My audio install- Luke box, MS8, 500/5, 10W3v3, and more...

[nrubenstein]

Can't you get them to RMA it? It sounds like it's time...

[Dirtboy]

I'm about to give up on JBL. Their customer service sux ballz. I've e-mailed them twice and caledl them multiple times and nothing. The best support I've got from them is one employee who hangs out on diymobileaudio.com. He's been the best help but still hasn't been able to figure out my problem. I'm about to use the MS8 as a wheel chock...:letitout:

[StereoInstaller1]

Yeah, I wanna play with one of those too, but not until I build some of the 10 channel passive crossovers that should be here before summer...hopefully!

[airkhin]

very interested on how well it works out as well... been hearing lots of good feedback on em... just might have to go into parts list. haha

[Dirtboy]

Fun fun fun. Well, I'm sure Andy will sort you out. I loved my first MS-8 so much that I had to go out and get a second.

Yeah, I like the idea of how it's supposed to take care of the tuning for you automatically. I hope to get to hear it properly tuned soon. If it works out as well as people say it does, I may get one for the e46 too...

[nrubenstein]

Fun fun fun. Well, I'm sure Andy will sort you out. I loved my first MS-8 so much that I had to go out and get a second.

[Dirtboy]

Running your sail tweeters on the side channels is going to be weird with the MS-8. Is there some reason why you object to running them as part of an active front setup?

Also, when you're setting it up, they really, really mean it when they say to keep the volume low. If it sounds really tinny and bass free when you're done, do it again with the volume lower. IIRC, I ran mine at -35. Higher would clip the mic.

I was running the sails on the side channel just as an experiment. The fronts in the kick panels are 2-ways with an external passive crossover. If it does sound a bit weird I'll go active with the sails and kicks.

I'm still having issues with the MS8 giving me "No DSP Response" errors and it shutting down and restarting every 2-3 minutes. I'm dealing with Andy from JBL on that. When I was able to get through the setup, I had the levels at about -40. But I haven't been able to level match the 500/5 with the MS8 because of the errors I'm getting. Hopefully this will get resolved soon...

[nrubenstein]

...also, while you're tidying the wiring, you might want to unbundle the speaker wires from the power cables and run them on the left side of the car.

[AndrewBird]

What did you use to hide all the wires? Just some generic raceway?

[nrubenstein]

Running your sail tweeters on the side channels is going to be weird with the MS-8. Is there some reason why you object to running them as part of an active front setup?

Also, when you're setting it up, they really, really mean it when they say to keep the volume low. If it sounds really tinny and bass free when you're done, do it again with the volume lower. IIRC, I ran mine at -35. Higher would clip the mic.

[Dirtboy]

Very nice. Keep it up, I like where this is headed. And I am biting your idea of wire tucking into that channel...

Thanks. I was thinking about running all the wires through the sub box, but I didn't want to drill that many holes into such a nice box.

So today I got the C43 mounted in the dash. I also switched out the euro gauge cluster to a U.S. cluster. Same with the overhead check panel. And, while I was knee deep into the dash, I finally hooked up the 4-way flashers to the alarm.

Last but not least, I installed the brand new M-tech2 steering wheel.:D




Now I just need to do a complete cleaning and detail of the interior...

[Schnitzer318is]

Very nice. Keep it up, I like where this is headed. And I am biting your idea of wire tucking into that channel...

[Axxe]

Nice work!

[Dirtboy]

Got some work done today...

The main thing was that I found out why the MS8 kept on shutting down. The C43 tape deck wasn't putting out enough power on the turn-on lead. It was only putting out about 11.5 volts. When I hooked up the MS8's turn-on lead directly to the battery with 12.6v, the unit never shut down... Even while playing for 15-20 minutes. So I had to re-wire the turn-on lead from the front. Hooked it up directly to the 12v acc from the ignition. Works like a charm...

The other work I did was straighten up the wires. Here's a before pic:




And the after pic:



There's still going to be a cover over all that cut out to Luke's template that he included with the box. But I just wanted all the wires under control.

Here's a pic of the Phatbox mp3 player:



For those that don't know about it, it's actually a small Linux based mp3 player with an 80 gig removable hard drive.

The reason I like it better than an iPod is that it speaks out the names of tracks/titles/artist etc to you so you don't have to take your eyes off the road looking at a display on the dash.

I also have an aux input for the iPod as well.

I still have to come up with a way to mount it to the left side of the trunk.


And here's a shot of the other side of the trunk:



Tomorrow I'm going to try to tackle the mounting of the C43 in the dash...

[Dirtboy]

I got it all hooked up and playing yesterday but I'm having some issues with the MS8 unit. It keeps "crashing" with an error code of "No DSP Response". It then shuts down and restarts. This happens every 3-4 minutes. I'm trying to get through to JBL on this.

In the short time it does work, it sounds pretty good. I only had time to do a rough system tune. The system uses microphones to tune and since I'm outside I pick up all the street noise. I'll have to goto my shop where it's quiet to do a better tune. Of course I have to figure out the above problem first.

Then I have to tidy up the wires. Looks like a rats nest right now. I'm going to be channeling all the wires in plastic conduit just to make it look a bit better. Then there will be a cover over the whole amp rack. There will be pics soon...

oh, still have to mount that C43...