[heydj]

Hi All,

I have been planning to write this for quite some time but got delayed by about 6 years. Last time wanted to do this for ICE upgrade in my Swift. Nevertheless here we go, will try to keep it short and to the point as I feel less is more!

Car I have: Skoda Rapid Elegance Plus TDI AT Sept 2015 model.

Music Genres I listen to: Progressive Trance, Trance, Techno, Deep House, House, EDM, and Alternative Rock.

I wanted to retain OEM HU as I was satisfied by the same but wanted to upgrade speakers without loosing on warranty. Hence decided to get coaxial speakers, my thought process was 3-way speakers should be good enough and I will not have to touch wiring.

So got Rockford Punch series P-1675 speakers for all four doors.

http://www.rockfordindia.com/punch-2...aker-p-22.html

Initially listening to trance music was okay and great improvement over stock speakers. I liked the boost in bass and more treble output, but after listening for 2 weeks I was convinced this was not for me. Problem areas were not clarity in vocal or treble, poor response in deep house music as bass did not go low enough for my liking.

Decided to upgrade and this time get complete setup. In my Swift I have Bull Audio components, Kenwood HU, Kenwood Class D 4 channel amp, and Image Dynamics sub-woofer. For quite some time I kept on thinking about getting all stuff from swift and install in rapid. Ultimately did not do so as sound system in sedan can never match SQ of hatch so why spoil perfectly good setup.

So the hunt started for new system and after lot of online research and asking multiple questions form Crutchfield staff, fellow bhpian general_neo, audio install shop Driven, and Gunbir decided to not get active sub-woofer, DSP, or amp from Swift. Instead got following things:

Rainbow Dreamline Components Dl C6.2
Retained Swift ID woofer in sealed enclosure.
Digital Design Class AB A4 amp
Rockford hi-low converters
8 Gauge wiring by Rainbow sub brand AVI
Rockford Power Kit

Total Damage 34K - Installation by Driven.

It took 8 hours to get system installed in my Rapid and its been 8 days so far.

Few observations:

As HU has limited controls hence controlling bass of woofer from amp, have kept it a bit low and when I want a bit more thump I use fader and slide towards rear. (I removed rear speakers)

In components have set crossover at mid but still feel treble is bit too much, I have set treble at -3 from HU. I miss frequency controls in OEM HU.

With these settings trance and techno sound heavenly but for deep house and progressive trance have to use bit more fader to add woofer punch.

Bass is quite punchy and not boomy, amp is quite good as sound is not very bright. I auditioned Rainbow Beat 4 amp but preferred DD amp as its less bright and makes my front end blend with rear end sound.

Linkin Park sounds quite good but makes me wish even more for frequency controls in OEM HU. Else rock music is fine, my favorite band Kings of Leon sounds quite good.

My HU was not touched during install and instead connections were taken from speaker place.

Next I am thinking of getting a DSP but will most probably skip it. As for damping so far did not feel any need, might get in future.

Overall I am quite satisfied, is there room for improvement of course!

I still prefer swift SQ as there is a dedicated HQ and woofer bass in hatch will always sound better than a sedan.

This is it from me, any questions please ask.

[patron]

Why not change the HU too? The HU is pretty basic for any kind of tweaking.

[heydj]

Originally Posted by patron

Why not change the HU too? The HU is pretty basic for any kind of tweaking.

I like the OEM HU with steering controls etc. Plan is to buy DSP if at some time in future I feel HU is not enough.

In my view getting a DSP is better investment then HU as these days its difficult to remove OEM HU but much easier to just add a DSP. Moreover if person changes car then no need to keep buying HU's instead just take your DSP along.

[::CMS::]

If source is not proper no DSP can make it correct, its simple theory.. Garbage In >> Garbage out

[heydj]

CMS - I would disagree on this, the whole concept of DSP in cars today is to help customers retain OEM HU. As for your garbage theory - OEM HU these days are far from that, its not as if we are talking about 70's tape recorders. Moreover if other things in chain such as bit rate of audio files, connecting wire between audio source to HU, speakers, woofer, damping, wiring, amp, woofer are good then DSP can make a difference

Garbage out will be an effect if one is to not change anything in car, use 96 bitrate file, has lot of road noise, rattling, bad wiring, cheap aux cables. Then even DSP cannot do anything, after all its not a miracle worker!

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

I too have a similar setup. I have retained the stock HU of the Vento and went with Rainbow Dreamline Components in the front. In addition I have an older 4 channel Alpine amp with Rainbow Dreamline sub. I do feel the need of a Mono Amp for the sub, but the setup is okay as of now.

CHEERS!!

Rachit