Frankmehta’s eS(Q)teem®: Eclipse| Illusion Audio| DLS| Genesis| Monster|Hermit

[frankmehta]

Once, in the confines of a lousy compund in Central Mumbai, there lived a Hermit. He drank a lot! So much so, that in his drunken state, he had produced a myriad of unreal sounding ICE installs that, tuned in this semi conscious state produced the most unbelievable sound and rewrote the books, when it came to reproduction of music through speakers.

The drunk hermit thought he should do the same thing to my car too. And so, one fine winter afternoon (added for dramatic effect, it was today) the evil Hermit took over my car, and finally my ICE ghost was exorcised. There was nothing that was left in the mind, it was all coming out from the speakers of my car. Crisp, mind numbing and surreal quality. Well, it just doesn't get better than this.

My ICE upgrades started when I just about got done with my Esteem Mid Life Makeover(or so I thought)
I thought to myself, that I should get a good pair of Coaxials for my rear. The coaxials would be Ovals that would make my 'soundstage'

Here's the configuration, some weeks ago(and by some weeks, i mean some weeks; time flies, Money flies even faster)
1. Pioneer 7950UB Head Unit
2. Sony XM-504Z 4 Channel 'Power' Amplifier
3. Kenwood Paper Cone coaxials for the front
4. Pioneer TS-6985 Coaxials for the Rear
5. Pioneer 305F Free Air Subwoofer in a Ported Enclosure
6. Some wiring and some fuse block


The Hermit plays a big role in the story from the beginning.
Went to his place one day, and fell in love with Illusion Electra EL 6.1 Components, and asked the drunk, stoned man to get them installed for me.
Check.
That day, he said the golden words, that started it all, and had this DOMINO effect on my bank balance.
His words were, "if the sub was better, the system would sound even better."
I went home, thinking! But then the wallet, which always remains empty, asked me to shut the s**thole(my mouth)

After a few weeks, the bug came out from inside my pants again(from you know where) and prompted me to get a subwoofer upgrade. I went to bewda Hermit and hijacked his stock to get a GZ TW12MK2 sub.
The Hermit had the cheek to tell me, on the way back that, if the sub was fed a little more power, your system would sound better!
On the way, I happened to spot a Sanen Acoustics Enclosure for the sub and picked it up.
Went home beaming!! Thought to myself, thats it!

WAIT! thats not it! Read on!

The Hermit's word rang in my ears! What if i fed more power? Will the already great sounding sub sound even better? Saw a nightmare that night, with drunk hermit holding a Steg in one hand, and a Ground Zero sub in the other, laughing like a monster. The nightmare was gone, and so was the bhoot to upgrade.

Now, another character figures in this whole story. Jesal. He had the guts to put u his JBL 75.4 Amp for sale and I had to buy it. Bought it!

In all this mess, there were great inputs from teambhpians on the frankmehta needs a new amp thread. There, one more brightspark called Swale84, a good friend from school made a comment, "....its not too long before we see a frankmehta needs a new head unit thread."
Men, can't you let a good human being sleep in peace?
Heck, after all the sleepless nights, there was a new thread on tbhp. Yes, you guessed it right, frankmehta needs a new head unit!
Inputs came in, and then one day there was a phone call from someone they call Lucky Singh in Faridabad. A man with such a passion for music, that it borders on insanity. He offered me his mint condition Alpine 9887. I had to buy it, and after stealing from a few national banks, I managed to pay the man and have it shipped to Mumbai. The shipping was a different story, and I do not have strength in my fingers to type about it at this point.

When all this was going on, I used Crutchfield as a reference for all the products I was researching about, as there was a lot of unbiased reviews there.
One day, while browsing in my half dreamy and half naked state, I managed to find Rockford Fosgate PUNCH 325.2 Amplifier, rated to produce 325 watts by bridging its 2 channels. I had a friend coming from Usa and I ordered it.

That put and end to the buying spree, and I went to the aforementioned Hermit. @#$#@! I have no words to describe how drunk he was today, so piss drunk that he tuned, fine tuned and superfine tuned my system today. He was also carrying a measuring tape to 'align the time' Oh the aspirations of alcoholics!

Jokes apart, Ajay, you have really really made my car a wonderful place to listen to music in, and acoustically almost perfect(well, in my dictionary)
Thank you Ajay. The Hermit is great! Long live the Hermit!
The final configuration looks this:


Head Unit: Alpine CDA-9887

Speakers:
Front: Illusion Audio Electra EL 6.1 Component System
Rear: Ground Zero MK2 6”x9” coaxials
Subwoofer: Ground Zero MK2 Titanium Series 12” in Sealed Sanen Acoustics Enclosure

Amplifiers:
Components and Rear Fills: JBL 75.4 4 Channel Power Amplifier
Subwoofer: Rockford Fosgate Punch 325.2 2 Channel Power Amplifier

Wiring:
Illusion Audio 16AWG Reference Series Cabling
Polycab 2AWG 35sq.mm Power Cabling
Twister Amplifier Wiring Kit
Boss Audio Wiring
Ichibahn Fuse and Holder




Special thanks to:
1. Hermit Audio
2. Ajay Kamath (bass&trouble: God, that name is an abomination )

3. Ramie paaji (ramie2400) for taking those phone calls at the most outrageous times!
4. Ali (magma) for those long monologues and patti padhaaoing on SQ!
5. Surjit Singhji (zucchero) for his head unit
6. Panty bhai(i couldnt resist that) for making me sell all the brand new third-grade stuff I bought!
7. Swale84: for the brilliant idea of changing the head unit: its a SEA change, trust me.
8. Shafeeq
9. President
10. LBM paaji, for redifining my definition of 'soundstage'

All the remaining people who I haven't mentioned here, I'm sorry. But you have been of great help!
God bless!


Dr. Frank


photos follow

[frankmehta]

more pictures follow

[frankmehta]

the final set of pictures

[SumitB]

God, please rescue me from the temptation.

I really feel like buying a vehicle and driving down all the way from Shillong to Bombay and getting myself spoilt at the hands of one Mr. Kamath.

[jkdas]

Congrats Pal. Nice upgrade! (love that HU)

All you missed in your old config was a TS20:P

[frankmehta]

OH HELL! i forgot to mention it in the older config! i HAD the ts 20 earlier.. threw it down from such a height that i couldnt even hear the thud of it hitting the ground!

[greenhorn]

all that ICE and you're listening to AIR SUPPLY

[smokin]

Congratz man !!! don't worry now you have been bitten up by the audio worm and we will see you quite often in the audio section

[DerAlte]

Congratulations, @frankmehta, enjoy your music. You have a great writing style.

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Once, in the confines of a lousy compund in Central Mumbai, there lived a Hermit. ...

For a moment I thought you were writing the script for a Bollywood Chinese Kung-fu movie starring Jaikishan Chand as the 'Bewda sadhu'.

Originally Posted by frankmehta

... someone they call Lucky Singh in Faridabad ...

Oye Lucky, Lucky oye!!!

[leadf00t]

Hey congrats Frankmehta.

beautifully written as well.

Nice setup there. you have picked one of the most natural sounding components in your setup. way to go.

The GZ sub on Rockford Fosgate amp needs a audition.

I have no words to describe how drunk he was today, so piss drunk that he tuned, fine tuned and superfine tuned my system today.

So so true this Man has affinity for a certain drink of russian origin and finest nuances of SQ.cheers:

He tuned my system so well that some one who know zilch about SQ (read my parents) could feel the difference and could make out that the ICE was sounding way way better.
Long live the Tuner .. ICE tuner :P

P.S. care to share the damage the bug in your pants did ( to your wallet i mean)

[ramie2400]

Ohh!! I cannot believe it finally i will stop getting phone calls and long long chats on googletalk hehehehehehe Just Joking,congrats franky bhai,the RF Punch looks solid,and the OH LA LA 9887 sitting on the esteem couch console looks really tempting really happy to see your satisfied with the installs finally,so when do i get to audition it,Happy ICEing cheers!!!

Ramie

[shuvc]

Nice nice! Very nice.
How have the tweeters been fixed to the dash?

[vikram18]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

all that ICE and you're listening to AIR SUPPLY

That's the first thing that came to my mind! Congrats Frankie. Would love to audition it sometime. Never heard any Rockford Fosgate so far.

[harry10]

@Frankmehta- I had been writing since childhood and its not often i like someones writing but i just Loved your narration Sir .
Humor and passion is quiet evident (along with the shake of emptying wallet as well).
If i was in Mumbai would have certainly come for the audition.
Congrats, it looks great and must be sounding as well !!

[esteem_lover]

Nice setup, done up by the nice hermit. Enjoy your music.