The Rockford Fosgate 'Sound'

Ask technical questions or post on problems/issues related to the Kizashi under this topic. Symptoms and pictures of your problem are a good idea.
NOTE: Any car related technical question can be posted here.
SamirD
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smsmart wrote:Alright, here's the pamphlet I was talking about:

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And here are the settings they list as being optimal for the Kenwood units. YMMV--don't expect a huge difference with these, but they might help. It may be a matter of psychoacoustic perception, but at least to me it sounds a bit better.

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Thank you so much! This did help a tremendous amount. There's still distortion because of the adapters, but it's much more even now. One setting I couldn't find was the 'wide'. Where is that?

Also, did you get the aux cable or the remote control that it mentions in the Kenwood manual?
SamirD
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KuroNekko wrote:The car comes with a 710 watt Rockford Fosgate sound system.
Do you really think this a real number or just a marketing number? Even the 425 that's supposed to be in the Kizashi seems like an awful lot.

Very interesting that the Outlander also uses the same transmission. I remember renting one back when it first came out. They had a 4g64 and awd--it had unique swap potential for a 4g63 turbo with awd.
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murcod wrote:Also note the specs- Kizashi is rated at 425 Watts RMS and the Outlander 710 Watts MAX.
I should have read the thread completely before posting. :oops:
murcod
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KuroNekko wrote:...
By the way, the Outlander Sport is a different car than the Outlander. The Outlander Sport is called the RVR and ASX in other markets. It's about 15 inches shorter than the Outlander SUV.
The subwoofer is located on the side of the open trunk as it's a small SUV. The subwoofer is considerably larger in diameter compared to the Kizashi's shelf-mounted sub.
Here's a photo:
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Why do car companies do that all the time! :? It's called the ASX here, like you said.

Here's the correct RF link http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products ... nder-sport.

It is a 10" vs 8", but the smaller enclosure would hamper it's performance.
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Woodie
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SamirD wrote:
KuroNekko wrote:The car comes with a 710 watt Rockford Fosgate sound system.
Do you really think this a real number or just a marketing number? Even the 425 that's supposed to be in the Kizashi seems like an awful lot.
Car stereo numbers are all pretty wild, the rules on how to rate them in advertising are a bit loosey goosey and the manufacturers run to the upper brink with their claims. That number is for all channels added together. If quoted according to home stereo rules, it would be something like 65 watts per channel.
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SamirD
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Woodie wrote:
SamirD wrote:
KuroNekko wrote:The car comes with a 710 watt Rockford Fosgate sound system.
Do you really think this a real number or just a marketing number? Even the 425 that's supposed to be in the Kizashi seems like an awful lot.
Car stereo numbers are all pretty wild, the rules on how to rate them in advertising are a bit loosey goosey and the manufacturers run to the upper brink with their claims. That number is for all channels added together. If quoted according to home stereo rules, it would be something like 65 watts per channel.
That sounds more like it. 8-)

Reminds me of the boom boxes by BPL in the retail stores in India: :lol: :lol:
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sx4rocious
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murcod wrote:The deeper bass will be from the Kizashi using the boot ("trunk" in USA speak) as the subwoofer enclosure. The Outlander doesn't have a boot so would be using something substantially smaller as an enclosure- which tends to affect bass response. The Kizashi's sub is also mounted to the body, I assume the Outlander's is probably is part of the rear boot area trim?

Here's some info on the two:
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products ... -outlander
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products ... 13-kizashi

Also note the specs- Kizashi is rated at 425 Watts RMS and the Outlander 710 Watts MAX. Basically there's a huge difference in the way those two ratings are measured - RMS is effectively the average power the system can produce, MAX is exactly that- what the system can produce for only a split second.... RMS is the true way of rating an amplifier. MAX (or peak) is used by companies to make their poor performing amps look better on paper. ;) The RMS rating of the Outlander system is quite likely substantially less than the Kizashi's

Gotta love marketing ploys to make products look more impressive. Shame on RF for stooping to those levels.
Exactly right on BOTH acounts my friend! I would go a bit further and say that both systems are, more than likely, exactly the same components. Most after-market manufacturers are esentually using the same components across a broad spectrum of clients. Bose, for instance, use the same system in dozens of different vehicles, but the auto manufacturer prices them differently. Most RF amplifiers are rated at MAX power. It's unfortunate and should be illegal as it is extremely missleading. RMS (or Root Means Squared) is actually what the amplifier is essentially designed to produce while keeping the total harmonic distortion under a designated level. (I believe it's >0.01%, but I could be wrong) An amplifier with a RMS rated 50 watts will often outproduce an amplifier with a peak rated 500 watts because the output will be cleaner and more useable. I once had an amplifier attached to two competition built 15 inche subs that was RMS rated to deliver 25 watts to 4OHMs. once bridged properly, the amp was tested and certified to produce close to 2,000 RMS watts PER SUB at 0.5 OHMs and produced 156.6 decibels at an IASCA sanctioned event in 1996.

The actual location of the sub definately makes a HUGE difference. The "free air" set up in the Kizashi (aperodic in technical terms) works on the notion that simply seperating the sound waves in front of the sub from the standing waves in the rear of the sub will supply sufficient air movement. It doesn't work well unless the sub has a good enough motor structure. Heavier cone material to resiste flexing and more power are also needed. This is why the stock, non-RF sub doesn't play as loud or deep, even though they are the same size. An enclosed sub with the enclosure built to proper spec for that sub will more than likely produce a harder initial "punch" from a bass drum, or a more accurate "musicality" to bass guitar, but the free air system will ALWAYS play deeper notes, although less acurate and punchy. My personal preference os the sealed bow (the enclosed) as I prefer musicality and acuracy more than communicating with whales. I am rather impressed with the RF system in my wife's Kizashi though. I never expected a free air sub to be that acurate in a factory system.
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Woodie
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sx4rocious wrote:I prefer musicality and acuracy more than communicating with whales.
I REALLY like that, think I'll steal it. 8-)
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SamirD
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Coming back to the original topic, I think I'm okay with the system after putting in the settings recommended in the Suzuki documentation. I've spent a few hours listening to it now (mainly waiting for my wife to get off work), and while the speaker level to line level adapters definitely introduce distortion and weird effects like a non-linear volume control, listening to songs like 'Hotel California' and others that I've heard a zillion times on various car stereos gives me a good reference point as to what the system is really like--and I like it. It's not a truly flat sound, but it doesn't sound like a 'regular' plain jane car stereo either. It definitely sounds like an upgraded system. Once we're out of the factory warranty, I'll have the unit wired correctly directly to the line outs and see if that cleans up the sound enough. I'm not worried about the fixed subwoofer setting as the distortion seems to the real problem at higher volumes.
sx4rocious
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Woodie wrote:
sx4rocious wrote:I prefer musicality and acuracy more than communicating with whales.
I REALLY like that, think I'll steal it. 8-)
haha feel free! I'm rather honored!! :mrgreen:
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