Team-BHP - Surround Sound Setup in SX4

Hello Everyone,

I am getting my SX4 ZXi in a few weeks and have decided to fulfill my dream of setting up a surround sound system in my car.

Don't like the ICE provided with the car(and don't like Maruti for not keeping it optional) so that will have to go.

I will be driving the car myself. I mostly listen to Hindi film music, Classic rock and a little bit of metal - Pink Floyd and Metallica being favorites.

I own quite a good collection of surround music discs in DTS and DVD-A.

My budget is around 20-25 K excluding the HU as I have already picked that up. The HU is JVC KD-AVX33. It has built in DTS and DD decoders and best part is that it plays DVD-A discs. It also has time alignment features.

I don't like the bass to be overwhelming but the system should not be found wanting for bass.

Have been going through the various threads for past few weeks and have started getting some idea on what to buy. However, it seems that it will be difficult in the budget I have.

Need you suggestions on selecting the rest of the setup.

Front Speakers - 6.5" Components from?
- Boston Acoustics (heard and liked them)
- Infinity (have to try it out)
- Hertz (not sure if available in Bangalore)
Rear Speakers - Components or Co-axial? SX4 comes with stock location in doors but for better surround experience should I put it in the rear shelf?
Amp - Have read a lot of good things about JBL 75.4 from the members of this forum. But then what to do for the sub and the center channel? Another amp? Please suggest
Sub - Would like the sub to go deep. Don't want to sacrifice the boot completely. Please suggest. I will be checking out the different options soon.
Center Speaker - Where to install that? Saw one neat install by Gunbir that was done just below the HU in the console.
Wiring and damping - Plan to go for damping in all doors and would like to use good but affordable wiring.

I think I will go over budget in setting up the complete system in one go. I am open to taking it in steps - maybe setup a 4-channel system and then upgrade?

Please provide your suggestions and share your experiences in setting up a similar kind of ICE system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deusex (Post 552026)

My budget is around 20-25 K excluding the HU as I have already picked that up. The HU is JVC KD-AVX33. It has built in DTS and DD decoders and best part is that it plays DVD-A discs. It also has time alignment features.

I don't like the bass to be overwhelming but the system should not be found wanting for bass.

Need you suggestions on selecting the rest of the setup.

Front Speakers - 6.5" Components from?
- Boston Acoustics (heard and liked them)
- Infinity (have to try it out)
- Hertz (not sure if available in Bangalore)
Rear Speakers - Components or Co-axial? SX4 comes with stock location in doors but for better surround experience should I put it in the rear shelf?
Amp - Have read a lot of good things about JBL 75.4 from the members of this forum. But then what to do for the sub and the center channel? Another amp? Please suggest
Sub - Would like the sub to go deep. Don't want to sacrifice the boot completely. Please suggest. I will be checking out the different options soon.
Center Speaker - Where to install that? Saw one neat install by Gunbir that was done just below the HU in the console.
Wiring and damping - Plan to go for damping in all doors and would like to use good but affordable wiring.

25K without HU means that you will eithr have to get JBL or similar priced front and rear speakers or drop the sub. Infinity/Boston/Hertz Hi-Energy would run you 15-20K for a pair of components and a pair of coax, leaving you just about enough for a small amp like the Blau GT4, Pio 6200 or JBL 60.4.

If however you get JBL CS series of speakers the front and rear speakers will cost you about 9K leaving you 16K for the amp and subwoofer (18K would get you a GT4-12 + 75.4).

Does your HU have an optical out? If yes, you can opt for a digital 5channel amp and speakers for now. You'll have to buy the amps on grey without warranty to keep your setup almost near to your budget. Later on, you can add another amp and Subwoofer.

Other option is to check if the HU provides full 5channel analogue out (I have seen and used some DVD HUs which claimed to be 5.1 capable and found it to be 2.1 downmixed in analogue mode). If yes, then you can buy a 5channel pioneer amp (hard to find) and speakers for now. Sub + amp will have to wait a bit.

For a good surround setup, it is necessary to spend atleast 50k (excluding the HU ofcourse) with some good damping, wires and equipment.

Perhaps if you go step by step you will be able to achieve your objectives:

Step 1: Change to some good speakers, drive them from the current HU. Of course, put in some sound dampening to remove the unwanted noise. Debug the problems out.

Step 2: Add an amp to make it sound really nice, driving all the channels separately from the amp (4 channels at least, + Center channel for future + Sub channel)

Step 3: Change the HU to get your ultimate 5.1 experience, add Center channel drive & the LCD screen, and bolo tara rara

This should take care of planning and fund sequencing. At each step you will be sure of what you will get.

My 2 bits.

PS: BTW, Hertz is available at Sprocket Koramangala (bang in the middle of the Kalyana Mantapam road, opposite the Allen Solly showroom; has many brands). But - unfortunately they don't audition anything but Sony :(. Best bet for auditioning will be to ask at Autofusion (near Kora Club) or PM the BLR stalwarts @blueraven, @mclaren etc. to help locate a place/vehicle to audition.