Has anybody actually successfully installed a jbl ms 8
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Has anybody actually successfully installed a jbl ms 8
Been searching and researching about audio upgrade for the 997 with bose. Has anybody actually installed and have gained positive results with a jbl ms8? Can they share their experience? Want to keep all visible items oem but with great sound and i dont want to mess with the cars wiring too much. Advise from the experts will be valuable. Of course, if things get too expensive, would just rather turn off the sound system and enjoy the car without audio.
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I ripped out the entire bose system and put in my own touch screen stereo, speakers, everything including the jbl ms8.
for me the processor is just amazing once I figured out how to use it correctly. From what I gather it does help oem systems sound better, but without adding amplification, your stock stereo if left alone is already preprocessed anyway.
I would ask for other opinions regarding keeping everything stock and just adding the processor. I'm sure there is a way but not really much of a purpose unless you change some other aspect of the system.
for me the processor is just amazing once I figured out how to use it correctly. From what I gather it does help oem systems sound better, but without adding amplification, your stock stereo if left alone is already preprocessed anyway.
I would ask for other opinions regarding keeping everything stock and just adding the processor. I'm sure there is a way but not really much of a purpose unless you change some other aspect of the system.
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Hey Rick my friend. The jbl ms8 gets you most of the way to a high end system. You'd need to couple it with a nice JL audio amp to get results. You "might" be able to do that with the stock PCM, but you get closer to just ripping out the head unit too. My next move on the budget install would be to add an amp with speaker level inputs. Many of these have nominal EQ controls that could help adjust the balance. BUT, then you are amplifying and processing after the Bose amp (which may or may not have any real processing in it). Sound riskier than my simple speaker install! In reality, it would not be that challenging as you simply slip the amp into the wires between the Bose and the speakers and see what happens. If it's horrible, take it out and reconnect the wires and sell the amp (or return it).
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ryem3,
I am not familiar with this unit, but is it not a sound processor AND an amp?
If so, can't he just connect it straight from the head unit? Obviously, it would require some custom wiring and bypass of the Bose amp. I apologize if I don't make sense.
btw, I really enjoyed your 'budget install thread.' I might go with your route, but I do have some Dynaudio speakers with the appropriate amp and I am planning on hacking the signal from the HU and before the Bose amp. If it does not work, I might just buy the Focals from Crutchfield and copy your setup.
I am not familiar with this unit, but is it not a sound processor AND an amp?
If so, can't he just connect it straight from the head unit? Obviously, it would require some custom wiring and bypass of the Bose amp. I apologize if I don't make sense.
btw, I really enjoyed your 'budget install thread.' I might go with your route, but I do have some Dynaudio speakers with the appropriate amp and I am planning on hacking the signal from the HU and before the Bose amp. If it does not work, I might just buy the Focals from Crutchfield and copy your setup.
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we are going to call it the rye hack!!! hail ryem3.... i will reserve the three cheers after i do the install. so far its all hearsay heheheh. wont stand up in court as they say...
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ryem3,
I am not familiar with this unit, but is it not a sound processor AND an amp?
If so, can't he just connect it straight from the head unit? Obviously, it would require some custom wiring and bypass of the Bose amp. I apologize if I don't make sense.
btw, I really enjoyed your 'budget install thread.' I might go with your route, but I do have some Dynaudio speakers with the appropriate amp and I am planning on hacking the signal from the HU and before the Bose amp. If it does not work, I might just buy the Focals from Crutchfield and copy your setup.
I am not familiar with this unit, but is it not a sound processor AND an amp?
If so, can't he just connect it straight from the head unit? Obviously, it would require some custom wiring and bypass of the Bose amp. I apologize if I don't make sense.
btw, I really enjoyed your 'budget install thread.' I might go with your route, but I do have some Dynaudio speakers with the appropriate amp and I am planning on hacking the signal from the HU and before the Bose amp. If it does not work, I might just buy the Focals from Crutchfield and copy your setup.
Oh, you can't just connect it before the amp because the Bose amp is fed from a fiber optic connection. If you want to connect an amp to the factory pcm you need a fiber optic connector, which will cost you a whopping $600. Insane in my view when there are plenty of amps that will accept speaker level input. Granted, that speaker level output from the Bose amp was supposedly "eqed", which could make using the output a mess. That said, I say supposedly, because when I swapped the speakers I didn't note any odd affects. It was like any other stock speaker swap.
Last edited by ryem3; Sep 20, 2013 at 06:33 AM.
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Sorry, it's just an eq. A very nice one. Glad you liked the thread. The unit is great as an eq I guess. When I was looking at amps, I wassurprised that many were already engineered as drop in replacements and had not only speaker input connections, but level adjustments for all the channels. The limitation is that you can't control the crossover levels.
Oh, you can't just connect it before the amp because the Bose amp is fed from a fiber optic connection. If you want to connect an amp to the factory pcm you need a fiber optic connector, which will cost you a whopping $600. Insane in my view when there are plenty of amps that will accept speaker level input. Granted, that speaker level output from the Bose amp was supposedly "eqed", which could make using the output a mess. That said, I say supposedly, because when I swapped the speakers I didn't note any odd affects. It was like any other stock speaker swap.
Oh, you can't just connect it before the amp because the Bose amp is fed from a fiber optic connection. If you want to connect an amp to the factory pcm you need a fiber optic connector, which will cost you a whopping $600. Insane in my view when there are plenty of amps that will accept speaker level input. Granted, that speaker level output from the Bose amp was supposedly "eqed", which could make using the output a mess. That said, I say supposedly, because when I swapped the speakers I didn't note any odd affects. It was like any other stock speaker swap.
Hmmmm? I guess I read the the wrong radio electronic schematics.
. I thought the schematics showed speaker level output. You're the expert so I'm going to trust you. Thx.
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Rye, you say supposedly on the bose output. Are you saying the head unit plus bose amp is already comparable to any pioneer/kenwood output without an external amp? Just getting more ideas please. In percentage terms since you have moved from stock, how many percent do you think the awful bose sound is due to speakers, how many percent due to head unit and amp combination?
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My humble apologies for thinking this unit was something else, it is a processor and an amp. Seems discontinued now though and it was $500. The amp is pretty low powered too. The eq sounds good, but some notes say that you need to know what you are doing to get the most out of it, it is NOT plug and play! It can also be used as an eq alone with line level outputs. I think most people are using the Audio Control units with amps I'd you go that route. Note that evhudons use it in his install. You might also note that he had quite a challenge to set it up right, although he had very good results after he did.
Last edited by ryem3; Sep 20, 2013 at 06:10 PM.
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Rye, you say supposedly on the bose output. Are you saying the head unit plus bose amp is already comparable to any pioneer/kenwood output without an external amp? Just getting more ideas please. In percentage terms since you have moved from stock, how many percent do you think the awful bose sound is due to speakers, how many percent due to head unit and amp combination?
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My mod is going to happen brother. With how you are describing your mod. The is200 is going in plus the polyglass 4 inchers. Your great man...but i hope you do not mind the rep points will come when evertyhing gets installed.
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I recently installed the JBL MS-8 in a 2008 997 C4S, replacing a non-Bose head unit as well. The speakers have been left untouched, so far.
I have to say that so far I am very disappointed in the sound. The MS-8 actually sounds worse than stock, and the "autotune" is defeated for some reason - it sounds worse than manual setup. I wonder is the problem with the speaker-level filters? Perhaps their existence is confounding the processing of the MS-8. I had it in my previous car (Alfa Romeo 159) and the sound was amazing.
I would be very grateful if anyone could share their experience of the MS-8, i.e. which crossover frequencies, filters, etc. worked well.
At this stage I am very tempted to change the speakers. I was thinking of the Focal 165 A3s.
I have to say that so far I am very disappointed in the sound. The MS-8 actually sounds worse than stock, and the "autotune" is defeated for some reason - it sounds worse than manual setup. I wonder is the problem with the speaker-level filters? Perhaps their existence is confounding the processing of the MS-8. I had it in my previous car (Alfa Romeo 159) and the sound was amazing.
I would be very grateful if anyone could share their experience of the MS-8, i.e. which crossover frequencies, filters, etc. worked well.
At this stage I am very tempted to change the speakers. I was thinking of the Focal 165 A3s.
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we recently replaced the receiver (oem bose premium sound/don't recall receiver mfgr) with an alpine receiver/nav/ipod/bt setup in an '08 C4. I didn't do it myself but as i recall the shop had hell getting it to work so nav unit only worked when the vehicle was stopped. (shop policy). Anyway, the alpine unit puts out much better sound to my ears. i can hear it when on chip-seal pavement but could not with OEM. I know nothing about radio installation but they had to have some part re-flashed to work in a porsche. The sound is crisper and louder than the OEM by far.
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Sorry, I can't provide any guidance on the eq.
