[599gto]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

Dear 599gto, somehow your message seems truncated here...but I got the full text in my mailbox.

For the benefit of others, I am pasting it here - ............

Thankyou for posting it here sir, I didn't notice it at all, thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

Now my reply -

I BOW to you!

This is exactly what i needed, ECJHACTLEE!

Many thanks to you. If you are in and around Delhi, you just won yourself a big treat - time-place-venue-menu-daaru; everything of your choice! Just let me know.

Never knew such equipment existed. Never thought different amps drive the speaker set and the sub. Now that I studied each one of them and went through the technical literature of each comp, it all makes sense.

Right now I am more than happy to express myself. I just cant thank you enough.

And don't you bother about the budget bro! Shackles are broken. Strings are untied. Let it flow now...

Glad that I could be of some help to you, that's purely the reason why most of us are here on the forum.
I so wish I lived in Delhi, but I am still getting done with my education in Pune, however, my father's business does make me travel to Delhi quite often, will definitely catch up to claim that treat whenever I am in Delhi next, but that's only after the Pajero starts rocking and rolling.

As navin sir suggested, please do audition multiple brands, I am a Focal fanboy, have switched multiple component sets in the last 2-3 years, at least 4 and all Focals.

My current set of components are the Focal 165 V 30 30th anniversary edition, running off Audison SR amps.

Now why did I not emphasize on these two brands is because Audison products are not available anymore and Focal, well a lot of people find the tweeters to be on the brighter side, IMHO they are just dynamic at best not bright. And the build quality on all Focal products is hard to beat!

I suggested Rainbow because I have had a lengthy audition and really liked the way they performed, and the sound signature is such that it would offend none! And a set of Rainbows will definitely be my next upgrade, but that's when I go active!

I guess if you go to Driven and tell them you need an audition they'll happily give it to you. Down here in Pune, asking for an audition is like asking for the shop owners girlfriend, they never say yes.

Alert!

Originally Posted by navin

And as 599GTO recommended damping is a must. You will surprised but the ROI on this.

navin sir, that's exactly the handle I wanted when I signed up, however all they gave me was 599gto!

[Aroongupta]

So finally I got the system installed. Following came together to make it -

Rockford Prime R-2 Woofers - 2 Nos. - 19500/-
Rainbow iPaul 4.300 - 1 No. - 24800/-
Digital Design AM 1 - 1 No. 15200/-
Rainbow Soundline Comps - Front as well as Rear - 38400/-
supported by

Damping - 9000/-
AIV 4 Guage Kit - 7000/-
AIV Speaker Wire - 16 mtrs - 3200/-
Woofer Wire - 4 mtrs - 1600/-
RIA Cables - 2000/-
Rings - 4 - 1300/-

Total - 122000/-

We decided to live with the HU as it provided 3 outs. The woofers were a sort of compromise because the space behind the 3rd row seat would not allow anything else but these set of shallow speakers.

I got the system done at Driven. Took the team a dedicated 9 hours. As far as the prices go, I guess some negotiations could have been done but I did not try anything. They threw a 20% discount on the price tags and I said okay.

I must mention - It was an absolute pleasure working with team Driven. The job they did was commendable. I guess some 3 hours were dedicated only for the damping. The amount of cabling the system required called for almost all things in the car to be ripped apart and I had my heart in mouth at all times. But the way these guys were taking care, it just felt awesome. You don't need to tell them to take care at any point in time. Every panel, every screw that was removed were handled with atmost care possible and kept away from dust and accidental damage/misplacement. While I started the day with Rana, Subhaan dropped in after a couple of hours and the way he took pain to stick every peace of damping, it was just awesome! Gunveer spent a lot of time with us and then finally worked on the tuning.

End of the day, the music was a remarkable improvement over what the stock system provided. I was quite content though I guess Gunveer, Subhaan and team were not very happy. Gunveer did not get a lot of time to play with the system. They have called me again after couple of weeks to retune the system.

Anyhow, given the constraints of a large cabin space, stock HU, shallow woofer set, I think what we got was very decent. Rest we will see during the
re-tuning. I guess while the rainbow comp set is throwing out some excellent mid range, I would prefer brighter highs and more thumpy lows.

That, mind you, does not take away anything from the total arrangement and the excellent effort of Driven. I am very Happy!

And thank you very much guys for your guidance. Without it, this was just not possible!!!

[SumitB]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

So finally I got the system installed. Following came together to make it -

Rockford Prime R-2 Woofers - 2 Nos. - 19500/-
Rainbow iPaul 4.300 - 1 No. - 24800/-
Digital Design AM 1 - 1 No. 15200/-
Rainbow Soundline Comps - Front as well as Rear - 38400/-
supported by

Damping - 9000/-
AIV 4 Guage Kit - 7000/-
AIV Speaker Wire - 16 mtrs - 3200/-
Woofer Wire - 4 mtrs - 1600/-
RIA Cables - 2000/-
Rings - 4 - 1300/-

Total - 122000/-

Congratulations! Please post some pics too Sir.

[invincible7]

Great Going and Many Congratulations for taming the beast of ICE, see I told you budget is going to be out of the window as soon as you are tempted for ICE world.

Hope you could get some audition of some gear before finalizing the equipment for your car, Also a lot can be achieved with a proper tuning which you have mentioned should be taken care of in few more days. Let the drivers also break in for 80-90 hrs and the sound will definitively mature by them from the drivers.

Do post some pics to complete your thread journey and hope someday we can get a chance to listen to your setup.

[599gto]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

So finally I got the system installed. Following came together to make it -

Rockford Prime R-2 Woofers - 2 Nos. - 19500/-
Rainbow iPaul 4.300 - 1 No. - 24800/-
Digital Design AM 1 - 1 No. 15200/-
Rainbow Soundline Comps - Front as well as Rear - 38400/-
supported by

Damping - 9000/-
AIV 4 Guage Kit - 7000/-
AIV Speaker Wire - 16 mtrs - 3200/-
Woofer Wire - 4 mtrs - 1600/-
RIA Cables - 2000/-
Rings - 4 - 1300/-

Total - 122000/-

Congratulations on getting your PS ICEd sir, I see a lot of equipment from my list did make its way into your set up, I am glad it did!
Let the drivers (speakers, tweeters, subwoofers) break-in for at least 100 hours, they will open up beautifully and then you will need a re-tune, so don't skip that out!
The choice of Amps in this set up is perfect!
Yes, Driven is known to do quality work, and experts like Gunbir sir and Jasdeep sir keep dropping in to the shop, that is an added bonus!
Also, some pictures would be good!

[navin]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

I was quite content though I guess Gunveer, Subhaan and team were not very happy. Gunveer did not get a lot of time to play with the system. They have called me again after couple of weeks to retune the system.

I assume you are referring to Gunbir Singh?

He is a member here but I have not seen him around for the past 2 years or so.

[Aroongupta]

Originally Posted by navin

I assume you are referring to Gunbir Singh?

He is a member here but I have not seen him around for the past 2 years or so.

Yeah Gunbir Singh it is. Thanks for correction.

And 599GTO, that offer for a treat holds valid for all times to come. Its for you to avail it. I will look forward to it.

[599gto]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

Yeah Gunbir Singh it is. Thanks for correction.

And 599GTO, that offer for a treat holds valid for all times to come. Its for you to avail it. I will look forward to it.

Sir, a day will come when I will claim that party! Till then keep rocking and upgrading.

[Aroongupta]

Got some mods done to the iCE arrangement today.

Got the Kenwood HU replaced with the Pioneer8690BT
Got the 2 Rockford Fosgate Subs replaced with a single Rainbow Soundline 12"

Down by another 25 K.

But worth it. Definitely worth it. Replacing the Kenwwod stock unit was a risk. I was not sure if it would lead to any substantial change. Listened to my hunch and "Am I a Happy Man?".

The subs had to be changed. They were a compromise in the first place itself for lack of space. I did not want to sacrifice one seat on the third row. But eventually decided to let go and "Am I a Happy Man?"

Yesssssss sir!

[SumitB]

The 8690 plays FLAC. It is a wonderful HU. Congratulations.

[HighwayofLife]

Good install. I'm curious however as to how you've managed to get a decent sound stage with two sets of component speakers (my guess is some trick in the tuning).

Overall, this should be a very balanced sounding system, and the pricing also looks decent too.

Do post some pictures of the installed system. I'm curious to see how he various audio components have been located in the vehicle.

[599gto]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

Got some mods done to the iCE arrangement today.

Got the Kenwood HU replaced with the Pioneer8690BT
Got the 2 Rockford Fosgate Subs replaced with a single Rainbow Soundline 12"

Down by another 25 K.

But worth it. Definitely worth it. Replacing the Kenwwod stock unit was a risk. I was not sure if it would lead to any substantial change. Listened to my hunch and "Am I a Happy Man?".

The subs had to be changed. They were a compromise in the first place itself for lack of space. I did not want to sacrifice one seat on the third row. But eventually decided to let go and "Am I a Happy Man?"

Yesssssss sir!

Good going Sir, you now have the exact set-up that I would throw into a Pajero Sport (my dad might just buy one next year, he knows my love for the PS), that 8690 sounds wonderful, it is probably the best and the most VFM touch screen HU one can buy in the price range, it is feature rich and has more than decent SQ. Also a big for the Subwoofer upgrade!
Ab toh dilli aana padega!

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

Good install. I'm curious however as to how you've managed to get a decent sound stage with two sets of component speakers (my guess is some trick in the tuning).

Overall, this should be a very balanced sounding system, and the pricing also looks decent too.

Do post some pictures of the installed system. I'm curious to see how he various audio components have been located in the vehicle.

Rest assured everything that has gone into this set up compliments each other perfectly, one car hardly go wrong with Rainbows and Focals in car audio, and this set up is Rainbow dominated to a large extent.

If the tweeters for the rear set of components are not placed higher up in the door pad, they wouldn't hamper the sound stage too much, ideally in the rear/middle row, the tweeters should be installed close to the mid-bass, firing close to the feet or they should installed where they fire into the thigh area of the rear/mid passenger and it will be good to go!

Also, with a feature rich HU like the Pioneer 8690, one can dial in Time Alignment settings to adjust the sound stage according to his/her preference!

[Aroongupta]

Originally Posted by SumitB

The 8690 plays FLAC. It is a wonderful HU. Congratulations.

Yeah...that's the best part. I have thrown out all music except for flac. Have already created a collection of some 20 GB of FLAC Music. Quality is divine now!

Originally Posted by HighwayofLife

Good install. I'm curious however as to how you've managed to get a decent sound stage with two sets of component speakers (my guess is some trick in the tuning).

Overall, this should be a very balanced sounding system, and the pricing also looks decent too.

Do post some pictures of the installed system. I'm curious to see how he various audio components have been located in the vehicle.

I don't know. Guys at driven would know. Except what I can tell you is that in my personal preference high treble is very important. Despite having two set of comps - and the tweeters at the rear placed high - I went back to driven and asked them open all crossovers and to switch the tweeter connection to loud, instead of normal where they had originally set. That's done both on front and rear. And story does not end here. The custom equalizer setting that I use on the HU is boosted low frequencies, boosted high frequencies and almost flat mids. What results is - and many may not like it; but I listen to my music only thls way - three distinct sounds in the car - High Bass, High treble and the vocals can be very clearly and distinctly heard.

I am liking it this way.

As far as the pics go, I will post some. However there is hardly anything remarkable. Both the amps find place under the two front seats. Monobloc DD beneath the left seat and the 4 channel ipaul below the driver's seat. The seats had to be completely removed to install them. So both are are almost invisible except they both protrude out around 1-2" on the sides.

The comps on the front side are completely invisible as they replaced the stock. The HU also fitted neatly so no issues there too. On the rear, the tweeters were fitted by drilling hole in the door panels and fitted as neatly as possible without looking odd one bit. The speakers had their standard place so they don't show. The sub is in one box with lots of space all around. It is stuck to the bottom with Velcros.Looks like a trunk...ugly and out of place. Nothing much to write home about on that front. Anyhow, will post pics shortly.

The system is indeed very well balanced. It is infinite times better with the changed HU and the sub. The whole series is same from the comps to the amp to the sub...so it gels very well now. The clarity of sounds is mind boggling - as far as I am concerned.

Originally Posted by 599gto

Good going Sir, you now have the exact set-up that I would throw into a Pajero Sport (my dad might just buy one next year, he knows my love for the PS), that 8690 sounds wonderful, it is probably the best and the most VFM touch screen HU one can buy in the price range, it is feature rich and has more than decent SQ. Also a big for the Subwoofer upgrade!
Ab toh dilli aana padega!

Rest assured everything that has gone into this set up compliments each other perfectly, one car hardly go wrong with Rainbows and Focals in car audio, and this set up is Rainbow dominated to a large extent.

If the tweeters for the rear set of components are not placed higher up in the door pad, they wouldn't hamper the sound stage too much, ideally in the rear/middle row, the tweeters should be installed close to the mid-bass, firing close to the feet or they should installed where they fire into the thigh area of the rear/mid passenger and it will be good to go!

Also, with a feature rich HU like the Pioneer 8690, one can dial in Time Alignment settings to adjust the sound stage according to his/her preference!

All thanks to you bro. I am really grateful. Sincerely! You should also be happy that I listened to you 100%. The system has been assembled exactly as you ordered sir!

[caraddict1]

Originally Posted by Aroongupta

Got some mods done to the iCE arrangement today.

Got the Kenwood HU replaced with the Pioneer8690BT
Got the 2 Rockford Fosgate Subs replaced with a single Rainbow Soundline 12"

Down by another 25 K.

But worth it. Definitely worth it. Replacing the Kenwwod stock unit was a risk. I was not sure if it would lead to any substantial change. Listened to my hunch and "Am I a Happy Man?".

The subs had to be changed. They were a compromise in the first place itself for lack of space. I did not want to sacrifice one seat on the third row. But eventually decided to let go and "Am I a Happy Man?"

Yesssssss sir!

Aroongupta - Congratulations on your upgrade. Have been following this thread as I am looking for a upgrade of my sound system in my new PS.

One Question I have - Since you replaced your stock Kenwood head unit (I guess it is the DDX-4031BT) model with the Pioneer 8690 BT, how did you manage to hook up the Navigation (MapMyIndia) to the 8690BT? My understanding is that it does not support Navigation. I really love the 8690BT but was wanting to keep the 4031BT for its navigation.

[Aroongupta]

No Navigation had to be sacrificed. For me it was not a tough decision. I hate MapmyIndia. Doesn't work for me. For me its Google Maps. So anyhow even with the kenwood, I would fix my smartphone to the dash mount stand and use that. With bluetooth it easily integrates to either of the HUs and getting voice directions on the car speakers is also not an issue. (But yeah you should have selected bluetooth as the music source in your HU)

As far as the choice between the two HUs is concerned, well I am very happy with the Pioneer. Its output and all round processing is much much better. I like it most because it plays FLAC and i dont keep any other music in my car now. 2 USBs are also a great advantage for me personally. If you are upgrading to a decent set of amps and comps and are a stickler for fine sound quality, I guess u will feel forced to change. Kenwood stock will not perform well. At higher volumes all it gives is noise. Too much of clutter of various frequencies!

So if you decide to upgrade, which if you are used to fine music, you will need to do, first install the trusted amps and speaker set and then tryout the stock. If it fails, you will have no option but to upgrade that. I guess navigation can be sacrificed. Start preparing yourself.