[dukeandtheland]

Spot on. and thanks for pointing the direction of getting that Kenwood. It's a good value.

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

Nobody expects service from eBay or other online vendors, especially not when it comes to interfacing their product with a totally different one. They expect low prices, that's it. Then they get the "service" part somewhere else, like on this forum. Their decisions should be respected, that's all I'm sayin'...

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by dukeandtheland

Spot on. and thanks for pointing the direction of getting that Kenwood. It's a good value.

Yep, and I may buy another one, just because I can.

[VP Electricity]

"No one expects..."

I'm afraid you're wrong, Kai. This question wasn't specifically addressed to me, true, and I may have been using it to make a point - but you should see how many phone calls and PMs and emails I get every day from people who buy things online, and who then can't figure out how to make them work.

Then I read about people choosing installers who can't figure out how to make things work. Why settle for doing business with people who are incompetent and then ask for free help? Why not find service providers who are competent?

So I was making a point as I answered the questions. Not all sellers are idiots, and not all installers are idiots, and the lurkers and noobs who come across the thread should have an opportunity to know that, that's all. Don't settle for ignorance, don't reward it.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

"No one expects..."

I'm afraid you're wrong, Kai. This question wasn't specifically addressed to me, true, and I may have been using it to make a point - but you should see how many phone calls and PMs and emails I get every day from people who buy things online, and who then can't figure out how to make them work.

Then I read about people choosing installers who can't figure out how to make things work. Why settle for doing business with people who are incompetent and then ask for free help? Why not find service providers who are competent?

So I was making a point as I answered the questions. Not all sellers are idiots, and not all installers are idiots, and the lurkers and noobs who come across the thread should have an opportunity to know that, that's all. Don't settle for ignorance, don't reward it.

I answer more emails in support of equipment bought somewhere than of my own harnesses. And to be honest, it is really exhausting.

However, I have to provide that service or otherwise those systems may not work at all to the customers' satisfaction. And ultimately that's not good for my harness orders as nobody will order a harness for their system to suck...

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

"No one expects..."

I'm afraid you're wrong, Kai. This question wasn't specifically addressed to me, true, and I may have been using it to make a point - but you should see how many phone calls and PMs and emails I get every day from people who buy things online, and who then can't figure out how to make them work.

Then I read about people choosing installers who can't figure out how to make things work. Why settle for doing business with people who are incompetent and then ask for free help? Why not find service providers who are competent?

So I was making a point as I answered the questions. Not all sellers are idiots, and not all installers are idiots, and the lurkers and noobs who come across the thread should have an opportunity to know that, that's all. Don't settle for ignorance, don't reward it.

Just because you get a lot of email asking for support of products you did not sell does not justify your excessive "sarcasm" in response to one person's questions, that were not directed at you personally. I can imagine your frustrations, and I sympathize, but you are a vendor - and a very respected one - so your responses, if you choose to give them, should be to the point and all the additional comments putting down or belittling their DIY approach are uncalled for, IMO.

And I do recall you mentioning on different occasions that you choose to be somewhat "selective" when answering emails asking for support on products you did not sell, so you do have an "off" switch after all, don't you?

People have choices. Sometimes they like to do their own research and put the pieces of the puzzle together themselves. That's OK. They can do their research here, then order the equipment, and then come back and ask questions about the install. Nothing wrong with that. Their expectations are that the community will support them. And most of the time, it does.

And a lot of people don't like to wait. When they have made up their mind, they want action. You are very busy and sometimes you are slow to respond to inquiries. That's not a criticism, it's a fact due to the nature of your business and your support of this and other forums. I have a personal example to make my point. Last year, on my birthday, I sent you multiple PMs wanting to order one of your trunk enclosures. You replied to the earlier ones, regarding the installation of different drivers and so forth, but when it came to ordering, you did not reply back. After a week or so, I gave up and decided to go a different route. Now, can you blame me for going somewhere else? Not really, and at the same time I am not blaming you for being slow to respond. It's a free market and people have options. I can go on Crutchfield, for example, and click a button and 30 minutes later, I get a shipping confirmation. I like that. I do not expect any service from them (even though they offer it to some degree), I just expect them to send me the product right away.

So if people taking a DIY approach ask questions here, it's OK, and unless they did something stupid, or are planning to do something stupid, they deserve straight and honest answers, sans the "sarcasm". Like the saying goes, if you don't have anything good to say....

[dukeandtheland]

did any of you relocate the OEM HU? I spent some time reading some threads and ordered the following:
Metra 70-9003
Metra 71-9003
MOST optical cables:
two of 61120142318
two of socket contact 61136901846

I am hoping these are enough to run the radio in the trunk for potential code reading needs. But I am not connecting the speaker for the chimes.

[HellsBells]

Originally Posted by dukeandtheland

did any of you relocate the OEM HU? I spent some time reading some threads and ordered the following:
Metra 70-9003
Metra 71-9003
MOST optical cables:
two of 61120142318
two of socket contact 61136901846

I am hoping these are enough to run the radio in the trunk for potential code reading needs. But I am not connecting the speaker for the chimes.

That should do it. I was thinking that there may be enough room to hang the HU from the plate in the back of the glove compartment. I'm not convinced there is enough room yet, so I am going to experiment with that before I tear the car apart to move this to the trunk.

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by Technic

No... but you have an interesting idea. If flipping the polarity -in my case, wiring my woofers incorrectly- fixes this issue then this is a MS-8 software bug.

Update: Andy is saying he is working this issue - ref DIYMA.

[Xaero]

I've been reading through the MS-8 manual in preparation for my installation. It says to only use the Front 2 channels for input. Is this what everyone is doing? Basically You lose the ability to fade, and is this an issue with the center channel? If they say to only use the front 2 channels for input, WTF did they include so many input channels ?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by taibanl

Update: Andy is saying he is working this issue - ref DIYMA.

Andy have been working on this midbass issue at least for the last 3 months: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...-post4823.html

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by Xaero

I've been reading through the MS-8 manual in preparation for my installation. It says to only use the Front 2 channels for input. Is this what everyone is doing? Basically You lose the ability to fade, and is this an issue with the center channel? If they say to only use the front 2 channels for input, WTF did they include so many input channels ?

Keep reading...you apparently don't know the first thing about how the processor works.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by Technic

Andy have been working on this midbass issue at least for the last 3 months: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...-post4823.html

Why they not have a unit installed in one of their company cars full-time from day one escapes me...

[taibanl]

Originally Posted by Technic

Andy have been working on this midbass issue at least for the last 3 months: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...-post4823.html

Hopefully some of kai's new techniques will shed some light on the underlying problem

[Technic]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

Why they not have a unit installed in one of their company cars full-time from day one escapes me...

My guess -based on their attitude about this midbass "issue" in that forum- is that there was no midbass issue as that is what the EQ bands are for fixing. That, and the rush in getting this sucker out after several years in the making sealed this deal and a few other nasty issues with it. Like the display jack breaking just by looking at it, brand new dead units, dead remote turn on output, turn off pops, no data/audio in the setup CD and so on...

[kmarei]

Originally Posted by Technic

My guess -based on their attitude about this midbass "issue" in that forum- is that there was no midbass issue as that is what the EQ bands are for fixing. That, and the rush in getting this sucker out after several years in the making sealed this deal and a few other nasty issues with it. Like the display jack breaking just by looking at it, brand new dead units, dead remote turn on output, turn off pops, no data/audio in the setup CD and so on...

I've had mine forget it's calibration and no sound output
Until I redo the calibration, and everything works fine
It does it about once every say 2-3 months
Every time I forget it's happened before and I keep checking the remote wire
Or if the amps are ok
Once I redo the calibration, everything is rosy again
I guess it's temperamental

[VP Electricity]

Originally Posted by Technic

My guess -based on their attitude about this midbass "issue" in that forum- is that there was no midbass issue as that is what the EQ bands are for fixing. That, and the rush in getting this sucker out after several years in the making sealed this deal and a few other nasty issues with it. Like the display jack breaking just by looking at it, brand new dead units, dead remote turn on output, turn off pops, no data/audio in the setup CD and so on...

I dont mean to be the paranoid one... But most midbass drivers are 6.5 and JBL us first and foremost a speaker company... Not impossible that they derive the midbass expecting it to be handled by a 6.5 rather than an 8...

[VP Electricity]

"derive" bah - detune!

[dukeandtheland]

I know some experts who answered some questions on the topic of relocation HU are here so allow me to paste my question here:

"I think I did everything described above (didn't end up using metra 70-9003). So at the end, Metra 71-9003 has only two wires, one is the 12v positive and the other one is the ground. I actually spliced from the technic harness that's dealing with the JBL MS-8 for 12v power. So I did not get the 12v from the battery because I don't really connect this OEM HU all the time, but just to know that I have the capability to do so, if ever needed. The OEM HU will end up in my basement.

After powering up, the radio powers up, one red light comes up from one of the holes for MOST cables.

So I plug in both fiber optic cables. There is no response by pressing "Menu" on the OEM radio. Does that mean something went wrong? Obviously I did not connect CAN High and CAN Low but if the the MOST cable loop is complete, does that mean it satifies the need for "software updates"?

Or do I have to connect CAN High and CAN low? If so, how do I do that?

Then,, how do I know that the MOST cables actually are working? Is there a way to test it?

Thanks for any inputs."

The original relocating HU thread is:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...hlight=dynavin

[neusaab]

I'm replacing what I think is a bad amp with an old xtant 403a to drive channels 3/4 to the underseats. Using kaigoss's setup in my 335xi/Logic 7. Not getting sound from the underseats during signal check.

Perhaps I've set the xtant input gain too low? Based on the xtant manual:

http://www.xtant.com/archives/html/t...fs/403aMan.pdf

I've tried input gains of -10dB and +10dB. Output gains set at 1/4. Using balanced input, RCA outs from the MS-8.

Thoughts?

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by neusaab

I'm replacing what I think is a bad amp with an old xtant 403a to drive channels 3/4 to the underseats. Using kaigoss's setup in my 335xi/Logic 7. Not getting sound from the underseats during signal check.

Perhaps I've set the xtant input gain too low? Based on the xtant manual:

http://www.xtant.com/archives/html/t...fs/403aMan.pdf

I've tried input gains of -10dB and +10dB. Output gains set at 1/4. Using balanced input, RCA outs from the MS-8.

Thoughts?

Make sure there is a signal at all coming from the MS-8. Some have failed that way...(didn't you have issues with that before?).

[dukeandtheland]

JBL MS-8 with Dynavin installed and running. Thanks for all the help here.

The instruction says if using after market HU, one should only use FL and FR for channel 1 and 2 input on JBL. But I ended up using all 5 RCAs from Dynavin. I found that if I don't do this, the bluetooth will not have sound at all.

I also turned the center volum up a few notch, otherwise the igo primo GPS won't have any sound at all

Also I noticed that if I turn the Dynavin preamp on, during input setup, JBL won't have enough signal from the HU. So the Dynavin amp must be 'OFF' for JBL to accept it.

The Kenwood XR-4S gets really really hot in the trunk. Is this even normal?

[kaigoss69]

I have no experience with the Dynavin. However, it sounds strange that the BT info does not come through the front RCAs. You may want to check if the HU is configured properly. The GPS announcements are likely in mono so the processor sends them to the center. If they are not loud enough you may also check the settings on the Dynavin. You should not have to crank the center just to hear the GPS info, which surely will have a negative impact when listening to music.

Edit: The amp getting hot is quite normal. On a sunny summer day I can barely touch my amps (JL HD600/4 & Kenwood XR-4S)