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EddieC

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About EddieC

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    Member

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  • Real Name
    Eddie
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    NC
  • Interests
    music, drums, guitar, shooting pool
  • Vehicle
    2004 Scion xB Release Series 1
  1. EddieC

    front stage recommendations

    Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php:1) in /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php on line 323 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php:1) in /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php on line 326 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php:1) in /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php on line 327 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php:1) in /home/soundsol/public_html/forum/ips_kernel/classAjax.php on line 328 Up until now, I've always gone by the rule of setting the gains at 75% of the head unit's max volume. Turning the gains up to the point of distortion and then backing off until they were clear. I had the shop set the gains, as the speakers were only covered under warranty so long as they did the setup. The gains were set identical, left and right. The head unit HPF was set at 100, as well as the LPF. Crossovers were set to -3 after the first couple of times blowing the tweeter. Is it possible the shop connected the wires wrong? (neg to pos and vice versa) I asked them that question when it was under warranty and they said it was possible but highly unlikely. I watched them do the work and they never bothered to even look at that.
  2. EddieC

    front stage recommendations

    It's the passenger side.....over and over. The left one has never blown. I thought to begin with that the AQ200.2 may have been the issue, as it pushes 220 per channel which is way more than the power handling capability. The shop that installed them set the gains and I never pushed them beyond that point. When I was advised that something could be wrong with the amp, I switched it to the Kenwood. That one only pushes 100 per side, which is well below capacity as the tweets themselves are rated at 100 each. I need to change things up, but don't want to until I know what's causing this issue. If it was my gains or volume, shouldn't the other one have blown at some point as well? I've had these installed since November 2014. Now that they are out of warranty I'm going to pull the panel and investigate myself. I left them alone up until now since the warranty was only covered with the shop doing all the work. What, besides the wiring should I look for? Is it possible that the driver on that side has an incorrect ohm reading that is causing the problem?
  3. Last year I purchased a set of Image Dynamics CTX-65CS for my front stage. I was running them on an AQ200.2 amp. The right side tweeter kept blowing so ID upgraded me to the XS-28 tweets and the matching crossovers from the CSX set. Well, after 3 more attempts the tweets kept blowing. They said it must be something wrong with my amp, so I swapped the amp for my Kenwood KAC-7005PS. I bridged the channels to get 100 watts per side so that overpowering should not be an issue. Well, after the warranty ran out my last replacement came in. It lasted a week. I don't know what the problem could be unless the driver on that side was bad, sending the incorrect ohms to the tweets. That being said.....what could be the cause of this? Also, I'd like to know what would be something that would be a suitable replacement. I can use either the AQ200.2 or the KAC-7005PS for the front stage. Or is it possible to use the AQ for the mids and the KAC for the tweets? I'm running a 220 amp alt, Group 34 Optima Yellow Top under the hood and a Diehard P1 in the rear. Sub is a 12" DSS Ethos on a Q1-2200D @1 ohm. Is it possible to use all 3 amps safely on the electrical I have? I don't have a lot to put into this as the car has been fully built for shows now, with Seibon carbon fiber hood, spoiler, Clazzio seat covers, etc., etc. What would be the best course of action to take here? I'd like to know why the tweets keep blowing for one. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
  4. EddieC

    Pictures of your new equipment

    New amps.
  5. EddieC

    2014 upgrades

    Car paid off. Time to upgrade....
  6. EddieC

    Music recorded at low volume

    I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music. I would say yes go ahead but be cautious. Thanks. That's what I was thinking. Everyone always talked about setting the gains 3/4 of the way up to leave some head room. I figured this fell into that category. While listening to the old school music at a level of 52 yesterday, there was no distortion at all and sounded clear as a bell. Music sounded just as it should have at 45 with the disc used to set the gains. Amps stayed cool, with no clipping light coming from the sub amp. I'm just trying to be cautious guys. I've never had this much power and after that bad experience with the Hifonics amp overheating with gains barely up at all I'm just wanting to make sure I don't screw up anything I have going on because this is the loudest, cleanest system I've ever had. Taking this question further....does the volume of the music have any control at all of the power that is being put out or is the amp simply pushing x amount of power at the point where gains are set? I'm learning all these things as I go as in the past I always just had a shop throw something in and set everything up for me. I've done every single bit of this install except for having the shop install the front components and set the crossover and gains for them (due to my limited knowledge).
  7. EddieC

    Music recorded at low volume

    I know and understand all this. That's how they were set. I just wanted to know if it's safe to take the volume higher on these older recordings, as I could take Elton John's album to 52 with no distortion whatsoever and crystal clear. Could probably even go higher but I'm trying to play it safe. Like I said, if it's not safe to exceed the limits that are set I just won't listen to the music.
  8. EddieC

    BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY 2014

    Thanks for the heads up! 3 sets ordered.... just hope they arrive before Santa. BTW.... thanks for the amps. Installed them both last weekend and am totally blown away! I have friends who refuse to even get in the car to listen once they hear the doors open.
  9. EddieC

    Music recorded at low volume

    Please explain. I asked this for the following reason. I purchased a set of Image Dynamics components and had the shop set the gains. At first they were installed on the Hifonics POS and the tweets blew 15 minutes into the ride home. I replaced the amp with the AQ200.2 and had the replacement tweets installed and gains set by the shop. No problems since.... and I don't want to create any myself by pushing things past thermal capability. I noticed when playing older Elton John and Pink Floyd music that at HU gain set max volume of 45, it sounded more like it was set at 30. I simply wanted to know if it was ok to turn up the volume past 45 to be able to actually hear it or would I just be pushing the amp to clipping due to thermal overload. That's it. If I can't turn any of the older music up past where the gains are set, I have a lot of music that will never be played again.
  10. EddieC

    Music recorded at low volume

    Thanks.... and will do. Seems that most music recorded back in the analog days just doesn't have the volume of todays music. I guess that's why a lot of older music gets remastered when it's re-released digitally.
  11. I finally have most of my equipment in and now that I'm actually pushing some power this is a question that I can't seem to find a straight answer by searching the net. Is it safe to turn the volume up past the gain limits you've set when listening to music that's recorded at lower volumes? I find that when listening to a lot of music, especially older music, the volume seems to be half of what is recorded these days. Is this part of the "head room" that I've heard everyone speak of? This may be a stupid question to some but after my experience with that POS Hifonics amp I want to make sure that I'm not just building heat rather than pushing power. I will say that this AQ200.2 is a beast and barely gets warm to the touch. The Q2200.1@ a 4 ohm load on these Dcons doesn't even warm up at all. Best power I've had to date, and loud as ****! Side note..... finally hearing these Dcons on full power has blown me away! I had them both running off 300RMS total for a year before changing to the Hifonics which was supposed to net me 600 to the subs (the 300 watts from the Kenwood was louder). On this Q2200.1 these things pound!
  12. Thats a no brainer otherwise your battery would have a horrible ground. Thanks guys. I have found a perfect spot for grounding the battery. Just wanted to make sure I didn't need to ground the amps there as well. I have battery terminals with all the inputs for the amp wires. Man I can't wait to get this going. Think I'm gonna see how much these Dcons can handle until the Ethos gets here.
  13. Question.... you say the rear battery is your distribution block. Are all your amps grounded at the negative battery post? Or did you run those to the chassis? Can't really tell from the pic. Kinda hoping that it's as simple as grounding the battery, then running all the amp grounds to the negative post. I ordered a Q2200.1 for the sub and an AQ-200.2 for the fronts. Picked up a set of Image Dynamics CTX65CS locally on Black Friday for $190 and man, what a difference! Just wish the guy hadn't set the gains so high. I was only able to hear the tweets for around 15 minutes before they both blew. I told the guy the gains were too high, but he said to try it and see how it went. Now he knows and has ordered new tweets from the company to replace these. I'll be glad to get that AQ-200.2 in and get this Hifonics POS outta there.
  14. EddieC

    BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY 2014

    My 2200 is on the truck for delivery and my 200.2 should hopefully arrive tomorrow. Just hate I missed out on the earbuds. I was too excited about getting the 2200 that I totally forgot to order a couple of sets for the boys. Oh well..... Thanks for the deals guys. Can't wait to get these in and bumpin'!
  15. EddieC

    How did you guys find SSA???

    After 17 years with no bass I began searching Google for the best budget sq sub and the Dcon kept showing up in post after post. Purchased a couple and been here ever since. Those reviews were right.... AMAZING subs for the $. Plus those vids of Justin's Blazer with the Evils in it totally dropped my jaw. Can't get any better advertising than that! ;-)
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