Team-BHP - Queries in 'Ask the gurus' section

Quote:

Originally Posted by smally (Post 2578401)

4) Active subwoofer - Steelmate - 12000

hi eagles_ts. i am not an expert on this but i just happened to see the steelmate active subs a few days back in a friends santro. the sub looks attractive. but i thought it was a bit on the bigger side in terms of size (maybe it was the santro's boot that was playing truant :D). the sound was nice and crisp though. however my friend told me that he had got it for 20K!!! :Shockked: you seem to be getting a bargain or my friend was fleeced. i guess you will have to check it out for sound quality yourself and decide. in my opinion the active subs are fine if you have to make space in the boot often, else the passive subs are best for sound quality and fatigue free listening. hope this helps. cheers.

Thanks for the advise. 12k seems to be a great price, given what your friend paid ! Will let you know once I finalize the setup.

Audio Gurus, finally got the icing done on my dad's Ford Fiesta Classic TDCi on this Saturday from Ajay aka Bass&Trouble.
The stuffs that went in are:
HU>>Alpine CDE-121
Front speakers>>Morel Maximo 6.5" components.
Rear speakers>>JBL GT6-S699 6X9 3 way coaxial.
Very happy with the music system and components surely sound way better than coaxial.
"Thou shall be robbed", oh yes. Had an initial budget of Rs. 12,000 only. But after learning so much and understanding the technicalities of good sound, ended up spending Rs. 20,500. Thanks to all the audio gurus and specially Bass&Trouble, DelArte, ramie2400 and Navin for answering all my queries and having patience with me.
Have been busy with Mumbai University practicals exams, will later be putting up a detailed ownership thread and icing experience.
Thank you all.:)

Hi,

I am on the search of single din HU Kenwood KIV700/701 for punto in the place of DEH-p7950. I enquired for the KIV700 in bengaluru ICE market but they dont have. i find the same in ebay.in is that worth to buy? check the below link & help me to decide on HU.

Brand New Kenwood KIV-700 | eBay

If any one got HU in Bengaluru? if yes please reply with details of dealer & price.

Regards:)

1. Your Car: TATA Manza Aura+

2. Your current setup (If any): Stock system in place currently. Looking to upgrade speakers ONLY.

3. Your Budget: 25K

4. Do you drive most of the time or is it chauffer driven? Self-driven

5. Your Music preferences (Genres, favorite artists, etc.): Hard rock, Metal, Jazz, Instrumental and sometimes bollywood songs.

6. Are you ready to sacrifice your boot space/modify door panels?
Sacrifice boot space : Yes
Modify door panels : No

Since my car has steering mounted audio controls am not looking to change the HU. Drawback of this is that the OEM HU does not have RCA out.
Can the front components be driven off the HU directly or is an amp absolutely required? If amp required would I also need a hi-lo converter or what other options are available?

Currently require options for front components and rear ovals only. Currently not looking at a sub-woofer option. Will do that in stage 2.

Have not seen any speaker upgrades, with stock HU, to the Manza on this forum. Hence the separate query.

Please help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin (Post 2585432)

Boston is definitely better known than Steelmate.

3rd party OEM-like systems sarcrifice SQ for integration. That is the nature of the beast. The other option is to get a Alpine 650, MS8 or other processor and retain the OEM HU.

Navin, I am getting the E variant of Honda City which does not have a HU. Given your advise and my skepticism w.r.t Chinese brands like Caska I am now leaning towards Blaupunkt New York 800. Whats your take on the same ? Any other HU in the same budget worth looking at ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker (Post 2589059)

... Can the front components be driven off the HU directly or is an amp absolutely required? If amp required would I also need a hi-lo converter or what other options are available? ...

1. Yes, components can be driven by the HU internal amp directly. Of course there are limitations on how loud you can go without distorting - internal amps, which are usually 14-17Wrms have their limitations and distort fairly early

2. The advantage of an external amp are 2-fold
- They can play loud without distorting
- Even at moderate volumes, the power on tap allows music passages to come the way they were meant to be. Soft passages and loud passages are handled with equal felicity - that's headroom
External amps do make the listening experience much better than the internal HU amps

Some amps come with Level Converter built-in, some don't. Depending on which amp you pick, you may or may not need a Level or Line Output Converter. Check the amp specs in the manual - most manuals are available on-line, so you can check before deciding on the amp. 2-channel amps are much costlier per channel than 4-channel. There are a few (not always available off-the-shelf) VFM 5-channel amps, which allow one to avoid an extra amp for a sub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerAlte (Post 2591152)

1...There are a few (not always available off-the-shelf) VFM 5-channel amps, which allow one to avoid an extra amp for a sub.

Thanks DerAlte. Could you recommend some of the VFM 5-channel amp? If I get one at a reasonable price might even look at the sub option right-away.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker (Post 2591175)

Thanks DerAlte. Could you recommend some of the VFM 5-channel amp? If I get one at a reasonable price might even look at the sub option right-away.

Kenwood's KAC X50 or Infinity's 5350 might be your best bets. but usually a 4 ch+ monoblock are cheaper than a 5 channel amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin (Post 2592072)

Kenwood's KAC X50 or Infinity's 5350 might be your best bets. but usually a 4 ch+ monoblock are cheaper than a 5 channel amp.

Thanks navin. Will check the ones recommended by you.

Am leaning more towards the 5-channel one so that I will not have too many components on my ICE. Logic however tells me that a 4 Channel + Monoblock will be easier to procure and instal than the 5 channel one. Let's see where my search finally takes me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gancygana

hi sooper noobie here
all speaker manufacturers quote some price online. how many speakers does it include?

India JBLstupid:

Speakers always come in a pair. So you get 2 speakers for the quoted price.
Also the prices quoted online are in MRP & generally 15-20% more than the prevailing market price .

I am not sure if it warrants a new thread or not. Mods, please do the needful.

I have a system which has a HU, JBL Sub, Kenwood Amp and a set of Compos from Hertz. After listening to this setup for 4 years, I have started to feel that it doesn't sound as crisp & peppy as it used to sound during the earlier days.

I have checked everything and nothing is broken or rusty. I guess it just needs some cleaning but not sure how can I do it. Is this something I can do by myself or do I take professional help from any local shop? Can someone please help?

PS - I searched " Cleaning up ICE" but couldn't find any relevant thread.

Dear gurus,

I was pretty amazed to find a new baby standing in our stable when I returned from my training recently. It happens to be a wagon-R duo LPG 2011.

Now as far as the ICE is concerned.. I was asked on the phone in a general talk as to which HU would be better options were JVC, Kenwood, Alpine. Since I have heard alpine before so gave a nod for alpine. and as a part of the offer they were giving Kenwood/JVC speakers 6 Inchers.

The HU has bluetooth, USB and AUX. It has the stock feel with the maruti logo and alpine logo and completes the console. Now this unit happens to have only one pre-out as far as I have come to know.

I would be grateful if someone would advise me on the following :

1) how to go about fitting a set of rear speakers and/or a bass-tube/sub. I hardly find any space in the boot :eek:
2) should i go for a set of 6" ones for the rear also ?? which ones ?
3) which amp should i go for ?
4)If I'm happy with these two speakers from kenwood, what would all of you say for a basic 2.1 setup ?

budget of 10K for the rear speaker and amp setup. Image of the HU attached below. Mods, if I've posted in the wrong thread, please shift it to the correct section.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. sorry for the poor picture quality. took using a phone cam.