Let's tweak PIONEER Head Units

[aseem]

Originally Posted by Vivekphadnis

This is where you say that entry level subs require a minimum of 140W RMS in order to be driven.
And I have an electronics degree and been in DIY audio for the past eight years to know about clipping and thermal damage. I don't know why all your electronics theories are based on the JBL subs and Sony amps.

Navin 30 years of experience. Sam with 16 years of experience.... and just not be left far behind, Vivek chips in with 8 years of experience.

Well Vivek I think you are qouting me out of context. Please read the complete thread in totality.

The reason I discuss giving Sony and JBL as examples are, as these speakers, and amplifiers are available in India. If we were living in US, I would love to qoute Audiobahn, JL etc. Same way when we talk about cars we talk about Alto's (yours), Swift, etc and not Alfa Romeo, Citroen etc. So thats why my examples are based on JBL and Sony. Like stated I base my examples on them, not theories as you qoute.

[v1p3r]

I peeked into this thread, hoping to learn something about my Pioneer unit. All I can see is a bunch of knowledgeable people arguing over everything except the topic.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

I peeked into this thread, hoping to learn something about my Pioneer unit. All I can see is a bunch of knowledgeable people arguing over everything except the topic.

haha good one there v1p3r ..well this is just part 1 of the raging opinions from our experts..there is more to come so do keep an eye on this thread..

[navin]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

I peeked into this thread, hoping to learn something about my Pioneer unit. All I can see is a bunch of knowledgeable people arguing over everything except the topic.

Thanks Vip3r!

to seriously tweek any electronics unit is not easy, home based machines are a bit easier as they have more space.

many of the problems in these units come from design compromises but in your case the biggest tweak the Pio unit could use is a better DAC. Now doing that is not for the faint hearted. I know I would not dare to do this myself. I have done the same to a home based CD player but a car CD player is a different kettle of fish.

Unless I am seriously mestaken I think we had addressed this issue before.

as far as the settings on the HU are concerned this is a matter of personal taste, speakers and amplifiers used, etc...so the number of possible good combinations of settings are more than the numbers of members on TBHP.

[Vivekphadnis]

Aseem, pal. All I am asking you is how did you arrive at the 140W RMS rating bit. See your own post no 29. I did not jump to any conclusion nor did I quote you out of context. I am just asking you how you got the minimum 140W rating. Simple. I use a subwoofer made of two 8 inch drivers for home theatre, driven by a 70W amplifier (repeat 70W). You are most welcome to talk about your experiences with JBL and Sony and how they sound but don't give out incorrect info. There is no minimum or maximum power needed for any sub. Of course, more power is always better. As Navin also added, you need to get sensitive speakers like maybe 90dB or more.


v1p3r, I would love to do modify my 5750 but I opened up the cover and the CD transport mechanism and saw how complicated and crammed things are inside. I too feel it is better not to fiddle with these things. Most parts are easily available for home audio electronics but I think car audio electronics is a different ball game altogether. Meanwhile, enjoy the discussion Aseem and I are having.

[navin]

I always thought I was a bit nuts and a bit on the bleeding edge but trying to make sense of a car audio tape deck is not easy. trust me. I assembled/built one in 1978. There was a lot of work. get the tape head (we did not have CDs then) to send a signal that was not noisy, getting the eject to work so that it did not shoot the tape across the car, etc...with CDs, DACs, etc.. things are much more complex now.

I would not even dare to do this today and I got DSOs, Impedance Bridges, and a whole electronics deptartment at my disposal.

[gunbir]

[quote=
Maybe you are right. Maybe the day will come when tripath is mass produced and companies like alpine and sony and JBL will be able to sell a class T amp at $200. THAT day it will be the thing to buy. That day is nowhere here yet.
And mass production at normal affordable prices of a product like that....it'll be a long while.

Cheers[/QUOTE]

Hi... FYI Blapunkt has been selling tripath amps (model PA2100) for a few years now in India. I have used quite a few... MRP was around Rs. 11000 and I have seen them going for as low as Rs. 5000 in the grey market... They have discontinued these now and replaced them with a class AB series

link to website that used to sell these

Tripath press release from 2001

pic from one of our installs

[navin]

gunbir. that was cool. i see that psot count going up very fast very soon.

The PA2100 is still available? I would love to have 2 at 5K each!

[zzzehar]

hi GUYS

I finally got the setup under my budget of Rs. 10,000.
It may not be JBL's Eyeballer but yes It does ROCK !!

The Head Unit I got is Pioneer 3750 against 4750/5750 (which I earlier decided upon).


I ruled out 5750 because -
1. I cannot look at the display all the time while driving so those flashes are not for me.
2. For optimum output the equalizer settings provided has to be changed/set differently for each and every song - that's really not possible for me to stop the car after every song and change the equalizer settings.

I ruled out 4750 because -
1. The only difference between 3750 and 4750 was of front loading and flipback loading + 4750 had the same equalizer settings as in 5750 (Refer Above)

This is the Head Unit I got


These are the specs as quoted by the website :

MP3/WMA/WAV
Detachable Front Panel with Carry Case
High Power MOSFET 50w x 4
Rotary Volume Control
RCA Pre-Out, Card Remote

I checked this unit in car (Daewoo Matiz) with Blaupunkt GTx693 - Pioneer 6991 - BOSS Riot R694

I checked all the speakers with a different left and a different right, Set the Volume to an Optimum level and then use the Balance control to check the audio quality between left and right speakers.

Blaupunkt sounded OK - very small and weak magnet for Rs 3200 - RULED OUT

Now the fight was between Pioneer 6991 and BOSS R694

Pioneer was a bit more bassy than BOSS but that bass effect was also on the vocals, thus making the voice of the singer more bassy and deeper, whereas, BOSS offered almost same amount of bass with awesome clarity.

Pioneer 6991 - Rs 3500 without B&W
BOSS R694 - Rs 4000 with B&W

After listening to a lot of songs inclucing the VENGABOYS Party Album's BOOM BOOM BOOM - We like to Party to Punjabi Dhol and Soft Sad Songs, I BOUGHT BOSS R694 for Rs 4000 with one year warranty.

This is what BOSS R694 looks like -


The specs for BOSS R694 are -
Impedance: 4 Ohm
Frequency Response: 50Hz-20kHz
SPL 1 Watt/1 Meter: 92 dB
Cone Material: Poly Coated Paper
Voice Coil: 1" Aluminum
Tweeter: 2x 1" Mylar Dome
Midrange: 3" Polycone
Power Handling: 500 (Peak)
Magnet Structure: 80 Oz

The front speakers were factory fitted when we got the car but I still liked BOSS fronts for Rs 1450, but I didn't buy them due to a limited budget, I think the factory installed are of JVC - will check them and let you all know.

The whole Setup Costed Me -
Pioneer 3750 with Remote (Without B&W) - Rs 5000
BOSS Riot R694 (With B&W) - Rs 4000
Antenna - Rs 100

That's It.

The sound is very Bassy, the Radio reception is AWESOME and the white display of head Unit is also good with elegant fonts.

I AM SATISFIED WITH THE MONEY I SPENT.

There is one feature FIE (Front Image Enhancer) in the Unit using which you can shift the soundstage in the front and form an imaging.
The manual says that using this feature will disable all the MIDS & HIGHS from Rears and will shift them prominently to the Fronts - YES IT DOES THE SAME THING and WILL sound good with components or a bit better fronts than the one's I have.

I will post the pics soon (cheap quality) as I can only click them with my SE T610.

Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much GUYS for your support and help, I am much knowledgable and confident abt the money I spent. Thank you.

And I am not going away, I will be upgrading this later on.

Anyone you wishes to check the system in Chandigarh, I will be glad to show you the same. Please PM me or email at sukhamrit_singh@dell.com for the same.

Thank you once again

[navin]

zzehar, i think this is a triple post.
see post 1794 on this link.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showth...page=120&pp=15 (Car Audio Advice from the Audio Gurus: Use "Search thread" before posting a new Q!)

AND

see post 158 on this link
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showth...165#post122165