Hey Everyone,

Thank you for the great comments and discussion!

It's official... i'm gonna look into a processor. but now which one? I've heard the Bitone before with audison/volce speakers in a GTI. It was amazing! However i feel that it may be a little out of my league as far as setup. Altho, i will be getting someone to install this. I assume they just set the up the BitOne and no tuning required after?

BOOMER74 - I may be interested. I know your trying to sell the unit, but whats your honest opinion about it... during those 4 weeks? How much are you asking? Feel free to PM me. I do like the auto tune within the alpine and the semi adjustability with it while installed. The bitone requires a laptop... i think?

Also... for speaker install... Focal 165 VR3. The 6.5" went into the door where the factory speakers were installed. The 4" is roughly 6" up from that. And the tweeter are in the factory position, basically in the door but right behind the side mirrors. I know this may create a problem since the driver side tweeter is below the cluster/dashboard. Is a processor able to work around this?

Thanks!

 

Imo teeters don't have to be at ear level to have sound seem like its coming from above.i think if you want to go the processor route make sure to get one that auto tunes. That pretty much just leaves jbl and alpine.learning to tune is nt easy and paying for someone to tune would be expensive...not to mention the tuner might suck at tuning.

 

since u are new to processors do u want to tune it yourself or get a shop to do it?

bit1 and pioneer 99rs is nice if u know what ur doing and u have an RTA to guide u in the EQ department

alpine and ms8 are autotune witch is nice for begeners. dont remember if the rockford 360.3 does it or not but that one has a built in RTA.

i took the ms8 because im a begener and i dont like alpine ( oh well lol) but it sounds awsome and its fun to play with and its supper quick to get the autotune done compared to the alpine

 

The traditional approach is still better and will result in a more stable listening environment. T/A should be used only for that last 5%.

 

Honestly, if your system is designed and set up properly you won't need much processing (t/a, eq, phase etc...). I found that I didn't really need my pxa701, except for the fun factor of being able to play with adjustments. My system sounds just as good without it, I used minimal time alignment (found it really was not very audible with the tweeters), used no eq or phase adjustments, and only used basic cross over settings (essentially the same as what the passives would have been). Obviously, the processor can make it sound different, and many systems can definitely benefit from one, but they don't necessarily make the system sound better. I agree with DUKK (we seem to agree a lot), they should be used for the last 5% of the system tuning.

 

Tweaking with the processor t/a and EQ is a lot of fun, dude! I recommend getting one with some presets and listening to a bunch of different material to test different aspects of your system.

What sounds good to you is what matters most! Even a lot of IASCA, USACi, MECA, EMMA judges dont chase the so called 'holy grail' of a flat RTA line.

I find the current offerings from Alpine to be decent actually (H800, Imprint) for a half-decent setup, but you may find that over time the relative lack of adjustability may annoy you if you are competing or upgrading. The old skool alpine stuff is great if you can find 'em in good condition (H701, H990).

Also, there will be a new Arc Audio processor coming out which is supposed to be the ! I'm not a huge Arc fan though.

 

x2
electronic tools can only do so much to overcome a weak install

 

just source out a pioneer dex-p99rs.. every winning sq car uses it, in every country, in every format.. isaca, usaci, emma, ect.. this thing is better than anything out there.. and only one unit to install, not multipul boxes.. the only thing better is a carputer..and at that i am hesitant.

 

Ohh yeah, the Pioneer!

God, it's hard to see clearly with my Alpine goggles on all the time!

Hey Randy, nice PASMAG bro! Congrats and Well Deserved!

 

+1 - This is the best solution for your problem. Out with the older processing, in with the new. This piece is gonna soar sky high up the charts sending all manufacturers back to the drawing board.