audio set-up for beginners [continued]

[nnayr]

Sir jhnkvn,

I'm going to purchase a JBL GT5-650c seps as an upgrade from my old Pioneer coaxial fronts. Just wanna know if they are better than a/d/s, Lightning Lab or Ryan Audio seps (in their own price range and category). Price range is P3,000-below.

[Retz]

may kilala ba kayo sa C3 Audio in banawe? okay ba dun?

[jhnkvn]

*nnayr

As for the difference in MP3, AAC, WMA in terms of sound quality, I wouldn't fret over it. From my understanding, AAC is best among three but upon hearing it myself... bleh, liit lang sobra.. if there is in fact a difference. How small? Let's just say that I "think" I heard a difference but that might be due to the placebo effect, still I raffled the prize off to AAC.

As for the difference between loseless and mp3 formats, it really depends on the type of music you're playing. I'm pretty fine with having my recently downloaded UK Top December 2011 songs over at 320kbps for the sake of convenience. If you're aim is to download each and every song to be as pure as possible, that'd be a time waster unless you're sitting on a 30mbps internet line or something.

I would say that a 320kbps mp3 file is the 80-90% quality of a loseless format more or less. The most apparent improvement is in the upper ranges of the sound table -- the highs where our ears are more sensitive to compared to the rest of the sound spectrum.

Smartphones and AUX in is a bad source due to the fact that your phone isn't a dedicated music player. By a dedicated music player, we're talking about audiophile components such as DACs and other internal mumbo-jumbo. iPods are actually good -- especially the 5th generation and the 3GS iPhone upwards. I personally use my iPhone and iPod as my source in for the head unit ;)

An iPod connected via USB is superior versus an iPod connected via AUX because the AUX-in passes through the iPod's native DAC whereas the iPod connected via a line-out USB bypasses that DAC. Just use the KISS methodology to figure the difference.

I'm a pro-JBL fan. In the world of sound, sound is subjective. Truth is, the only reason we buy more expensive components is the promise to sound better. At a certain price range, most products simply differentiate themselves with sound signature (material composition and factory tuning) and brand. For me, I like the fact that I own a product by Harman Kardon. That "brand" alone would give me the assurance that they investing in R&D to give me a quality product.

*Retz
C3 Audio in Banawe has one of the lowest retail prices available. I think they're still are.. But in terms of installation quality, Maspro and Candyshop is still my two favorite shops. Are they trusted? Yep.. since 2003 kilala na sila

[nnayr]

The JBL Seps up front are already installed, Sir jhnkvn and the music begins to unravel itself with the upgrade. Now, it's a little more satisfying to listen to my songs. The upgrade began to emphasize every instrument and voice within the songs. I've been tweaking the settings every now and then for a common ground between song categories so I can listen with ease. Satisfied (for now) and loving it.

The next project will be to install a 4-channel amp. Care to name some good ones, Sir jhnkvn? Of course, it has to be a budget-friendly machine (as usual, you know) but quality-proven. Hope to hear from you soon. =)

[jhnkvn]

What' the budget? :O I do have my favorites on some price ranges.

[nnayr]

What' the budget? :O I do have my favorites on some price ranges.

Around P5,000 sir..? (crossing fingers)

[jhnkvn]

Since I'm not a fan of V12 amplifiers (especially those generic ones), I'll go for branded nalang. Personally, wala ako expertise at budget amplifiers haven't had the opportunity to look what's under them too. Recommendations is in bold.

At 4.5k, there's Lightning Lab AM480. Not sure if this is the Lightning Lab amplifier sold on Tsikot's audio packages. I think it's pretty good naman... but it's not proven in a sense that it has competed before. But I think I'll get this nalang over some generic V12s.

If you're looking for more same-brand type, JBL has its GT5 A604 at around 5.5k. It's the most affordable amplifier in its lineup. I'm not familiar with it though.. I'm more familiar with the GTO1004 amp.. but that's around 9k na.

At 6k, there's Dominations Atom. Small-sized amplifier but tons of power. Have seen one internally and externally and it deserves the small but terrible award. I remember a 3-way system powered by 2 Atoms won last year's 60k EMMA competition to boot!

At 7.5k, you can find secondhand Powerbass ASA600.4 at these prices. Good internals, good and clean power. A safe recommendation on those who starts out due to its power overhead just in case you might switch from SQ to LnC.

At around 9k and with the right connections, you can also buy Zapco ST4 from legendary amp maker Zapco. I only know one person who imports them though and you can forget about finding these sa local car audio stores.. walang Zapco sa Philippines.

I also have this contact who's selling "my" amplifier (Xtant 2140c) at 5,000php. Very recent lang this December.. Already contacted him for details since I was thinking of buying it as a "backup" in case one of my Xtants failed. But so far, my wallet seems pretty thin due to Christmas shopping sprees. Like with old school cars, mahirap i-maintain mga old school amps so I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, it's only 2 channel.