I did some more tweaking on the system today. I ran the auto TA/EQ and it jacked everything way out of whack. It moved the crossover point way up to 8 kHz, jacked the upper midrange way up high as well as the treble. It was freaking horrible!
For now, I've resorted back to the basics of no TA at all, crossover points back down at 2 kHz, and some more tweaking of the EQ by ear. I have to say, it sounds a lot better with TA turned off. Much fuller, wider and spacious. Go figure. I'm sure I'll get better results with a real DSP eventually.
I decided to stream some music from Amazon Prime. I picked Daft Punk. Damn! Someone told me that Nick (the owner of Stereo Integrity) runs these TM65 MkII's down to 20 Hz in his personal car. My head unit only allows me to run them down to 25 Hz (I normally have them at 31.5 Hz). I didn't hear much difference between the two, so I left it at 31.5 Hz. The only other option is running them wide open all the way down, but I don't want to do that. Why chance it, right?
But man, that bass! These drivers hit low and hard, even at high volumes, and stay clean, clear and crisp doing so. That bass it tight, punchy and tactile. I now see why some people run these without subs. If the interior of my Z was nice and quiet when traveling at 70 mph, I probably wouldn't be worried about a sub either. But even up to 50 mph, they sound great on their own.
Mid-bass, midrange and treble are excellent as well. Very natural, open and smooth with plenty of dynamics and power to smack you with. I can honestly say without a doubt, that this is by far the best sounding front stage I have had to date with any of my systems, and that's saying a lot!
Oh, and the dampening that I did on the doors and door cards are doing their job well. No rattles at all, and I was pushing the system rather hard this afternoon. A lot harder than I normally would. I mean, I had these things crankin! So much so that even the rear view mirror on the windshield was vibrating! And while I was at it, I stepped out of the car to see how it sounded outside with the car all sealed up. With the car idling (the HKS exhaust is barely louder than stock at idle), I could hardly hear the music coming through. Sure I could hear it, but it was no worse than the stock system without dampening. That's a good thing. I don't to draw attention to it, so I'm happy.
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She's For Sale! PERFORMANCE: Aero Workz | Akebono | BC Racing | EcuTek | HKS | MaxBore | Motordyne | Nismo | RJM | SPL | StopTech | Z1
AUDIO: Arc Audio | Bazooka | Helix | Pioneer | Stereo Integrity
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