Recommendations for new install...

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:03 am

I bought my X200.4 from the Houston guy, and tested it yesterday. Everything seems to be in order and works great. I was a bit nervous because the package was not double boxed and there isn't much protection with the original packaging, but I guess I was lucky as it is functionally and cosmetically fine.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:35 am

Okay... yeah, I sent Maka a PM as well. Maybe he will respond.

I did purchase the SquareTrade warranty at the time of purchase, it wasn't but 25 bucks, so I figured why not. It may just pay off to have it.

The same guy that sold Maka and me has sold about 10-12 of these. I emailed a couple of other buyers by have not heard but from one and he had not received his amp yet.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:44 am

Just heard from another ebayer who purchased from the same Houston guy. He just hooked his up yesterday and all is well thus far, but he will keep me posted. I told him about the phorum here.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:46 am

lol... heehee

The other guy I just heard from is dwnrodeo. I had no idea you were already a member here. I suppose we shouldn't have any problems keeping in touch. Small world.

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:05 am

Yes, small world indeed. I was wondering if you were from the phorum or not. That's one of the reasons I like to use the same username on e-bay and the phorum. I'll keep you posted on the amp when I get it fully installed. I'll test all of the channels and crossovers probably tomorrow.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:48 pm

Thanks for keeping me/us posted... I appreciate it.

Welp... new plans. I traded my 08 Sonata in on an 09 Sonata today. Crazy ain't the right word, much worse I know. What I am astounded at is the front soundstage of the sound system. Everything looks pretty much the same, other than it's a nav system and the tweeters are now on molded pods aimed inwards.

Anyway, I am now planning on going active with the front, so I hope both of my Xenon 200.4's will be of the working variety. I'll use one for the active setup... 200 x 4... or really more like 150 x 4 at usable voltage. Then I'll use the other one to power the subs... 400 x 2.

The questions are... what components to use and will I need a high output alternator for running a pair of the 200.4's?

I really want to get tweeters to fit in those pods, whatever I do. They must be soft dome... no metal. Then a beefy midbass driver for the door will be nice.

If any of you guys have any options for me to consider, as always they are appreciated.

Many thanks!

Post by **stipud** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:09 am

Bang for the buck, RSD 6.5 components are extremely nice. They are the best drop in speaker I have heard, and sound better than speakers double and triple the price. Midbass is astronomical, and the tweet is smooth. Only downside I can think of... the midrange is lacking in the 300Hz region (easy to fix with EQ). The smaller tweeter doesn't cross over too low (3.2kHz 24dB/oct would be the lowest I recommend), but the mid can ring at above 3kHz as well, so you may want a bit of underlap when running actively (see Jopop's review linked below).

http://phoenixphorum.com/rsd-65cs-quest ... t6333.html
http://www.caraudiomag.com/testreports/ ... sults.html

Since you're running active, you have many choices.

Check out Dayton Reference mids at partsexpress. They are great for cheap speakers... QA and build quality is excellent! Alternatively Madisound has some good SEAS drivers like the L18RNX, or if you've got a big budget you can also check out the ScanSpeak Revelators. I'm sure you know how good they are, as they are very popular in home audio as well.

For tweeters, you can find soft domed Morels at madisound. If you don't mind metal dome, the SEAS 27TAFNC/G is also extremely good, and it's small enough to fit in most stock locations. And of course ScanSpeak Revelators if you want a second mortgage

. All of those tweets are designed for home audio, so they perform better on-axis, which should jive well with your tweeter pods.

Running active, you will also need to think about your crossovers. Unfortunately the Xenons didn't have an X10 multiplier on the crossover like the Ti/ZX lines did, so the crossovers can't perform your mid/tweet separation. You will need an external XO or headunit that can do this for you.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:31 pm

Thanks stipud!

Yes... I will be using the Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.2 for the processing and crossover. I has 12db and 24db options.

I'll probably check out the Seas and even the ScanSpeak. I am also considering a Dynaudio driver that is pretty beefy, but also ain't so cheap.

For the tweeters, I ain't sure what to do just yet. I like the soft dome's much better than metal, but about the max mounting width is going to be 1.25"... or otherwise I will have to get a bit creative with some bondo, but still probably 1.5" is absolute max, even with creativity. I would also like to have something to drop on down to 2000Hz, but I a may be looking for a miracle.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:38 pm

Hmmm, I can't think of any 1" textile domes that play to 2kHz.

The SEAS I mentioned above does however. I'm also a dome guy myself, but I really like this particular tweet since it rolls off nicely on the top end:
http://www.madisound.com/catalog/produc ... cts_id=633

And is another great mid I forgot to mention:
http://www.madisound.com/catalog/produc ... ts_id=1596

Bang for the buck running active, it's hard to beat the SEAS tweet and the Dayton Ref 6.5". $120 for the whole shebang!

You should get some measurements, that will make it a lot easier to make suggestions. How big are your mid locations as well?

Post by **stipud** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:55 pm

Shoot, the mounting width of that SEAS is 1.75", and the RSD component tweeter is 1.55". Both probably too big for your stock location.

The Hertz Hi-Energy fits in 1.45". Their 1.3" Energy line tweeter might work as well.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:05 pm

Yeah... we were looking at the Hi-Energy in the board today and it might fit with some modification. It may be one of my better choices.

I may end up just getting a better tweeter like I really want and forming a pod around it with bondo... or maybe do some fiberglassing.

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:16 pm

I just finished installing my X200.4 a few minutes ago in my daily driver. Nothing pretty to look at install wise, but functional none the less. X200.4 from Houston seller works great. Hopefully it stays that way.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:36 pm

I believe Maka told me his went out in less than 4 hours, or something like that... it was fairly quick. His other one has been running a bit longer and is doing okay thus far. Maybe it was just the one.

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:01 am

I hope so, I would be ever so pissed if my amp decided to take a crap on me. Here is a pic of it installed. (Yes, I know the power wires are the same color, but if you look to the left of the pic you can see a blue power wire. I didn't have enough length, so I added on another 6in of the ground wire to make it work.) I wanted to retain as much trunk space as possible as this is a daily driver and I haul stuff in it all the time.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:45 am

What are you powering with it?

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:04 am

Right now I'm powering a pair of Pioneer DS901 6x9's in the doors.

When I get some more time I plan on running two XS104 subs off of the rear channels.

Scoobie · Post by **Scoobie** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:02 pm

Well... not only do I have a pair of 200.4's... I am now the owner of a pair of 1200.1's. Nothing like having a backup amp for your front stage and subs.

Why did PG quit using the Xenon amp technology? It seems like it was by far their best stuff.