[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by shuvc

# :( I was hoping against hope that there might be some suggestions to go for 5.25s to enable me to stick to the budget. How much of a difference does it make ? Say if one compares JBL 607 with Infinity 5010/5020 ?

Believe me, the little extra you spend on 6.5" comps is worth it. There will be quite a bit of difference in the bass up-front. If I had to choose between the 607 and the 5020 (and there was no way I could get the 6020) I'd personally take the 607 and cut the highs at the crossover.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

...
One honest suggestion though. Please change your sub...

I'd say the same. Next upgrade, change the sub. And for this, it would be a good idea to plan ahead and get a 4-ch amp now.

[nura]

Originally Posted by shuvc

This is primarily 'coz @razor needed to go through the hassle of waybills for the speakers when they were coming into West Bengal.

I believe that if you use Speed Post instead of a courier service, you can avoid way bill hassles. Alternatively, you can ask your installer to use his way bill to get the stuff for you. I am sure he will oblige, as there will be a dealer's commission for him too. Why restrict your choice to locally available stuff?
If you want to demo Blau stuff, you can do it at their brandshop opposite the Ice Skating Rink. Open Tue through Sun, closed Mon. The TH series components probably come without crossovers. The Velocity series components have crossovers. There are two 6.5" models. priced 8.9K & 10.9K.
Boston components are also available in Kolkata & the distributor has a demo car. He will send it across to you if you want a listen.
I've just got some Hertz Hi Energies from Gunbir but haven't installed them yet. If you can wait a week or so, you can demo them in my car.
Have a whale of a time choosing! All the best!

[speedzak]

With your budget, the 607 is the best choice. It will not cross the budget limit after buying the amp too. But it is a bit bright to your liking.
Maybe NavinJi can make you a crossover which is to your liking.

You can try if your local dealer can get you Alpine Type S compos in grey.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by pugram

Why does ICE always be clueless.

Because more often than not, we don't know where to stop.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by hydrashok

Believe me, the little extra you spend on 6.5" comps is worth it.

I'd say the same. Next upgrade, change the sub. And for this, it would be a good idea to plan ahead and get a 4-ch amp now.

Ok. Done. Not looking at 5.25s anymore.
I am in all probability sold on the 60.4. But it may not be the best choice to power a sub later on, right ? Anyway, will think about upgrading the sub next year !! So, 60.4 it is now.

Originally Posted by nura

I believe that if you use Speed Post instead of a courier service, you can avoid way bill hassles.

There are two 6.5" models. priced 8.9K & 10.9K.

Boston components are also available in Kolkata & the distributor has a demo car. He will send it across to you if you want a listen.

I've just got some Hertz Hi Energies from Gunbir but haven't installed them yet. If you can wait a week or so, you can demo them in my car.
Have a whale of a time choosing! All the best!

@nura - this is great news for me ! Did you get your Hertzs shipped smoothly ?

The Blau prices you've mentioned. Are they for the Velocity compos ?

Aren't Bostons verrry expensive ?

Finally, where will you be installing your setup ?

Originally Posted by speedzak

With your budget, the 607 is the best choice. It will not cross the budget limit after buying the amp too. But it is a bit bright to your liking.

Do the Infinity 6010cs have relatively less brightness ?

[low_bass_makker]

You can get the Illusion Shipped there also. You can contact Razor for the same. I think it would not be a problem...

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by shuvc

Do the Infinity 6010cs have relatively less brightness ?

Compared to the 607, yes it does.

[nura]

Originally Posted by shuvc

@nura - this is great news for me ! Did you get your Hertzs shipped smoothly?

Yes.

Originally Posted by shuvc

The Blau prices you've mentioned. Are they for the Velocity compos?

Yes.

Originally Posted by shuvc

Aren't Bostons verrry expensive?

If my memory serves me right, Boston components range from 6K to 45K.

Originally Posted by shuvc

Finally, where will you be installing your setup?

Planning to get it installed by somebody who used to work for Mirania once upon a time & now freelances. With a lot of help from M/S Gunbir & Jasdeep of course.

[navin]

Originally Posted by shuvc

...As of now, I know he stocks JBL, Pio, Kicker, Blau, Infinity, i.e. to name the ones, that I've seen are preferred on the forum.

- Upgrade : Get new front components
- Upgrade : Get a 4-ch amp....
JBL 60.4 - Approx 7K w/o B&W
Pio 6200 - ??
Blau GT4 - ??...

On a budget of 12K I'd spend 6K for the Blau GT4 (or the Pio 6200 or 60.4 if they are cheaper) and 6K for the 607. Infinity wont leave you enough for a good amp.

Later when you upgrade your sub and get that monoblockamp you always wanted you can shift the 607 to the rear and get Infinity, Illusion, etc... for the front.

BTW this brightness thing is relative. I know some who complain that the JBL are NOT bright enough on the other hand I found the Inifnity to be a bit bright.

[shuvc]

Keeping the target budget in mind AND based on all the inputs here (thanks) AND loads of reading up in the ICE section (phew, there's still a lot to go through), the most probable setup looks like

GTO 607C - 6K
JBL 60.4 - 7K
Wiring - 2K

That adds up to 15K. And then the heart wants to add on Rear 637s for 3.5K. Might take a rain check on that.

18.5K and I add yet another JBLfyd car to the list and at the same time doing a lot of justice to the orange-jbl-car-hangy-thingy I received from Sam, which has since been doing duty, hanging from the RVM.


A few more Qs.
1. The Kenwood 4029. I am not sure about the speaker connectivity it provides. I think it has one Pre-Out and maybe direct speaker outs for front and rear speakers. The manual does not have a layout of the rear. In the specs it does have figures for Pre-Out Level and Impedance. Can anyone confirm the speaker connectivity options of this HU ?
The Soomoku was fitted prior to car delivery in my absence, so I don't know how it is connected. What I have observed is that if I fade to only the front front speakers, the sub dies. It seems to work proportionately with the volume dB level of the rears.

2. Assuming it has a pre-out. Is this the desired connection setup ?
- The HU pre-out is connected to the 60.4
- The 607Cs are connected to 2 channels of the 60.4
- The existing Kenwood rears (or if I'm crazy enuff, the 637s) to the other 2 channels of the 60.4
- Now the active Soomoku. Does the 60.4 have a pre-out ? Should the sub be connected to this ?

3. @Sam, this one is for you. Hope you visit this thread soon.
- Is Glix still the official JBL dealer in Kolkata ? The FXAudio site says so, but the July 07 Autocar back page ad says 'Pace Auto and Accessories'. What is the current JBL status wrt Glix ?
- If it is Pace, would you know if they have good installation expertise ? Anyone in particular I should speak to there ?

[razor4077]

Originally Posted by nura

I believe that if you use Speed Post instead of a courier service, you can avoid way bill hassles. Alternatively, you can ask your installer to use his way bill to get the stuff for you. I am sure he will oblige, as there will be a dealer's commission for him too. Why restrict your choice to locally available stuff?
If you want to demo Blau stuff, you can do it at their brandshop opposite the Ice Skating Rink. Open Tue through Sun, closed Mon. The TH series components probably come without crossovers. The Velocity series components have crossovers. There are two 6.5" models. priced 8.9K & 10.9K.
Boston components are also available in Kolkata & the distributor has a demo car. He will send it across to you if you want a listen.
I've just got some Hertz Hi Energies from Gunbir but haven't installed them yet. If you can wait a week or so, you can demo them in my car.
Have a whale of a time choosing! All the best!

Hi Doc! Long time no hear. Good to hear about the Hertz speakers that you've purchased. When do we get a demo?
As far as the waybill issues are concerned, I have seen it is a matter of luck. Sometimes they hold up your stuff, sometimes they don't. This is applicable to Speed Post, Courier, JetCargo, surface transport.. whatever.
I was unlucky on most counts with the stuff I had to ship in for the Lancer, but clearly there are exceptions (as in your case!).
Post some pics when the install is done.

@shuvc: 75.4?? another one bites the (ICE) dust

[shrivz]

Originally Posted by navin

On a budget of 12K I'd spend 6K for the Blau GT4 (or the Pio 6200 or 60.4 if they are cheaper) and 6K for the 607. Infinity wont leave you enough for a good amp.

The Illusion Audio Electra series are a fine set of speakers. Personally, I found them to be way better than JBL and Infinity Reference. I've heard them in B&Ts WagonR and now, moralfibre's Palio.

Last night, while coming back from Bombay after the install in moral's car, I was mighty impressed with those speakers. He switched to Illusion from the Infinity Reference Series, and is currently running them off the same HU and amp which was used to drive the Infinity components. There's a world of a difference in SQ.

I really cant comment on the amps, since I havent heard any of them.

Personally, I'd advise you to change your HU instead of getting an amp. And you could go for 6x9 ovals for the rear instead of 6"
You could always add an amp at a later date. I feel that the OEM Kenwood HU is not at all good and it really isnt going to make much of a difference besides more power handling capability by adding an amp.

I think the MRP for Illusion EL6.1 is Rs. 6490/- (6.5" components)
and Illusion EL693 is 5250/- (6x9/- ovals)

Another thing I noted was that the Illusions have bigger magnets and have a superior build quality compared to the JBLs.

But at the end of the day, this is my opinion. You need to hear the speakers and then deicide what suites your taste!

cheers!
Shrivz...

[hydrashok]

I'm not trying to push your budget up here, but just mentioning a couple things for you to consider

a) I don't think the CS60.4 has aux-output (I just checked the manual and couldn't find this feature mentioned). Adding that Mono later for your future sub will need to be done through a 'Y' connector. The 75.4 can do aux-out.

b) If you get a 75.4 now, you don't need another amp later. So the question of aux-out is moot. And you will save quite a bit of green when you look at the total spend on ICE.

c) I personally think if you skip the 637s now, and use the money on a 75.4, you'll end-up happier after you swap the Soomoku for a proper sub. ("Proper" = personal prejudice, not based on fact. No offense intended to Soomoku users.)

d) If you get a 75.4 now, you'll also save a bit on power wiring and on 1 RCA. You'll also save on a bit of additional installation charges later.

e) The 75.4 will give perceptibly better results with the 607c (as compared to the 60.4). Even if you go for a different make of speakers in front (something other than the 607c), I think amp-wise, you should think beyond the 60.4. The 75.4 will make better speakers sound better than the 60.4 will.

f) You can probably consider upgrading the sub in the next upgrade, rather than the rear speakers. You'll get get a mostly rounded-off ICE system as soon as you do that (esp. as you drive, rather than get driven). I'd in fact suggest leaving the Kenwood speakers alone forever, if you want to keep the total amount spent on ICE to the minimum.

g) If available, I think you can also consider the new limited edition 4060 amp. It falls bang in between the 60.4 and the 75.4, at 10K.

So overall, even if you spend just a little more now, you'll end-up spending less in the long run.

If the Soomoku fades with the rears, I have the sneaky feeling it was given speaker-level input, running in parallel with the rear speakers (and the one pair of pre-outs on the HU were not used). You can confirm this by checking whether there is an RCA cord giving input to the Soomoku. If there is, then it is powered by that pre-out and not at the speaker level. Maybe the pre-out of the HU is for the rear only? (I don't think this is likely).

[low_bass_makker]

I tend to agree with Hydra here..Get a new HU it will also cause the over all SQ to improve. As the OEM hu is a basic unit.

[filcord]

Hallo Shuvc, I'm also in the process of upgrading my Baleno ICE. My budget is of course a little more modest. Am going in for JBL 637 co-ax in front powered off my trusty Pioneer 4750 , 937 ovals at the back powered off a 2-channel JBL for the rears. My install will be done on the 11th.

I have never liked the thump of a sub, and I once owned a pre-owned car that had a similar set-up that sounded very good for the few years I had it.

Will report once all is in place. Any advice for me on the cabling Gurus?