audio set-up for beginners [continued]

[ezem]

The AVH-X8650 has as it is Pioneer's flagship 2DIN head unit. However, it's DSP capabilities are limited (but enough). Judging by what I see in its press release in Malaysian photos, it's limited to 3-way semi-active or 2-way full active only.

Before you start doing your setup, you should first know which category you'll be competing in. As EMMA has a # of channels and price category, you'll be building upon what you're aiming for. For example, in the Philippines we have a price bracket of 120,000php. In that case, you'll be building upon that budget inclusive of head unit. And yes, since the competition does not take installation costs into account, doon usually dinadaan ng tao ang pera

The difference of a 3-way and a 2-way is still humongous. However, there's the aspect of tuning that you need to get it right. SQ is factually just controlling the sound inside the cabin so that what you hear - sounds great. Tuning a 2-way is actually a PITA if you don't know what you're doing, a 3-way is probably a 4-fold jump in difficulty. But if you get it right, you'll be well-rewarded. This is from a pure SQ capability, the Focal Access 3-way will outperform its higher model 2-ways if you get it right.

As for full passive or active. You will always aim for active. That's what your DSP is for after all. In this case, you'll be choosing between 2-way full active or 3-way semi-active if you plan on going 3-way.

As for your subwoofer, I'll first ask on why a 10" subwoofer? Truthfully in subwoofers, there's no "SQ" or "SPL" subwoofer. The science of creating bass is simply moving air. There's no such thing as "SQ" is because kahit ano gawin mo subwoofers create a ton of distortion - 20% upwards but our ears can't simply hear it. When it comes down to technicals, a 15" subwoofer is more "SQ" than a 12 or 10" subwoofer. Why? Because it won't move a lot just to displace air whereas the smaller cones will need more cone travel (which causes distortion).

My choice of a subwoofer is the Php9k JBL P1222 sub for the 12" category and Php8k JBL P1022. JBL subwoofers are highly engineered and they have great prices. In fact, they're better than you choices of Focal P series subwoofers or the Polk MMs. I always feel they're underloved by the community really. I also don't believe in purchasing a more expensive subwoofer unless you're after the engineering behind it. For example, I payed roughly 22k for my ImageDynamics IDMax in my trunk. However it has more to do with admiration of engineering (light paper cone yet stiff enough to pound) rather than performance.

If you're in QC, shoot me a PM since taga-QC din ako. I'll let you hear my car.

Actually sir, I've considered a 10" sub kasi i don't want for it to take too much space. When I was planning to go LnC, i've considered sundown SA8v2 ported...pero when I decided to go SQ, i might go for a custom FG box. and considering yung nanalo last year na jazz (jc car audio), t'was using an 8" focal P21v2 sealed enclosure...then, so i thought 10" sub would do good after all.

Also, when I auditioned 1 civic here, ang setup nya is x8650, gladen seps, LRx 5.1, IDQ12 L-ported...di nya ma-hit yung lows when I played bass i love you (i also played several music like beatles, alternative rock,etc. , either 384bit or flac format). And I expected it to sound great, but a bit unimpressed. Had to admit that it is yet to be tuned daw but sub SQ would just depend on the box size and tuning freq. (please correct me if i'm wrong). I was comparing this to my old system na P7150ub 1din, JL J2 320.4 amp, TMA seps, and 12" JL w0v2 slot ported (pipe) wherein i can hear both the lows and hard pounding beat of "bass i love you", and yung bass is tama lang, di sobra di din naman kulang (installed by sun-x).

I'd love to hear your setup sir but sadly sa dec pa ako magbabakasyon. I might PM you sa dec

Good day, ask ko lang, ano ba magandang low budget simple set up sa MB100, yun hindi naman bitin ang lakas sa loob at meron din bayo, gusto ko sana yun speakers ay in place pa rin sa original place niya dito sa MB, 2 front and 2 back, then a simple sub for bass na hindi bitin

for low budget, i'd go for JBL sub, V12 amp, and powerbass seps for oem placement. JBL seps are also good kaso parang malalim ang mounting depth nya (not so sure). try mo kay nogs of candyshop, may mga budget meal packages sya na baka pasok sa budget mo...