the ubiquitious Chinese drivers or overpriced Eminence clones, you might like to consider the following.

Vifa M26WR-19-04. Available from Madisound for 89 dollars (from memory). You may not know Vifa, but they make their own drivers and are highly regarded in the speaker world. They are Danish, like Dynaudio. This driver computes perfectly for free air use.

Another one you might look at is the Focal 33F, if you'd like to go to 12 inch. This will increase your efficiency and maximum output by around 3dB. It has a slightly higher in-box Qtc; so might sound slightly less tight than the Vifa. It's also a lot more expensive. However, as Focal seem to have discontinued these, Zalytron are selling them at half-price for 212 dollars.

Focal also do a 10 inch version, which on paper has no obvious advantage over the Vifa, and is more expensive even at the sale price.

These are very high quality, cast chassis drivers from manufacturers who really know what they are doing.

Of course, if you want lots of chrome, bright red lettering on the dustcaps, blue foam surrounds, and lots of marketing hype, you have plenty of choice.

I would mention that, although I have quite a bit of practical experience with Focal and Vifa drivers, I have not heard these particular drivers installed in a car. But I plan to install the Vifa soon in my GS300.

Stevie

400DGRZ

iTrader: (2)

Be sure to let us know the results!

BabaBooey

I didn't know Arc was making subs now. Are they made by Rainbow or by Arc themselves?

Vifa makes awesome equipment- I'm pretty sure they make JL's tweets and midranges. I haven't heard any of their subs, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were of high quality. Soundstream (same company as Vifa) is about as top notch as you can get, but too damn expensive. Their Revelator tweets are incredible, and you used to be able to find them for cheap if you knew that Digital Designs's CT28 was the same product, but DD no longer sells tweeters (they still make the beefiest midbass that I've ever seen, I've read of several people running the DD 6.5"s with 500 watts per side and LP'd around 55hz- the mids still sounded clear and wouldn't bottom).

No info on the 10" MAX. Should be able to get it for $270-$320, depending where you buy it from.

Percy

The Revelators are the best bang for the buck I've seen in a tweeter. Alpine uses them in the F#1 Status lineup as their top end speaker, though it's not well known. It's basically a tweaked Revelator with an Alpine logo.

Focal home drivers. I've heard a few nightmare stories about the adhesives they were using. The cone seperated from the coil causing some major problems and that's not too surprising considering the torture of the car audio enviroment. But, that was a couple of years ago and they've probably changed their adhesives. This was in regards to their subs and tweets (T2X type models). As for their car audio drivers, I haven't heard of any problems. Otherwise Gene would have told me!

Bababooey...any further info on the Digital Designs? 500wpc is ALOT of power!

Percy