New install

Have a cool car stereo? Post your install pictures here! No PG? No problem! Competition grade or sub-in-box setups: ALL are welcome!
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AVICJR
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New install

Post by AVICJR »

Another option would be to find the 3 in 2 out ZP blocks. They're smaller. I have the same blocks but I'm getting my Ti block black pc'ed to match everything.


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ttocs
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Re: New install

Post by ttocs »

I have to agree that its nice to have it all in one spot if space it is tight but it looks like there is space there and I would have had to have the dist blocks match all the other gear myself.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Yea the more I think about it I want to do it. Then I can sell what I'm using now since it's worth a bit and I don't collect Audisson stuff.

I'd need at least 3 hook ups since I have the 2 amps plus the dd5.

Wait til you see the dd5 after I get it repainted.
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AVICJR
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New install

Post by AVICJR »

Gotcha! Why reprinted, looks good to me. ;)

Ill be using my DD5 too.

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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Well the paint isn't 100% perfect and I don't like the tantrum style PG logo. I'd rather it be a zeropoint style logo, so it's getting repainted at the same time as the ZPA amps and my vinyl guy is making me a stencil to put the correct logo on it. I'll post up pictures, I don't think anyone has done that yet to a dd5.
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AVICJR
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Re: New install

Post by AVICJR »

Nice! I like your attention to detail! If all goes well I think you'll like my setup. Looking at my DD5 it doesn't have the Tantrum written on it. Just the surfboard logo and the DD5 by itself.


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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Looking forward to seeing your install.

Funny thing is this didn't start out as an all PG install even though it's the main brand that I'm obsessed with. I used to have some of this gear in the past and always wanted the rest of it. As I started accumulating stuff my love for PG grew.

Not to get too sentimental, but my reintroduction to car audio is what got me through tough times. I almost lost my wife when things went terribly wrong with child birth, and when coming home from the hospital at night I'd work on my amps. Things are better now with her, but she doesn't get why I'm so into it.
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knightrider358
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Re: New install

Post by knightrider358 »

Im sorry to hear that VW, i kinda went thru the same thing about 5 yrs ago was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Then car audio and u guys really helped me thru it. Then both her and i got thru the cancer and 3 yrs ago we split up (we lived together for 5yrs) but when we had split it hit me really hard and i stopped being active on here while i got myself back together and now im back the car audio as a good hobby now.

Again im glad things are turned around and have gotten better for the both of u!
Current 1 of 2 current installs

HU-Alpine IVA-D310
DSP-PXA-H701
Comps-JL ZR 650
Sub-3 JL 10w6v1ae's sealed
Highs amp-MS275
Mids amp-MS2125
Subs amp-MS2250TA
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AVICJR
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New install

Post by AVICJR »

Everyone has their way to release, hobbies are an excellent form. Glad you didn't pick a darker one to cope and are doing good!

On a brighter note: you are officially a PG whore, like the rest of us! Lol! I can't wait either, I'm like a kid at an amusement park waiting to get in! I have speakerpimp on DIYMA doing all the work for me. Look up his work.
vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

knightrider358 wrote:Im sorry to hear that VW, i kinda went thru the same thing about 5 yrs ago was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Then car audio and u guys really helped me thru it. Then both her and i got thru the cancer and 3 yrs ago we split up (we lived together for 5yrs) but when we had split it hit me really hard and i stopped being active on here while i got myself back together and now im back the car audio as a good hobby now.

Again im glad things are turned around and have gotten better for the both of u!
Thanks. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles. I can understand that going through a rough incident can draw a couple apart. It's been very rough for my wife and I to get through everything and remain together, but we have a kid and a house to remind us of why we are married, and that has kept us together...plus I have my sanity thanks to car audio (and specifically phoenix gold).
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

AVICJR wrote:Everyone has their way to release, hobbies are an excellent form. Glad you didn't pick a darker one to cope and are doing good!

On a brighter note: you are officially a PG whore, like the rest of us! Lol! I can't wait either, I'm like a kid at an amusement park waiting to get in! I have speakerpimp on DIYMA doing all the work for me. Look up his work.

I'll have to go check him out. Yes I am a PG whore...and damn proud.
A few of these and a few of those.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Well here's an update. So I got my stereo converted to low level out. It sounds great. But here's a few issues. First off, every once in a while there's a pop, and my low end goes away. Also, a few times the sound has gone away and I get a very loud sound that sounds like it's a low frequency that plays constantly. It's there even if I turn the radio off. That's possible too because my remote turn on is coming from an ignition switched source, not the radios on/off status.

Also, when I balance left to right I hear sound from both sides, but there is shift with frequencies.

So I started out by swapping crossovers, and the problem seemed to go away for a day. Then today it all happened again. So I swapped line drivers (it's nice to have two of everything) and the issues all went away, except I had no bass. I played with the crossover settings and it's there now, but I had to use about 1/2 gain from the amp, which I shouldn't need for an idq. At least it's there now and everything sounds pretty good.

I was about to pull the trigger on an Eonon replacement VW style head unit. They come in 7" or 8" screens, do mirroring from iPhones (you can display the iPhones screen on the head unit screen) and best of all it has RCA outs that I can better control. Only drawback is it's a crapy Chinese made unit, so I was not 100% sold on it.

Now that I have everything working better I think I can avoid making that jump.

So now I'm using the white TBAt and the black one that I thought I fixed is going to be benched.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

So now with my second zpx2 and second tbat installed I'm still having funny things happen. Balance left and right worked correctly yesterday during 30 mins of testing but now it's not. I balance left I get nothing, balance right it's the same as balanced center which is I get perfect stereo sound. The left plays fine with balance at center or right, just not when balanced left.

Also, I still get a random pop and then bass goes away for a few seconds then fades back in. It sounds great otherwise.

Is the balance thing a result of running balanced signal? Does it run the signal grounds on one side and the power on the other side? I'm baffled here but I've never run balanced before.
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knightrider358
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Re: New install

Post by knightrider358 »

Hey i have a white ms tba set for fs or ft w 2 diff balanced cable lengths.........and they all work great if u need some incase ur bit the dust ;-)
Current 1 of 2 current installs

HU-Alpine IVA-D310
DSP-PXA-H701
Comps-JL ZR 650
Sub-3 JL 10w6v1ae's sealed
Highs amp-MS275
Mids amp-MS2125
Subs amp-MS2250TA
vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Aren't those the different balanced cable? Mine are cat6 cables, I think the MS ones are like s-video cables.

Thanks for the offer though.
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knightrider358
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Re: New install

Post by knightrider358 »

Yea their mini-din i bekieve is what their called. Yea their round like s-video. Hey you could make an adapter for them ;-) jk
Current 1 of 2 current installs

HU-Alpine IVA-D310
DSP-PXA-H701
Comps-JL ZR 650
Sub-3 JL 10w6v1ae's sealed
Highs amp-MS275
Mids amp-MS2125
Subs amp-MS2250TA
vwdude
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Location: So cal

Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Yes I could, but at that rate I'd rather use a pld1 and run an RCA to the crossover and have that convert to balanced output.

I've got options. I'm going to try the black TBAt again and see if it's going the same thing as e white one, if so then it's not the TBAt it's the crossover.

So something new that I discovered...I can be driving with music up pretty high and there's a pop and it's suddenly louder. Balance still does the same thing and no wires are loose. I still have incredible Midbass and sub bass, I just have more volume suddenly.

It could be the factory unit, maybe trying to use it's internal amp again? I know that it's set for low level out because he boot up screen says "Welcome to VW by Dynaudio", but it for sure seems to be partly due to the head unit.

So can anyone answer the question of what does "balanced" actually mean. I know that on the eclipse head units it had twice as many RCA connectors, so you think that with the CAT6 cable it would use all 8 conductors, but no. It only uses 4 conductors, just like 2 channel RCAs. So what's different? Maybe his will answer why when I balance left to right it doesn't work properly.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Well I listened and now I have the pg distro blocks installed.

Image

And I did more troubleshooting. So here's what I discovered. When I first start the engine I have a normal balance left to right, but it's kind of quiet. After a few minutes I hear a pop, and then it goes louder. I have music on that has a distinct left and right channel, but it sounds ok, left and right sound as they should, but when I balance left I get nothing, and balance right it's sounds he same as being at center.

So I swapped the TBAt with my sld44 and ran an RCA cable to the crossover. Same thing.

I swapped the crossover back to the other one. Same thing.

So I determined that it's either normal when running balanced signal or it's my factory head unit. The thing is, it sounds fine when I don't mess with it, so I'll leave it as is. Eventually I'll upgrade to an aftermarket stereo.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

Well another update. I'm mad I didn't try this before, I went straight from the tbat into the amp for my components and voila, it works right. So both of my zpx2 crossovers are bad!

Balance works correctly and sound is crystal clear. Now I'm confident with my tbat repair and that the cables are good. Now I just need to figure out how to run my sub amp.
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

So after more thinking, I can run the balanced line into my eq232 and then run RCA line to the mx2 then RCA to each amp. When I get my zpx2s repaired I can then test them in my car very easily. I think that's the problem is that so few people have the ability to test the balanced processors they can verify that it turns on but that's it.

Of course if the mx2 doesn't work right then I always have my ax406. It's nice to have enough equipment to have options.
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kg1961
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Re: New install

Post by kg1961 »

so with your dd5 just turn it on before your amp or does it take a long time before the pop that suck sorry to here
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

No that pop was not a turn on pop, but I did trace it to the ZPX2 crossovers (yes both of them).

Tomorrow I'll install the eq232 and mx2 to see how that sounds.
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Re: New install

Post by ttocs »

what brand of line out converter are you using to get your rca signal?
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vwdude
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Re: New install

Post by vwdude »

No line out converter. My OEM be head unit can be reprogrammed to have low level out because an amplified system is optional with this head unit. I've done it and tested 1v signal coming from it. It also has a flat frequency response, no internal eq.
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Re: New install

Post by ttocs »

try a different audio source next time it does it and plug in an mp3 player with a headphone to rca cable and see if you still have the problem. This will allow us to isolate if its the head unit or something after that.
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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