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Old 29th July 2009, 11:47   #61
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Upgrade!!

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Originally Posted by nishantgandhi View Post
Thanks Abhinav.

No more upgrades planned right now. I am enjoying the music and want to spend lots of time with it to be able to diagnose whether I actually need any further upgrades.

Maybe in a new car - maybe after a few months!
I am generally not the types to revert on my spoken word.

Plus we are facing recessionary times. Hence no un-necessary expenditure was planned.

But then...

A close friend was traveling to US. He kindly agreed to bring back 2-3 things for me.

The Western Digital HDTV Media Player (Amazon.com: Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player: Electronics) was on my list since a long time.

But then I thought - since amps are so cheap in US, why not get a bargain deal? I pondered over my choices - should I get a powerful 4 channel (to replace my existing Blaupunkt GTA4) or should I get a monoblock to add power to the sub?

Somehow I was never too much in favor of a mono. I found it to be an overkill for my current setup. It was also not appearing to be future proof just in case...

Opened a thread to get some inputs (Which 4 channel/monoblock amp from US? - Team-BHP).

Frank Mehta came along and added a new dimension to the story - 2 channel amp! So off I went hunting for a powerful 2 channel. Anyways, they are hard to find in India at a good price.

I set the budget at $100-125 and power requirement of at least 350-380w x 1 in bridged mode.

Final choices were:
1. Panasonic CYPA2003U ($97)
2. Kenwood eXcelon XAC-20 ($135)

I tried hard to find the Panny but no more units were available. Then one fine day, I stumbled across Rockford Fosgate Punch P4002. It was available for $120! Specs looked damn fit to my requirements (400 w x 1 in bridged mode).

I checked with a few people and got good reports of the amp. So I immediately instructed my friend to buy it!

Now the wait for it to get to me begins. It looks like I will get it only by end-Aug/mid-Sep. Till then, enjoy with the pics and specs here

Which 4 channel/monoblock amp from US? - Page 4 - Team-BHP
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Old 29th July 2009, 18:05   #62
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Haha.
ICE has its effects.
Congrats on the RF.
Hope you like it.
P.S. I'll not advice you to go active with the illusions or give them bridged power.
Its better to keep 2 channels waste.

Rest best can be advice by the Hermit himself.
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Old 29th July 2009, 18:37   #63
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It's a life long growing process which can never come to an end

Abhinav, Illusion's are rated at 75RMS and the GTA 4 amp does 55x4. Which I suppose could be safe to use on the Midbass and tweeter under Active Xover. With carefully choosing the Xover points and the safe slope, it could benefit from running them with active XO. Passive Xover function's in providing the safer slope and xover points to components. I see no issues in trying to run them under Active Xover. What one would need to be careful is about the gain setting, inappropriate gain could fry the voice coil on the tweeter before it does on the midbass.

Last edited by Invinsible : 29th July 2009 at 18:38.
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Old 29th July 2009, 18:57   #64
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When a speaker is rate at 75W rms the tweeter in most cases cant hanlde more than 7-10W rms. So if you are using a bigger amp than that for the tweeter you do no need to be careful. If you are using an active crossover before the amps the tweeter is largely left unprotected from the amp. However for most music the music energy ratio will hopefully ensure that not more than 10% of the energy is above 3K and this should protect the tweeter to some extent. However some electronic music has energy levels that are more than 20% above 3K and with music such as this one needs to be careful even if one is not active (with 20% of the music energy above 3K the passive crossover will simply pass this energy to the tweeter). For such music hardier tweeters are used. Some of these tweeters like the Dynaudio and Morel (Hexatech voice coil) sound very good too.
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Old 29th July 2009, 19:09   #65
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Completely Agree Navinji.
For example Morel Integra Ovation XO coaxial which comes with passive Xover and can be runned in Active mode too. The Manufacturer has rated the nominal limit of the Coax at 90RMS in passive. But looked into the manual, the Midbass of coax can handle around 100 RMS where as the tweeter can take up to 80. Even the Passive Xover has max rating of 150RMS. When running active I guess these parameters really help in deciding how much power can be given to the drivers.

Incase of Illusion it's not known as Individually how much safe power can the Midbass and tweeter from the comps can handle. I guess until one determines that, it would not be wise to run them active safely. However if tuned in keeping the gains under safe limit would not harm either of the drivers. What's the safe limit ? well, that's something one needs to find out here for the tweeter and midbass.

Last edited by Invinsible : 29th July 2009 at 19:12.
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Old 28th March 2010, 18:17   #66
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Amplifier tripping

My car had met with an accident a month back. Consequently, it was in the service center for 2 weeks.

When I got my car back (post repairs and service), I noticed that the amplifier (Blaupunk GTA 4 MKII) was tripping. Initially, it was happening almost instantly and a few minutes later, after every 5-7 minutes.

When I checked with Hyundai electrician, he mentioned that while servicing the car, water might have seeped into the amp (because they cleaned the top of the boot with a jet spray and the rear seats with a damp cloth). Invinisble also confirmed that this is a regular hiccup.

I switched off the system, removed the HU and continued driving for 3-4 days.

Today when I switched on the ICE, it played 2 songs and then the protection light came on (it was blinking). The HU restarted and this thing kept repeating.

Fearing internal circuitry damage, I removed the power cable from the amp. Now I am wondering what to do. Should I keep then power cable disconnected for some more days? Or has there been some problem in the amp?

Can anyone guide me to a Blaupunkt service center in Mumbai where I should go?
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Old 28th March 2010, 19:00   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nishantgandhi View Post
My car had met with an accident a month back...?

Can anyone guide me to a Blaupunkt service center in Mumbai where I should go?
While you have the option open to go to a Blau service station, I have a "jugaad" for you to try. Open the amp's cover and blow it dry (using a hair dryer - pref at the hottest option) for couple of minutes. Unscrew all the external visible screws (Power, Ground and Speakers, if any), and blow them dry too. Put the amp in sunlight and wait for couple of hours.

In all probabilities, you amp should be fine. If this doesnt work.. check your cables before you head to the service center.
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Old 29th March 2010, 00:35   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nishantgandhi View Post
My car had met with an accident a month back. Consequently, it was in the service center for 2 weeks.

When I got my car back (post repairs and service), I noticed that the amplifier (Blaupunk GTA 4 MKII) was tripping. Initially, it was happening almost instantly and a few minutes later, after every 5-7 minutes.

When I checked with Hyundai electrician, he mentioned that while servicing the car, water might have seeped into the amp (because they cleaned the top of the boot with a jet spray and the rear seats with a damp cloth). Invinisble also confirmed that this is a regular hiccup.

I switched off the system, removed the HU and continued driving for 3-4 days.

Today when I switched on the ICE, it played 2 songs and then the protection light came on (it was blinking). The HU restarted and this thing kept repeating.

Fearing internal circuitry damage, I removed the power cable from the amp. Now I am wondering what to do. Should I keep then power cable disconnected for some more days? Or has there been some problem in the amp?

Can anyone guide me to a Blaupunkt service center in Mumbai where I should go?
Well there could be some internal damage, can be said only after opening up.
I know of one such person who could fix this problem, who is technically sound and authorised for Blaupunkt, JVC, Alpine, Sony and others and has been in this field since last 25yrs. Will PM you the contact detail.
There is also Chandrika electronics at Dadar, who use to handle the complete west zone for service but not sure if they are still the service dealer. Had got one of the blaupunkt amp fixed there back in 2001.
Anyways, will PM you the details.
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Old 9th April 2010, 14:55   #69
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Any update on the amp ? Howz it working ?
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Old 9th April 2010, 15:48   #70
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I went to B&T's installer. It seems that settings were fiddled around with. He tweaked and re-tuned the amp. It did trip for the first 2-3 times, but since the last 7-10 days (thankfully and touchwood) it has been playing as before.

Maybe because of the accident (whose impact was on the front side), the housing/wiring at the HU end became loose as well. I say this because I noticed that the HU needs a bit of an 'extra push' while re-fitting the panel in the base. Still testing it out and will be able to report this in a few days.
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