Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
If I may interject here...
This comes up fairly often. The original Craig and ASI will drive 4 speakers to the threshold of pain just fine, and sound great in the process. Having less power does mean the point of distortion is lower if you take overall amplitude into consideration, but for most owners (dare I say 90%?) we don't drive around even close to that volume most of the time.
I'm an audio engineer and producer by trade. I know what my ears can tell me. I don't care what the math says, I care about what I hear.
If you supplement a good, functional OEM deck with great speakers, a mono amp to drive an 8" sub, you're in audio flavour country. It's such a tiny space, more than 5 speakers is simply overkill. This of course is just my opinion. If anyone is ever in my next of the woods, they are more than welcome to sit in my car and have the factory ASI make their ears bleed while they marvel at how good it sounds.
In fact, perhaps I'll get my loudness meter out and get an SPL reading at and just before the point of distortion.
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Reedsburg, WI
Posts: 4,026
My VIN: 5180
Club(s): (DMWC) (DCUK)
DENNIS
VIN 5180, Frame 3652, STAGE II, DM-eng Solid State Solutions (RPM Rly, Dm.Lt.Mod., Fan Fail Mod. , FAN Rly, HS.Rly) , HID headlights, SPAX user since 2009, Eibach springs, M Adj. Rear LCA's, DPNW poly-sway bar kit, DMCEU LCA Stabilizer link kit, DMCMW Illuminated door sills, Aussie Illuminated SS Shifter plate, REAL MOMO EVO Steering wheel, DELOREANA Extended View Side Mirrors w/ Heaters, DELOREANA LED Door Lights.
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,582
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
For the most part I agree BUT. When you get the heavy bass hits you don't need a lot of volume to get distortion. Also, unless you replace the speakers it really doesn't matter what you do. The main reason IMHO to replace the ASI or Craig is to get some (or all) of the modern functionality. It also depends on just how much you are going to be driving the Delorean and what you want the infotainment to do, and of course, your budget.
David Teitelbaum
Posts: 16
This.
In my case, after having XM in my daily driver, I've come to despise regular radio and the endless talking/laughing at stupid jokes, etc that comes with it, not to mention the commercials. If I had a way to make cassettes, I'd probably just stick with the Craig. Bluetoothing my Ipod though is a very nice option to have.
Location: Cecilton (Eastern Shore), Maryland
Posts: 321
My VIN: 802
Club(s): (DMA)
I installed a Retrosound Model One radio in my DeLorean. I like the look of it - but very disappointed in the sound quality. Best I describe is that it sounds "flat". The speaker wiring was replaced and installed new Infinity Kappa speakers when I replaced the head unit. Now looking for other options for the head unit and really don't want to cut or replace the existing bracket. The radio in my base model work truck sounds a lot better!
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 3,385
My VIN: thirty two 'o five
Club(s): (PNDC)
Ran some (hardly scientific, but kinda scientific) tests this evening.
ASI with infinity kappas, pioneer mono amp and an infinity 8" sub. iPod hard wired into asi.
Approx 103 dB as a maximum volume without audible distortion. Beyond this point was purely distortion and no noticeable or measurable increase in amplitude.
That's loud. Consider that 115 dB is up close and personal at a live rock show. Hearing damage occurs at sustained levels between 85 and 90 dB. Granted it's a logarithmic scale, so the spl between two values on one end of the spectrum is vastly different than the other. Still, that's loud.
Last edited by sdg3205; 07-26-2015 at 12:12 AM.
Dave
Here, somewhere.
Location: Jarretsville, MD
Posts: 259
My VIN: 5786, 3196
Club(s): (DMA)
The KRC-3006 is the best dual shaft/knob head unit available. I have one in my 61 Vette, I had one in my 79 Vette (I decided I wanted Bluetooth since it's a daily driver), and installed one in a friend's DeLorean. The unit sounds fantastic. When using 150Hz bass blockers (which should be running on theist smaller speakers, especially if they're not in a sealed mount), it will drive 4 speakers as loud as you can handle without distortion. It also has RCA outputs for the rear speakers that can be used for a sub, etc.
A few things I'd like to clarify, though. The KRC-3006 can handle up to a 10 disc changer. The CD changer port can also be used as an aux adapter (for iPods, etc) using an adapter. The ability to have an aux input makes the unit very useful, and because the input is hard wired, it sounds perfect.
Custom Autosound bought the tooling and design of the 3006 and made an exact clone of it for a few years. So, those may pop up if you search for the Kenwood unit on eBay.
-Derrin
5786: DPI cams and cat-less exhaust, galvanized and powder coated manual frame for a proper 5-speed conversion
3196 - My wife's DeLorean: DMCH new build, DPI rebuilt engine with performance cams and exhaust
1956 Oldsmobile Super 88
1960 Chevrolet Impala
1961 Corvette
1972 Buick Skylark GS 455 Clone
1975 Corvette (to be sold once restored)
1976 Corvette (wife's car)
1979 Corvette Daily Driver
1987 Corvette (technically wife's car)