PenThis

t money - Just got off the phone with the installer and they can't do the pillars without fiberglassing mounts in due to the depth (lack of) of the plastic pillar covers. Frag!

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Jim

PenThis

Just picked up the Explorer from Andre's AudioSource here in Vernon and what a great job they did. Eric the installer truly out did himself. With the Hertz MLK 165 components, and Hertz EP2X 2x220W amp driven by a Pioneer AVIC Z2 HU the sound is unbelievably good. Much better than I had anticipated. A little more in your face than the Focals in the Acura, but the accuracy and staging are right on.

There is some more work to be done towards the end of January (soonest they could book the truck in) to build the pod stands into the A pillars (some fiberglassing to be done - have them currently taped to the dash.

I have a 7 hour drive down to the coast Saturday morning so I will be given them a really good work out.

Thanks for all the advice and assistance I have received here. A very merry xmas and happy new year to all of you in Car Audio land.

Jim

I will post the pics of the job as soon as Eric and I have gone through them. Now I'm ready to start planning out stage 2 of this build. Any thoughts or suggestions will be most welcome. To be done - sub to keep my son and the kid in me happy, back door speakers to round out the ambiance. Amp selection/advice would be most welcome.

t money

iTrader: (5)

pics asap

PenThis

Here are some pics Eric the installer just fowarded to me. Taken on his Blackberry.

I will take some of the amp install this weekend.

kygreen

hello
nice looking speaker and deck install if you wouldent mind me asking how was the fit of the double din , my ranger has the same dash type.

PenThis

Eric the installer had to play with the router a little to allow for the screen to open/close (hides the DVD/CD player). Otherwise from what he has shared, it was just a matter of keeping everything tidy. I certainly can't tell where he did his cutting - thats how good of a job he did - very clean.

Jim

t money

iTrader: (5)

looks good. Did he deaden the doors as well?

PenThis

Yup, Dynamat Extreame Door kit. Just got back from a long trip down to the coast and back. 10 hours for pure listening to these puppies. Going to have to spend some time positioning the tweeters as they are currently double backed tape to the dash until I can get the truck down to their (Andre's) location in Kelowna for fiberglassing the pods into the A frame. Even though they sound good where they are, its too in your face (for what I prefer) and I would like to go more for indirection and wider staging. Woofers are tight - as good as I believe I could get for the price. The Hertz MLK's are diffidently a good product and one I would highly recommend. Are they as good as my last set of Focals (165 KRX2) - hmmmm wish I could do a side by side test, but then there is a sever price differential and the install format is totally different (Acura TL vs Ford Explorer).

Ok so what did I listen to. Well it ranged from Nora Roberts to Tom Waits (which includes, Eagles, Tom Cockrane, Harry Chapin, Chris Isaak, Rare Earth, Niel Young, Steve Vaughan, Supertramp, and bunch of sets from the album collection "Small room for Guitars 1st and 2nd albums). A bunch of Eninem (a fav).

Vocals - very clean - right on as far as I am concerned. As an example, if your familiar Tom Waits, his low crusty voice is even more raspier (if possible) but Norah's comes over silky smooth. Harry Chapin is right in your face delivering story telling like nothing else.

What truly impressed me was David Gilmore's Meltdown DVD. Damn it sounded almost as good as playing on my Digital Audio Workstation feeding a Fireface 800 into a pair of Focal Twin6 Be's.

Conclusion:

Now I don't have the vocabulary to describe the sound with all the wonderful declarative's that some folks can muster but I feel I got my money's worth and a wonderful clean install. Is it better than anything else I have had - no not by a long shot, but then there's a big difference between a 5K and a 10K installs.

There is some more fine tuning I can do, and that will happen over the next few months, but for those whom are looking for excellent speakers for the price, I highly recommend the Hertz MLK165's. Put a good (no excellent) amp behind them and you won't be disappointed at all. Excellent product for the price.

Jim

t money

iTrader: (5)

good review and i agree that they sound fantastic, can only wonder what the mlk 2's and mlk 3's sound like.

PenThis

That's the cool side of this exercise - once the foundation is in and the CC has been paid off, all kinds of trouble can be gotten into. Whoooho. Thanks for all your help t money.

Jim