Speakers for Reva Classe

[Vicki_Rau]

Guys,
Just bought a Reva Classe and would appreciate feedback on upgrading the speakers.
The car has opening for 4" speakers and I do not want to change that. There is a Blaupunkt CD head unit.
I use the car mainly for the office commute and listen at mid volume. I like detailed sound with good bass handling, I hope that is possible in 4 inchers (does any company have a small tube woofer).
What I have looked at are JBL and Boston speakers and just ended up confused (all sales guys junk the competition).
Help please.

[hydrashok]

For detailed sound, you'll need components. Kicker has 4" components. I just saw on another thread that they are available at some shop (SuperCars or something like that) in JP Road. If you don't want components, a good set of 4" coaxials should do the job. JBL's GTO427 (Approx 2800/-) should do the job really well.

JBL does have an 10" bass-tube (CS1004T). But do you have enough space behind your seats for a 10" bass-tube? I don't think they have an 8" bass tube. Blaupunkt used to have an 8" bass tube a while back. I don't know if they still sell it. If you don't have space for a tube, you can always put-in an 8" or 10" subwoofer.

I guess you know you'll need an amp to drive the sub (tube or box) right? You can either get a 4-ch amp and drive the fronts and the sub off it, or maybe get a 2-ch amp and drive just the sub off it, depending on your budget. I guess a JBL CS60.4 or a Pio 6200 should do the job (for a 4-ch amp).

With a small call like a Reva, I think 4" comps in front (or really good co-axials) and a JBL 8" tube in the back should do it.

Does the car have stiff enough body panels? I've never sat in one, and I think this must be the first Reva ICE post on the forum. Is the body steel or fiberglass? You will need to consider this, as weak body panels will rattle like mad with a good sub pounding away.

[karthik247]

Doesn't puttin ICE make the battery go down faster??

[navin]

Originally Posted by Vicki_Rau

Just bought a Reva Classe...The car has opening for 4" speakers and I do not want to change that..I like detailed sound with good bass handling,...

THe Reva is a battery powered car right? That limits your options unless your commute is extremely short.

Adding a sub and an amp (even a simple 10" tube or 8" boxed sub and a 2 ch. amp like JBL 60.2) will make a difference to the battery drain.

I would just use 4 4" coax speakers in stock locations for now. If you let us know

a) the commute time/distance
b) the space you have for a sub
and
c) your music type

we might be in a better postiion to offer some more detailed help.

[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by navin

THe Reva is a battery powered car right?

DUH! Now why did I forget that! DUH!

[speedzak]

I think he should be aware of the limited battery juice in his car. He has made it clear that this car is mostly for his Office commute. That, according to my experience with Bangalore, should be well below 80 kms per day.

I think, an amp, sub etc could be avoided for this car. I've sat in a Reva and also spent some months roaming around in the streets of Bangalore with one (My sister had one in Bangy). For this car, 4" components are more than enough. If needed, a pair of 6.5" in small MDF boxes can be used and can be placed behind the rear seats. (Yes, it is tight there but can be placed).

Just power all these from the HU itself. Or another option is to avoid using the rears and just keep front components. Power the rear channels to the woofer and power the front channels to the tweets. If you can find a filter for the tweets, it'll be great! Some JBL and hertz models also sell with these.

[navin]

Vicki,
please help us (see post 4).

Do you need rear speakers or we could just run a pair of 6" in boxes for the bass management of the HU. It wont be loud but it might be better balanced.

[Vicki_Rau]

Guys,
Thanks for the loads of feedback and sorry for not reverting immediately-pessures of the rat race were nibbling at me all day yesterday.
Here goes :-
- my daily commute is around 25 kms (to & fro)
- Reva battery charge range is around 55-60kms (there are plans to introduce a lithium battery pack sometime this year which will increase the range to around 150-200kms)
- after reading the comments posted I think a sub+amp is a no-no in a Reva, so that idea is dropped
- my listening choice centers around classic rock/pop
- the body panels are made of fibre-glass. The interesting thing is that the doors are much heavier than any regular small car doors. As far as the rattles go, since the car is hand made, it does rattle a lot+ the tubeless tyres are pressurised pretty high 40psi back and 35 psi front thus adding to the knocks through potholes etc..
- the space is very very limited, so adding any speaker enclosures is out, I have to live with the existing provision for the 4 inchers. This is below the dash in the seated knee area. This position with the speakers angled downwards at about 25-30 degrees also I feel,compromises the sound quality a bit.
To sum it up, I think a good set of 4" component speakers with a filter, powered through the HU, seem to be the way to go.
OK, off to the JBL guy on Vittal Malya Road (very near my office) now to explore with a specific plan.
Guys, once again its a great feeling when so many of you spare the time and give your comments and feedback. Thanks a heap.

[Vicki_Rau]

Hey Hydrashok,
Those are really neat installations of speakers in your door panels.
Would love to do that in my Innova.....but our much loved dog, a lab(a regular travellor in the car) would ruin them.

[Sam Kapasi]

Vicki, sorry for my delayed input, but I think you are on the right track.
I would definitely not advise you to mount an amp and subwoofer in a battery powered car. Let us know how it goes.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Vicki_Rau

Guys...To sum it up, I think a good set of 4" component speakers with a filter, ...OK, off to the JBL guy ....

I dont think JBL makes component 4" speakers.

[angelfire]

4" components are avaible in blaupunkt..,kicker nd not JBL...Well since you are from banglore...Contact blueraven...He had mentioned earlier about a place in banglore for 4" components

[Vicki_Rau]

Hi angelfire,
You are right JBL does not have component speakers in 4", the best is the Infinity 40027 Ref. speakers @ 4k.
Am trying kicker/boston...but locating the places are a real pain (got the Boston guy who claims they have a 4" components series for 17k???). Can somebody help me with kicker?

[angelfire]

Just check out this thread on wagonr ICE in the same section Vicki...
blueraven has mentioned the price and the shop for kicker 4" comps...

[JPL]

Hi,

Supposing that we so get 4" components ( that I have been longing to install in my xing) is it really goin in for them, is the sound reproduction worth to install them. If yes I will remove the JBL GTO 427 that I have and Blueraven help me to get those 4: componenets. I had previously seen Alpine 4" componets prior to their 2007 line up, can anybody source them for me from amy place..