Bought me a Crossfire

MacLeod

Well I finally saved up enough scratch to get the first piece in my "upgraded" system, and after months of researching and endless hours of reading reviews and websites I decided on a Crossfire VR404. Let me tell ya, this thing is a HOSS! Its rated at 50x4 but its twice as loud and powerful as my previous Alpine 40x4 (no big surprise as its twice the size)!

Im using it, bi-amped, to a set of Momo 6x9s and its making them pound. My door skins are buzzing and they never have before. Ive got a smidge of dampening on the skin itself, the panel is coated pretty good, so I guess Im gonna have to invest in some more Tsunami Silencer.

Ive only had the thing one day but so far it plays as clean as a whistle and, even at volume levels that have my eyes squinting there is not a hint of distortion. The snare drums and other percussion are much louder and on certain recordings the snare drum smack makes my eyes blink!

I went to adjust the gain, but even with it all the way down, I couldnt get passed 21 (out of 35) before it was way too loud and I was afraid of blowing my Momos thru the doors so I just turned the gain to about 30% and the tweeter gain to about 20% and Ill tweak it from there.

I got it from Radio Clinic here in Chatty for $250. The list on these is $380 and Acaraudio.com has them for $225 so I think I got a great deal!

The next piece is a Crossfire VR401, (400x1) also at $250, for my sub.

Bottom line: So far I love this thing. It plays as clean and powerful as I could ever want with plenty to spare. It looks pretty good too. As long as this thing doesnt start crapping out on me, Ill be sold on Crossfire for a long time to come.

exalted512

*sighs*
i want new car audio stuff:(
that and for my DVD burner to work...
sounds like you got a heck of a deal...glad to hear you like it:)
-Cody

MacLeod

Yeah, it good to have a "proper" amplifier again. Ive had these Alpines for a year or so now and while they are very sweet sounding amps that Id recommend to anyone, they are sorely lacking in power. More specifically in headroom. The Alpine put out 40 watts per channel but thats all! It hit 40 and stayed there it seemed. Percussion is the best test of headroom and with the Alpine, all percussion was at the same level as everything else in the song. It didnt sound worse, just not as "real".

The funny thing is that since Im now waiting to get the VR401, I just threw the Crossfire in where I had my Alpine. The catch is the wires were reversed so my purty new Crossfire is now...upside down! So I cant tell anyone about my new amp cause theyll want to see it and if I show it to them theyll think Im a ****!

Once I get the sub amp Ill mount them more professionally.

MacLeod

Still trying to tune the bugs out of this thing. Im more convinced now than ever that this thing is putting out around 80 watts per channel rather than the 50x4 its rated at. My Polk 6x9s are screaming (Ive got em bi-amped front channels to the tweets and rear to the mids)! Ive got the mid gain down to 25% and the tweeter gain down to 20% and its just now coming in to focus. Im definitely going to have to get some higher performing speakers in the near future.

This pretty much nixes me getting the MMC6500. It is my understanding that it is the same tweeter that is on my 6x9s and the 6.5 coax and frankly, its no match for this amp. Ill probably have to go with the MM6 which is a lot more heavy duty.

If I cant get this thing dialed in soon I may go to a 3 channel operation. So it would be arond 75x2 + 300x1. Of course that will smoke my MTX 8" so Ill probably break out my JL Audio Micro Sub which houses 2, 8-ohm 8W1's and will handle the 300 a lot easier. Itll eat up the back seat leg room and Ill have to put something over it so nobody "liberates" it for me but it may sound pretty good for now til I can get things squared away.

MacLeod

OK, I think I finally got it. Mid gains are set at 27% and the tweets are still at 20%. My treble is at +2 and centered on 17.5KHz. This setup has my official tuning CD, Liquid Tension Experiment 2, sounding pretty good. No longer bright but all the detail is still there.

Phew! I was worried there for a little while. At first everything sounded good but once I got on the road and played around with some CDs my setup sounded pretty raunchy and I was startign to think it was the Crossfire. I guess I was just overpowering the Momos and they were screaming their dissaproval in the shape of distortion. When I first installed it I put the gains where they were on my Alpine, 50% mids and 48% tweets and it about blew me out of the truck! They should put a warning label on these underrated amps. Crossfire or MTX are gonna kill somebody one of these days! LOL

Heavy metal is also not a very good selection to tune a system to because the guitars are full of distortion to begin with so amplifying that just makes MORE distortion. Duh!

This is also another great example of why bi-amping rules! Having the ability to fine tune the tweeters output to such a degree is hundreds of times better than having to rely on the ol' -3/-6db switch.

exalted512

sounds great!
im glad you like em...sounds like youve really found something you love
i need money...i have all these plans and no means to go about them...
lol
pics?
-Cody

MacLeod

Well it took me about 6 months to save up the 250 bones to get this thing. Now I still need the VR401 ($250) to take care of the sub (Kicker L7 $250) and then Ill need new components ($300-350). So as you can see, itll be a while before my system is complete!

No pics. Not for a while. Too embarassed!

Right now the Crossfire is mounted next to the tiny little Alpine 2 channel that is powering my sub...and since its on the board I had for my 2 Alpines, its upside down cause the wires didnt match...oh and its hanging over by about 6 inches cause its twice the size as the Alpine, even though its only supposed to be 10 more watts per channel! Oh yeah and thats not to mention my crappy looking box I built for my MTX 8 cause it was just supposed to be temporary.....about a year ago!

Bottom line is my install looks extremely "rookie-ish". Once I get matching amps Ill fashion an amp board and re-hide the wires and make it spiffy. Im not sure what Im gonna do about the sub. I can build square boxes all day but this one has all kinds of angles and stuff and is really over my head! LOL I dont want to have a shop do it cause I like the fact I do all my own work but I may have to break down and have them whip me up a 'glass enclosure. I just wish JL's Stealthbox wasnt 500 freaking dollars! That would be perfect!

exalted512

those pictures are the best!
its alway the 'in progress' pictures that look coolest
lol
i had a bunch...then i accidently deleted them off my camera...lot of good that did...lol
-Cody

MacLeod

Well, Im still having issues with my new amp. I just never could get a decent sound out of it so I decided to try it in 3 channel mode and its not any better. I was also expecting a lot more bass out of the rear channels bridged but aint getting it. Although Im only running that little 8" MTX.

My problem is the sound is thin sounding and almost tinny. Im not sure if its the amp or the speakers. I did notice a little tinniness and lack of depth when I had my Alpines so this leads me to believe that the much more powerful Crossfire is just bringing out the deficencies more. Ive always heard, and believe that, tonaly, all amps sound the same so I just dont believe its the amp that is sounding this way. Plus Crossfire is cleaning up in competitions all over the place so they cant be a **** amp...can they?

I called the shop where I got this thing and since its not defective they wont give a cash refund but I can swap it for a new one or another amp they carry. The only other amps they carry are RF and Orion. I cant afford an Orion and I really dont want a RF. So it looks like Im stuck with this Crossfire.

Aggh! I shouldve just stayed with my puny little 40x4 Alpine and been happy!

On a good note, running this thing in 3 channel config allows me to bypass getting a sub amp (for now) and I can go straight to buying new speakers which Ive been chomping at the bit to do anyway. And if my system still sounds thin and tinny then I guess Ill just reinstall my Alpines and throw this thing off into the nearest rock quarry. :mad:

exalted512

amps dont have much to do with SQ competitions
hell...SPEAKERS dont have that much to do in sq comps...
its all in the install...
what speakers are you powering with that amp?
could you move them around to see if you get better sound?
-Cody

MacLeod

Youre right that amps dont make the SQ competition but if Crossfire amps werent any good nobody would use them, kind of like how you dont see any Sony amps in comps do ya? Add to that, Ive seen CA&E and ME use Crossfire amps to test speakers with and they should know. As you can see, Im trying my best to convince myself I didnt buy a POS amp and that my speakers just arent up to snuff. LOL

Im still using the Momo 6x9s Ive had for a while. Theyre pretty much dedicated to my doors. Ive got my doors pretty heavily dampened with Tsunami Silencer but I dunno.

Like I said earlier, I do remember hearing a little thinness and sometimes some tinny sounding music with my Alpines but I just wrote it off as the Alpines not being powerful enough. Maybe the extra grunt from the Crossfire is amplifying the thinness. After all, these are just 6x9 coaxials and not components with a high end tweeter and x-over that are made for high power, so maybe Im expecting too much here.

Again, this is just a good excuse to go snag me a set of MB Quart of Focals and see how they sound!

exalted512

'this is just a good excuse to go snag me a set of MB Quart of Focals and see how they sound'
i have that attitude as well...
its bad...
REALLY bad
you should get away from it while you can...
-Cody

MacLeod

LOL! Well actually its in my genes.

Ive got about $400 to my name and it is everything I can do to keep from going down to the shop and buying my sub amp (VR302 300x1) for $200! Im trying to think of all the sensible reasons not to do it but its bugging the hell out of me not having a dedicated sub amp!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although this Crossfire, in 3 channel config, is twice as powerful as my Alpine amp (even without a bass boost!) I still cant stand not having a dedicated amp to round out my amp section. Then and only then can I go out and buy speakers!

exalted512

yea...but most of the time my excuses are extremely stupid
'my computer is slow...i need to get Dell's TOTL XPS computer and upgrade it so it wont be slow'
or my personal favorite when my bd1000 blew
"well...i had one amp and it didnt work out...so i should just go with 2 and double my chances of not blowing anything"

and im now replacing 3/4 of the speakers in my truck with new ones...lol
then next year im getting new comps again...and new amps
only thing thats staying is the headunit and the 4x6 eXcelons
-Cody

neomagus00

why bother with the eXcelons when you've got 3-way dynaudios?

exalted512

theyll be off most of the time aside when i have passengers....theyll just be running off the deck
and im 90% sure im going with DLS Iridiums
-Cody