Page One
Hi!
How should I begin? I have a 2000 Honda Civic EX 4dr and right now, my project is serious SQ. I had my days of big bass and nothing but, but growing into home audio and whatnot made me grow out of being a basshead. I'm selling my 3 15"'s and looking into the sweet sound abyss. Yah, that's pretty corny, just bear with me, 'kay? Here's the basis of my setup... things will be changing frequently as I don't have my system completed nor do I have all my parts.
This is my head unit, the Sony CDX-C910ES. I bought it used and prior to this unit, I had a Nakamichi CD-45z and a Panasonic DRX-901U (don't ask). I gave up my Nak in search for bigger and better things and accidentally stumbled on the Panasonic. What a big mistake. It was nice looking and had funky features, but the sound was not up to par, and it was a theives delight as I couldn't remove the center speaker unit when I left the car. Anyhow, I then moved on to the C910ES because it has renowned D/A converters (whether it be dual or quad DAC's I haven't figured it out - I've heard both) and has a digital optical output. That was basically my main reason... I wanted an external DAC.
This is the Sony XDP-210ES digital EQ and external DAC. It's not the top of the line unit but it's great for what it can do and what you pay for. I'm looking to upgrade to the XDP-4000x for it's flexibility and better internals, but until I scrounge up some cash, it'll just be on my wish list. The digital EQ on this unit is great and helps me adjust everything easily... I just wish it had 1/3 octave capability. This one is only 18 bands for the front and 3 bands for the rear. Since the rear was the issue, this is what I'm popping in:
These will be handling the rear equalization as my rear seat (yes, there will only be one) will be the "demo chair". Understanding that IASCA probably won't judge from that seat, I'm going to be fabricating some quick release plugs so the EQ's can be swapped to the fronts for testing. I love that reflection!
Next are the amps... As a home audiophile buff, I love the natural sound of tubes. Their warmth, high current and spatial qualities are second to none... not even the greatest solid state stuff in car audio. I picked up three Phaze Tube Drivers that are practically brand new. Here they are in the box (except the gold one, TD-1500)
Not only is the performance on these amps remarkable, but their esthetic qualities are great! Very sleek and simple... and the brushed aluminum is quite eye catching. They'll be accented with blue neon later on. Here are some nicer pics and close ups.
The little guy that you see in some of the pics is the Tube Driver LD-2. It's a line driver that also converts the RCA to XLR Balanced outputs. Those outputs will then be fed to one of my TD 475's (The silver ones) to power my fronts. Here's an upclose picture of the LD-2 and the side showing the balanced outputs.
So, with those out of the way, I'm still waiting for my speakers. They'll be solely composed of AVI components - the link is on the side - and believe me, they'll sound quite sweet. I'll continue about that later on when they're in my hands. >)
Click the next page to see the sound deadening install... >)
