Is this any good???

[pslewis]

Hi all On the verge of changing the unit on the MY00 Wagon and seen what appears to be a bargain CD changer combo - the question is - has anyone got one and is it any good?? or have a view on the quality of the unit?? It is a JVC Radio/Cassette/12 disc changer - model number CH-PK453R (this consists of the KS-FX453R head unit and the CH-X350 changer) its all up at a speacial offer price of £180 !!! which seems remarkable good value (but why? is it pooooo?) answers on a £20 note please!! Pete

[pslewis]

Ok Ok Ok everyone - we seem not to be running JVC kit in our cars
So? can we all share what we have, is it any good, how much, did you change the speakers as well, is a CD changer worth having?

I have the standard (PHilips?) and its fair I suppose - have had much better on Fords and my Calibra had a speed sensitive volume control - why is this not standard now??

Pete

[john banks]

Standard Philips is not liked. No one seems to have used the JVC judging by the lack of replies. I am very happy with a Kenwood 5080R CD head unit £150 (didn't bother with changer), but if you spend more in the Kenwood range or get one of the fancy OEL display Pioneers you would get more preouts, inbuilt adjustable filters, 4V preouts etc etc. Depends on how far you want to take your system. I miss the speed dependent volume control, compression and clip settings off the Ford head units too - have not yet seen similar in aftermarket units.

I have ripped out all of the factory speakers, currently Kenwood 160mm coax (£72) in fronts (soon to go to back off HU as fill) and be replaced by Infinity Reference Components (£88).

Kenwood KAC848 4 channel amp £160 - good VFM fairly powerful, but you'd end up wanting Phoenix Gold, Rockford Fosgate or Soundstream probably

All really depends on budget, for £600 I have a system I am pleased with and with the new components should be happier still. It is certainly very loud partly due to a monster dual bandpass Pioneer sub box that despite only 8" cone, 100WRMS and £70 absolutely rocks for SPL (claimed 129dB at rated power in-car - only 10dB off pain threshold - but not very subtle!). It was the real bargain of my install, but you need fronts that go to 80Hz or lower otherwise they're swamped by it. Prefab or any bandpass designs have a bad reputation as they are notoriously difficult to get right and are sensitive to very small changes in box construction, and are sometimes billed as "one-note" boxes that just resonate in a narrow band to get their high SPL. I must have been lucky with this Pioneer then!

For £150 head unit and £90 components you could prob. have something that would be good enough for most people? Anyone else agree? Amp and sub will up budget and installation comlexity by a great deal, but the sound escalates to another level. Headunit is a 10min job to change (although some have taken longer because of various problems). Front speakers take a few hours to get right, soundproof etc, but if powered off Headunit would be reasonably straightforward only requiring two screwdrivers and a hairdrier and possibly a junior hacksaw to trim the splash guard.

ScoobyDoc's system sounds very very sweet, but not overly loud. Depends on what you are looking for sound quality or volume

I've not (yet) heard anyone else's system, but it sounds like there are some real amazing ones floating around Scoobynet. You should have some interesting opinions below...

[Scooby Doc]

Hey John

Take it you got home in one piece!

Many thanks for the chance to hear your system and for your advice with the set u

Pete

John system rocks with a particularly punchy and powerful bass with plenty of power from the kenwood amp. John has chosen his setup carefully and is a good example of how something can sound good without breaking the bank.

The first step is your head unit. I have no experience of JVC but as you can tell by the lack of reply that its generally not rated.
Change your front speakers for a set of components and add an amp and subwoofer at some stage.

I have an in dash nakamichi with infinity kappa 6.5 comps in the doors (and now dynamatted today) with a 10" sub powered by a denon amp running in 3 channel mode. Sonds good but needs fine tuning and probably a new amp

Martin

[john banks]

Anyone else gonna give Pete some reviews? And I want to see what you all think of your kit too!

Pete - also try

[pslewis]

Thanks John and Scooby doc

I am not a perfectionist with regards music in car - my home set up is a completely different matter however with Pro-logic cinema sound and all the seperates bought with care (but that is for another forum!!)

Its just that the JVC seemed a bargain - just because no-one else appears to have one doesnt make it not-rated however (its just that the Kenwoods and Sonys and Alpine seem to get rave reviews?) so people buy those first maybe?

Do you both have tweeters? and are they the Scooby tweeters?

All I know is that the system in the Scooby is far from being in my top ten!! so it should be changed really - just dont want to spend loads chasing the perfection I dont require.

Cheers again for the replies

What diameter are the front speakers - do you know?

Pete

[john banks]

Apart from the unbelievably crap head unit as standard in the Scoob I reckon most CD or CD changer head units would sound reasonable. Certainly for home systems (I have fancy prologic job like you) I have found that a 10 year old CD player from an old midi system (!) sounds remarkably good (I only use it for CDR as DVD player will not read them). What seems to be far more important is (in increasing order) wiring/interconnects, amp then speakers. Speakers would probably make the biggest difference in quality at low budget for driving from any reputable (even cheap) digital source. My opinion only. People have debated on whether to change the headunit or speakers first. I certainly changed the headunit within a few hours of picking up the car, and the speakers within two days thereafter. Changing the headunit made a small improvement, but then changing the speakers with the new headunit already in place made the biggest difference of all.

I have Infinity components on order - there is a tweeter, crossover box and woofer all to mount in the door. I would steer clear of the Subaru tweeters personally and I suspect most folk would head for better value/performing aftermarket items.
Front speakers have two measurements - cone which is usually 160-165mm on a chassis size of about 170mm diameter. Rears are acutally the same, but most folk fade them out and they are utter PIGGGGSS to install. Mounting depth of 60mm goes in easily (fronts) in my experience using factory spacer and no faffing around with MDF and jigsaws. Folk on here have mentioned 72mm mounting depths (Lee I think) but they take a lot of work.

I would definitely change the headunit AND front speakers as a minimum. Infinity components are about £88, a good CD head unit £150. The JVC combo may be perfectly serviceable (obviously more hassle to fit), but I would make sure if it is that cheap that it has pre-outs to enable expansion later if you get bitten by the bug. Headunit power is vastly overquoted, but if you are not going to aim for an amp then try and get 4x40,45 or even 50W claimed output (in actual fact it is prob about 4x12 for them all!) so that it is audible at high engine/road speeds.

I don't know if you would be installing it yourself, but there is so much help available on here and the net that even a first timer with just a few screwdrivers can do a brilliant job. Even routing a CD changer cable to the boot would not be that difficult (I would 1. remove back set base 2 nuts 2. push a guide wire through from boot 3. feed it under the carpet to the back of the centre console 4. by pulling off the "panel" at the back of same 5. then lift section near handbrake (only 2 screws I think) 6. again pull wire through 7. keep pushing until it appears near the right foot of the passenger 8. tape on CD changer cable to one end 9. pull through from boot to back of head unit 10. plug in to head unit). Much easier than it sounds.

If you just got a CD head unit you would find it easier to install.

I suppose overall, the JVC is merely an unknown to apparently anyone on here. I expect it would be very reasonable though. Head units without preouts are usually not much cheaper than those with (it is only the very bottom of most ranges that don't have preouts). You may not think you need them now... but I didn't think I needed components and now...

[pslewis]

Thanks John - brilliant help and explaination - I suppose when people say that the rear speakers are a pig I would assume they mean on the Saloon - as in the wagon they just appear to be similar to the fronts???

Regards

Pete

[ScoobyDoo555]

Hi Pete,
I've got an MY95 5dr. Piece of cake to install the rear speakers - took me about 5 mins each side. The only awkward bit was the moulded connector for the speakers - I hacked mine off and refitted new spades....

The main thing to be careful of is the height of your replacements - can't be too high otherwise the cover won't go back on!!

Regarding the head unit, I've got a Sony Minidisc head & 10 disc changer,which is really good, but the JVC, for the price, chew their arm off!!

Once you get into seperate amps, the internal JVC amp won't be used, so it will sound much better (not that it won't sound good anyway!!)

Hope this helps.

Dan

[mattski]

oops, never mind...miles away!

[This message has been edited by mattski (edited 29 November 2000).]