Audison 8.9: Where to buy
02-28-2018, 07:34 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Audison 8.9: Where to buy
The Audison 8.9 combo amp/dsp gets brought up a lot here - anyone use one? Where can I buy it in the US? Is it a dealer-only thing?
For those of you using it, do you also use the dedicated sub out to add a separate mono sub amp? Looks like that is supported.
Working on upgrading my 2018 Plat B&O system. From what I am reading the Audison unit does a good job of handling the factory signals/eq, has a great DSP, and the amp itself is good and will power my 4 doors+center. Thinking of installing this, a separate amp for a hideaway sub, and new door/pillar speakers.
For those of you using it, do you also use the dedicated sub out to add a separate mono sub amp? Looks like that is supported.
Working on upgrading my 2018 Plat B&O system. From what I am reading the Audison unit does a good job of handling the factory signals/eq, has a great DSP, and the amp itself is good and will power my 4 doors+center. Thinking of installing this, a separate amp for a hideaway sub, and new door/pillar speakers.
03-02-2018, 08:05 PM
#2
Senior Member
Thread Starter
To answer my own question in case others want to know, I found it at a local dealer on sale for $599. It retails for $999 but that was a couple years ago so there may be a new model coming.
It is a fairly kickass amp that has a DSP/signal converter built in - you don't need an external LOC, etc. with this unit. And the DSP is the same as the Bit One, meaning it is near top of the line, especially at that price.
It's also very flexible - there's an un-amped 9th channel you can use as a sub pre-out to a separate amp if you want to add more power. You can start off with using it unbridged to power doors and sub, then later on you can add an amp for the sub and bridge the 8 channels to 4 for your doors if you want more power, for example. The DSP will work for the external sub amp too. Leaves you decent flexibility for future upgrades and the DSP/tuning software is pretty great.
It is a fairly kickass amp that has a DSP/signal converter built in - you don't need an external LOC, etc. with this unit. And the DSP is the same as the Bit One, meaning it is near top of the line, especially at that price.
It's also very flexible - there's an un-amped 9th channel you can use as a sub pre-out to a separate amp if you want to add more power. You can start off with using it unbridged to power doors and sub, then later on you can add an amp for the sub and bridge the 8 channels to 4 for your doors if you want more power, for example. The DSP will work for the external sub amp too. Leaves you decent flexibility for future upgrades and the DSP/tuning software is pretty great.
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pohlmeyr (03-02-2018)
03-02-2018, 10:18 PM
#3
Senior Member
MSRP is always high, just depends on the dealer for what price you get offered. $599 is definitely a good price and if you want a all in one amp/dsp it’s definitely a nice option.
03-02-2018, 11:24 PM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
If you have the Sync 4'' screen I believe you can just swap it out with a better, bigger HU that has proper pre-outs. If you have the 8'' Sync screen it's generally not recommended to replace, thus you need another path to integrate. With the 2018 B&O there's no option to disable the OEM EQ/send flat signals via Forscan like there is with the previous Sony (and stock) so a good converter is needed and the AC series doesn't get great reviews for that around these parts. Another reason I went Audison.
Last edited by planetix; 03-02-2018 at 11:28 PM.
03-02-2018, 11:35 PM
#6
Senior Member
Mosconi has a 6 channel DSP amp and Sony has a cheaper option ($399) coming out as well but with 40Wx6. I know the Audison will clean up the factory signal, no experience with the others besides JLs system.
03-03-2018, 12:25 AM
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
The JL Fix 86 is better at cleaning up signals and has a real DSP unlike, say, the LC7i. The Audison Bit One is even better than the JL 86. And the Audison 8.9 is a slightly feature-reduced version of the Bit One with an 8 channel (4 bridged) amp. Then at the higher end Mosconi, etc. make DSPs that blow them all away, but at a steep price and with trickier integration with the OEM Sync HU. I don't know anything about that Sony amp but I am not sure it'd fit what I want to do, given that I can use the .9 pre-out for a sub amp and bridge the Audison for 4 channels, something a 6 channel can't do.
Comes down to what you have and what you are trying to get out of it. If I had a pre-2018 F-150 w/the Sony that I could use Forscan to disable the EQ and deliver flat low level signals that didn't need to be cleaned up I would go with a different combo of DSP/AMP most likely. With the 2018 B&O I need to clean up the signals and provide good overall amplification and processing afterwards since the build in DSP is essentially negated, and the 8.9 is pretty much designed to do this in one package.
The other issue with the 2018 B&O is the A-pillar tweeters are wired through the ACP and crossed over internally there, the upshot being you need to run new wires to outboard crossovers in order to use the tweeters with an external amp solution even if you keep the stock tweeters. If you go aftermarket for speakers Components are therefore your best bet.
Comes down to what you have and what you are trying to get out of it. If I had a pre-2018 F-150 w/the Sony that I could use Forscan to disable the EQ and deliver flat low level signals that didn't need to be cleaned up I would go with a different combo of DSP/AMP most likely. With the 2018 B&O I need to clean up the signals and provide good overall amplification and processing afterwards since the build in DSP is essentially negated, and the 8.9 is pretty much designed to do this in one package.
The other issue with the 2018 B&O is the A-pillar tweeters are wired through the ACP and crossed over internally there, the upshot being you need to run new wires to outboard crossovers in order to use the tweeters with an external amp solution even if you keep the stock tweeters. If you go aftermarket for speakers Components are therefore your best bet.
Last edited by planetix; 03-03-2018 at 12:27 AM.
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03-03-2018, 12:28 AM
#8
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For factor HU integration on a 2018 Ford I think you still need a LOC like the LC7 with that LC6 (I could be wrong about this); also the DSP in the Audison is near unmatched in quality in my experience and that of the installers I know in my area. The Audison 8.9 handles it all. Though with the latter if you use aftermarket speakers you'll probably want to add an outboard sub amp too and bridge the 8.9 down to 4 channels in order to get good power overall.
If you have the Sync 4'' screen I believe you can just swap it out with a better, bigger HU that has proper pre-outs. If you have the 8'' Sync screen it's generally not recommended to replace, thus you need another path to integrate. With the 2018 B&O there's no option to disable the OEM EQ/send flat signals via Forscan like there is with the previous Sony (and stock) so a good converter is needed and the AC series doesn't get great reviews for that around these parts. Another reason I went Audison.
If you have the Sync 4'' screen I believe you can just swap it out with a better, bigger HU that has proper pre-outs. If you have the 8'' Sync screen it's generally not recommended to replace, thus you need another path to integrate. With the 2018 B&O there's no option to disable the OEM EQ/send flat signals via Forscan like there is with the previous Sony (and stock) so a good converter is needed and the AC series doesn't get great reviews for that around these parts. Another reason I went Audison.
01-25-2019, 10:24 PM
#10
For factor HU integration on a 2018 Ford I think you still need a LOC like the LC7 with that LC6 (I could be wrong about this); also the DSP in the Audison is near unmatched in quality in my experience and that of the installers I know in my area. The Audison 8.9 handles it all. Though with the latter if you use aftermarket speakers you'll probably want to add an outboard sub amp too and bridge the 8.9 down to 4 channels in order to get good power overall.
If you have the Sync 4'' screen I believe you can just swap it out with a better, bigger HU that has proper pre-outs. If you have the 8'' Sync screen it's generally not recommended to replace, thus you need another path to integrate. With the 2018 B&O there's no option to disable the OEM EQ/send flat signals via Forscan like there is with the previous Sony (and stock) so a good converter is needed and the AC series doesn't get great reviews for that around these parts. Another reason I went Audison.
If you have the Sync 4'' screen I believe you can just swap it out with a better, bigger HU that has proper pre-outs. If you have the 8'' Sync screen it's generally not recommended to replace, thus you need another path to integrate. With the 2018 B&O there's no option to disable the OEM EQ/send flat signals via Forscan like there is with the previous Sony (and stock) so a good converter is needed and the AC series doesn't get great reviews for that around these parts. Another reason I went Audison.
Bill