ICE with Pioneer DEH-80PRS on Cedia


Thread Starter #1
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Here is a ICE report that I had on my other thread on Mitsu Cedia Sports. I thought, this is the right place to have it rather than ownership review and hence the repetition.

Pioneer DEH-80PRS
JL Audio HD 900/5 amp
Rockford Fosgate T162S components - no passive crossovers
Polk Audio SR 10DVC Sub
Tsunami 10 farad capacitor
Monster 6-channel RCA XLN

Yes, I have true 2.1 setup rather than usual 4.1 setup.

Cedia came with poor quality Blaupunkt single DIN HU (in 2007) and pathetic speakers. So, I changed to Alpine CDA-9886 and Polk momo co-axials - my old speakers from prev car. Alpine's 9886 was good, but I had to have audio processor to have Time Alignment and EQ. It was good for some 4 years & I sold this audio setup to buy RF comps and Kenwood KIV-701 mechless player. KIV-701 has audio & video single DIN. It was not good for music. It is good to showoff - a waste product.

That was the time, mid of 2011 Pioneer announced arrival of audiophile HU DEH-80PRS. I already had RF comps, polk sub and JL HD amp. So, good HU was my essential. I waited so eagerly and I booked it immediately from US when released, thru Borderlinx. I think I might be first guy to get DEH-80PRS in Bangalore/India ( :-) I know, I know blah blah)

This unit has 24-bit Burr-Brown DAC, 5V RCA pre-outs, auto Time Alignment, Auto EQ thru supplied micro phone and most of all active crossover network mode setup. It also has plenty of inputs. I can feed CD, SD memory, 2 USB (either iPod or USB stick), low or high level audio inputs at rear, front aux as well. Very extensive input play support. Guess what, Bluetooth support for audio streaming and handsfree calls. Micro phone for phone calls is supplied as well. What more you can ask for $345 ?????

HD 900/5 is class-D amp for 5 channel from JL Audio. JLA has done a magic with this piece. With their single cycle control power technology they have created a class-D amp for audiophiles. One must listen to it to believe that it's not class-AB. So, being digital amp it is small in size but can produce 4x100watts and 1x500watts of power. so, all my speakers are taken care by one single amp.

I wanted to have high impedance for my sub and so, I ended up dual voice coil subwoofer from Polk audio. I got the signature ref series sub. This baby just rocks. My sub initially was kept in separate subwoofer box which occupied bigger space in trunk. So, worked with fabricator to have compact yet suggested cubic capacity for sub woofer stealth box.

Now, this HU can be configured in two modes - standard mode where normally front two speakers, rear two speakers and one sub along the way. The other mode is Network mode, where high, mid and low frequency active crossover setup. With this, I can get rid of passive crossovers that came with component speakers. I initially connected the HU in standard mode and decided to go for Network mode for two reasons:
1. I can get best out of audio source
2. If I get rid of rear tray co-axials, that place can be used to vent air when my sub is thumping and also, no interference from rear speakers to destroy true front stage stereo performance.

so, took off the rear tray co-axials and left those holes covered by speaker grill. This helps me to have air flow for my subwoofer inside the trunk and a result is pure bass. My front component's passive crossovers are taken off and I have pure aluminium 1" tweeter and 6.5" mid, directly connected to amp. All my crossovers are taken care at source unit itself.

Here is the configuration:

RCA preouts are laid out like Top two are for High frequency, middle two RCAs are for Mid range and mid bass and lower RCAs are for low frequency for subwoofer. I have setup the HU to have 125Hz as my Low LPF, 100Hz to be by mid range HPF, 2.5 KHz to be mid LPF and 2.5 KHz to be my Highs HPF. After this configuration, without any TA and EQ, I kept the HU in full volume and used multi-meter to check RCA pre-outs to have 5V output for all 80Hz, 500 Hz, 1KHz and 12.5KHz test frequencies. Once it is done, I connected RCAs to Amp. Now, since my front comps have 4 ohm impedance and sub is of 8 ohm, I made sure that gains are adjusted to have 20 volts out from amp thru speaker connections, with the help of multi-meter. Then speaker connections are made.

Now, I know that pure non-clipping output is given to my speakers. Time for eq and time alignment, which is a breeze in DEH-80PRS. It just took 10 mins to complete those with supplied mic.

After all that, I just played the favorite Hotel California of Eagles - hell freezes over version and...man - what a pure audio that I can get.. WWWWWooowwwww.....

A..M..A..Zing clarity and true audio fidelity. I know it is the orchestra of HU, Amp and Speakers and patience to have cleaner audio.


- Rajiv
 
Thread Starter #2
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Folx,

I just ordered Pioneer Stage-4 component speakers TS-C172PRS. It is on it's way to my home. I will update with more pics and setup.

- Rajiv
 
Thread Starter #3
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Pioneer's Stage 4 Components - TS-C172PRS are sweeeet...

I installed the new components. It is awesome. The midrange and mid-bass are completely refreshing now. The songs I have listened are sounding even more punchier and depth. The tweeters are smooth. As you all will agree, you have to experience these set of speakers. Finally, I have found the right set of speakers that suits my taste. The tweeters are not bright at all.

I just let the HU to set the EQ (Auto EQ & Time alignment). I did bit of tuning when it comes to crossover settings to suit my taste.

As I have described above, I am still running active crossover setup - so the passive crossovers are not used.

Great product from Pioneer.

I will add some photos of tweeters later, since they are the only visible set of speakers in my car..

- Rajiv
 
Thread Starter #6
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Here is the change in crossover settings:

SW: HPF 30Hz and LPF 80Hz - 24DB Oct
Mid Bass & Mid Range: HPF 80Hz and LPF 4KHz - 16 DB Oct
High: 4KHz - 12 DB Oct
 
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Awesome setup Rajiv[thumbsup]. So your currently using active crossovers instead of passive crossovers that came with speakers? So 4 channels of your amp powers the front components and fifth channel to the subwoofer na?

Can you please elaborate on price damages to your wallet[;)]?

Regards,
Sankar
 
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Awesome setup Rajiv. You've got two of my favorites, a Cedia and a 80PRS. The 80PRS is a dream come true for the audiophiles. If planning to extend the setup, add an Audison BIT-1 to it. You'll be surprisingly pleased by it's capabilities. Please share the pics of the set-up as well.
 
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