Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

Renovatio P-1 dual mono linestage

Friday, October 28th, 2011

- hi-fidelity preamp for the most demanding critical music listener
- replaces your mcIntosh MX4000 and MX5000 preamp stage source unit

The Renovatio P-1  was designed to bring music lovers years of trouble free musical enjoyment at a real world price point. The  Renovatio P-1 is handbuilt by Audio Creations and provides high bandwidth, low distortion and musicality.

Here are some of the highlights that our P-1 dual mono linestage offers:
1. our power supply is a dual mono using premium Elna Capacitors with audiophile grade Blackgates NX-HiQ as decoupling caps
2. the analog board is a dual mono linestage with very low natural distortion
3. Vcap TFTF Tin Foil, Teflon Film Audio  capacitors 600V DC are used as high end powersupply rail decoupling.
3. fully discrete linestage for natural sounding character
4. DACT volume attenuator. The series resistor networks consist of 23 non-inductive, low noise, SMD metal film resistors. The layout of the PC board and the choice of SMD resistors have reduced the signal path to a minimum length. conventional attenuators using carbon pots have no match with this. The PCB design combined with the special resistors also account for the very low series inductance and the very low stray capacitance. The result is a bandwidth beyond even the most demanding audiophiles requirements. this is the ultimate solution…
6. comes with DACT stainless knob for volume control. these knob is made of “Audio Grade” materials. In terms of components that are not used directly in the signal path, but relatively close to the audio signals, Audio Grade materials mean:

* Non-magnetic.
* No non-linear dielectric loss (like for instance that of certain plastics).

The DACT CT knobs were designed with the right “feel” . as good as any home hifi preamp knobs feel. never before in car audio industry uses knob like this!!.. Therefore, of course, low cost plastic knobs were out of the question from the beginning. There is no way that a lightweight plastic knob can match the delicate mechanism of our switches.
5. JFET low distortion transistor is used throughout the analog stage
6. Signal path is connected via Mundorf Silver Gold 14awg wire and has been kept to a minimun length for low signal loss.
7. all premium caps using Vcap, Blackgates
8. High quality, very close tolerance precision 1% non-magnetic resistors and audiophile grade carbon resistors are used throughout the analog circuitry for an articulate presentation with unsurpassed extension, air and detail at the frequency extremes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: ,
Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Interconnect & speaker cables

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Our bestseller cables!!..

Why van den hul?

Go Dutch! Okay, nothing of that sort. Van den Hul (VDH) is a dutch company that has been around for over 20years. The company began operations with a main objective, which still stands today to improve the quality of both phono-transfer and the quality of signal transmission in a broad sense.

Over the years, the company continues to apply new unique techniques, solutions and state-of-the-art technology based on their inventions, findings and listening experiences.  This experience is gained taking into account the consumers expectations, which include audio industry and professionals in the recording industry.

Selecting cables may seem like a basic task, but it is by no means simple. Cable companies are widespread and plenty. Many having to prove themselves as not being labelled ”snake-oil”. Snake oil meaning worthless (just like various liquid that are sold as medicine but medically worthless).

Cables themselves look like snakes and some makers make it so enticing by sleeving them into plastic snake skin jackets and thick rubber hoses. Therefore, when selecting cables it is best to focus on performance gains, towards a specific goal and take the looks with a pinch of salt.

Fortunately, VDH cables choose not to do dress up marketing. As important as marketing is to any company, VDH sticks to simple packaging, professional and non fancy approach. They focus on making the cable longstandingly durable,  clean/green from environmental influences and best of all, damn good sounding.

So, why does Audio Creations use van den hul for car audio? Car audio suffers the same fate as home audio and audio/video, but (even more) to a  harsher degree (because of reflecting surfaces in the car) in it’s battle against digital sources, digital reproductions and boringly clean and lifeless music. We find that VDH cables allows us to combat digital boringness more effectively by injecting more analogness in the music.

History of VDH itself proves that the company spends its time and resources making high-end cartridges, and you can’t expect any more analog than that. Analogness preserves musical quality and VDH does just that in a more outstanding manner. Outstanding in the sense that it balances out the need for lowest distortion possible, best detail and resolution possible, realistically solid imaging and control while preserving the realism and essence of physical fullness in the music. 

Make way for van den hul cables in your audio system, and discover how tuning can be less painful and snergy between your high quality or high-end equipment start to take form and perform optimally. You owe it to your equipment to try it out…

Interconnect/ RCA:
Van den Hul BayC5 Hybrid Interconnect
Large Crystal OFC with a dense Silver coating + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul D300MKIII Hybrid Interconnect
High purity dense Silver coated high purity OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul D102MKIII Hybrid Interconnect
High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul Thunderline Hybrid (our favourite cable)
High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul The Second (our favourite cable)
Full Linear Structured Carbon ®
* this cable will never age

Van den Hul MC Silver 65G (our favourite cable)
Strands with a thin high purity Matched Crystal OFC core and a thick High purity dense Matched Crystal Silver layer; Screen includes a high purity Matched Crystal Silver ribbon

Van den Hul Sub Hybrid
High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + FUSION TECHNOLOGY: amorphous Cu/Zn/Ag alloy + HYBRID: Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

——————————————————————————————————————————————-

Speaker cables:

Van den Hul Skyline Hybrid @ 14awg
High purity OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul CS122 Hybrid @ 12awg
High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)

Van den Hul Goldwater @ 14awg
High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC

Van den Hul Revolution Hybrid @ 8awg
Both centre conductor and outer groups: High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)


Van den Hul Revelation Hybrid @ 5awg (our best speaker conductor)
Both centre conductor and outer groups: High purity dense Silver coated high purity Matched Crystal OFC + Linear Structured Carbon ® saturated layer(s)


Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Car Audio Speakers

Monday, October 24th, 2011

Our bestseller range

Vifa Cardio 6.5″ component speakers
Price: RM800.00
for more info,

http://www.vifa-audio.com/news-activities.php

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainbow SLX265 6.5″component speakers
Price: RM800.00
for more info,

http://www.rainbowcaraudio.com/slx265.html


Rainbow CSX255 6.5″ component speakers
Price: RM1,100.00
for more info,

http://www.rainbowcaraudio.com/csx265.html

DLS Performance B 6.5″ component speakers
Price: RM580.00
for more info,

http://dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_50

DLS Reference R6A component speakers
Price: RM1000.00
for more info,

http://dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_60

Premium Car audio speakers :

Scanspeak 2-way (made in denmark)
Price: RM1800.00

optional upgrade to Scanspeak 3-way
4″ midrange , shallow depth
* can install at the A-pillar, kick panel and door panel
Price: RM1000.00

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Why mod (modify) your McIntosh gears?

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Modification as a means of upgrade may not be a norm for everyone. Most people are used to replace their gears as a next path of upgrade.

More commonly seen in home audio, high-end modifications as a means of upgrade have widely been accepted over the years. This upgrade path is highly viable, more cost-effective in the long run and promises better performance gain compared to buying new and more expensive gears. Whenever, we sell or trade in our used gears, we lose a lot, which if you add up over the years is plenty of money thrown away.

When we explore mods, we are not referring to cheap DIY upgrades that people do to their equipment. It is not something to can pull out from websites or blogs depicting people’s experimentations with tweaks on their equipment.

Think about it… There is little point changing something you already like to something which may be better in certain aspect of reproduction, but takes away the essence or original quality that made you fall-in-love with the sound in the first place. The idea here is to use it and make it many times better, since it is already a superb platform to begin with.

In car audio electronics, modifications are even rarer in the consumer market. However, in very niche applications and often seen overseas in high-end car audio shows and competitions, more and more people are going to upgrades by means of mods to bring their audio system to a few levels above everyone else. 

The truth is however, many a times we do not see people openly promoting it, as it is hidden or kept a secret so that one will not lose their edge over competitors. If you have an edge over your opponents or perform a milestones ahead of your groupies with the same level of equipment, you might also do the same. 

After years of experience in mods and extensive R&D  of high-end options, we at Audio Creations knows what is best to elevate your McIntosh gears to ultra-high-end status. This mods will transform your premium gears to out of the world sounding, putting you on the pedestal above others. Alright, forget the pedestal, you’ll be at the highest point of the hill. The transformation is very prominent and worth every penny.

mcIntosh MX406/M4000/MX5000 Head Unit

Low Jitter Correction Clock Upgrade
We add a reference quality jitter reduction circuit, this a major improvement in overall sound! This replaces the master clock and offers much lower jitter rate than the stock cmos type oscillator.
Lowering jitter simply results in more lifelike sound. Increased musicality, resolution, dynamics, soundstage,…you name it…everything improves.
More focus and detail into the presentation, Wider/Deeper/Taller Soundstaging, Better inner resolution of instruments and guitar plucks (for example) have the texture and liveliness and presence. Overall resolution increases and Bass/Dynamics are tighter, deeper and more refined and controlled. now low level information can be heard!
Price:
Level 1 upgrade
Level 2 upgrade
Level 3 upgrade

Burn-in time: 50hours

Dedicated Digital Power Supply Upgrade
We add a discrete ultra low noise wide bandwidth power supply that adds another level Of performance to the clock  by removing any reflections from the clock power supply to the digital SMPS power supply. When clean power is supplied to the rest of the circuit, your equipment will perform to their full potential. You will have overall improvement that is not limited to any particular section of the sound spectrum. Increased dynamics and resolution is what is to be expected. The clock power supply is needed to truly have a matched package.

mcIntosh MDA4000/MDA5000 external DAC
Power supply upgrade
replace the stock smoothing caps with ‘audiophile grade’ low ESR capacitors
replace power reservoir with ‘audiophile grade’ low ESR capacitors
replace power decoupling caps with ‘audiophile grade’

Analog Output Stage
Upgrade to fully discrete high resolution analog output stage opamp

Listening Impression:
a very listenable and engaging performer. It will bring pure music to your soul, without listening fatigue to your ears. provides a fuller texture with morerefined detail. At the same time the bass is well controlled and very punchy.

Burn-in time: 100hours
DC-DC Converter
Upgrade smoothing stage, power reservoir, power decoupling caps to ‘audiophile grade’ low ESR capacitors
Level 1 with Mundorf Supreme decoupling
Level 2 with Vcap TFTF Teflon Film decoupling

Listening impression: xxxxxx…plug and play..simply cant lie!!
Burn-in time: 100hours +

DC-DC Harness
Level 1: Custom made van den hul high purity dense Silver coated high purity OFC using mundorf silver gold solder
Level 2: Custom made van den hul high purity dense Silver coated high purity OFC using mundorf silver gold solder + 6N OHNO pure copper in teflon jacket

Listening impression: xxxxx…plug and play..simply cant lie!!
Burn-in time: 40hours
Digital coaxial output on mcIntosh MX4000/MX5000
custom modded to replace stock digital coaxial with 75ohm SPDIF format. The inner conductor is made with pure silver, while the dieslectrics are foamed Polyethylene and microporous PTFE Teflon. This cable is triple shielded and uses copper/mylar foil.
This is the ultimate upgrade for any digital coaxial 75ohm cable!!

Burn-in time: 100hours

 

 


Tags:
Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Year-End Special Pricing

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Year-End Special Pricing

audio creations is always dedicated to bring you premium brands at affordable price. now everybody can own premium car audio gears and enjoy hi-fidelity music reproduction of car audio….

Package
*comes with 4 channel amplifier, subwoofer, front components (complete setup)

1. Hertz HE4 power amplifier, 100% original brand new in box

Class AB 4ch power amplifier
70W RMS X 4@ 4ohm
70W RMS X 2@4ohm + 200W RMS X 1@4ohm(bridged)

highlights of the amp
* DIE-CAST HEATSINKS, robust built hence thermally optimized.
* based on a robust power supply stage and a powerful output stage. Multiple winding transformers and high current 105°C Electrolytic capacitors are employed, along with low RDS Mosfets, selected to ensure high efficiency and current capability.
* equipped with SANKEN TO3P output transistors resulting in a Signal/Noise ratio of up to 100dBA.

2.Morel Tempo 6″ front speakers, brand new
* excellent midrange front components.
* morel is widely known for producing the finest in home hifi speakers

3. JL Audio WX 12″ subwoofer, brand new
* needs no introduction, as JL Audio has been known to produce best car audio subwoofers… period!!
Package price: RM2400.00 (hardware only)

note:
* limited sets only

installation:
* we provide full installation with a minimum charge

 

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

The good and the bad about car audio equalizers

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Equalizers (EQ) are great tools for fine tuning those little frequencies that is missing in your system.

EQs cannot be applied to solve foundation problems. In fact the more EQ is being used the worst off the system can be tonally.

Our goal is to naturally EQ the system using as much as possible, cable, power management and associated equipment etc., while maintaining an external EQ to fill in the minor missing gaps.

EQs must be flexible, less digital inclined and should not alter the tonal palette drastically.

It should be analog sounding where possible and have a good solid power supply section. EQs can help restore some voltage drop by enhancing back the signal before it is fed to the amplifiers or next chain of equipment.

That is all EQs should do. It is not a magical wand to cure system problem. It is an aid and not a cure.

Without EQs, a system can sound lonely, a tad dry and subdued (depending on systems). EQs enhances the presence, brings back hat little that is missing without overdose.

At Audio Creations (AC), we use Audio Control (AC) not because it is synonymous with AC but due to it’s long standing solidity and quality. We are experts with AC units and we know how to identify which units are better than others and what joys it can bring you, and what it cannot do.

We highly recommend modifications for EQs and crossovers (primarily AC units) by means capacitor upgrades and high-end modules. They make significant tonal benefits and improve the grip and control in the music material. We offer these mods, for both new and used alike.

Know the boundaries of what an EQ can do, and it can be a useful tool to bring you a step up in your car audio system.

Enjoy tuning….

Tags: ,
Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Do I need an expensive, double-stacked, triple-stacked, high-powered subwoofer?

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Subwoofers!! Can’t live without one, yet some people are trying ways to do without them. Can we come up with a good car audio system without one? We cannot lie to you, the answer is NO.

I have seen many “champions” spend thousands on a good imported subwoofer but expect to get it all up and running for lows couple of hundred ringgit (RM). You see that commonly in Malaysia because imported car audio equipment is expensive here due to the weak currency, hefty shipping and high-taxes. Therefore people tend to stinge on the application and installs. Furthermore, if you spend on expensive, power hungry (demanding) and low sensitivity subwoofer, be prepared to splurge equally on amplification.

Subwoofers like any speaker driver sounds as good as how you build them. Enclosure, crossover and placement all plays an important part. In other countries, one may spend as much on making the enclosure right as they have invested on the subwoofer driver itself. Some people even build a couple of enclosure to see which ones works best and sounds best in their system.

Sometimes it takes a long time for a person to decide on what subwoofer to buy, but the minute they get it, they rushed for the installers to slap it into a box. Guess what, the choice is usually the smallest sealed enclosure. What if the bass is too hard and does not go low? Stuff it with polyfill?

Building a right enclosure is not rocket science nor it’s a simple task especially in a  car audio environment. It is still a tough nut to crack but with the right expertise, equipment and know-how, you’ll fall in-love with your subwoofer again. It can be a budget JL audio WO, to expensive JL audio W7, to exotics like Scanspeak 23w and Phase Aliante, all the same rules apply.

You don’t need an expensive subwoofer per se. Look at home audio subwoofers, many of them use reasonably affordable drivers, no where high-end! Yet, some home audio ones are very expensive (an indication would be rm5,000-rm15,000). Why? Because it has a built in plate amplifier? Could seem like a good reason but it is not. We know the prices of those plate amplifiers. 

Remember to spend wisely. Equal amounts to material, application and install. Efficiency, displacement and tuning goes a long way.

Tags:
Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Mounting amplifiers upside down!

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Sounds dumb isn’t it? Yea, but some people still do it, mostly not due to stupidity but because of space constraints.

Amplifiers come in different designs, but all designs use a heat sink to dissipate heat, some coupled with either a fan or two for additional cooling. Some amplifiers have no fan at all but depend solely on sufficient heat sinks to handle the heat.

Having said that, common sense tells us that to let the heat sink do it’s job, it must be ventilated and heat should not be trapped on it, around it or channeled to it from hot surfaces, devices or heat from the sun. If you feel there is insufficient ventilation, by all means add a fan or relocate it to a cooler spot, an area which does not absorb or trap heat.

The reason why I bring this up, is that lately we have seen a few cases of overheated amplfiers, and in extreme cases damaged pcb boards, severely premature amplifier life and “pregnant” or buldging capacitors as part of the consequences. Particularly in scorching summers or hot climate countries all year round, where additional care must be taken to keep your gears cool and within operating range.

Last week, I solved yet another “ignorant” install, failing to understand the very basics of car audio safety and maintenance. The amplifer in question was a Zapco Reference 1000.4, a high powered 150watter x 4 running only the fronts (there is another amplifier for the subwoofer).Firstly, this is a very slim unit and secondly, it has no fan in-built. The amplifier was mounted upside down just below the rear parcel shelf in the trunk.

In a hot country like Malaysia, heat builds up considerably fast in the cabin space and equally fast in the enclosed trunk space. Your dashboard, just beneath the windscreen and the rear parcel shelf, just below the rear screen soaks up the direct sun when you park outside in the open. 

Since the amplifier is mounted right below the rear parcel shelf, heat is transferred to it direct from the mounting screws and gets trapped with little air movement. This results in the amplifier getting extremely hot (untouchable) even after 5 minutes of normal use.  Naturally, the amplifier shuts down thanks to the build in thermal proctection.

During the mornings and nights, the amplifier could play a little long before turning off by itself. The installer failed to address the problem and blamed the amplifier for being faulty. 

Another bad but not as seriously faulted install that I have seen many times is one amplifier mounted vertically on the rear seat and just below it, mounted  flat/horizontal on the floor trunk another amplifier for subwoofer duties. Naturally, amplifiers run hot and heat goes up, especially when you are running your subwoofers hard or for long-hours! The heat passes through the amplifier above it. Not a big problem but could be avoided if you care for your gears.

Love your amplifier, maintain it well and it will serve you for years. Use a fan if you have to (note: fans can induce external noise and also noise into your system) but better still use our common sense.

Tags:
Posted in Misc | 5 Comments »