alpine

If you can tell, I used to be an alpine fan. All my cars until about 5 years ago, were primarily Alpine setups.

Then I felt I was just buying the name, as many other systems offered more features with less hassel, and of course less money, so I've been to Pioneer Premier and now Kenwood.

When you say "precise tuning" I would have to agree with you that I am not absolutely pleased with the audio tuning outside of the Kenwood Presets with Minor adjustments. I am considering adding a FULL eq to make up for this.

So I could agree with what he said, however I don't know that having all Alpine equipment would necessarily make it "much better".

I ended up with the Kenwood Excelon subs almost by accident, we were trying various subs before we Kenwoods because we did not feel they would operate well in the setup I have, specially with the amount of space they were allowed.

After trying several subs, including JL, the kenwoods just worked very well and we were satisfied with them. They stayed.

Every speaker operates differently in the environment they are placed in.


Thanks!

djkern

yeah....i agree with you.

i have the an excelon head unit....and it's ok. i've always had kenwood excelon stuff....i like the looks...but it could have more useful features and not as many "neat" features.

add a nice eq....you'll be able to get more out of that than the head unit....and it would look sweet!

alpine

True, they did go out there with neat features, and didn't close the deal on the essentials.

EQ is being considered now.

Z-Ya

alpine

Sorry I don't know why I was saying "eq", I would never add a EQ to a system I gave a crap about, I meant to say Crossover, and I am looking at the Audio Control DDX series, with wireless remote, with 8 presets.

This was I can "dial in" 8 distinct frequency controls, favoring particular tones/music, and EASILY switch to 8 options, and if I need to I can adjust them remotely as well, but I don't think I'll need that.

Here is the Audio Control DDX link

Has anyone worked with this or something similar?

You would agree that a crossover is a much better solution, VS an eq considering that a EQ will distort the sound in the process, although some/many don't realize or care that it is distorted (not horribly or anything).

motown

damn yo, your system's off the hook! love your head unit. might just have to reconsider the alpine. i've had kenwood for years, but hadn't seen anything recently that made me happy. i love the look of that! i'll have to see if anybody locally carries it. how do you like those amps?

alpine

The amps are SOLID. I have been playing all music types available, and I have been playing them long and hard.

it's great getting the "data" from the AMPS at the head unit. But I'm a data guy.

Thanks for positive feedback on the setup, I'm not done yet, we're still adding a few more things, and then we still need to final tune the speakers.

If you want more features, and if you'd like even more "quality" you can go to the Kenwood 915, which will give you true DTS processing, and a few more controls over the frequency ranges/speaker output.

You get a little more quality because the sound/multi-media processor is outside the HU. However the sound controls are very similar to what I have native in the 7015. There is a step down from the 915 which I am not certain of the model, but it does (1) thing less than the 915, I believe it's the sound processor.

With the 915 you will also get the motorized flip, and much better "looking" controls and backgrounds if you are into that.

Overall I have been realy pleased with the features, sound, and power. I just lack finer tuning controls that I am hoping the Audio Control DDX digital crossover will give me.

We'll See!

thanks for the comments

NJDAN

iTrader: (17)

Alpine, or any other who can answer my question. Will the DDX-7015 work with the stock speakers? I just want to change my HU and install the DDX-7015 in place of my stock unit will that work.

stu46

It will work. Two of my friends are doing the same thing you want to do. Except it's going into a Tacoma and a Passat. Without looking up the specs, I belive it puts out 50x4.

There was a question on if it will fit in the stock nav pocket. You can, but it will need some work. The stock nav will fit a 7" perfect. The 7015 is 6.5", so with a spacer it'll fit.

BTW, that HU kicks a$$!

stu46

8k is about right for a fully custom install. On the crazier side of course. Anyone can spen 2k, slap a HU, amp and a plain sub enclosure. I'd say at least 8-10k. To each their own. You can take that 10k and buy the greddy TT kit. It's just that traffic will still suck even though you have 350whp and a 12.8 sec 1/4 mile.

Alpine, gotta love those Xtant amps. Wicked install.

alpine

The money has a realistic break down, let's not forget I also purchased/installed Navigation, What does that cost.

Also I spent this money on the sound system, and more than a few times it has paid off when I am STUCK in traffic for 20/30/60 minutes going nowhere and everyone else is pulling their hair out and slamming their head into the steering wheel or driver/passenger side windows.

I am headed towards Forced Induction, so that's on the list to do, but I know for a fact that I have already had more satisfaction from the sound system than I would have from any engine modifications in general.

I don't have the Xtant amps anymore, they were very clean, and were solid at all times. I now have the Kenwood Excellons, and I am as pleased with the performance from them, however I know under an audio microscope, the Xtants are better.

Gotta get back to work, more later... thanks for the posts guys!

alpine

Someone already posted to this but I wanted to let you know first hand, "yes stock speakers will work with this HU". I actually did that for a couple weeks while I was testing out the HU.

And I believe the power is 50 x 4, but realisticly you are looking at 15/20 x 4. Don't ask me why, but that is what it comes out to.

The volume did not improve, however the quality of the sound shot up about 30%, which allowed me to drive my car without hating it. I truly was disgusted with the stock stereo sound and it acutually reduced the enjoyability of the car entirely.

I then installed my MB Quarts, which again, the volume did not increase, however the quality gained another 20%, so basically between the HU and Speakers, I increased the quality 50% and I started enjoying my car again.

After that was the silly stuff.

Still working on it BTW!

alpine

bump.

murrman100

Fantastic system!!
How did you get past the parking brake detection circuit?

murrman100

Never mind that question. I found my answer a few posts back.
Killer system!!

mumra

I couldn’t agree more. I have only had my car few a few weeks but the Sq of the stereo is simply awful. I have an eD 15A that needs a new home and your design gave me a few ideas for a custom install. Thanks!

Great setup BTW! I seem to find that once you are bit by the audio bug, changes never seem to stop...hehe....

S2L

here's a FYI: most aftermarket decks in the mid price range ($300-$500) will come with some sort of frequency cross over built in. One of the reasons why most stock systems sound like crap is because all of the speakers are getting the full range of frequencies due to a lack of any sort of crossover in the stock HU. Most stock speakers can not handle low bass notes and distort, hence the bap bap noise people often times hear and sometimes mistaken for kicking bass. With the cross overs in the new decks enabled, it allows you to filter out the lower notes and only allow the higher frequencies to play. Most stock speakers can handle 100 hertz and up without distortion. I was running an Eclipse CD8443 with stock speakers for a long time. i got pretty decent sound from them and most people swear i was running some sort of aftermarket coaxials in my doors. I hope this will help some of you in your process of building your sound system. You do not need to go out and buy a full system if you know how to work with what you have and upgrade at your own rate of progress. If anyone have questions, please dont hesitate to PM me or drop me an email at techsupport@motormusicinc.com . Ill answer as soon as i can.

alpine

Hey guys, sorry been away for a while, too busy.

I am doing some more work on the system, I am going to be adding an Audio Control electronic crossover with remote for 18 presets.

I think this will take care of the lack of audio control from within the kenwood deck.

Also I have lined up an APS Twin Turbo Kit deal in the next few days, depending on some additional info that the LA dealer should be providing.

alpine

bump.

mudger

Show us how you bypassed the parking brake feature! did u just tap the parking brake wire to the blue (ant) wire?

S2L

ok ive diagrammed how you should hook up the relay.
The main square looking thing is a standard relay. You should hook up the wires as shown. What this does is trick the hide-away brain control module into thinking that you are parked so that the monitor will continue to display the video signal. When you change the source on the unit, the power antenna wire will send out a pulse that will energize the relay and switch it away from ground. This in effect will trick the control module into thinking that you are now out of park and it will reset its internal timer. When you are watching a dvd or using any other part of the unit besides the radio, the relay will not switch over. If you have a KVT911DVD as i do, you can slide the monitor out. But once you are in the radio mode, and if the monitor is closed, you will not be able to motorize it out because the control unit will think that you are in motion and the safeguards will be in effect. You just need to simply switch the source to dvd, or any other source besides the radio to motorize the screen out. Then you can switch back to radio. Some of my coworkers have added a switch to the top tab of the relay and grounded the other end so they can still open the monitor with the switch of a button. I recommend using a momentary switch rather than a latching one. This will make sure that you do not leave it grounded and in effect render the entire relay install useless. I have not done this because im absent minded and even with a momentary switch, im liable to screw it up somehow..dont ask..thats just my luck. Anyhow, i hope this hasnt been too confusing for you. I will gladly answer any questions you guys will have. Just post them here and ill receive an email.