Car Audio Buff

The Kinetik HC16V is a high current car audio battery. It is essential for those power hungry amplifiers, so you run them at peak performance. The HC16V has a dual post design, which means it can output 12 or 16 volts depending on your liking. Hook up more than one of these and you will get that edge to win any competition.

The HC16V can also serve as your car’s main battery (not just a backup) because it has 1600 amperes of cranking power. These exact same batteries are used to power 180dB cars. It has a very low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) and a high energy density—which means they deliver their highest peak amps faster, and provide twice the life over regular batteries. The HC16V is suspended in fiberglass mats, which separate and absorb, as well as prevent leaks ensuring a maintenance free, lower self discharge and vibration resistant power cell.

The HC16V is currently listed at $349.99; you can get if for as low as $250 – $270 on some dealers.

Reliving the ‘ol 10W7

It said that the JL Audio W7 series is a “Tour de Force” of engineering and performance. These subwoofers are not cheap, it retails for $549.95 each, but you get an awful lot of performance and technology for your money, not just a bunch of bling and expensive advertisements.

What others think

“Simply put, the JL Audio 8W7 is the best damn 8-inch subwoofer ever made.” — Paul Sonda

“This demonstrates how successful the JL Audio engineers have been in controlling harmonic distortion. The bass guitar notes are forceful and tight. Note shifts are clear with no blooming in the upper bass frequencies like a number of the other subwoofers that I have tested in the past. The detail in the bass line is great. The 12W6v2-D4 has got to be the most linear subwoofer in frequency response that I have tested.” — Eric Holdaway

“JL Audio’s W6 series, known for producing high levels of audiophile-quality bass from small enclosures, has evolved to become the 3-Series BMW of the subwoofer world, a reference standard to which others are judged.” — Chris Yato

Specifications

Free Air Resonance (Fs):	30.6 Hz
Electrical “Q” (Qes):	0.578
Mechanical “Q” (Qms):	7.647
Total Speaker “Q” (Qts):	0.537
Equivalent Compliance (Vas):	1.28 cu. ft. / 36.1 liters
One-Way, Linear Excursion (Xmax):	0.9 in. / 23 mm
Reference Efficiency (no):	0.171%
Efficiency (1W/1m):	84.3 dB SPL
Effective Piston Area (Sd):	59.8 sq. in. / 0.0386 sq. m.
DC Resistance (Re):	2.75 ohm
Nominal Impedance (Znom):	3 ohm
Thermal Power Handling (Pt):	750W
Driver Displacement:	0.09 cu. ft. / 2.5 liters
Net Weight:	30 lbs. / 13.6 kg

Reviews

Below are some good reviews for the Pyle PLD3MU in-dash DVD receiver with monitor compiled from various sources.

“Excellent product. I have not had any problems from the Pyle Touchscreen CD/DVD player. It plays all disks and delivers excellent visual and sound quality.”

“I am pleased with this receiver. The menu & drill-down screens are easy to understand and follow. You don’t really need to even use the manual. The touch-screen works very nice but the display of the title & track when playing the songs via USB is pretty small and somewhat abbreviated. You can navigate it easily either by button or touch-screen. The power to the speakers is good, compared to the Kenwood I replaced. Even though it has an RCA sub feed out, I haven’t found a separate control for the sub output on the receiver. The DVD player works well and I haven’t found any that it didn’t play. It even plays the ones I’ve burnt/made. Screen is certainly tiny, but you have a few options on it as well. It’s difficult to see the screen with sunlight on it or while wearing sunglasses. If thought the touchscreen shows a Bluetooth & TV option, they don’t work (nor are advertisted) with this model, so don’t get too excited thinking you got more than you expected when you turn it on. Hint: The “brake wire” has to be grounded to the emergency brake before a movie’s video will display. It’s a safety-lockout for the manufacturer to avoid a lawsuit in case you can’t keep your eyes on the road while playing a movie. I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks. I would buy this receiver again.”

“Good product for the money. It won’t play some dvds. It’s not dolby surround. Touch screen is pointless.”

Specifications

• DVD/VCD/MPEG4/CD/CD-R/CDRW Compatible
• Treble/Bass/Balance/Fader/Encoder/Volume
• PLL Synthesizer Tuner
• Auto Store/Preset Scan
• AM/FM 2 Band Radio (USA/Euro)
• 30 Station Memory (18FM/12AM)
• Built-In 3” (16:9) TFT Color Monitor
• Touch Screen Control Operation
• Resolution: 1440 x 234 Pixels
• Brightness: 400 NITS
• PAL/NTSC Color
• On Screen Display Title/Time/Chapter/Subtitle Angle
• Anti-Shock Mechanism
• ESP Function
• LO/DX ST/MO Selector
• Selectable View Angle
• USB Connector
• 320 Watts (4 x 80 W)

Pyle PLD3MU

A look back at the first ever car PC

Would you believe as early as 2001, Clarion already launched a car PC? Back then, what people would eventually call “carputer,” was labeled by Clarion as an Auto PC. It had a whopping $2,300.00 SRP price tag and was powered by an Intel Pentium (with MMX) processor. It could play “MP3s” back then and other digital media formats, as well as all the DVD and CD types.

We now find out that the Clarion Joyride was offered with three different package options—Level One, Two & Three. Level One had a 6.4″ monitor and a wireless remote control; it was sold for $2,999.00. Level Two included a GPS system and a 6-disc changer for an additional $1,099.99. Level Three replaced Level One’s standard LCD monitor with an RGB LCD, again for an additional $1,899.00.

When it came out, it nearly played almost every available format except for the then newly developed SACD. It used Microsoft Windows CE for its operating system, and could also decode 5.1 Dolby Digital formats. It had a voice activated control, 6-channel RCA outputs, a compact flash card slot and a rating of 45 watts x 4.

Today, you could buy a used unit for around $400. So back then, how did the Joyride fair with car audio critics? Well, the normal consensus would be, to sum it up, insanely priced just because it was first to attempt such a thing. But anyway, in a future post, we’ll try to summarize some reviews of the Joyride, so watch out for that.

Clarion Joyride

The RDd65cs is Phoenix Gold’s 6.5″ component set from their latest Radial SD line of products. The Radial SD line has amplifiers, subwoofers, coaxials and component sets. The RSd component sets’ features are listed below.

Mid-bass Drivers

• Injection Molded Aluminum Plated Grained Polypropylene Cone
• Butyl Rubber Surround
• Flat Linear Roll Spider
• Rigid Powder Coated Anti-Resonant Steel Frame

Tweeters

• Silk Dome Tweeters
• Protective Phase Plug
• Pivoting Tweeter
• Flush Mount or Surface Mount Capability

Crossovers

• CAE/CAD Designed
• Absolute Phase
• High Order Asymmetrical Design
• Tweeter Adjustment (0, +2dB)

RSd65cs Specs

Power Handling (Minimum RMS/Peak): 5 watts/120 watts
Impedance: 4 ohms
Frequency Response: 45 Hz – 20 kHz
Sensitivity: 91 dB @ 2.83V/1M

Review

The package includes an owner’s manual, a warranty card and a template for the woofer cutout. The woofers have multiple-bolt patterns which should fit most standard and non-standard bolt configurations. It also has an optional black grill. The soft-dome tweeters can be swivel-mounted via two differently-angled pedestals, but you can also use the bare tweeter for factory mounting or flush-mounting. The crossovers have a translucent cover wherein you can see the components neatly arranged. The speaker terminals are gold-plated.

Due to installation and car acoustics playing a very major role on how the RSd65cs can sound, we’ll try to just criticize the basics—those that we think should stand out regardless of the install (assuming at least a good standard is applied).

The bass response is really good. They had a good mix with the instruments and vocals. Almost too “just right” in fact. Bass this good from out of the box should be really easy to play with and tune.

The highs can sound a bit too bright at times especially for cymbals and high notes of wind instruments—on both crossover-tweeter settings. The set can also sometimes lose valuable detail on complex recordings like orchestras or big bands, but that is really only expected on higher priced sets.

Other than the two mentioned above, the overall performance of the RSd65cs came as a surprise. It sounded very good and very unlike its price. This really is expected for newer speakers (which is good news) because the technology (materials, etc.) can only become cheaper, while the designs have already been tested and proven.

For a list price of $159, most car audio enthusiasts would consider this set as budget to mid-priced. What’s good about this market segment however (for the consumer), is that many manufacturers are trying compete for that coveted quintessential bang-for-the-buck component—that which has the best price to performance ratio. The Phoenix Gold RSd65cs should be up your list if you are looking to save a little while having a “competitive enough” system. With the proper tuning and installation, this set can compete with the best of them.

This test on the RSD65cs was conducted in a 2003 Honda Civic running a JL Audio 300/2v2 amplifier without a subwoofer. Tweeters were surface mounted using the supplied plenums.

Lowest price found: $89.95 @ DiscountJungle

Phoenix Gold RSd65cs

The Clarion DRZ9255 is a top choice for car audio enthusiasts who want only the purest sonic performance and the most advanced and most essential signal processing capabilities every tuner needs. While we wait for the official review of the DRZ9255, let us first review the features this sonic beast offers.

• Dual 24-bit / 96 kHz Sampling Digital-to-Analog Burr-Brown Converters and DSP
• Built-In 4-Way Crossovers
• 5-Band Parametric Equalizer
• Digital Time Alignment for Each Line Level Output
• 8-Channel/4-Volt Gold Plated Oxygen-Free Copper RCA Outputs
• 0.5dB-Step Electronic Volume Adjustment Circuit
• Copper Plated Chassis
• External DC/DC Converter
• CeNET Control of Optional CD Changer, TV Tuner and iPod Interface
• Two 2-Channel AUX Inputs
• Zinc Die-Cast Faceplate
• Fiber Optic Input/Output
• Vacuum Florescent Display
• 18FM/6AM Presets

High-resolution photos

Clarion DRZ9255 1

Clarion DRZ9255 2

Review coming soon.

The Pyle PL97M4 is an AM/FM-MP4 Video Player with USB/SD Reader. It has an auxilliary input, programmable repeat, random and intro play modes, auto memory store and preset scan, 30 preset stations and USA and Europe radio compatibility. It features a fixed face panel with electronic anti-shock mechanism. Its EQ has 3 presets—pop, rock and classic, while electronic audio controls feature volume, bass, treble, balance, and fader adjustability.

The unit can bring out 320 watts of total output—4 x 80 watts, standard ISO mounting chassis, 2 audio video outputs at the back and aux in on the face panel for easy access.

Retail Price: $182.60 (1 year warranty)
Lowest Price: $62.00 (refurbished); $80.97 (new)

Pyle PL97M4

Review coming soon.

The PCX2000D is part of Soundstream’s Picasso series of amplifiers. It is a Class D amplifier that has Twin Stack Technology which allows two amplifiers to power a single load. It has an FR4 circuit board which has continuously variable low-pass and subsonic filters and up to 18 decibels of bass boost. It is stable at 1 ohm, accepts up to 16 volts of DC input and has platinum RCA and power inputs.

Complete Specifications

Channels	1 ch. Class D
RMS Power@ 4 Ohm, 14.4V	1100
RMS Power@ 2 Ohm, 14.4V	1500
RMS Power@ 1 Ohm, 14.4V	2000
Total Harmonic Distortion (4 Ohm power)	0.50%
Frequency Response	15 – 250Hz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (4 Ohm power)	85dB
Damping Factor (100Hz, 4 Ohm)	>200
Signal Voltage	200mV – 8V
Fusing	(5) 30
Dimensions: (2.5″h x 9.875″w)	22″
24dB/octave Low Pass Filter	50 – 150Hz
Remote Gain Control	Included
Bass Boost	0-18dB, 60Hz
Subsonic Filter (12dB/octave)	12dB, 15 – 40Hz
Phase Control	180º

Soundstream PCX2000D

Review coming soon.

Following our popular JL Audio 8W7 review, here comes the 13.5-inch monster 13W7 subwoofer from JL. The 1,500-watt 13W7 has an 8.38-inch magnet and weighs a staggering 52 lbs. This subwoofer is a beast. There are a handful of reviews out there, some done by the most respected experts so we will approach this review as a summarization of what people have been saying plus some points that we would like to add in the end, so read on.

What people are saying…

“This gives an all round performance of such high quality on every level that bettering it will be very hard to achieve. The reward for this entire endeavor comes in the audition. Bass is tight, fast and musical at whatever sound level you choose. It really does pack the punch and easily shakes the walls, but never sounds out of control. If you want quality and quantity and have the ancillaries to support it, the 13W7 or its smaller brothers will take you as close as it currently gets to ultimate bass.”

Peter Hawkins, Total Car Audio

“Listening to recordings of acoustic bass material leaves us with no wishes for improved reproduction and large organ pipe notes reveal a low bass that could not possibly be any fuller. The 13W7 reproduces rock and jazz with merciless precision, bass drums have the correct size and perfect impact, and these qualities are not diminished as volume is increased. Hard techno beat attacks really bring the 13W7′s special dynamic qualities to light, even fat, brutal synthesized bass blasts cannot exceed this woofer’s reserve capabilities.”

Cars & HiFi

“The 13W7 delivers a very impressive sense of power that’s absolutely addictive on this type of material. It’s a totally seductive and completely absorbing engulfment in bass. It has more peak-to-peak linear suspension travel than any subwoofer I’ve tested so far—more than 3 inches. The motor also has more stroke than any other subwoofer I’ve tested—26.3 mm, which is over 2 inches peak-to-peak.”

Tom Nousaine, Mobile Entertainment

Car Audio Buff

The 13W7 is a woofer which has it all. Not only are its ingenious technical solutions impressive, but also its sonic abilities which leave no desire unfulfilled. We all already know and consider the W7 series as one of the best woofers of all time, and the 13W7, the largest of the group, makes it sound like an understatement. It hammers out whatever you feed it, in a very accurate and composed manner. We failed to push the 13W7 to its limits with anything and any situation we put it in. Be it a small sedan, to a large van in a wall configuration.

We recommend wiring the 13W7 also to JL’s extraordinary 1000/1 amplifier as it will feed the perfect amount of power and the cleanest signal to the subwoofer. It can reach 150 decibels with ease, but depending on what type of bass you prefer, you can play around with the box setup. But for something this big, it would be ideal to go ported. Tune it 29.77 Hz for starters and take it from there.

The 13W7 does not come cheap considering you need to shell out another $600-$700 for an amplifier, but for this level of sound, we consider the subwoofer very appropriately priced. And, although there are other monsters out there pumping out more decibels for the true bass fanatics, the 13W7 wass made for people who cannot escape the fascination of a truly exceptional loudspeaker.

JL Audio 13W7

The Clarion DB345MP is one of the toughest entry-level CD receivers from Clarion. Manufactured in 2004, the 50 watts x 4 1-DIN headunit can play CDs & MP3s from CD-R & CD-RWs, and has a tough detatchable aluminum faceplate. It has Clarion’s Z-Enhancer and Magna Bass EX, and peaks (RMS) at 17 watts. The DB345MP has 4 line level output channels via RCA, 18 FM & 6 AM presets, a rotary volume control, and a blue negative 8-digit LCD display screen.

Review

I installed this in my car 4 years ago and it is still going strong. This thing is wonderful—it plays all my mp3 cds and never once has it given me a problem with any of the many brands of cds I have burned over the years. It was always very easy to program the time and change the equalizer settings. The detachable face plate also came in handy many times when leaving my car unattended either at the shop or in a shady neighborhood.

Manual

Download the DB345MP’s user’s manual (PDF).

Clarion DB345MP