Mosconi 120.4 or JBL MS8?

[_G_]

Since my Andymac sub installation (still going strong over a year later)... I have been left wondering if there is any more room for improvement.

Having the non-bose set up I wondered if the standard system could benefit from a JBL MS8 with the OEM speakers. They do sound pretty acceptable since the JL W3V3 was added to the boot...

OR...

Do I use a high end SQ amp and uprate all the speakers?

I've been reading a lot about DSP's and many say that it is the 'missing link' in the system or that they cannot go without it. Is it really worth it though? Does anyone here have a dsp or dsp amp installed?

Any advice/thoughts appreciated.

 

[dualmono21]

might be helpfull also for you to describe the car and what you are hoping to achieve

which model , year etc etc
do you wish to keep the standard headunit ???
have you done any upgrades to the audio system allready ???
have you done any preperation work such as sound deadening or proper cabling ??

 

[_G_]

might be helpfull also for you to describe the car and what you are hoping to achieve

which model , year etc etc - Audi A3, 8p2, 2007
do you wish to keep the standard headunit ??? Yes, have the Concert2 hooked up with Dension GW
have you done any upgrades to the audio system allready ??? Only the sub woofer, replaced the standard non-bose sub with a Jl as mentioned above
have you done any preperation work such as sound deadening or proper cabling ??

not yet but looking into adding some in hope it will improve sound

Want clean SQ sound... and never want to miss a detail in the music.
Only fair since I have an Audio Lab Reference system at home with studio monitors but the car can never match this...

thanks

 

[dualmono21]

simply adding a processor wont magicly make everything better
all it will do is try to work with what you allready have and get the best from each of those

so basically theres a long and a short way off doing this
you could simply add a processor and try to get it to improve on what you allready have or go the long way and improve the individual components beforehand
audiolab made some halveway decent components a long time ago so if you want it to sound better than this then you will have to go the long way im afraid


prep for front doors

id advise a good solid layer of sound deadeneing material like dynamat extreme on the inside of the doors
couple this with a layer of dynaliner or close cell foam and add some soundwave pads directly behind the back of the speakers
make some solid baffles , the more solid the better , mdf is porous and will absorb moisture and fall to pieces unless protected , birch ply by contrast is lighter and doesnt need protecting ... if you want really good ones make them from steel at least 3mm thick

front speakers
totally upto yourself what you like i prefer the sound of focals as ive been using them for fifteen years now in car
heres a few id advise you taking a listen too
rainbow , hertz , jl audio , genesis , dls , hybrid audio

the only other thing you will need if you intending on purchasing a processor is a minimum of a 3 channel amplifier
preferably a 5 channel amplifier i would strongly advise a 5 channel or above as that will give you independant control over each individual channel
the standard audi job wont cut the mustard im afraid

there are also a few other considerations

because your using the standard headunit how will it connect to whichever processor you decide to buy and then further connect onto the amplifiers ???
because you are using the standard unit does the audio signal need correcting ??? some manufacturers now use a preprogramed equalisation and dsp which protects the speakers from over exertion , most are very very invasive and simply cut the frequency response of the audio system at the bottom and top very very sharply
if so you need a piece of equipment that can decode the oe headunit and recode it so as its more sound quality based

 

[_G_]

I've got silent coat... apparently better than dynamat as its aerospace grade tech.
Baffles I can get the steel sorted as I have an uncle who manages a steel company...

tell me about it... cheap paper cones in the audi...

I managed to hear a jbl ms-8 dsp yesterday and to be honest the sound is over-processed at some times, its like surround sound which is kind of cool but I'm not a huge fan of the surround/srs/wow effects. It took 5 minutes to caliberate it... it was not perfect but it would usually take me months to caliberate a system by playing around with all the settings... so it was impressive in one sense... I'm thinking it would be easy to make a harness to wire into the ms-8...

Is the audi audio signal balanced or unbalanced... time to investigate...

I'm thinking of focal components, the mosconi sq amp and see how I get on... if it sounds poor then I might consider an after market head unit as much as I like the oem look. I did mess around with a unit last year and tried to install a burr brown dac for the cd player but I don't think I did a good job of it... I'm not the best circuit board whizz kid but I know a bit...

So as it stands thinking focals up front, focals in back and mosconi...

thanks for your input

 

[dualmono21]

lots of bargains around which will save you money as regards amplification
look on ebay there are some fantastic amplifiers for sale at a fraction of the cost of the mosconi
as regards speakers id advise you leaving the rear speakers as standard and using the money you would have spent on upgrading them to upgrade the front speakers to as good as you can afford , as these ultimately control how good the car will sound