Help pick out final comp. for my system rebuild

I need some help on recommendations on a new eq/xover/sound processor. This is what I have so far:

Interior speakers: 6X Polk MMC650's
Interior amp: PDX-4.150
Tower speakers: 2X Handmade 8" coaxial speakers (500W RMS each)
Tower amp: PDX-4.150
Sub: S15L74 in sealed box under drivers console
Sub amp: PDX-1.1000
HU: Stock clarion XMD-1 (dont want to change it because I like the remote)

My amps should be here tomorrow. I will pick up the sub at a local dealer here. I still have to make the enclosure. I still have to redo the temporary wiring board. I like the design that I have but I need to use some composite of some sorts.

Here are my wishes in a do all eq/xover/processor:

1) Fader control of either the sub or the tower amp (preferably the tower amp)
2) Indepent Xover for the three amps
2) EQ with enough adjustability for to fine tune all sets of speakers independently for the flattest response. I have a pretty good old school SPL meter that I can use for RTA to get the best settings.
3) Aux in. Would be a nice to have. I already have the aux in for the CD player.
4) Full DSP. I'm really into gadgets and getting on the cutting edge of stuff. Since we are going pretty all out (relatively speaking, sorry no arc audio or zapco amps), I'd like to not skimp on this component. It would be nice to have something with some sort of PC interface that has the ability to graphically see what is going on. I like the eyecandy stuff. Eventhough it is usually a set once type of thing, it's still fun to tinker around with that stuff.

I have been researching a few options. I wanted to know if any of you all have any experience or feedback on the following devices:

DSP6-S: Pretty cool stuff, but way over budget

Rockford 3Sixty.2: Mainly for OEM, but has some pretty good features that might be good for what I want. I have been reading a bunch of forums where people have used this in full aftermarket systems with some pretty good success.

Audiocontrol DQXS
Alpine PXE-H650: Haven't figured out if this has RCA level inputs yet

I'm all about using technology that allows you to press the easy button to get you close, and then has enough flexibility to make up for the inaccuracies in it's calculation.

Hopefully in the end, I will end up with a pretty nice sounding and stable system.



Cheers!

I cant wait to hear it Brandon. When do you want to go out?

Were actually gonna go out tomorrow if rain permits. I don't know how many people we have yet. I have already told the other guys that I plan on taking yall out one day so I have secured a day here pretty soon with no girls. It's been pretty crazy everytime we go out and have about 10 people show up. Great wake though!

Maybe we can line up something for Friday afternoon or early early Saturday morning.

How about the Zapco DSP6-SL.
www.zapco.com/prod/DC_Ref/DSP_DRC_Frame.htm

Early Saturday Morning would be good, I would be able to make that.

Find me one for half price and I am all over it. That would be my my first choice, but it's a little out of my price range.

Brandon, I use the 3sixty.2 it is sick. I have 6.5 coaxis in the interior, NVS 1010's on the tower and subs of coarse. You really need to be able to eq them all separately. What's nice is a 31 band eq for the tower, a separate 27 bands for the interior speakers and 10 bands on the sub. That is the best investment I have made in my system. Highly recommended!

Thanks for the reassurance Scott. That's exactly what I was looking for. Someone that has actually used one in a boat.

I actually ordered it yesterday with the 15L7. Should be here on Monday.

What I don't know is if I will be able to run the pink noise setup through the aux input. My old XMD1 quit playing CD's a long time ago. We only use the ipod. Do you think it will work through that? I can play the track through the aux in that I rigged on the XMD1. That should work huh, since it's still outputting through the rca's from the deck?

Out with the old.....




In with the new!

Let me know what you think about the PDX amps. I've had them for a while (havent' got that much use out of them) but have not been overly impressed with them. The power output is proabbly what is rated on the amp, but not much more, and they run no cooler than any other high quality amp. But they look great and they are small.

That 15" sub is going to pound. Build the top end of the range for sealed enclosures and you will be pumped.

Will do. With the 4.150 bridged it should be almost exactly the same power as my old RF 500a2. As long as it withstands the heat of constant beating for 5-6 hours then I will be impressed.

Not too sure if I'll be able to tell if the 1.1000 is any better than any other as I have never had a sub and amp combo this big.

Yes...the size is what has attracted me to the amps. Once, I get them done, I'll have to come out to Conroe for a day and let you hear the finished system.

Congrats on fixing your whining problem!

Yeah,Id say it's going to be loud enough. You think it will be installed next week? I will be back in town for the Baylor game. Lets hit it up on sunday morning.

what are the pennies for? Is that all you have remaining after you purchased everything

haha. Yeah that's all there is left. You would think that $3500 would buy you more. Good thing I didn't buy that stuff at MSRP.

Was that MDF board not waterproofed or something?

Nah. I just did it for a temporary installation. I had spent about 3 months tearing the boat apart and was ready to get out on the water.
http://planetnautique.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=7874

I had planned all along to redo the audio stuff once we scraped up enough pennies to do it right. What you see there is only after about 3 months of exposure. It went from 3/4" MDF to 1.5"MDF. Gross!

(Message edited by bmh2208 on September 19, 2007)

Hey Brandon, are you scrapping the old wires. I might need someone when we hook up the wetsounds. Let me know what you want for them.

I'm sure I can make some kind of donation to the TAMU wakeboard club. If you want it, you can just have the 4-channel kenwood. I want to hang on to my old RF. It's lasted me 10 years and prolly has another 10 in her. I'm sure I got some extra wires to hook it up. I am redoing all the power wiring and have plenty of speaker wire.

B, were you able to get any work done last night?

Here is what I got done over the weekend. It was kind of a pain because there are no straight walls and no right angles. Took many paper dolls to get all the pieces cutout and fitted correctly.

What you see is basically the backing panel that I will attach everything to. I will make a facade that will make it all pretty. The pieces will be covered in epoxy and then I have some carbon fiber look laminate that I might cover that with because you will see into some parts of the board through the covers.

I am trying to figure out how exactly I want to do my amp setup. I have to still make room for my terminal block setup. I like to have easy access and clean connections. Basically, everything that you see on the first pics from the old board still has to go on one of the new side pieces (term blocks, crossovers, relays, etc). I am kind of leaning towards the setup in the first pic rather than the latter two. This will free up the whole left side for all my wiring connections. However, with that setup, I will have to unbolt the amps to make any adjustments. With the other way, I can probably get to the controls with them still attached. Although, once I get everything dialed in, I shouldn't have to jack with it much.

Let me know what yall think!

3 at an angle


2 on left side with one on the right side



(Message edited by bmh2208 on September 24, 2007)

I think you should do two on the left and one on the right. Just my 2 cents.

I like the angle look. I think the 2 and 1 looks a little plain in comparison.

I'm leaning towards doing the angled version for a few reasons. 1) Looks better 2) Gives me much more space for the wiring side.

So I ended up taking the angled approach. It's all a pain because I have to design it with the ability to disassemble and then reassemble in the boat. It's actually kind of nice being able to pretty much do the entire install/fabrication in the garage. The cover for this stuff is gonna be fun. Oh well, I will just figure it out when I cross that bridge.
Tomorrow I will start to layout the term blocks and crossovers.









(Message edited by bmh2208 on September 24, 2007)

Tight, cant wait to hear it at the lake.