[nitinbose]

Hello Everyone!

I had posted about my car ICE installation previously and resulted in the following setup:

HU: Pioneer AVH3250DVD
Speakers: Hertz dieci series DSK 165
Amp: Hertz EP5
Sub: Pioneer Tx-W303

I was not really happy with the bass, thought I needed some more SPL!

I began to do additional research and narrowed down to Rockford fosgate. However that's when I read about JL Audio. JL Audio seems to have good review and I liked the slash series. These are powerful and at the same time have a good build quality.

I rushed to Thouqeer, only to hear that slash series are not yet available in India. I confirmed this from JL Audio authorized dealer, preethi traders.

Suddenly Thouqeer showed me a couple of attractive amps, Infinity Kappa and DLS amps. DLS also had good reviews and the specs also seemed excellent.

I chose the DLS CA41 which is a 4 channel amplifier (Performance CA41 - 4 x 70 Watt) and the DLS CAD 15 monoblock (Performance CAD15 - 1,6 kilowatt class D).

Next was the subwoofer. I chose the Polk Audio MM Series, MM1240 SVC (Polk Audio - Mobile Monitor Series - Mobile / Marine Speakers).

Then came the front and rear speakers. I opted for the Focal 165 KR2 series (2 way speakers kit 165 KR2 - Focal Car Audio drivers).

The installation started by about 1pm and ended by 4pm. Some additional damping was done and then the subwoofer box was made as per the specs., from Polk Audio.

Next came the tuning process. Crossovers and high pass filters were adjusted so that the bass is tight and not boomy.

I was really impressed by the quality. The sound from the front and rear speakers were smooth with correct amounts of bass, mids and treble.

The sub was also giving tight bass though at high levels as the amp was more powerful. This amp came with a remote bass control knob which was fixed near the steering, so that bass may be manually adjusted according to the different tracks.

I guess I made the right choice!

Nitin

[nitinbose]

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[Sankar]

How much did those Focal K2 Power cost you? I like those yellow focals
What speakers did you get installed in the rear? Any clear post installation pics of the components? Hope you got the doors damped.

[navin]

Arey baba why so impatient? Weekends are normally slower on TBHP.

Other than the subwoofer install pic the other pics are all product pics.

[SX4LOVER]

Seems like a nice setup.

Ive been thinking of upgrading the ICE of my SX4 for a long time now. Your set up here just revived the thoughts. Ive decided to do it this year.

[nitinbose]

@Sankar: The focals cost me 24.5K a pair. I installed the same focals for both front and rear. The tweeters were fixed in the stock location on the front doors and on the rear doors, screwed on the doors. Indeed, the doors were damped, though I did not use dyamat or such a class damping.

Apologies, I did not click any post install process.

@SX4Lover: Does it only seem like a nice setup?

Review after one day of use:

The sound is from the front and rear speakers are now softer, as compared to the Hertz setup, which had real louder mids and highs. With the new setup the sound from the front and rears is now slightly less in mids and highs but more in bass. I am beginning to like it though.

The woofer is quite powerful. The remote bass control is fixed below the steering and for normal listening I have to keep it at level "zero".

My HU is set as follows:
equalizer: flat,
Bass: zero,
Woofer level: zero of five.
compressed audio compensation: OFF,
loudness: Mid

With the hertz setup, there used to be slight hissing when there is no input, i.e. when in between tracks or reading CD/DVDs or USB. There were also click sounds when switching ON the bi-xenon HIDs or flashing them. Now all that noise has gone!

I guess this is where the quality comes in. Please understand the wiring remains the same.

regards,

Nitin

[khoj]

Hi nitinbose,

Congratulations on the upgrade. I too have the Focal 165 KR components in my car. Let the speakers break in you will find a noticeable improvement in the mids and those tweeters are a work of art. A lot of people find the Focal tweeters too sharp but I think they get confused between the abundance of detail coming through for sharpness. DLS of course are great amps to have.

There are a couple of questions that I have for you though. The cap in the centre of the KR's woofer in your snap appears to be silver in colour as is in the KRX series instead of black as it should be for the KR. Is the silverish appearance due to the camera flash or has the model seen a change over the earlier version. The other thing that I would like to know is that despite having components both in the front and rear are you able to get a clear front stage. At the moment I have a pair of focal coaxials in the rear but have been toying with the idea of getting another pair of components but am being discouraged from dong so by ICE gurus, according to whom it will result in muddled results etc.

[nitinbose]

@Khoj: Thanks. The cap is silver in color. Indeed I am waiting for the setup to break-in and see the actual result. I am able to get a clear front stage. Infact the tuning has to be done appropriately, so that people in the front are able to enjoy sound from the fronts and the rear speakers serve the people at the rear. Care should be taken to adjust the gains so that they're adjusted equally, providing the correct stereo balance.

I'd suggest you to get your setup checked for the settings. Another part is the mono gain and the bass boost. If these are set too high, it would destroy the sound stage. I have set my mono gain at 50% and the bass-boost is kept at "zero" level for normal listening. My HU is also kept at plain level, as described in my post above.

regards,

Nitin

[carboy]

Here is an article about 'break in' of speakers by an audio engineer - Speaker break-in - real or not? - rec.audio.high-end | Google Groups

[jinu_joseph]

Hi Nitin, congrats on your upgraded setup. Just curious, you said you got the Focal 165 KR2 for 24.5K ?? Is this with bill and warranty. The reason for asking is that i have been given a price of 30K for the 165 KR.. the KR2 would be much more expensive ??

[nitinbose]

Originally Posted by jinu_joseph

Hi Nitin, congrats on your upgraded setup. Just curious, you said you got the Focal 165 KR2 for 24.5K ?? Is this with bill and warranty. The reason for asking is that i have been given a price of 30K for the 165 KR.. the KR2 would be much more expensive ??

Sorry, the price, 24.5K is the exchanged price for my existing speakers. Indeed the actual price does come 32K about (not sure whether this is for a pair or just one though - need to check my bill), as what I saw in the initial quote from AutoFusion.

I do purchase everything with Bill and Warranty, and Thouqeer (Autofusion) always encourages the same.

[jinu_joseph]

32k Is still a very good deal.. remember i am getting asked 30K for the 165KR whereas you got the 165KR2 for 32K.

[khoj]

Hey jinu_joseph,

30 K is the MRP, you should get some discount on the same, which according to some can be as much as 20%. I got my 165KR with a 10% discount.

[nitinbose]

Hello Everybody,

My apologies as the pricing I'd mentioned earlier were my exchanged prices, i.e., what I got after exchanging my existing setup, which is about 3 months old!

Here are the correct prices:

Focal 165 KR2 Speakers: 48K - a pair
Subwoofer Polk Audio MM 1240 SVC: 14.5K
DLS, 4 channel (CA41): 28K
DLS, Monoblock (CAD 15): 32K
Installation: including damping & cabling: 8.5K

regards,

Nitin

[nitinbose]

@Jinu_Joseph: Sorry, that was the price for the monoblock. The correct prices are mentioned in the post that followed. Please note these are prices with Bill and warranty with proper duty and taxes.

My Apologies for the incorrect prices as I got confused between the price of different elements.