upgrade time (again)

Greg Peters

I swapped out my sub amp a few weeks back- 2006 Alpine V12 for my 2004 Alpine V12. Completely different animals, and a mixed blessing at that. I wouldn't have thought they'd be so different from each other. While I can't say the new amp sounds bad, it does have less punch than I've become accustomed to (in spite of being 600 watts vs 400 in the old one).

It gave me an excuse to recycle some equipment though. I bought a Momo MM2124 DVC for a friend (powered by my old V12 monoblock) a few months back, to go with a new Alpine CDA 9855 I'd picked up in December. Everything went in today, and there will be a new 4 channel and replacements for the stock Monsoon component speakers in the future.

After installing everything, I finally got the chance to actually hear the Momo sub (because most dealers near me never seem to have a display model to demo). Even without a chance to break it in properly, I can say it sounds pretty damn good in a sealed box- better than I would have guessed, especially right out of the packaging. Very nice balance of sound quality and output. Sadly, the woofer will be a 17 hour drive away by the time it's properly broken in. I should have bought two . I used to prefer 8 and 10 inch subs over anything larger, but now I feel pretty confident that an SR 124 DVC will be in my future.

As for the Alpine 9855, it isn't as intuitive (to me, at least) to dial in as my older model HU, and the manual definitely doesn't seem to be as good. The crossover and EQ options seem to be better, and the sound quality is excellent. There is one new one left at a local retailer, priced for top dollar, so I'm tempted after playing with one most of today.

Greg Peters

Done deal- new h/u installed a couple of weeks ago. So far so good.

I wasn't expecting a big difference over my 9813 (other than maybe user interface), but really it's a big improvement. This makes the SQ I was used to with the 9813 sound ragged in comparison.

audiobliss

Very nice. What kind of sub are you running now? You SHOULD get you a MOMO sub!

Greg Peters

audiobliss wrote:

Very nice. What kind of sub are you running now? You SHOULD get you a MOMO sub!

But I thought the "jl word" was verboten in these here pages. I've been trying to convince Mrs. Peters that we need an SR124 DVC. So far, she's not convinced.

MacLeod

Dude, I absolutely LOVE my 9855. In fact Id sleep with it if I could!!

Ive become quite the expert on navigating thru and using its tuning features, so if you have any questions as to its operation, let me know.

exalted512

Very nice. Tell your wife its either the SR or a comparable sub from JL...let her see the price and shell beg you to get the polk:D
-Cody

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

Dude, I absolutely LOVE my 9855. In fact Id sleep with it if I could!!

Ive become quite the expert on navigating thru and using its tuning features, so if you have any questions as to its operation, let me know.

Thanks, Mac. It's kind of similar to the one I replaced. The P.EQ is similar too, but sounds way smoother even using the exact same settings. the differences lie mostly in the interface- menus and glide touch.

One thing I noticed about the 9855- with my previous h/u I could really tell that my mids/tweets were mounted farther from each other than optimum. They sounded like two distinct but seperate sound sources in each door. I was considering flipping polarity of the tweeters, but with the 9855 it's not necessary- they blend much better with no additional changes. Go figure.

I had to dial back my gains too, which is odd considering my 9813 was rated as 4V at the pre-outs as well.

MacLeod

Well there is a catch to that gain thing. Im willing to bet that although your volume goes up to 35, it stops getting any louder around 25 or so. I asked on a couple other forums and apparantly this is a common Alpine HU trait.

So even tho youve got your volume at 20/35, youve actually got it nearly maxed.

Greg Peters

exalted512 wrote:

Very nice. Tell your wife its either the SR or a comparable sub from JL...let her see the price and shell beg you to get the polk:D
-Cody

I don't think that'll fly...she doesn't like the price of either. It's hard to coax another $8 out of the budget for audio right now, after buying the SR comps. I've worked a crapload of O/T though, and if I can sneak it out of the account before she notices it's even gone in... .

I really want to hear the SR 104 dvc and the SR 124 dvc. I'd like to compare them against my 10W6v2. I had been looking at swapping out to a 12W6v2, but when the SR subs were announced I figured I'd wait and see if they're an improvement. The 12W6 goes for $379 at Woofersetc. vs the SR 124 @ $349, Sounddomain. If the SRs are even a little better, I'd be happy to save the $30.

Greg Peters

MacLeod wrote:

Well there is a catch to that gain thing. Im willing to bet that although your volume goes up to 35, it stops getting any louder around 25 or so. I asked on a couple other forums and apparantly this is a common Alpine HU trait.

So even tho youve got your volume at 20/35, youve actually got it nearly maxed.

When I swapped head units (plug and play), I noticed that the 9855 played louder at a lower setting on the dial compared to my 9813- all other things being equal, no other changes. On the 9813 I could crank it as far as 22-23, but after 23 it was too loud to listen to. I didn't dare go louder as I was already overpowering my db650s. On the 9855, 16 to 17 was plenty loud out of the gate. I've dialled back the gains so as to have more incrimental volume control.

I have two matching '05 V12 amps now, and even before the h/u swap I found it a little harder to level match the gains between them, compared to my '05 four channel running with my '04 monoblock. The trick was setting them so they both get equally load as the volume rises, keeping the tonal balance the same without the output of one dominating the other at different volume settings.

I think I've got it dialled in OK now- no distortion through anything regardless of volume level BUT...it does still get loud fairly early on the dial, 17-19. With the gains lowered even further it seems to sound muted, less detailed- even at 24-25 on the dial. To be honest, I couldn't hear any distortion with all gains maxed (for a brief trial).

I'll chock up the difference between the h/u's respective gain settings to pre-out voltage. Either the 9813 was overrated or the 9855 is underrated at 4V.

MacLeod

I had a 9807 before and I could crank it all the way to 35 before the volume would stop increasing. Not so with the 9855. You get no increase after 25.

I listen to a lot of older recordings that are recorded at low volume (i.e. Yes - 90125) and can easily crank it up pretty loud. Both the 9807 and the 9855 are rated at 4 volts.