MY07 McIntosh System - Upgrade Information

[cpitts]

I suggest you don't change the speakers until you've done the sound deadening. you might find the stock speakers are more than adequate.<snip>

I'd agree with this statement for 8.5/10 people out there.

Unless you're really looking for SQ (Sound Quality) audio at comp levels, then the deadened doors alone will provide a massive improvement.

DON'T CHANGE SPEAKRS STRAIGHT AWAY. You'll be quite surprised at the improvement with just deadening.

Oh and get the Bulk Pack. You can never have enough deadening.

[Gambit]

ok been in contact with Marty and he recommends Crescendo Opus 5 components, what do you think guys is it really worth the ante?

[garbo41610]

I understand what the others are saying about doing the dynamat and then the speakers but in my opinion, do it once and do it right. The other reason I'd do it all at once is I found the stock speakers atrocious. Again, this is just my opinion from my experience with my old Gen4

The stockies will sound much improved with sound deadening to make a solid chamber for them.

stock speakers as they actually sound great with 84WRMS each. Same goes to the stock sub - 374WRMS to a sub which has "35W NOM 75W MAX" printed on it

They wouldn't see this much power all the time (depending on how you have your gains set). Although, I am quite impressed about the amount of power they can actually handle. I would have thought they would fry pretty quickly when being shown that much power. But that all depends on how hard you are pushing them and the signal they are being fed. You're using a PDX amp aren't you Tangcla??

At the end of the day, which ever route you decide to go is entirely up to you. There is definitely some sense in doing it in stages.

But I reckon you should just rip that sh!t out! lol

[Gambit]

Yeah i am of the same opinion, do it right first. I mean you pull off the inners to place dynamat, the speakers are shouting in your face to change them! Apparently the Opus have a larger cone which is more suited to the low power amp?

[tangcla]

They wouldn't see this much power all the time (depending on how you have your gains set). Although, I am quite impressed about the amount of power they can actually handle. I would have thought they would fry pretty quickly when being shown that much power. But that all depends on how hard you are pushing them and the signal they are being fed. You're using a PDX amp aren't you Tangcla??

Yep, running an Alpine PDX-5.

[tangcla]

Yeah i am of the same opinion, do it right first. I mean you pull off the inners to place dynamat, the speakers are shouting in your face to change them! Apparently the Opus have a larger cone which is more suited to the low power amp?

I would agree if you're doing some major work (water pump when your timing belt is off, changing idle tensioners at the same time etc) but the reality is, doing the speakers at the same time only saves you 5 minutes of labour.

Highly, highly, highly recommend you do the Dynamat before you spend money on changing speakers. You might find the tonal quality (timbre) of the new speakers just don't sound 'right' with the Mcintosh headunit/amp - remember they are meant to be designed for the car's interior, for a reason.

[Gambit]

yeah maybe your right, just do dynamat first and then see if i like it.. umm.. cant decide!

[tangcla]

yeah maybe your right, just do dynamat first and then see if i like it.. umm.. cant decide!

Save your money
If you want, come round to listen to mine.

[jp928]

I replaced my Mc with a JVC DV6105 hu, which I had previoulsy used in my 05 Outback. This unit has normal speaker outs + line outs, so it could be connectable to the Mc amp inputs readily. I got a harness from svxdc (Dave Carter,$40) on legacygt.com forum - already had a JVC->Subie harness (Subie connector available from Aerpro). The harness plugged into the speaker connector that used to go into the Mc amp, no problems at all. I havent got around to adding a sub woofer amp yet, but all the power, input and output connectors are there. Despite being an old fart with less than sharp hearing now, I still find this HU produces MUCH improved sound over the Mc, better body and tone all around. It has loudness (not on the Mc!), but I dont feel the need tro turn it on, the improvement is that good. It also reads DVD video, mp3, has sub woofer out, aux in, line in and out, a cooling fan on the back, the works as far as I am concerned.
I suspect that Dave C could provide the pin outs for the big DIN connector of the Mc at the top if you wanted to mate a new HU to it - most painful part of my change was lifting the tunnel cover, and running the new cable from the dash down to the speaker connector under pax seat - removed the seat in the end to enable access.
jp 078 gttb 6mt wagon.

[Gambit]

Thanks Jp but want to retain the stick hu , Aa I like the look of it

Guys do you think this alpine pdx f.6 will fit under the seat? Any opinions on using this amp as it seems like a good price.
http://www.mobileelectronics.com.au/for ... fa-tweets/

Also found a pair of opus 3 for a great price too.

[tangcla]

Afaik ll PDX amps are the same size, they will fit under the seat - I've removed my McAmp and replaced it with the PDX.

[cpitts]

Worth remembering the outputs of the McIntosh MY07 HU are balanced, not unbalanced. The nett result is you can't just unplug the Mc amp and drop in a PDX. Also, the 21pin connector on the McIntosh DIN cable is proprietary and I couldn't find a version anywhere to make a break out cable for it. It'll most likely be a cut and splice exercise (from those that have headed down this path).

I have a PDX under my drivers seat (for the sub) so yes, there's room for that amp. And yes, they do sound clean.

If you're in Syd (sounds like you are) then use Marty at FHRX for the install, he does a masterful job and is totally trustable. Cost might be a different matter though.

[Gambit]

Nope in Melb, so may have to find someone local here, any recommendations? Also are you using the pdx just to power the sub?

[garbo41610]

Nope in Melb, so may have to find someone local here, any recommendations

Frankston Car Audio

[cpitts]

Nope in Melb, so may have to find someone local here, any recommendations? Also are you using the pdx just to power the sub?

Heh, I'm in Melbourne Out the west side of Melb, so if you wanted to catch up, you can have a listen to where my car is at (most things replaced, which doesn't make for a real comparison).
Yep, only PDX for an aftermarket sub at the moment (temporary setup). Am going to replace the current temp (old Pioneer) HU with a new Alpine SQ unit and will move the fronts to a PDX F6 (4 x 150W) at the same time. This combined with my PDX1.600 should give me a neat 1.2kW for the car stereo. Probably enough.