# Modded MS8



## Matt R

This is Jason Winslow's JBL MS8. I did have schematics for this one so it was game on!!!! First for the obvious things to try and upgrade. The opamps were a bit challenging to find good replacements because they are quads, the selection is much less than duals. The input opamps were changed to some National Semiconductor 49740's. They are about 6X lower noise almost 2X faster and lower distortion. The output opamps are a smaller package (tssop)so even more challenging to find better replacements. Nat Semi had one in the same family, it's the 49743. Again it's better specs all the way around, faster, quieter and lower distortion. 

The coupling caps were all changed to Elna silmicII's and bypassed with Wima polypropelyne to improve the upper frequencies.

Most of the power supply regulation is handled by one chip. There is one discrete regulator that serves the analog input stage. It uses a zener diode for a voltage reference. I replaced it with a tl431 shunt type voltage ref which is way quieter. All of the PS decoupling was upgraded with low ESR caps and bypassed with poly film caps for lower hi freq. noise.

This is one of the few processors that uses an external oscillator instead of a crystal with an internal oscillator. Thats a good thing IMO. I like the Fox brand, they are one of the few companies that publish all the jitter specs of their products. I changed it out and added a poly film .01 decoupling cap to the oscillator.

Here are some stock pics

























here is the programable voltage ref.









Input coupling upgraded









Input opamp upgrade


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## Matt R

*Re: Moded MS8*

Here is the output stage

















Power supply filtering using multiple low esr caps 

















Heres the new FOX master clock









I had to remove the power lead from the fuse to fit the multiple PS filter caps and I replaced it with solid copper









Heres a typical cap with a .1uf film cap added to it.









Here is the finished output stage









More PS decoupling


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## Matt R

*Re: Moded MS8*


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## thehatedguy

*Re: Moded MS8*

Now we are cooking!


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## Salami

Holy ****!!! 

How much coin did mods on both these items cost? Must have been some big bank!

Winslow are you going to make the NC meet? I am even more excited to hear your car now.


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## Matt R

Gotta love the great arch heatsink!!!!


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## thehatedguy

Trying to make it. Having a couple set backs getting some parts in to make my new passives...and have to redo the center channel with the SDX7.

The MS8 was nice before, really was a nice processor. Matt tells me it is a whole new animal now...I haven't gotten it back from him yet since he has 2 more things to do for me and waiting on parts to finish them up. Hope to have it all back by the weekend and installed shortly afterwards.


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## BigRed

Nice


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## thehatedguy

Need to send yours to him Jim!


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## Brian_smith06

When I can afford to buy another nice deck/processor I'm def going to be sending it to matt. I already miss my w200 and h701 and I havent even shipped them to their new owner yet


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## thehatedguy

Matt makes good sounding stuff sound mo better.


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## Matt R

thehatedguy said:


> Need to send yours to him Jim!


I think he's all over the P99 thing now!!! I'd like to open one of those up!!


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## ErinH

Someone is crafty with a soldering gun, I see


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## NSTar

What is the cost and benefit? is it for the internal amp or just for cleaner processing? I've read the first post and it says something to the fact that it's "faster, better, more quiet"


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## thehatedguy

Well Matt didn't touch the internal 20 watt amps. It would have suited me fine to have pulled them out completely, but I think the display is somehow connected to them.

He did replace the operational or op amplifiers. These take a very low level signal and amplify them to a little larger signal...these are the amps you hear when you run low level out of the processor to your amplifiers (or to the inboard chip amps)...which greatly amplify the signal from them. So we are (well Matt did, not we, but Matt) making the signal the best it can be before it gets to the amps and you hear it.


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## mmiller

Nice job MR Roberts.... As per usual!


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## psycle_1

Matt R said:


> I think he's all over the P99 thing now!!! I'd like to open one of those up!!


Matt, I might have to take you up on that and let you get hold of mine... PM me and we'll discuss.


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## Matt R

mmiller said:


> Nice job MR Roberts.... As per usual!


Thanks man.


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## Brian_smith06

This really has me thinking on my next deck/processing. I'm very happy with my mods on my amps done by the other Matt and I def have my thinking cap on for upcoming install


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## Matt R

I have mods for just about all the processors out there and some really good HU's.


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## Brian_smith06

Well my next deck is either going to be a drz or p01/99. Leaning towards a p01 though for the sake of simplicity and saving some space in trunk


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## Bluenote

I really want to hear the before and after details on this MS-8!


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## dsurkis

Nice work! Any chance you measured the noise after the mods? The stock MS-8 noise floor is starting to bug me.


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## saMxp

Really hoping to hear this thing on the 30th! Love this type of DIY! Awesome stuff. There could be a dozen reasons JBL put the lower grade components in there. The most significant likely being cost but I've seen purchasing substitute out components the engineer spec'd simply because they didn't like the tone of voice the rep at the other supplier took with him. It's going to be cool to hear the MS8 be everything it can be.


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## thehatedguy

You and me both. I thought it was a good processor to begin with, pretty clean sounding to begin with. As far as 12 volt marketed processors, out of the box it does a great job of getting out of the way.

I haven't gotten the modded pieces back yet...probably this week or this coming weekend before I can meet up with Matt and get everything.

But in all fairness, there is a lot of stuff changing at one time- he modded the deck, the processor, and doing some light tweaks on a couple of my amps. I've changed tweeters and have made some mean new passive crossovers for the mids and tweeters. And I want to redo the center channel and put a SDX7 up there...I have the mid, just have to redo everything.



Bluenote said:


> I really want to hear the before and after details on this MS-8!


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## thehatedguy

I haven't noticed any noise floor issues with the stock MS-8...my speakers are pretty inefficient though. The replacement parts are much lower noise though, so it should drop the noise floor.



dsurkis said:


> Nice work! Any chance you measured the noise after the mods? The stock MS-8 noise floor is starting to bug me.


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## thehatedguy

What's going on the 30th? I dunno if I want people to hear it before all of the changes I want to do are made.

Now the parts used aren't bad parts. They are are good parts...just that we can change good to better. I'm sure the things chosen were chosen based on performance vs cost. You can get some good nickel ea opamps that spec pretty well. The ones Matt used are about $3.50 ea (I'm sure Harman would get them for a dollar each at volume pricing)...so by the time that makes it into production...the end price would go WAY up.


It's going to be all it can be giving some restraints...I'm sure Matt could come up with some badassed discrete opamps to replace the chips, but where would you put them? Even a step further (IMO) would be to use a tube input and output stage...or figure out how to go digital into the processor, go digital out of the Denon, digital into the processor, and then have a tube output stage. Now that would be the ultimate way to do things IMO. But then you wouldn't have much left from the stock piece.

Anyways, I'm pretty excited to get all of this done...and more excited to get it in the car ASAP.



saMxp said:


> Really hoping to hear this thing on the 30th! Love this type of DIY! Awesome stuff. There could be a dozen reasons JBL put the lower grade components in there. The most significant likely being cost but I've seen purchasing substitute out components the engineer spec'd simply because they didn't like the tone of voice the rep at the other supplier took with him. It's going to be cool to hear the MS8 be everything it can be.


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## rain27

Matt,

Is it possible to add digital inputs to any of these devices (head units, processors, etc.)?


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## thehatedguy

On decks, it is really easy to add digital outputs. Find the TLL signal going into the DAC, and build your circuit after you've taped on to that.

Processors...can be more difficult because you have to be able to do volume control after or at the DAC. It really depends on which processor you have as to how easy it would be able to do the volume control. Worse comes to worse, you could make a master volume control after the processor, but that could open a new can of worms.

And really, ADCs and DACs have gotten really really good. It would/could be a major undertaking for minimal results...and added headaches of doing volume control somewhere.


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## rain27

thehatedguy said:


> On decks, it is really easy to add digital outputs. Find the TLL signal going into the DAC, and build your circuit after you've taped on to that.
> 
> Processors...can be more difficult because you have to be able to do volume control after or at the DAC. It really depends on which processor you have as to how easy it would be able to do the volume control. Worse comes to worse, you could make a master volume control after the processor, but that could open a new can of worms.
> 
> And really, ADCs and DACs have gotten really really good. It would/could be a major undertaking for minimal results...and added headaches of doing volume control somewhere.


Have you ever heard of adding digital inputs, rather than outputs to head units?


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## thehatedguy

You could, provided you can configure a way to switch between them. 

If your deck has a changer input, it should have a digital input there...just hacking to make it work would be the issue.


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## t3sn4f2

I'm still interested in a digital input mod for the AUX in.


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## radarcontact

I'd love for you guys to listen to my system and tell me how horrible it sounds!! lol


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## Horsemanwill

Matt R said:


> I think he's all over the P99 thing now!!! I'd like to open one of those up!!


hmmm just wat would u do and how much would it cost for u to play with a P01 jap version of the p99rs


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## The Drake

thehatedguy said:


> What's going on the 30th?


I think he is referring to our NC meet, here is the link incase you havent checked it out yet.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...entral-nc-spring-meet-april-30th-may-1st.html

Regardless if all changes are made, we would love to have you come out again.


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## DAT

Jason , Lucky Guy.... let us know how it sounds.


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## thehatedguy

Planning on meeting up with Matt Friday afternoon. Hope to have it in the car Saturday or Sunday.


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## Matt R

thehatedguy said:


> Planning on meeting up with Matt Friday afternoon. Hope to have it in the car Saturday or Sunday.


WooHoo, get some music back in the car. Prolly been 5 or 6 weeks.


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## thehatedguy

After not having anything playing in the Accord for like 4 years, 6 weeks isn't that long of a time for me...lol. Now the wife is another story...


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## SouthSyde

any updates?


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## thehatedguy

Just got it all playing today.

It was nice to start with, but Matt took it up several notches. Instruments are in a more 3-D space, there is more meat to everything- like a drum stick hitting a rim, there is meat and weight to the stick. Applause in the audience has more snap and pop, like little firecrackers going off. I swear it sounds louder for some reason...maybe the drop in distortion is letting me turn it up a little more.

Matt did a wonderful job with the deck, processor, and amps.


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## mitchyz250f

Jason, is this with the MS-8 mods only or a combination of all the changes you had talked about earlier?


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## thehatedguy

Everything minus the redone center- the center still has the first midbass and crossovers. Next step is to redo the center with the new midbass and crossover...new crossover is much better than what is in there now, and the new midbass will be able to dig a bit deeper. I didn't have a way to do the upgrades one at a time.

Matt has really been great at doing the mods and making sure I was happy with everything. This being the first MS-8 that he has done, he was taking his time making sure there were no bugs to pop up while taking the sonics up a couple notches.


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## SouthSyde

thehatedguy said:


> Just got it all playing today.
> 
> It was nice to start with, but Matt took it up several notches. Instruments are in a more 3-D space, there is more meat to everything- like a drum stick hitting a rim, there is meat and weight to the stick. Applause in the audience has more snap and pop, like little firecrackers going off. I swear it sounds louder for some reason...maybe the drop in distortion is letting me turn it up a little more.
> 
> Matt did a wonderful job with the deck, processor, and amps.


that is awesome to hear, i had no doubt it would be great, but was wondering what part it helped precisely. one thing i did not like about my ms8 when i had was the lack of "attack" by the midbass, but since you said that it made the kick drum more noticeable, hmmmm  and everything has a more pizazzzz to them..

thank you for the quick review, great to hear!


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## thehatedguy

Yeah I only have spent about 20 minutes listening to the car...15 of that was driving to work. I am planning to take more time to do some listening soon and write a proper review. I need to get some screen shots from lspCAD and post up the new passives that I made as well...though I don't know how much you guys would dig seeing reverse nulls, phase angles, and filter transfer functions. But they did turn out to look really cool...just freaking LARGE (which I had room and wanted to make sure the coils had plenty of room between them...and I used a bunch of small caps rather than couple large ones- they were cheaper this way).


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## AccordUno

PICS or it never happened. :laugh::laugh:


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## envisionelec

Wow. I'm sure it's different now.


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## thehatedguy

Well have to postpone the review for a bit. Matt in his pursuit of excellence has found a couple (actually I think we found 5 more) of new opamps that he thinks will be better than what was in there already...so he asked if I minded giving them a go to see what/how they do. Much to my wife's chagrin I agreed to be the guinea pig for you guys. So Matt has the processor back and we are waiting for parts to arrive.

Props to Matt for continual product improvement...then again my wife doesn't understand, lol.


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## thehatedguy

I've got a fetish for snubberized hexfred diodes in power supplies...maybe I can twist his arm to put some in the MS-8 in place of the regular old diodes.


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## Matt R

thehatedguy said:


> Well have to postpone the review for a bit. Matt in his pursuit of excellence has found a couple (actually I think we found 5 more) of new opamps that he thinks will be better than what was in there already...so he asked if I minded giving them a go to see what/how they do. Much to my wife's chagrin I agreed to be the guinea pig for you guys. So Matt has the processor back and we are waiting for parts to arrive.
> 
> Props to Matt for continual product improvement...then again my wife doesn't understand, lol.


Your too nice!!!  You know the wives never understand, they just want music.

I dont know much about the diodes you mentioned. I just did some reading and it seems they are used to soften the effects of a standard diode in a bridge rectifier. If thats the case, there isnt any use for those in the ms8, it doesnt have a switching supply. It uses linear supplies that are below the raw car voltage.

I looked into snubbers too and it seems they are high frequency filters used in the same way, kind of a notch filter for the power supply. 

Is there any use for either of these in a DC linear supply? Anyone?


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## thehatedguy

You can put them anywhere regular diodes go as far as I know. They are faster, lower noise, and a lot softer recovery...which is probably the main benefit.

I may have some 4A around here somewhere.


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## quietfly

So i'm interested to here if you've gotten the ms-8 back again. i'm uber interested in the results!


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## NSTar

now it's getting interesting. I got a brand new ms8 sitting in the box..the firecracker doesn't really pop on my system, then again, maybe it's the recording. (one ms8 installed, one preserved)


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## envisionelec

thehatedguy said:


> You can put them anywhere regular diodes go as far as I know. They are faster, lower noise, and a lot softer recovery...which is probably the main benefit.
> 
> I may have some 4A around here somewhere.


Faster diodes produce more noise, all things even. Recovery has little to do with this.


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## thehatedguy

Well, I learned me something then. 

After 6 more opamp trials I think Matt finally decided on one. 7 pairs of opamps on the inputs were tried, tested, and listened to.

Hopefully will have it back by the weekend.


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## quietfly

thehatedguy said:


> Well, I learned me something then.
> 
> After 6 more opamp trials I think Matt finally decided on one. 7 pairs of opamps on the inputs were tried, tested, and listened to.


what were the criteria for keeping the final set. was there a noticeable coloration of the sound?


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## thehatedguy

That I couldn't tell you other than he liked them the best. Finding good single supply quads was a bit of a challenge.


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## SoundJunkie

After you finish my Bottlehead Matt my MS-8 is next!! 
Can't wait to hear your impression between the opamp differences Jason. 
Chad has been trying to get me to go with the DSP6 ala Matt. Then again he will hear my truck for the first time this weekend, albeit sans the Panny.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## thehatedguy

Well the DSP6 is good to start with and I've had a modded DSP6, and they are beasts. Matt makes something good into something really spectacular. 

I am curious as to what this incarnation will sound like myself. Matt is being a bit coy on telling me anything about the changes. I have a feeling that it will be better than the last knowing Matt.


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## mitchyz250f

Jason is it possible that you could do a direct comparison of a stock MS-8 and the modified version??? This would be for the good of the collective.


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## thehatedguy

Not unless someone would want to loan me a stock one.

What would be better would be to have the stock and modded one available and have someone(s) without a vested interest to do the comparison...without knowing which is which.


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## SoundJunkie

Aha, blind taste test....which one is caffenated! I like it but my ears are too far South. I plan on buying a second one to send to Matt to mod so I could do something similar for the Houston crowd in a few months.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Salami

thehatedguy said:


> Not unless someone would want to loan me a stock one.
> 
> What would be better would be to have the stock and modded one available and have someone(s) without a vested interest to do the comparison...without knowing which is which.



I have a pretty ****ty set of ears but you and I are pretty close, right? West of Charlotte?

I have a stock MS-8.


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## t3sn4f2

Winslow, I suggest adding some type of rigid component adhesive on top of anything that is large in comparison to the solder point (ie the caps). It would be something cheap and easy to do which could keep things from shorting out if an unforeseen failure were to occur. Ya know, a simple safety measure with much to gain since **** does happen.


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## thehatedguy

Yeah Matt has them glued to the board and everything covered with something. I always hot glue the crap out of components when I build stuff. I did find that Liquid Nails Household adhesive to be really nice for the passive crossovers I built.

Salami, yep in Kings Mountain right down I-85.


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## south east customz

So what's the base price for mods?


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## Salami

Well if you want to swap it back and forth let me know.


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## nar93da

south east customz said:


> So what's the base price for mods?


It's best to send Matt a PM discussing this. He will work within your budget though. 

thehatedguy - Your making me very jealous. If only one day I can get this mysterious wizard named Matt to work on something of mine!


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## thehatedguy

He can work on your stuff the day he gets it...put it in the mail tomorrow and he'll have it by Tuesday .

Matt can talk to you guys about the prices of the mods. He normally has a 3 stage/tiered pricing range (but can take thngs to a "dumb" level). As far as how far he can take things...that depends on how deep your pockets are, say you wanted tube outputs on something. Can it be done? Sure, for a price.


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## quietfly

Can we have a ball park range of the tiering

Sent from my rooted EVO using Tapatalk


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## Matt R

One of my all time favorite opamps wasn't in stock from my normal suppliers so Jason contacted the manufacturer and had them ship some direct. It was a no brainer when I got those. I did have a new breed of Texas Instruments (BB) opamps that sounded real good but it was a serious power hog and the power supply couldnt handle the extra current draw. Linear Technologies once again kicked some ass!


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## SoundJunkie

Matt R said:


> One of my all time favorite opamps wasn't in stock from my normal suppliers so Jason contacted the manufacturer and had them ship some direct. It was a no brainer when I got those. I did have a new breed of Texas Instruments (BB) opamps that sounded real good but it was a serious power hog and the power supply couldnt handle the extra current draw. Linear Technologies once again kicked some ass!


So Matt, listening impressions on stock vs. modded MS-8? Did you have a chance to do any A/B comparisons ? Care to share your thoughts with us? I really want to take the veil off my speakers with the MS8 without changing processors and I am wondering if it did the trick. Thanks!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Matt R

You know, I've had a bit of a hard time with the listening tests with the ms8. I'm very comfortable with my test bench set up, I know exactly what it does and should or can sound like. The problem i've had is the ms8 does processing based on a driver seat listening position. It doesn't seem to have a complete pass through feature. That makes it totally different than any other component i've tested on my bench. Thats made it really hard for me to compare it to what i'm used to with this system. 

That being said, once I moved my chair over to adjust my listening position, it sounded really good. If lifting the vail is what your looking for, this is definately doing the job.

Jason should have some impressions in the next week or so as long as everything goes well.

Matt


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## t3sn4f2

Matt R said:


> You know, I've had a bit of a hard time with the listening tests with the ms8. I'm very comfortable with my test bench set up, I know exactly what it does and should or can sound like. The problem i've had is the ms8 does processing based on a driver seat listening position. It doesn't seem to have a complete pass through feature. That makes it totally different than any other component i've tested on my bench. Thats made it really hard for me to compare it to what i'm used to with this system.
> 
> That being said, once I moved my chair over to adjust my listening position, it sounded really good. If lifting the vail is what your looking for, this is definately doing the job.
> 
> Jason should have some impressions in the next week or so as long as everything goes well.
> 
> Matt





AdamS said:


> Debug Tip of the Day:
> 
> Using the Test Menu. I thought I would just publicize it since I have had to give it out to a few of you anyways. We never intended to make this accessible to end users, and you won't find it in the manual. So please only use it if you really need to, and be careful, as there are no crossovers protection your speakers and the volume is not controllable by master volume.
> 
> 1. Go to the main menu
> 2. Hold down the left arrow for 2 seconds
> 3. Hold down the right arrow for 2 seconds
> 4. Repeat 2 and 3 several times if this doesn't work. It's intentionally a bit difficult to use.
> 5. Now you have access to a Display Test (for pixels), a pass-thru test (useful for debugging), and Aux test, and a pink noise per channel test called 'Output Diagnostics'
> 
> Display Test: just flashes pixels on and off, not really relevant
> Pass-thru: Inputs 1-8 go to outputs 1-8. Make sure your source volume level is way down. The DSP runs at 0 dB during this test and volume control doesn't work here. Don't use this test with a tweeter, as crossovers are also not used here. It's literally pass-thru.
> Aux: Aux Input goes to Output 4/8. The other channels are pass-thru. Same precautions apply.
> Channel Diagnostics: Pink noise for any channel. Again, no crossovers, no volume control, so turn your amps way down if you plan on using this. You might be able to use this to compare levels if you have some built in crossovers in your amp.
> 
> After using this Test Menu, *Do Not* hit back and then Calibration. You need to turn off Remote In and the turn Remote In back on before doing a proper calibration.
> 
> Please PM me if you have any questions, but remember, 0 dB all tests and no crossovers.


""""


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## CraigE

I've recently read comments regarding the MS-8 sound as "veiled, thin, over- processed, lifeless." 
Also SSSnake commented that the MS-8 is doing things I don't think most people would have seen.

Matt (or anyone else) care to discuss what may cause this? Is this something in the electronics, just the nature of DSP, or is it more of a frequency response issue?

Jason, a lot of of us are looking forward to your comments.


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## Bluenote

thehatedguy said:


> Just got it all playing today.
> 
> It was nice to start with, but Matt took it up several notches. Instruments are in a more 3-D space, there is more meat to everything- like a drum stick hitting a rim, there is meat and weight to the stick. Applause in the audience has more snap and pop, like little firecrackers going off. I swear it sounds louder for some reason...maybe the drop in distortion is letting me turn it up a little more.
> 
> Matt did a wonderful job with the deck, processor, and amps.


Just checking in for updates on the MS-8 Mod. Really interested to hear your comments!


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## Matt R

Jason got pnumonia and has beeen trying to fight it off for a while now. Not sure he's had much time for the audio thing lately.


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## SoundJunkie

Matt R said:


> Jason got pnumonia and has beeen trying to fight it off for a while now. Not sure he's had much time for the audio thing lately.


Sorry to hear this, I hope he gets well soon! Health and family first!!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Bluenote

Matt R said:


> Jason got pnumonia and has beeen trying to fight it off for a while now. Not sure he's had much time for the audio thing lately.


Matt thanks for the notice...Health definitely comes first! Wishing the best for Jason's recovery.

Bluenote


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## quietfly

That sucks! I hope he recovers soon...

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## Bluenote

Matt R said:


> Jason got pnumonia and has beeen trying to fight it off for a while now. Not sure he's had much time for the audio thing lately.


Hey Matt,

Jason (thehatedguy) came to mind a minute ago, is he still battling it out? Is he alright? Just checking...


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## Bluenote

Matt R said:


> Jason got pnumonia and has beeen trying to fight it off for a while now. Not sure he's had much time for the audio thing lately.


Hey Matt,

Jason (thehatedguy) came to mind a minute ago, is he still battling it out with pneumonia? It's been a while now...Hope he's making progress! 

Take care,

Bluenote


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## SSSnake

> Also SSSnake commented that the MS-8 is doing things I don't think most people would have seen.


I have had some trials with the MS-8 but there were three things that contributed: 1.) the factory HU was causing LOTs of noise issues and had some interesting processing going on (these noise issues were present with a JL Audio Cleansweep and a Behringer DCX 2496 as well) 2.)Kick panel mounting locations were/are causing LARGE ripples in the FR (too large for the MS-8 to address) and 3.) the MS-8 had to be returned for repair/replacement.

I now have a new MS-8 in my system (plus two Behringer DX 2496s), I have replaced the OE HU with an Alpine HU, and I am trying to address the kickpanel mid issues. Once I get the kicks redone I can report back. 

One interesting note is that with kickpanel locations for my mids I am seeing +30db at 160hz (with nulls and peaks at the harmonics). This gave the MS-8 lots of problems (as it would most processors). I am trying to determine if this is due to enclosure issues (vented into the a pillar) or room interaction (I have a LARGE center console). I didn't see this early on because the stock HU already had extensive cuts in this area (which points me toward room interaction). Anyway long story short is I don't think my difficulties with the MS-8 are typical. Once I get things properly sorted I can update a few threads


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## Bluenote

^^^
Apologize for the for the DBL post! Dont know how that happened!


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## gus1111

Any news yet?
Waiting for impressions...


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## thehatedguy

I like it. It won't be coming out of my car anytime soon.

Lot more drive to the music. It seems a few dB louder and more dynamic.

I haven't really had much time to mess around with the setup much, it took a while to track down some prior install gremlins that was causing ground loops.


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## Bluenote

thehatedguy said:


> I like it. It won't be coming out of my car anytime soon.
> 
> Lot more drive to the music. It seems a few dB louder and more dynamic.
> 
> I haven't really had much time to mess around with the setup much, it took a while to track down some prior install gremlins that was causing ground loops.


Hatedguy, it's good to see you back on your feet! and thanks for the comments! 

Regards,

Bluenote


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## nfrazier

That's what I'm talking about, BOO YA. Love the new heatsink


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## thehatedguy

That heatsink was just for use on the bench.


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## ganesht

thehatedguy said:


> That heatsink was just for use on the bench.


When i saw that i started worrying about airflow to the ms8 in my upcoming installation.. if you aren't using the onboard amps how hot does this sucker get?


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## Matt R

It still warms up but not too bad. It uses the outer case as part of the heatsink. When I had it apart the small heatsink inside got pretty hot so I put that big piece of copper on it to help cool it while I had it apart.


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## zoomer

Matt R! Would love to get my hands on the schematics! if you have them pdf! Send me a PM if you do and I will sent my email address.. thanks


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## mmiller

Jason, 

do you have a center channel in you're system??


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## pionkej

mmiller said:


> Jason,
> 
> do you have a center channel in you're system??


Yes. The last time I saw him post about it, it was a CSS SDX7. He had an ID 5x7 (I believe) in there before that.


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## thehatedguy

SDX-7, B&G Neo-8S planar, and Airborne RT20021, same as the fronts.


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## avimsg

Hi Matt, sending you a PM.


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## DynaudioNut

I'd love to hear how this sound and how much?


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## DynaudioNut

I'd love to get some mod's done on my DRZ as well as the MS8 can anyone direct me to who would perform mod's on these units?


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## mr.nice

wowww nice job Mr.Matt ...i really hate to see the SMD component inside MS8 ahahahahahaha....
-just curious..did u ever use Nichicon ES bipolar caps for output stage? that caps sound vintage in my pxah701


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## dfarr67

Hey- I know, dredging up an ancient thread.....but for my needs this still a choice for me. With all the failures I've read about is it a common component or all aver the map? Mat still doing this work?


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## cajunner

failures in the MS-8?


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## dfarr67

#12, and what I have researched myself.

Advice on MS-8 upgrade for 2011 e90 HiFi/10 speaker setup


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## t3sn4f2

dfarr67 said:


> #12, and what I have researched myself.
> 
> Advice on MS-8 upgrade for 2011 e90 HiFi/10 speaker setup


Thats more of an isolated problem than a majority one. I wouldn't be and it doesn't seem like anyone else is concerned with it. IOW its not something that comes up. 

Jet engine noise that kills speakers possibly from leaving the mic plugged in after calibrations or from not resetting to factory default after toooo many consecutive calibrations is another story. None of which would deter me from getting an ms-8. Just something you deal with in the car audio world. Not the first frightening thing in products out there really.


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## dfarr67

I think the ms-8 will drive the 4x 6.5's fine as is for what I want, what is recommended to drive 1x gto804 8in sub- will it do it or a mono amp? Not interested in pounding or booming just good sq fill.


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## SQLnovice

Glad this thread came back alive. First time seeing it.


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## dfarr67

Yes- tough to find good user info on this item- as in everything, when I see refurb's being sold it says to me there might be something fishy about the unit and JBL hasn't a replacement after the ms-8 discontinuation. But so far I'm starting to think there isn't really anything out there that fits the bill for a guy like me that is fire and forget to a point- as the tuning part is of very little interest to me- but the newer Honda stereo's are absolute garbage but too system integrated to ditch.


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## baruch1

Anyone has the schematic for this? and list of mods done. I'd like to tackle this


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## dfarr67

I've tried to contact a few people- this mod seems to be dead. Too bad.


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