Wagon R ICE - now sweet sounding.

[johy]

A lot of time, a lot of headbanging - and then I finally decided to try make my ICE in my Wagon R sound a bit more sweeter - and a lot less boomier.

My old setup.

1. Head Unit - Pioneer 5850
2. Amplifier (for the subwoofer) - Blaupunkt GTA Special Mk II special 2-ch amp
3. GTO 437 4" coaxials up front.
4. GTO 937 9"X6" coaxials behind.
5. Subwoofer JBL GT412 12" sub.

Okay, for one the backstage was good, better than the front stage, but with me in the driver's seat or the front passenger seat 99% of the time, I was missing all the fun.

Secondly, boom-boom, a bit too much of it, a lot of reverb and it was getting to my head. I listen to a lot of varied music from Country and Western, to slow rock, to Western Classical.

First I got to damping the dicky door of my WR. First I thought of Dynamat Extreme for all 5 doors (man I was crazy wanting to plonk in a handsome sum in there), then I found Wurth guys to do all 5 doors (for 4500/-). For some reason, the Wurth guys kept on delaying the install. I lost my patience. Then comes Bass & Trouble and Noisekill to the rescue. He was kind enough to help me with couriering the stuff over along with some fancy component speakers for up front - where I really wanted the sound.

So present setup is

1. Head Unit: Pioneer DEH 5850 (the same as previous, but will be getting this Clarion head unit (DXZ675USB) , hopefully as early as January when a friend returning from the US should be bringing it in).




2. Frontstage - Illusion Audio Electra EL 4.1 components (4") grill removed for photo - you can see a bit of the Noisekill damping peeping out.



Tweeter -directed towards passenger side; the passengerside tweeter is directed towards driver's ear.


Crossovers



3. Backstage - Infinity 6953i




4. Blaupunkt GTA Special Mk II special 2-ch amp

Placed under the rear seat.



Subwoofer - Ground Zero GZTW12MK2.



GZTW12MK2 in a custom-made box (no opposites sides are parallel, 1 cu. ft. including driver displacement) - design courtesy Hydrashok



I did not "match" the colors of the cloth on the cloth to the back side of my seat covers (Stanley). I made the boxes a log time ago and changed the seat covers recently - but they do "match."

5. Cabling

• Ichibahn stereo RCA cable

• Illusion Audio Reference cable - for front components only (rear coaxials use the Infinity stock cables) - got them free with the Illusion Electra EL components - great offer!!!

• Monster 4 Ga cabling. Dug this one from the godown of my car decor guy's shop - he had not sold it for 2 years! Said no one was willing to buy it. A good treasure hunt.

6. Damping by NoiseKill - used in hatch door and a little under the dashboard where the components are mounted.

7. Stickers




Notes - I can remove the sub and 2 boxes at the back if I need to extra space in the boot, takes me 5 minutes or less; this way I get some flexibility. I still find the bass a bit boomier at times, but much less than before. I guess some Recron in the sub box will help? Suggestions please and comments are most welcome.

The front stage is delightfully musical and lively, I simply love it and would highly recommend these components for anyone needing 4 inchers. And the bass is tight and nice too. Big thanks to Bass & Trouble.

[moralfibre]

Congratulations Johy! Superb setup you got there. Another one smitten by the Illusion Audio bug! Enjoy your music.

[sathya_j2084]

what are the prices of JBL-937 with bill&warranty.My dealers says its Rs.4950.Can i go ahead with it?

[low_bass_makker]

hmm one more Illusion install. So how are the 4 inch components working ?

[johy]

The 4" components are a HUGE step ahead from the former coaxials. Very lively frontstage. Also, don't know whether I am being biased, but the dash location of the drivers in the Wagon R seem to help a lot - not sure if they would sound equally good if the speakers were located at the door.

[hydrashok]

Congrats on the setup, johy! Good stuff in there. Enjoyyyyy!

[navin]

Originally Posted by johy

I still find the bass a bit boomier at times, but much less than before. I guess some Recron in the sub box will help? Suggestions please and comments are most welcome.

keep the sond absorbtion in the box to about 1/2 kg per cu. ft. anything more will muddy the bass. one more option if the bass is too boomy is to make the box more lossy (aperidoic) but you will loose a bit of efficiency.

[Technocrat]

Hi Johy me too got the ELs installed in my Alto & they sound Sweet, surprisingly they sound excellant in flat mode i.e. no EQ setting

I think I would also need some damping in dash, can you tell how to go about it ?

[RAC]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Hi Johy me too got the ELs installed in my Alto & they sound Sweet, surprisingly they sound excellant in flat mode i.e. no EQ setting

I think I would also need some damping in dash, can you tell how to go about it ?

Congrats Kedar. Enjoy the music.
Rishi

[johy]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Hi Johy me too got the ELs installed in my Alto & they sound Sweet, surprisingly they sound excellant in flat mode i.e. no EQ setting

I think I would also need some damping in dash, can you tell how to go about it ?

Techno, I got to try out that flat mode - I always run a custom mode. I used NoiseKill for the damping. Bass & Trouble helped me with it. I guess you can PM him about it.

[Technocrat]

Thanks Rishi

Johy: Yes but first I will need to find out where exactly is the damping needed

[navin]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Thanks Rishi

Johy: Yes but first I will need to find out where exactly is the damping needed

front doors, hatch, and fire wall are my favourite places to start.

[Technocrat]

Thanks Navin,

But what I meant was that I feel the need to damp the dashboard after fitting the EL 4.1 in stock location as they give really good bass, so I am yet to find out where exactly the damping can be put in dashboard.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

damp the dashboard after fitting the EL 4.1.

damping a dashboard is tricky. on occasion when I have heard noises (that weren't music) emanating from the dash it has taken time to locate the exact soruce of the noise. Once that is done I have just used rubber sheet to ensure that the offending part is damped.

damping doors, trunk etc... needs a different approach becuase what we are dealing with is resonance and not a loose part.

similarly floorbaords and firewall require a stiff different approach because what we are doing there is keep road/engine noise out.

[sperugu]

Hi Johy, good set up for wagon R. Prices of HU, 937, 437 and wiring pls.