[low_bass_makker]

Some thing like God Ji..So how is the install going on.

[planet_rocker]

is the car / ice insured? if not - then the ICE will be featured in my car (DIY by shuvc)

congrats ICEfreak - are you sure its complete?

PS - make sure you make it to the meet on Sunday - we gotto check out the ice - keep the old pair of coaxs for me.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

Some thing like God Ji..So how is the install going on.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

PS - make sure you make it to the meet on Sunday - we gotto check out the ice - keep the old pair of coaxs for me.

Aesthetically it is absolutely not in a position to be seen. The boot is a mees of wires. The comps are stuck on the dash. The amp is yet to be fixed/anchored. Have just wired it up.

[DerAlte]

The tweeter housing seems to allow tilting of the tweeter. Why the extra tilt arrangement with a bracket?

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The tweeter housing seems to allow tilting of the tweeter. Why the extra tilt arrangement with a bracket?

The housing has been fabricated by the same daas as Prabhuji's. He seems to have acquired some training that the stand be made in such a way that the tweeter fire straight and as much on-axis, when installed on the dash, as possible. I remember the guy calling me to ask which car it was for.

[shuvd]

Congratulations! Waiting for the next installment

[adityamunshi]

@shuvc

Amp and comps look really good, please post more pics.


How do the components sound compared to the coax ? Please describe in as much detail as possible.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The tweeter housing seems to allow tilting of the tweeter. Why the extra tilt arrangement with a bracket?

It does help point the tweets easily at the listener. The LHS of the dash slopes downwards. This compensates for that angle. On the RHS it helps the tweets fire above and clear of the curvature/hump of the dash over the instrument console.

Btw, please please change the thread title to reflect that it's no more a 'partial' upgrade.

Originally Posted by shuvd

Congratulations! Waiting for the next installment

Hmmm .. go ahead, give me some ideas !!

Originally Posted by adityamunshi

Amp and comps look really good, please post more pics.

Will take some of the completed install once I manage to tidy it up a bit.

How do the components sound compared to the coax ? Please describe in as much detail as possible.

Well what I felt was:
# The midbass has definitely increased
# Level of detail has increased. I can easily hear faint tinkles which I would strain to hear or not hear at all with coaxes placed near the feet. This is more apparent in music like Ian Anderson's Divinities.
# The softness of the high frequencies remain, inspite of the detail. Can listen to them for hours without any strain.
# Sound moving between/across L-R channels are easily felt/heard. For eg, in Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon.

This comparison is based on the 75.4 driving the coax and then the comps. Fitting the comps was phase I for me. Listened to comps + sub driven by the 75.4 for a week. No rears. Then installed the MBQ.

Post MBQ installation, the rears have come slightly into the picture, now driven by the 75.4
# High frequencies from the comps seem to be a tad smoother, maybe a bit more laid back than the JBL. Very enjoyable. Buttt ...

# Midbass seems to have reduced. The MBQ somehow does not seem to be providing enough LF juice to the comps. I've tried tuning a lot. No luck yet. Anyway, net result is that I had to increase the gain of the sub channel on the JBL a bit. This has made the bass go a bit towards the back of the car and a tad more boomy.

MBQ 4ohm wattage is 100rms compared to the 104rms of the JBL. So ideally there should not be much of a difference. Will AB it with the JBL soon to understand how big the difference is. Then take a call on which amp will drive what.

On paper the MBQ should be able to drive the GZ better. Since it produces 400wrms at 4ohms compared to the 284 of the JBL. Haven't tried it with the sub yet.

[navin]

Originally Posted by shuvc

On paper the MBQ should be able to drive the GZ better. Since it produces 400wrms at 4ohms compared to the 284 of the JBL. Haven't tried it with the sub yet.

Never rely on paper specs.

1. when driving inductive loads like a sub you need the ablity to dump gobs of current
2. an amp with a higher damping factor will work better

a better indicator is the relative change in wattage between the 4ohms, 2ohms and 1ohms specs and another informal indicator is the weight.

the place where most amp manufacturers compromise on is i the power supply. a well built power supply is costly and heacy (even if it is a SPMS).

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by shuvc

# Midbass seems to have reduced. The MBQ somehow does not seem to be providing enough LF juice to the comps. I've tried tuning a lot. No luck yet.

When switching amps, are you sure that you maintained correct polarity. Did you engage/ disengage any crossover setting with the MBQ that you may have not with the JBL?

Anyway, lets meet up tomorrow and tinker with this.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by navin

a better indicator is the relative change in wattage between the 4ohms, 2ohms and 1ohms specs and another informal indicator is the weight.

the place where most amp manufacturers compromise on is i the power supply. a well built power supply is costly and heacy (even if it is a SPMS).

This is from the amp specs:
RMS Power Rating:
4 ohms: 100 watts x 2 chan.
2 ohms: 200 watts x 2 chan.
Bridged, 4 ohms: 400 watts x 1 chan.

MOSFET PWM power supply
Premium-multichannel amplifier with pure Class A/B amplifier topology with PWM power supply and high speed MOSFET output devices

Variable high-pass filter with subsonic filter (10-150 Hz, 24 dB/octave)
Variable low-pass filter (30-150 Hz, 24 dB/octave)
Frequency response: 10-30000 Hz

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

When switching amps, are you sure that you maintained correct polarity. Did you engage/ disengage any crossover setting with the MBQ that you may have not with the JBL?

Nope. Am quite sure. All polarities are fine. Double/triple checked. Wiring does have a small issue. I had to join some extra wire to add length to the existing connection between the JBL and the right XO. This is currently done shoddily by just twisting the wires together. But should not be a reason for the midbass problem.


I suspect the issue is this:
If you see the snap of the amp, it has an option of attaching a remote bass level controller. RJ45 connector. This controller does not come with the amp - needs to be bought separately. I had missed this detail when purchasing. So currently, I believe the bass is set to 0/minimum by default, and I have no way to increase it. Could this be a possible reason for the lack of midbass?

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Anyway, lets meet up tomorrow and tinker with this.

[adityamunshi]

Hey B&T,
2000 Posts!!!!!cheers:

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by shuvc

... So currently, I believe the bass is set to 0/minimum by default, and I have no way to increase it. Could this be a possible reason for the lack of midbass?

No, that is not logical. Since the controller potentiometer is an optional item, the signal will have full pass-through (unattenuated) if it is not present. If it is connected, the signal will be attenuated based on pot slider position.

Also, this should be acting on the sub range, and not the mid-bass range, i.e. below 60Hz.

[shuvc]

Modji, please modify thread title. It isn't a partial upgrade anymore.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

No, that is not logical. Since the controller potentiometer is an optional item, the signal will have full pass-through (unattenuated) if it is not present. If it is connected, the signal will be attenuated based on pot slider position.

Also, this should be acting on the sub range, and not the mid-bass range, i.e. below 60Hz.

Now that does make sense. Anyway, I've stopped worrying about it. Puchho kyon?

Pulled up B&T from his afternoon siesta at Cal, today, and he obliged with a quickie tuning session of my ICE setup. His verdict =

Thanks Ajay. You mentioned about how music should sound natural. Was wondering on my way back. Somewhere along the way, over the last few days, I had probably slipped into a mode where I was looking to hear 'deep-deep thump thumps' in each and every beat/song.

Now to clean up the install. God knows when I'll manage to finish it.

[low_bass_makker]

So what new thing you learnt ?