my stereo story....

this is the first blog i ever written so cut me some slack. thanks

i figured i would share my stereo vent/dilemia/adventure with you guys... bear in mind, the first 2 years when i owned the truck, i was running just ur average components with 2 small amps and factory head and it was alright. unit the HAT stereo bug really bit me...

i wanted to do a high end sound quality stereo system in my tacoma. after much research, i went out and bought a brand new pair of hybrid audio L6SE for the front doors and L3SE for my custom fiberglassed pillars with a set of tweeters on top. I figured the correct way to do it would to be go active. so i picked up a helix dsp, some focal fdp amps (a 6 channel 900.6 for the sound and the matching focal fpd 900.1 for the sub). And i went with one 10" image dynamics sub in a sealed box. it was a good amount of boom for a small access cab. sounds nice right? well.. this set up went on for almost a year with it adjusting,tweaking,swapping out different speakers here and there.
the biggest problem with my system was actually finding someone in the area that knows how to properly tune a dsp. of course, everyone says they can but when it comes down to it, they didnt know what they were doing, ( these are local shops mind u). the focal amps are gourgous but i wasnt getting the volume from them. wasnt sure if it was the amps or the dsp or even the hybrids cause they are noted as "sq" i was thinking maybe they dont get super super, loud.idk.. it was something that gave me nightmares for months.
when the helix was in, i felt like my hands were tied. i didnt have experience with a dsp and sure as heck didnt wanna blow any of the hybrids up. i had a few shops adjust it and it was clear but i wasnt getting any of the imaging and that feeling of being inside the studio .
it was just sounding blah to me... they said it sounded nice but i didnt think so. and no volume was driving me crazy !! the radio would go to 30 and amps are 1/2-3/4 all adjusted properly and im just thinking my moms stock chrysler is louder than this... something was seriously wrong. my gf thought it was just blah too. especially for that kind of money and high end equipment i was running.

soo.. after everyone saying"thats all ur gonna get out of it" or i will look at it, but we are $110 an hour, i was like, ya know. im done. im just gonna change it all !!!

i definatly wanted to keep the A-pillars that house a hybrid audio L3 and a tiny alpine flagship tweeter cause they are soo awesome looking and they give me the "in ur face" sound i was looking for in the begining.im sure everyone with a tacoma will say there 6.5 components dont have that full feeling they were hoping for.i ran a few different sets of 6.5 components up front before (3 different sets of focals, jbl, hertz, audio systems etc) and they were all coming from ur feet and felt seperated. i like the audio systems the best by the way.they are a german company i believe. and with all the focals i had, they all had horrible screechy tweeters. now maybe if i had k2 or utopia series, im sure the results would of been probably different.

so the first thing i did was i pulled the helix dsp and focal amps and then i figured i would swap out the L3SE for the cheaper L3V2 cause there wasnt much of a difference when we had them running off axis. (on axis is when ur in front of the speakers. off axis is when the speakers are to ur side or at angle.) i do remember a tech from 12V said the L3SE shine when they are "on axis" but comparable to the L3V2 when they are "off axis" for some reason. then i pulled out the highly expensive L6SE (i should of kept these) and put in a new set of fosgate PP4-8 which are a spl 8 inch mid bass driver. u can get these bad boys for less than 120 bucks or so for the pair online. we swapped out the stupid expensive focal fpd series amps for fosgate power series amps. i got a super killer deal on both of the fosgates from my local amp repair shop. thanks guys... the T1000.4 4 channel is for the sound and the T1500.1 for the sub. these amps create massive power. i was thinking they would be overkill and not be able to use them for their potential but boy was i wrong. it made those hybrid L3 wake right up. they absolutely scream now. and gains are only 1/3 up. a total night and day difference. and the 8"s in the doors is a spl speaker so they are super loud to begin with so it was just added pleasure! i recommend u give them a try one day if u can....
next we pulled out the junky 1/2" mdf box that was "professionally" built from a local stereo shop. this "chase" guy makes me cringe now. thanks chase for cutting my carpet under my seat to fit a small amp under there when the truck only had 700 miles. i really appeatite that buddy !!! ahh... had to vent that out.. so then i had a local box maker make a new box with 3/4" mdf and a port in the back to house a new soundqubed 10" street series sub. im sure the sundown guys are gonna hate me for that one. the soundqubed is a great sounding beast in my opinion!! its got a ton of bass and iit can hold power from the 1500 !!
oh, and best of all, it was on sale !! plug plug

so now the reinstall is all completed, the key turns the stereo on, and bam !!! my stereo sounds like its 10 times louder instantly and its pretty darn clear !! yes !! i think it even gave me a chubby. over 40 and a chubby, now that means its gotta be good.
i guess without the dsp, the clearity pretty much just comes from the hybrids L3's and tweets. i love those little hybrids. granted it was a little clearer and felt a little more alive with the dsp but not that much.. some may say the dsp wasnt tuned right or i should of went with an audison,or different amps or different speakers or blah blah blah. and ya, maybe !! but i guess i will never know and im okay with that now. i was thinking if i desire a little more clearity,id go with a $200 audio control unit for some little tuning down the road that is very simple to use and adjust. its a daily driver and it only needs to make me smile. and now it does, even with the xtra $2000-2500 in my pocket from selling all the sq stuff. i guess u can say this is my budget system now. and im totally cool with that.

so i guess moral of the story is... u dont have to have everything that is top notch and high end and spend thousands of dollars to make it sound good. i tried both alternatives and im more satisfied now without all the fancy stuff than as i was before. im not knocking any of the SQ vehicles out there. and there are definatly some amazing sounds cars out there.
im just saying... so thats my story...

 

Well that sure sounds like an adventure. You certainly nailed it with the statement about someone in the area that knows what a DSP does or can do. All of the equipment you were playing with is top notch stuff that typically over performs the spec's, so if you were not getting the umph out of it there had to be something wrong. IMHO 9 times out of 10 its the DSP. I know the Helix is a popular unit, and the ones I have played with are pretty darn good. Still that would be the first place I would look. Pretty expensive piece to be swapping in and out. Glad you found something that works for you. Wish I had been around when you were unloading those Focal amps though.

 

thanks gary, i sold the 6 channel focal but i still have the focal mono amp if u want it. its on ebay for $295 shipped