The Ford Fiesta Orchestra (Now performing : Ecllipse, DLS, Boston) It all started in November when I listened to a friend’s SQ setup, I decided that I should not be listening to my full treble + full bass setup anymore, my old setup is as follows.
Pioneer HU 6950IB
JBL 507's (they did not have the level control like the newer 508's)
2 X JBL CS woofers
JBL 1004
and a Phoenix Gold V8001 mono
Then begins the R&D. out of my old setup I decided on retaining only the best ones and all I could save was the PG mono amp, which meant I need a whole new setup. I decided to start from scratch, I started with a budget of 35-40k
12-13k for the HU
8-10k for the amp
5-7k for the woofer
8-10k for the components
so 1st the source.
What I had in mind was the clarion 785 and alpine 9887, when I asked for suggestions my dear friends convinced me to get something which I never thought of before. The Eclipse 7200MkII. Luckily I had a friend coming from the US, who lends me a helping hand and there goes 24K from my budget. So here starts the journey which blows every budget I had in mind. I get my HU in DEC, I was amazed by the level of difference the HU made to my existing setup. I was so happy with it, it was a day and night difference of what I had earlier. Then as I was running the setup again my friends say it's a crime to run a 7200 with the existing equipment and they wanted to get something better to accompany it.
2nd comes the amp
I was being confused again, I wanted to decide between RA40 and Infinity Kappa 4. Again I do a mistake and ask the same friends for suggestions, and one of them comes up with a name I've never known before. The "Boston GT42”, I do a little research about it and the amp is believed to be made by steg and is indeed made in Italy. Looks neat, and has very good specs. So here goes 26K of my nonexistent budget, now I still need a sub woofer and a component. Here are some specs of the amp.
Specs:
14.4VDC:
100 watts x 4 chan. @ 4 ohms
150 watts x 4 chan. @ 2 ohms
300 watts x 2 chan. @ 4 ohms
450 watts x 2 chan. @ 2 ohms
12.6VDC:
75 watts x 4 chan. @ 4 ohms
120 watts x 4 chan. @ 2 ohms
220 watts x 2 chan. @ 4 ohms
350 watts x 2 chan. @ 2 ohms
3rd the Sub-woofer
When deciding about the amp, the discussions for the sub-woofer was also going on. This time I had no options to offer as I knew it's going to be changed in the end. I was being told a lot of names ranging from Image dynamics, JL, RE and a weird SNG. This time around we all had our options thrown out. When we went to buy the Amp we saw something which looked like a gas stove, and then we came to know it was called G5 by Boston. And was being offered at a 10% discount. Just seeing that would make one buy it, it's a beauty. There was only 10" in offer and I wanted a 12" which was not available. After lot of discussions and late night chats I decided to take the plunge and get the 10" Boston G5. Off goes 20K, does anyone even remember the budget now?
We install the amp and the sub; it's a mistake which is well worth making. The amp and the sub are just fabulous. for all those who think a 10 inch won’t go low, come have a look at the little G5 which can give you a heart attack
At last the components
After the all the above things were done, the JBL 507's were trying real hard to keep up with the rest which it couldn't obviously. So now let’s start the hunt for the components. Here are my choices,
The Infinity kappa's the speakers which made me want to change my setup
The PPI 356c I just was in love with the vocals of these amazing speakers
The famous Alpine SPX17pro's made famous by our dear frank
The Focal 165K2 - had some great reviews, but way of the budget..LOL, I did not even have one now
The Dls Nobelium's - The same as the focals
then after a few sleepless nights of research and discussions, I fixed upon the DLS Iridium's. I had a few friends coming from the US, a few call made and I ordered the Iridium 6.2's for 415$, this went smooth and the speakers got delivered in 3days to my friend in US. Few days later I saw a listing for the Iridium 6.3's for 500$ and it was an offer too good to resist, I then managed a friend to get the 6.2's and I ordered myself the 6.3. This did not go as smooth as the ones earlier. It took just a day for the components to be delivered according to UPS which said front-door delivery, but to my surprise my friend said that there is nothing at his front door. I'm in total shock and call/mail everyone around, but no positive response, I came to a conclusion my 500$ is wasted. I couldn't sleep for the next 2 days, and then my friend calls. Like some magic, he found the shipment lying in his front door when he returns from office. I did not want to go deep into it, I was so happy that I got my components, and I had never been so excited as I was for the next 10 days. I got my components, a work of art I should say by DLS. I was jumping around in joy waiting for the install. Special thanks to satheesh and nitrous
to be continued and some pics of unboxing |