audio set-up for beginners [continued]

[jhnkvn]

Actually, I can get those "high SQ scores" since I'm using a processor (JBL MS-8) alongside my head unit.

Hmmm, I've heard alot of budget meal setups using stock head units and I say it's pretty good if you don't count the absence of a proper soundstage. I would first suggest simple tuning: Raising the treble and midrange should add some clarity into the music. This also adds "brightness" to the music so use appropriately para hindi masyado sibilant yun mga "s" or just stop when you feel like it (like me). As an example, my sister's Mazda3 is running on treble +5, mids + 3, bass +5 and I felt that was the optimal stock tuning for it... +0 on all of it sounded horrible.

Also, the source plays a very big part in the quality of the music. I hope you aren't running anything less than 192kbps on them.

[cary2012]

now should your amp is rated HUNDRED watts 4 sales channel malamang 50 watts bridged yan. hence 50 watts sa isang seps and 50 watts for that sub. i does not always mean your limited to acquire 50 watts speakers. pwede ka bumili kahit A THOUSAND watts speakers kaso hindi busog yung presenters. this still had the likely of giving more pero it's important to get a high strength amp and my audio car dvd can get a high strength too.

[redtangent]

hi guys... sulit ba to?


FOCAL 2KP 165 separates
FOCAL amp 250x2 (i cant find this exactly sa website nila)
JL Audio W3 Sub
Pioneer Head unit 2 din (highest model noon)

2 years old pero super seldom used ( this guy has 14 cars hahaha)

60k... what do you guys think?? i will get the exact model numbers pero so far.. mas sulit ba to kesa

bumili ng bagong stuff for the price say FOCAL POLYGLASS or RE AUDIO or DLS na brand new?

[jhnkvn]

Where was it bought? Madami ka mabibili sa 60k.. seriously. It's always been one of the most hotly contested EMMA category.

[redtangent]

i think the owner bought it either sa JC or MIckey's 2 years ago sir.. i will have to ask...


i was just wondering if to get this set is better kahit 2 years old na seldomly used kesa sa lower grade na brand new now...


which is the hotyl contested EMMA category sir?

[jhnkvn]

I would first check what his Focal amplifier and the Pionner 2DIN head unit is. I have a more-or-less rough idea on what the amplifier is.. and if it's a Focal Power Dual Mono amplifier... the deal is pretty sulit in my case especially if it's fresh. If it's the Dual Mono, take note that it is very rare in this country since hindi siya naging "mabenta" in a sense when it was released locally.

Take note that the K2P 165 has been phased out since 2008 ata. So I doubt it's just 2 years old. The K2P 165 is the equivalent of the KRX2 nowadays (SRP: 34kish) and the most notable is its midbass (damn good..) and the titanium TN52 tweets were really detailed but harsh and often required off-axis installation to sound good. It's one of the component sets that convinced me of the Focal sound and made me buy and upgrade to my KRX3 (K3Ps at that time)

I'd say you need to replace the JL W3 subwoofer since after years of use laspag na yan. Cone surrounds need refoaming and its suspension is loose. I know since I used to own a JL W3v2 also.. served me a good 3 years before I find that a replacement is needed.

Make sure to guarantee where he bought his parts and who installed them. Meron din kasi fake na K2P 165 ;)

[redtangent]

confirmed sir 2 years na ang unit bought kay MICKEYS AUTOSOUND.

di pa sure which exactly ang amp pero for sure daw one of these guys (he has to check at home pa the unit, asa laguna pa sya today):

FP Dual Direct LE or FP Dual Monitor LE

which ons is better? are any of these amps "good"? bat hindi mabenta sir? based sa research ko one is analog and one is fully digital.. di ko lang sure which is which that uses DSP..

SPEAKERS FOCAL 165 KP2 2-way sir.

he insists its barely used ... its installed in his CIVIC and barely uses it dahil mas gamit ang AUDI at GTR nya :D whew.

still checking on the pioneer unit...

I would first check what his Focal amplifier and the Pionner 2DIN head unit is. I have a more-or-less rough idea on what the amplifier is.. and if it's a Focal Power Dual Mono amplifier... the deal is pretty sulit in my case especially if it's fresh. If it's the Dual Mono, take note that it is very rare in this country since hindi siya naging "mabenta" in a sense when it was released locally.

Take note that the K2P 165 has been phased out since 2008 ata. So I doubt it's just 2 years old. The K2P 165 is the equivalent of the KRX2 nowadays (SRP: 34kish) and the most notable is its midbass (damn good..) and the titanium TN52 tweets were really detailed but harsh and often required off-axis installation to sound good. It's one of the component sets that convinced me of the Focal sound and made me buy and upgrade to my KRX3 (K3Ps at that time)

I'd say you need to replace the JL W3 subwoofer since after years of use laspag na yan. Cone surrounds need refoaming and its suspension is loose. I know since I used to own a JL W3v2 also.. served me a good 3 years before I find that a replacement is needed.

Make sure to guarantee where he bought his parts and who installed them. Meron din kasi fake na K2P 165 ;)

[redtangent]

edit function not working

mali pala sir,

amp included is FOCAL POWER 2.150 LE he got this daw 40k at the time.
Pioneer AVH-4250 dvd.

no included amp for the sub, current amp will be reused daw

I would first check what his Focal amplifier and the Pionner 2DIN head unit is. I have a more-or-less rough idea on what the amplifier is.. and if it's a Focal Power Dual Mono amplifier... the deal is pretty sulit in my case especially if it's fresh. If it's the Dual Mono, take note that it is very rare in this country since hindi siya naging "mabenta" in a sense when it was released locally.

Take note that the K2P 165 has been phased out since 2008 ata. So I doubt it's just 2 years old. The K2P 165 is the equivalent of the KRX2 nowadays (SRP: 34kish) and the most notable is its midbass (damn good..) and the titanium TN52 tweets were really detailed but harsh and often required off-axis installation to sound good. It's one of the component sets that convinced me of the Focal sound and made me buy and upgrade to my KRX3 (K3Ps at that time)

I'd say you need to replace the JL W3 subwoofer since after years of use laspag na yan. Cone surrounds need refoaming and its suspension is loose. I know since I used to own a JL W3v2 also.. served me a good 3 years before I find that a replacement is needed.

Make sure to guarantee where he bought his parts and who installed them. Meron din kasi fake na K2P 165 ;)

[jhnkvn]

If then so, I wouldn't get it

The fact is that he simply depreciated the gears around 20% and that's up to you to decide whether it's worth it or not. Personally, I wouldn't get it unless it's around 45k na.

The Focal Power, or FP for short, might retail at around 40k (not sure ako sa price dati) but the internals isn't really anything to go "wow" inside. In fact, its successor, the FPS (Focal Power Symmetric) has better internals and sounds better with a 2-channel amplifier priced at 26k and the 4-channel at 38k. Hindi siya ganun ka-benta dati because it isn't really bang-per-buck at its category. At those prices I can get myself a Genesis Dual Mono and it'll sound better.

The Pioneer AVH4250 is priced at less than 20k nowadays brand new. So take that into account.

So his breakdown of 60k is like:
FOCAL 2KP 165 separates - 15k
FOCAL amp - 25k
JL Audio W3 Sub - 6k
Pioneer 4250 - 14k

Errr... nope. Still not gonna get it even if it's rarely used.

#1 The KP2 has a sale back in 2008 where it was priced at 18k brand-new to combat the fakes out in the market.
#2 For 25k, I could get myself a 4-channel PG amplifier or a Sands David II amplifier and I get flexibility of a 4-channel to boot! If you like 2-channels, then get yourself a FPS 2channel.
#3 I'll get a Polk MM1024 or a entry-level Image Dynamics sub at 6k
#4 And throw a few thousands more to get the 4250

[mda]

Hey all. Looking for a 2DIN HU for our 2007 Prado.

Yung stock kasi nun, may cassette pa:

I don't plan to upgrade the sounds further. I'd just like something entry level with USB/Ipod/Aux.

The cheaper, the better. **In line with this, should I consider a 1DIN nalang?**

We tried using the Cassette tape kasi with an auxiliary 3.5 cord. Kapag nalubak yung car, mag re-reset yung play.

Dapat plug and play naman ito diba? The stock unit is an old Kenwood yata.

Any suggestions what HU to look for and where to get it? Thanks.

[jhnkvn]

Get the 1DIN nalang. It's significantly cheaper on the basis that yo're looking for USB/iPod/Aux. Lower the better

[mda]

Any idea how much I'll be spending for this if ever?

Weighing the options kasi baka mas ok mag high-end na FM transmitter nalang. The low end ones aren't worth $*#*($ kasi.

[jhnkvn]

Hmm, if I remember the price difference between Pioneer models should be around the thousands lang.

If you can live with just the AUX and CD, the entry-level Pioneer 1300MP is around 3k. If you want the iPod connectivity, get the 2XXX (around 4k) if you don't plan on upgrading your stock sound system. Or in the event that you might want to throw a subwoofer in the future, the 3XXX models around 5k would be ideal due to the additional pre-out.

I got my mother the 1300MP just for her daily-driven Altis. I'm pretty content naman since talaga "less spending, the better" when I was looking for a head unit. It's not like my mother uses an Apple device or anything.

Pwede din actually mga FM transmitter but my experience with them has always been that of an annoyance (ex. changing FM channels everytime malabo yun signal), personally I'd still spend the extra thousand for a brand-new head unit. Even the 3.5mm AUX would sound WAY better than the FM transmitter which has around uhh... 96kbps worth of bitrate quality.

[mda]

Very informative sir jhnkvn. Might go with a new HU nalang kung ganun. I don't intend to upgrade sounds anytime soon, so no need for a sub out. Just want the AUX/iPod interface hehe.

Last thing holding me back - Usually ba may i-ssplice diyan or any wiring involved? Or plug and play installation mga HU? As much as I'd like to do this kasi, ayoko mangalikot ng car electricals.

Any place I should be visiting to get a good install? I'm willing to pay a <little> premium for good service, considering HU lang papalitan ko hehe.

Thanks!

[jhnkvn]

I don't think there's any splicing involved. In most cases, plug and play lang yan. I'm not sure what the head unit of a 2007 Prado looks like but I'd say that replacing the head unit is 99% worry-free so finding a good shop isn't hard as it looks. Just check your friendly suki talyer.. if not, tell me your general location and I could suggest shops that can do it for you (sadly, the shops I'm suggesting are those big-time shops.. just drop by Banawe anyday and everybody there can do it ;D)

[mda]

Hmm. I wouldn't mind going to the big time shops if the premium will not be so big. Mahirap din yung mga fly by night na shops. Di ko trip yung banawe unless kilala yung installer hehe.

A friend of mine suggested Mickeys sa may pasig. They any good or are there better shops for this job?

[jhnkvn]

If you're in the North, walang problema ang Banawe:
Nogz of Candyshop
Vince of Maspro
Ryan of Dawg Audio
Nesty of Ginza Audio
Jimmy of Jetcar
Benedict of Perfect Circle
Marky of Quest Audio
Adrian of ADsound in Tandang Sora

These are all car audio shops that are really matagal na and they do their job well. Heck, Winterpine has been installing gears since before my brother was even born..

Jack of Fuzed Mobile Audio if near White Plains

If near Araneta Avenue corner Sta. Mesa, Jeff Tan of Araneta Car Accessories or Winterpine (dunno if they do installs but.. might as well ask. They're the official DLS distributor in the country)

Ano pa ba..

Alex of Autoline in Makati (near CSB/DLSU actually)
Alvin of PhatAudio in Binondo
Eric of SunX in Cubao
Jeff of JC Car Audio in San Juan
Rocky of Mach2Audio in Pasig
Mickey of Mickey's Autosound in Pasig
Jonz of Simplesouds in Antipolo

For those in the South,
RJ of RJ's Sound Elite in Paranaque
Adrian of Blueprint in Paranaque

Ones in bold are the big four car audio installers in Metro Manila

[jedi]

Jon of tsikotshop taguig.

[mda]

Might visit Jeff / JC this weekend. Sila yung pinakamalapit eh.

Noob friendly kaya yung shop niya? i.e. won't rip people off if I don't know the SRP for the stuff I'm buying?

Sirs, any HU i should already have in mind?

Thanks.

[jhnkvn]

You shouldn't worry about these stuff. Unfortunately, instances of shops ripping off people is so remote that even I haven't heard of them especially in big-name shops. Think of it this way: some of the big known shops does installations and gears worth more than a million pesos. They won't rip you off a head unit ;)

And no, be at ease kay Jeff. Kilala yan ;) besides, sa kotse palang niyan alam mo big-time na eh :D As for the HU, whatever fits your budget. You can also say what you want and ask the installer for his advice.