Ok, so I just got the car back yesterday after a week at the car audio shop. I will put up pictures in a couple of days, but I don't have the car right now because I am having my mechanic put in my new Mechman 240 amp alternator. So here is the good and the bad.
The Good: The clarity and detail I am hearing in the music is incredible. I was picking stuff out on the music I listen to that I never noticed before. For example, when I put in Septicflesh's album "The Great Mass", I am hearing detail on the orchestra and choir that I have not heard in my car before. For the horns being under the dash, they don't sound like it. It sounds like the band is playing right in front of me at ear level. Now I understand why so many SQ folks love horns. I can crank up the horns all the way up and they don't distort. As far as the MB8...I LOVE IT!!! I am so impressed with it that I will NEVER use 6.5" midbass speakers ever again. Like the horns, I can crank it up all the way with no distortion whatsoever. Overall, this is the best sounding system I can ever recall having. It is almost perfect except for 2 things... otherwise, I am very happy with the quality, detail and imaging of the HCLD and MB8.
The Bad: IT IS NOT LOUD ENOUGH. I thought the horns and midbasses were supposed to be incredibly loud but they are not. My Alpine's volume goes up to 35 and I have it set almost at 35. I need way more volume than what I'm getting because although I am truly impressed by the quality, detail, and staging of the components, the volume is weak. Second, the HCLDs were a ***** to install and they do take up a lot of space. I will eventually post pictures when I get my car back but it was very difficult to get them to fit them under the dash, especially the driver's side due to the emergency brake, hood release lever, and OBD port.
The Verdict: I am taking the car to another stereo shop way closer to me (I'm not driving 73 miles again for this) to have them tune the system again and see if they can get it louder. The place I took it to was not an authorized Audison dealer so I will be taking it to a place I found on the Audison website that is an authorized Audison dealer. I will see if retuning it helps so I'll keep everyone up to date on whether the retuning helped. If it doesn't and I still don't have volume, then I'm right back to the drawing board.
So the ultimate verdict is that this is the most detailed, cleanest front stage I have ever had since I got into car audio in 1990. If I can get the volume way the hell up, then I'm a happy camper. I hope the retuning helps alot because I am almost there. I will add the subs later after I have taken care of the front stage volume issue.
The Good: The clarity and detail I am hearing in the music is incredible. I was picking stuff out on the music I listen to that I never noticed before. For example, when I put in Septicflesh's album "The Great Mass", I am hearing detail on the orchestra and choir that I have not heard in my car before. For the horns being under the dash, they don't sound like it. It sounds like the band is playing right in front of me at ear level. Now I understand why so many SQ folks love horns. I can crank up the horns all the way up and they don't distort. As far as the MB8...I LOVE IT!!! I am so impressed with it that I will NEVER use 6.5" midbass speakers ever again. Like the horns, I can crank it up all the way with no distortion whatsoever. Overall, this is the best sounding system I can ever recall having. It is almost perfect except for 2 things... otherwise, I am very happy with the quality, detail and imaging of the HCLD and MB8.
The Bad: IT IS NOT LOUD ENOUGH. I thought the horns and midbasses were supposed to be incredibly loud but they are not. My Alpine's volume goes up to 35 and I have it set almost at 35. I need way more volume than what I'm getting because although I am truly impressed by the quality, detail, and staging of the components, the volume is weak. Second, the HCLDs were a ***** to install and they do take up a lot of space. I will eventually post pictures when I get my car back but it was very difficult to get them to fit them under the dash, especially the driver's side due to the emergency brake, hood release lever, and OBD port.
The Verdict: I am taking the car to another stereo shop way closer to me (I'm not driving 73 miles again for this) to have them tune the system again and see if they can get it louder. The place I took it to was not an authorized Audison dealer so I will be taking it to a place I found on the Audison website that is an authorized Audison dealer. I will see if retuning it helps so I'll keep everyone up to date on whether the retuning helped. If it doesn't and I still don't have volume, then I'm right back to the drawing board.
So the ultimate verdict is that this is the most detailed, cleanest front stage I have ever had since I got into car audio in 1990. If I can get the volume way the hell up, then I'm a happy camper. I hope the retuning helps alot because I am almost there. I will add the subs later after I have taken care of the front stage volume issue.
