MLK165's to Bi-Amp or not to Bi-Amp
01-28-2011, 04:40 PM
#11
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 29
fortunate to be working on a project in Vernon through the winter thus trying to give back something to the community. The benefit being every second weeken I'm stuck in the truck for 6-7 hours driving to the coast and back (winter roads and lotsa stops) so lots of time to appreciate the tunes and sound system.
01-28-2011, 07:59 PM
#12
The mlk 165's are power hungry, 130 watts a side isn't much for them. When i first got mine i was told to put 300 watts a side to really get them going. I have 200 watts a side and they sound great. I have mine crossed at 60hz and they don't distort or sound crackly(is that a word). I've been told that the crossovers they come with are really good and you don't need to bi amp or go active, but of course you'll get more control over them if you do.
01-28-2011, 08:32 PM
#13
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 29
Back from picking up the truck and what a difference. Turns out the main cause of the lack lustre sound from the woofers was the unimpressive initial install. The first installer used the stock template risers (from the 6x9 stock speakers) and attach the particle board to them to move the speakers out far enough to support the required depth of the speaker. This gave opportunity for all kinds of leagage and poor support of the speakers. Concept remounted the speakers off of the plastic risers and built them up properly with MDF. The Dynamat had not been properly attached and thus the door metal was stealing and inheriting alot of specific frequencies giving cause to vibration and the subsequent dead frequency ranges. Pretty interesting the dynamics and thoroughness a good installer deals with.
Ok so whats different with the bi-amp and properly installed speakers. Night and Day.
I have a nice long drive in the morning heading down the coast, so will get some quality time in listening to what comes across initially as a brand new system.
Lesson learned - make sure you shop for a good installer with the right knowledge base, proper equipment and kick *** attitude. Ferdinand has a frequency analyzer that easily identifies whats missing and where. He understood what I was trying to accomplish and now I have a great stage to build upon. Am I impressed - Damn rights.
He gets to play more with the truck next week putting in the sub. Will be really interesting when thats completed.
Ok so whats different with the bi-amp and properly installed speakers. Night and Day.
I have a nice long drive in the morning heading down the coast, so will get some quality time in listening to what comes across initially as a brand new system.
Lesson learned - make sure you shop for a good installer with the right knowledge base, proper equipment and kick *** attitude. Ferdinand has a frequency analyzer that easily identifies whats missing and where. He understood what I was trying to accomplish and now I have a great stage to build upon. Am I impressed - Damn rights.
He gets to play more with the truck next week putting in the sub. Will be really interesting when thats completed.
Last edited by PenThis; 01-28-2011 at 08:35 PM.
01-31-2011, 08:36 AM
#18
0 Watt CAFz'r
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 29
First impressions of bi-amping Hertz MLK-165's.
Installation. The HU Pioneer AVIC Z2 has like many HU's a fader for the back seat speakers. Ferdinand took advantage of these HU outputs to feed the woofers. He ran additional RCA's to the Audisson LRx4.1 from the HU to connect to Channel B. This gives the ability to better control the levels between the tweeters and woofers as the distance between them is about 18". He ran high quality speaker cable to the crossovers. I don't know what settings he has on the xovers (will find out later this week when the truck goes in for the install of the sub and its Hertz Amp).
As mentioned in a previous message, he rebuilt the woofer mounts and cleaned up a poor Dynamat install. He sealed the woofers with silicon. Not mentioned earlier was the lack of proper care taken in running cables through the metal support holding the amp. Ferdinand re-routered the holes and used grommets to protect the wires from chafing. He mounted the tweets into the A pillars angling with a slight preference for the driver. Very clean install of the tweets (to the point where they look total stock).
In essence a proper install.
Results after 14 hours on the road: This is definitely the way to get the most out of these fine speakers. Clarity is very first thing you will notice. Vocals come across beautifully - rich, responsive with tonality almost equaling/rivaling my DAW with its Focal Twin6Be's. The combination of the LRx4.1 with the MLK's provides a much warmer presentation (characterized by a good Class A tube amp). The initial brightness of the painful highs have been softened up (probably due in part to proper mounting in the pillars and proper angling - removing bounce off the front window).
Even with the woofers and tweets further apart than most would desire, there seems to be little if any phase or timing issues. They complement each other beautiful - seamlessly. Where one starts and the other ends is impossible to gauge. If there is any, these old ears haven't been able to sense it as of yet.
Some one commented on how these speakers can be power hungry - I totally agree. I would not recommend matching anything less than what the LrX4.1 amp delivers.
Looking forward to completing this install with the addition of the sub by the weekend. I will summarize up this adventure then.
Thank you everyone for your support and assistance.
Jim
Installation. The HU Pioneer AVIC Z2 has like many HU's a fader for the back seat speakers. Ferdinand took advantage of these HU outputs to feed the woofers. He ran additional RCA's to the Audisson LRx4.1 from the HU to connect to Channel B. This gives the ability to better control the levels between the tweeters and woofers as the distance between them is about 18". He ran high quality speaker cable to the crossovers. I don't know what settings he has on the xovers (will find out later this week when the truck goes in for the install of the sub and its Hertz Amp).
As mentioned in a previous message, he rebuilt the woofer mounts and cleaned up a poor Dynamat install. He sealed the woofers with silicon. Not mentioned earlier was the lack of proper care taken in running cables through the metal support holding the amp. Ferdinand re-routered the holes and used grommets to protect the wires from chafing. He mounted the tweets into the A pillars angling with a slight preference for the driver. Very clean install of the tweets (to the point where they look total stock).
In essence a proper install.
Results after 14 hours on the road: This is definitely the way to get the most out of these fine speakers. Clarity is very first thing you will notice. Vocals come across beautifully - rich, responsive with tonality almost equaling/rivaling my DAW with its Focal Twin6Be's. The combination of the LRx4.1 with the MLK's provides a much warmer presentation (characterized by a good Class A tube amp). The initial brightness of the painful highs have been softened up (probably due in part to proper mounting in the pillars and proper angling - removing bounce off the front window).
Even with the woofers and tweets further apart than most would desire, there seems to be little if any phase or timing issues. They complement each other beautiful - seamlessly. Where one starts and the other ends is impossible to gauge. If there is any, these old ears haven't been able to sense it as of yet.
Some one commented on how these speakers can be power hungry - I totally agree. I would not recommend matching anything less than what the LrX4.1 amp delivers.
Looking forward to completing this install with the addition of the sub by the weekend. I will summarize up this adventure then.
Thank you everyone for your support and assistance.
Jim
