During the new year I am thinking of spending big on a quality audio system, but I am also tossing up between headwork, chip, 3.9s + LSD, or some exterior work.

So to help me sway my decision I am trying to get a good run down on some components for a system.

Current setup:

Head unit: Alpine 9835. This is staying.
Amplifier: Pioneer 2x channel amp. Won't be staying.
Front stage: 6" Pioneer 2-ways. Either going in the rear, or on Ebay!
Power: Optima Blue Top D34M.
Cabling etc: 4AWG Stinger amp wiring kit and distribution block. US Audio(?) RCAs.

Music style: mostly indie, acoustic/lo-fi, rock, alt., drum 'n' bass, "trip-hop", and sometimes hard trance (but I think I'm over those days).

Firstly, one good 12" sub or two average 10" subs?

Considering:

At the moment I am looking at the following:

Front stage:
6.5" components. Budget: $500.
I've been looking at the Diamond Audio S600, Rainbow CMX 265 kick.

Rear:
6.5" two-ways. Just for fill, nothing flash. Budget: $150.
Something basic, either my current Pioneers in the parcel shelf, or something from Boston Acoustic, Rockford Fosgate etc.

Sub(s):
Dual voice coil (2ohm) to run at 1/2ohm. Budget: $500-700.
I was considering a JL Audio 12" W6V2. I don't know if I really want to stretch for the W7. Otherwise I have also been considering something like the 3512 from Digital Designs.

Amplifiers:
I'm not sure if I want to amplify the rears or not. So a two or four channel amp I'm not sure. Budget: $500-700.
I'm looking at the Orion (CO150.2: 75wrms x 2 or the CO200.4: 50wrms x 4 or 100wrms x 2) range at this stage. I'm still lacking research in this department though.

Mono-block to power approx. 750wrms. Budget: $800 (possibly more if I can be persuaded).
Again, I'm quite lost and haven't had time to research this far. I've been looking at some of the RF range: T10001bd (750wrms x 1 @ 2ohm, 1000wrms x 1 @ 1ohm). Or something from PPI maybe?

Cabling:
I am going to be sourcing some 2AWG (or 0AWG?) cable for the power. I will be upgrading the battery terminal connections and fuse etc with decent stuff.

Please don't suggest Response, Pioneer, JVC etc. I am particularly after extremely high quality gear and want to do it right the first time.

Any helpful suggestions will be much appreciated. Also note that what I have suggested I have already sourced for prices that will fall into my budget.

Good headunit plenty of tuning options there.

Definitely 1 x Better 12â€￾. You can always add another 12â€￾ the same later if you want more.
If you want more after the 2 x 10’s you would need to sell them both off and go again.




I’d move your 2 ways to the back shelf it saves you having to buy anything else and they will do fine there.

For fronts there is plenty i would be looking at in that price range.
- DLS (won a recent Car Stereo Australia 6.5â€￾ speaer review for SQ. Their street price is about in your range)
- Focal 165K2
- Alpine Type X
- Boston Acoustics
- + Those you have outlined





Some nice subs there either of those are very good. The JL you would want at LEAST 1000rms to get it going properly. I have heard this sub running from 1,500rms and it is very nice indeed. Also not many of them around. Also nice and a lot cheaper.

DD 3512 is another nice sub but not the same as the JL in terms of SQ. Good sounding sub and certainly handle a lot of power but the JL’s are smoother and better for SQ IMO

I would definitely look at IDMAX12 in your application. They make a dual2ohm version (which I have 2 of) and it is one of the most accurate subs for bass reproduction + is rated at 1,000rms so handles plenty of power. Street price on them is around $750.

Amp wise I would be looking for a nice 2 channel and running rears from the headunit. Any of the amps you’ve outlined (I don’t know much about the CO one) I’d also be looking at Earthquake 4 channel ($500 for a 4 x 130rms which you could then run fully active from the 9835 headunit with 130rms to tweeter and midbass…), DLS RA 20 which is a very well built and results proven SQ amp 2 x 130rms, Any of the Rockford Fosgate or Boston acoustics or TRU Tech Amps, the list goes on. Even DD C4 if your going with the DD sub. Again it’s a 4 channel you could run fully active front stage with tons of power.

Definitely 0 gauge power cable. Your doing everything right so finish it with 0g and once your done you’ll never look back and the cost is only a little extra. $15m x 5m definitely worth it.

Thanks heaps Aaron, I was looking forward to your reply!

The IDMAX12 sounds good and is priced pretty well. Where in Melbourne sell these? There is a JL on CAA for $650 but I am holding off my decision until January.

I also had another option with the front stage that I came across last night: Hertz 3-way components. The only issue I have is that I've never installed something that is as complex as these plus I'd need to make some kick a*** pods. I'm not familiar with the DLS range. Have you heard the Rainbows?

I'm also not sure what you mean by running the components "fully active." Can you please elaborate?

Cheers

Active as opposed to passive crossovers.
My pioneer HU has a switch on the side, can operate in '3-way network' mode.
Instead of having RCA outs as Front/Rear/Sub,
it's High/Mid/Low.

You will love the IDMAX, very good sounding SQ sub which is the most important + plenty of power handeling (next most important) + looks awesome IMO which is 3rd most important aspect




Hertz are quite good and worth auditioning especially in the $500 and below price range.
Pods are not that hard to make. I am going to make a set over the Christmas holidays to house 6.5â€￾ midbass or an 8â€￾ midbass n the lower door and then post the build up of them on the forum. I will then put them in the for sale section…

Yes I’ve heard Rainbow but not sure what series I heard ?.
They sounded quite good although there were a few floors that I noticed that I think could be attributed to their installation.

DLS are very nice sounding speakers and have a range of price points. They also won a heap of world SQ championships in the last few years including 2005. The UP series are rrp $799 but street price can be had for around $650 which is a little out of your range but you should be able to save a little on the amp so it will all even out definitely worth it.

Here is the link http://www.dls.se/english/index.htm
Some info
At the 2005 INTERNATIONAL Sound Quality Finals DLS won 3 of the top 5 places in
At the IASCA USA finals DLS won 4 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd.
At the European SQ Finals DLS won 6 x 1st places, 4 x 2nd and so on…

Fully active means running each speaker up front from it’s own amplifier channel. So each midbass has 1 x channel of an amp and each tweeter has another channel.

It allows you to change crossover points for each speaker depending on where you mount them and how you want the system configured.

It also allows you to have time alignment for each individual speaker which is very handy especially if they are not going to be mounted together. All of this can be changed from your headunit and different presets stored for comp’s Vs daily use etc…

For example you might like the tweeter on the A-pillar to lift the soundstage and with a low crossover point to bring the midrange up. Bu for daily driving you might like to have a higher crossover point for the tweeter so you have greater power handleing and can play the system louder.



Definitely worth using.

Well I'm liking the idea of a 4x channel amp to run the front stage fully active. So the Earthquake one you suggested has narrowed things down.

Whereabouts should I look for the DLS components? They sound unreal (no pun intended). I'd be looking to mount the tweeters on the A-pillar some how. The mid I'd probably house in the base of the door on a slight angle. I'm thinking of getting custom trims made if I go ahead with a serious system.

I think I will go ahead with the IDMAX (lots of rave reviews on CAA) unless I listen to something else that tickles my fancy.

Thanks for your advice so far, really helpful.

Front: DLS UP6 $650
Amp: 4x Channel Earthquake $500
Sub: IDMAX 12" $???
Mono Amp: Unsure

This is getting to be an awesome system. I'll only help you further if you promise not to compete against me... LOL

IDMAX are rrp $850 street price $750ea. Stylin in Melb is one of the dealers for them. They have a website and 2 locations in Melb They are availabel in dual 4ohm or dual 2ohm coils...

I'll get you the info on DLS

Earthquake:
I'm not sure of where dealers are located. I get mine where i live and pricing is much better than anywhere else i've found. I could get it to you for $500 including freight.

Monoblock wise it's a shame your a week or so late. I just sold a 3,000rms Earthquake monoblock that would have done the job perfectly.
There are a few brands worth considerng out there you may have to have a bit of a look around.

Of course Earthquake make a 5 channel which is 4 x 130rms + 1 x 500rms @ 2ohm. They can be had for $600 inc freight which means you could get 2 and for $1,200 you would have 500rms to each voice coil of the sub (rated at 1,000rms that perfect) PLUS 8 x 130rms for front's rear's + spare or bridge down to 400rms per pair of channels so 4 x 400rms....

Might be more power than you need but at least it's plenty of headroom.

LOL! I don't know if I will ever compete because I am a bit of a perfectionist and I doubt I could make the appearance show worthy (although I would love to).

There is a Stylin Car Audio shop about 10 minutes away so if I can't find an IDMAX second hand I can always put a bit more money into a new one. Dual 2ohm sounds good! Speaking of them, I just received in the mail a 15% off voucher for being a member Think I lost it though....

But damn this is getting complicated with amps and power ratings!! Getting two Earthquakes might be a bit overkill - I don't think I'll be powering 8 speakers or 4 speakers capable of 300+rms each hehehe!

BTW, did you end up getting the money you were after for the Earthquake?

Yes all done and gone.

Are you still keen ont he DLS splits?

Still keen on the DLS splits but I'm not looking to buy until late Jan