My small build , "New Focal component set" Pg 89

[oldsoundguy]

Just sold my RE comp set. Damn I took 100 bucks shipped for them. Someone got a good deal. The tweeters are worth that much. Oh well they are gone and I have a little cash in my pocket. Not sure what I want to do with the P300x2. Might just stow it away along with the P1000x5 when the time comes. Although selling them would help pay for the amps I really want. We will see.

So far the truck sounds good. I am used to having the 3" faital pros on the dash with the tweeters. They seem to work good together. The 4" faital pros will be here in a couple of days. I just want to hook them up to hear what they sound like but wont install until I figure out the amp situation. I know in a sound quality ride the sub is not as important as it would be to an SPL guy. So I am having a hard time with the sub amp. I know I want it to put out 1200 watts which is double of what the DC is rated for. That way I can turn the gain down and still get lots of clean power to the sub. Right now it might be about 500w but I have the gain up to clipping on the amp so I am sure at higher volumes its clipping a bit. Clipping is distortion and I want that gone.

So the problem with the amp is there are a ton of amps that put out the power I am looking for. Price points for these amps are from 200 to 550  and everything in between.

I can find good and bad reviews on just about every amp I start looking at. I am having a hard time deciding between budget amps at 240 ish or spending money on a more expensive amp which would be in the 500 dollar range.

I watched plenty of amp dyno vids of budget amps that put out the rated or more power BUT how do you know how long it will last. The dyno is deceiving for that fact. I wish I knew more about the internals of the amp and what to look for in the component part of the amp. I need to do some more reading and research.

[oldsoundguy]

Well I did myself a favor and took the money that my wife and I got each from our taxes and instead of buying a new amps I decided to put the money on my personal credit card to pay for the shit I have already bought. I still owe but its less than before by a grand. I am going to try to get it paid off in the next few months. I promised myself when I got the card I would not let it get above 1000 (2000 limit) but my spending got the best of me lol. I am sure most have noticed that I have been on a buying spree. Time to continue with the dash pods, test the 4" faital pros, pay off the credit card then save some money for new amplifiers. By that time I am sure I will be even more confused on what amplifiers I want. Whew that felt good to do that.

[bcbrassard]

Sounds like the responsible action to take. Definitely not the fun choice but working with what you have to make it the best you can and adding later down the road will only improve your system and patients! lol

Been following along buddy, just busy on the car. Close to having it sanded.

[oldsoundguy]

So my next thing to try with the 3" faital pros is to prop them up to put them on axis and aim them at my head rest. I know I will leave them on the dash just need to find out which direction is best for my truck and me. Once I nail that down I will design a more permanent pod that includes the focal tweeter. I have been putting off fiberglass but its time to start. I want something that looks more professional than having the tweeter screwed to the a pillar and plastic pods.

 

[oldsoundguy]

Here is another thing I want to try. I want to install the p300x2 amp (again) and use it to run the tweeters and 3" faital pros. Then run the 4" faital pros and the Focal 5.25s off the P1000x5. If I leave it in network mode I can still use the hu for the highs but for the mids I will pass them. Then I will use the Focal factory crossovers so they will hpf at 3500hz then I can use the amplifier to LP them at 80hz. I will have to run the Faital pros with the hpf  on the amp at 550hz to full range just because the amp doesn't have a band pass feature.

The only thing I am not sure of and have to check is if I use the 2 channel mode on the amplifier (which uses the two rca to run all 4 channels) will allow me to run one set of speakers on the amps front channels and two on the rear channels and still have left and right control. I don't want to have to put the right speakers on the two right channels and the two left speakers on the two left channels. Then I couldn't cross them separately using the amp. I had that problem with the ct sounds in the kick but i did switch to standard mode so I don't know if that makes a difference.

[oldsoundguy]

So I dont know why but the p1000x5 with the hu in network mode will not run all 4 channels off one set if rca inputs. I switched it from 2channel mode to 4 and no difference. Not sure if its the signal coming from the hu. Maybe it needs to be in standard mode. 

[oldsoundguy]

The 4" faital pros showed up today. I cut a baffle out of 1/2 birch and glued it to the back side of the kick pod. Then I painted them black so you can see them through the grills. For grills I took the CT sounds grills and sanded off the logo so you cant see it. They are the best looking grill I have. Then mounted the speakers. I used a Toyota wheel center sticker to cover the tweeter hole. I think they look just fine. Now I need to figure out how I am going to hook them up.

On another note I turned the dash pods upside down so now they are aiming on axis. So far the sound is better on axis. I am really interested on what the 4" faital pros do in the kick. If they even sound half as good as the 3" on the floor then I will be happy. I know they will sound better than the CT sounds 5.25s I had in there before.

Here are some pics of these cool little speakers. Seem even nicer than the 3" but I am sure they can play a bit lower.

[bcbrassard]

Hell ya man. Way to revamp the kick panels and they look great. It will be interesting to see how yo like them. Killer work, tuned in for review.

[jcarter1885]

Like the Toyota stickers, pretty clever.

[oldsoundguy]

Well I guess I am a Fucking liar. lol

Fuck I went in to the audio shop near me that is a distributor for Arc Audio. They had one of the Xdi 1200.6 that was a display but never hooked up. It was up high so no worries with someone fucking with it. Anyway the online price is 859 from Arc Audio, amazon is 819 but not authorized dealer so no warranty.

They wanted 779 for theirs. I asked what kind of deal can they make me? He said 20 bucks off? I said I will give you 750 with tax. Tax rate around here is 9.2%

He said he cant make the call on that and called the owner who was back in the install bay. He said yes to the deal so I walked out with it. The price they were asking with tax would of been 849. So I got 29 bucks off the price @ 750 then tax on that would have been 67 bucks so 817 with tax But I only paid 750 total. It is expensive but It will allow me to run a 3 way active set up and a subwoofer. Oh ya the sub amp. I have one on the way. What is it??? Well I only paid ??? bucks for it shipped, it does 1200w @ 1ohm but iam sure its under rated.  Damn I tried to do the right thing with the tax money but it wasn't fun. After getting the 4" faital pros installed in the kick panels pretty much made up my mind, then the deal I got on the amp I just have no self control. LOL

So ya couldn't walk away without it. Here are some pics.

GUT SHOT!!