I am thinking about a mild upgrade to the stereo in my WRX.

The first thing I want to do is fit a MASK head unit (I have an existing Kenwood head unit and changer) because I don't want to be carrying the fascia around any more...
Has anyone fitted one and did you have any problems with it ?

My second query is whether bi-amping some components with the head unit amps and running an external amp to power two 8" subs in the rear shelf is practical and/or effective.

I am not into "boom" - rather an increase in quality. I have a comprehensive home set-up with multiple amps/processors and a REL sub.

My final question is regarding importing amps and speakers from the U.S. or Europe ?
Good idea / Anyone done it / Which supplier ?

Thanks

Gavin

Hi Gavin

Haven't fitted a MASK to a Scooby (as I don't have one) so cannot comment. However, I think it is generally recognised that any car stereo theif can spot a 'closed' MASK unit from a mile. Of course, up to you :-)

Running a pair of 8" subs from a shelf. Mmm, first thing to rememeber is to make sure you specify free-air (or infinite baffle) subs when ordering. Also, if you don't have anything else, it would be worth having something else in the back just for rear fill. Also, spend the money and get a custom acoustic shelf to mount them into. Well worth the money. Auto Acoustics do them.

I run a pair of components up front, with a pair of 6x9 and a 10 inch free-air sub in the rear shelf. The rear shelf is very heavy but still gives me some boot space, which is at a premium on my GT4 as the spare wheel takes most of the room.

I would recommend Kicker for the subs, as they are my prefered choice for freeair. There are better subs for boxed/ported/bandpass etc. but I think the Kicker are best of freeair. Of course, just my humble opinion

Cheers

Ian Watkins (GT4)

Mask units are obvious, but there again they're locked into the chassis when closed and the latest models need a mask key to make them do anything once power is removed. Given the amount of people who leave their faceplate in the glovebox, you're probably just as likely to get broken into with a face-off model...

On the sub subject, personally I wouldn't do anything that involved cutting/removing metal. Still, that's my paranoia!

The new year 2000 Kenwoods have a mask display that pauses half way and you can remove the face panel if you are concerned.

I have a MASK system installed, works perfectly, no problems whatsoever. Will be installing a amplifier and subwoofer in a week, so I'll let you know how they're working later.

A work colleague had his Kenwood mask headunit stolen from his MGF doing £1200 damage to the dash!

Dont want to talk about mask. Covered already.

But, do not put subs in the rear shelf it will sound terrible I promise. They need an enclosure plus you will struggle to make them fit without serious metal cutting. If you are after quality then eights are the way forward but free air will not do the system any justice.

By biamping I assume you mean using four channels of amps to actively run the front components. If this is the case I would advise against it. It will offer you more power than a standard passive crossover running off two channels but you will need to use alternative capacitors to create the necessary hi and low pass filters. Seems like a lot of effort for little gain. Better to buy a decent two channel and run them passively or even a four channel and run them actively with an electronic active crossover. Be warned, active front ends are much more difficult to get sounding right.

I personally have imported amps from the us. Uk importers will complain and tell you that when they go wrong they will not service them. Big deal, so you pay the ten pounds and ship it back to be repaired in the states. For this you pay about half price. I know what I'd rather do. Try ebay.com and search the make you want, you will be upset by the cheapness.

I would advise phoenix gold or soundstream. Orion are also fine sounding.

If you are going to do this, then try to spend as much as possible to make the effort worthwile. Also you will make a bigger saving on a more expensive product.

The other option is to buy second hand as second hand quality items will sound practically identical to new products.

I know a way of getting cheap american made amps in this country, if you are interested email me directly. http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif