Musicfirst

Happy New year all

I bought a system last year consisting of a Kenwood KCD-X994 HU and a pair of Focal 165 KRX2s. I blew my original budget of $1000 total by a factor of about two, but the speakers were better than anything I had heard. For my taste, I even preferred these to the Focal Be series.

I had no idea that car speakers could sound this good and I was very happy with the installation in the doors of my 2003 Toyota Matrix.

I just recently had my system moved to my new car, a 2010 Matrix, and the installer (who also supplied and installed my original system) finally convinced me to put a stand alone amplifier in the system.

Based on his comments that any amp would dramatically outperform the built in opamps in the Kenwwod HU, I chose an entry level focal amp that was on sale at a $200 closeout price. Unfortunately, they couldn't stop this amp from producing noise associated with the engine rpmsafter the install, so after talking with them, I elected to have them install a JL XD200/2 amp on a trial basis.

Again, based on what the installer told me, I expected to hear a significant improvemnt with the new setup, however, that has not been the case so far.

The system sounds comparatively veiled with the highs rolled off and overall detail is lacking as well.

Other than the addition of the new amp and the associated wiring changes and HU setup, the only difference is the door mounted speakers are now sightly lower and more forward in the door. Also, the in-door speakers now fit behind the factory grill drilled into the door, whereas they had to be mounted using spacers for clearance into the door and as a result they had their OEM grills in the old car. The dash mounted tweeters are in exactly the same position in both installs.

I am wondering if I wade into a more serious amplifier or revert back to the HU to drive my speakers? I am open to any and all suggestions. As far as I can tell the HU settings are the same as I used in the previous install.

Additionally If anyone has a very good high quality 2 or 4 channel SQ amp for sale and you think it mightsolve my problem, I would consider all correspondence. Please feel free to E-mail me at thelegeards@mountaincable.net if you have something I might be interested in. My maximum budget would be up to $500.
(I don't have enough posts to respond to classifieds or PM anyone yet.)

Thanks

Kerry

jonesbrooklyn

iTrader: (5)

how much did you pay for the X994 if you don't mind my asking?

BigRedGuy

iTrader: (11)

Begs the question....when your guy hooked up the amp, did he shut off the built-in amp in the deck? It makes an audible difference in the quality of the signal thru the RCAs and it sounds like it's still on.....

Musicfirst

Sorry, but I'm not sure I can break this out. I bout the HU and the speakers and the first install as a package. I paid $2k taxes in with a fair amount of acoustic treatment as well.

Kerry

Sinemeup

Look for an old PPI amp, something in a 4 channel that you can bridge both channels to provide lots of power for your components. I had ran a few other amps in the same setup and always had a high noise floor through my tweeters, I found that the PPI had the lowest noise of all the amps I had tried

I found the Ax400 for $125 in a pawn shop and previous to it had been a 2150am that I also found for a great price

Sinemeup

Where is the ground located for the amp? Perhaps you could try running a ground straight from the battery to the amp? Have you tried grounding your rca's? Tried not using the factory ground wire for the X994 and running a new separate ground? (Sometimes many grounds will be routed into one in a factory harness to keep costs down, which can result in ground loops) Has the BIG 3 been done? Noise is a terrible thing to taste.

Musicfirst

OK, just one question from this Noob, what is the 'big three'

BigRedGuy

iTrader: (11)

Basically it's the fastest cheapest way to reinforce the electrical system in your car when you add new audio equipment.

How to do it is found here ......

Doing it will help with dimming headlights etc. when the big bass notes hit.

HTH

Musicfirst

Cool!

Can you buy a Lay-Z mans set of cables, or is it best to DIY them?

Thanks

Kerry

DeadlySones

iTrader: (4)

Ya, best to just make your own big 3.

As for the noise, I'd try moving the grounds too (deck, then amp). Also maybe try running a different set of RCA's straight from deck to amp and see if the noise stops. Lastly, ground the RCA shield, that usually works too.

GL