Team-BHP - UVA ICE! (Pio 7950U + Illusion Electra 6.1)

After months of research in the ICE section of the forum, I finally got my ICE done!!!

1. Pioneer 7950 Head Unit (9K Gray)
2. Illusion Electra 6.1 Compos (front) (6.5K with B&W)
3. Installation (0.7K)

The speaker sound quality is extremely good, neither too bassy nor too tinny, only pure and crisp sound :)

I took BlueRaven's advice in getting the ICE fitted. He suggested, we go to his trusted installer, and the man's done a wonderful job. The drivers have gone into the stock locations and the tweeters went into the door just below the glass. (Pics. to follow soon)

Neat job done- thanks to BlueRaven for your valuable time and advice!

Few problems I faced:

1. The UVA's doors are badly designed for speakers. If you fix the drivers in the stock locations, when you lower the glass panes, you can physically damage the speakers. BlueRaven's man used clamps so that the glass panes don't come down fully and damage the speakers.

2. The UVA build quality isnt so very good, the doors vibrate and rattle when I play at relatively loud volumes. Think I need to get some damping done on the doors around the speakers.

3. Since I have only the front compos, the sound stage's not so good. In the driver's seat the sound's OK - If I bend my head towards the gear knob, it sounds super ;-) I need some rear fill very soon. (Maybe in my next salary/ upgrade)

About the HU:
I haven't used many HUs until now; but here's my 2 cents- I've had absolutely no problems using the HU, Its extremely human (read dummy = me) friendly, is feature-rich (HPF settings, presets) and all I can say is that I'm impressed with the Pio.

About the compos:
Again, I haven't heard to too many compos but I'm mighty pleased with my Electra buy. The only problem with the Electra is the availability in Bangalore for auditioning. Thanks a million, Bass&Trouble! You went out of the way to help out! IOU one.

My next upgrade:
- Rear fill - probably 6x9 coaxes - Need to find out the best pair
- An amp to drive my compos!

Hey Amit! Congrats on the ICE.

Dont you have a 5.1? You mention a 6.1.

Can you post pics of the install? Why are you not able to roll down the window all the way? Is there scope to add a spacer ring and bring the speaker out a bit so that the glass stays clear of the magnet? Even the 5" speakers are very deep due to the huge magnet and need substantial mounting depth.

When you have your head in the center, you achieve the symmetry that you would have in a home audio setup. I'm assuming that is making the difference. But some pics would still help.

Cheers,

Ajay

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble (Post 578487)

Dont you have a 5.1? You mention a 6.1.

No da, I have the 6.1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble (Post 578487)

Even the 5" speakers are very deep due to the huge magnet and need substantial mounting depth.

Nah! Don't think there's any problem with the speakers. Acc. to BlueRaven and Gopz (Gopz was also there on the install day along with Nimz and me), that's nothing but bad GM-Daewoo engineering. A small glitch on their part, I agree, but a glitch all the same. I've deliberately mentioned this in my post, so that other UVA owners keep this in mind and learn from my experience :)

Actually, I wanted the install to be as unobtrusive as possible -BlueRaven's ensured that - the stock look is preserved - except for the newly installed tweeters. The crossovers are neatly tucked out of sight under the dash.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moralfibre (Post 578480)

would love to see some pictures of the install if you have clicked any

Though I had that specifically in mind, I forgot to pick up my camera on the installation day. Will click and post the ICE pics this weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble (Post 578487)

Can you post pics of the install? Why are you not able to roll down the window all the way? Is there scope to add a spacer ring and bring the speaker out a bit so that the glass stays clear of the magnet? Even the 5" speakers are very deep due to the huge magnet and need substantial mounting depth.

When we opened up the door pads I was quite shocked on how Chevrolet could provide a 6" Stock location without any space at all behind, and literally, the damn thing had just 1 inch gap between the speaker hole and the glass and almost no gap at the bottom, really weird, I wanted to take a snap, but forgot. There is no clearence inside the doorpad too, let alone the electra 6.5s, nothing I have seen till date will fit there, even in the Baleno or Ikon with some cuts and spacers 6.5" speakers with relatively deep magnets can go into the stock location, but this UVA was just plain weird. I would love to see an aftermarket speaker install where someone has an alternative in the stock location without limiting the glass frame, all of us can learn from it.:)
That limiting the glass is not a preferred install practice, but this was possible becase this was an entry level UVA and did not have power windows, cars with power windows we have to make custom pods on the exterior and door pads have to be cut in the process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EatMyDust

No da, I have the 6.1

Oops, sorry. Anyway, maybe you can take pics while you do the damping.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueraven316

When we opened up the door pads I was quite shocked on how Chevrolet could provide a 6" Stock location without any space at all behind, and literally, the damn this had just 1 inch gap between the speaker hole and the glass, really weird,

Hmm, interesting to know that. Had no clue about the UVA locations. I cannot think of a dumber location design. This makes it worse than the Indigo where there are two steel rings in mid air in the rear location right under the parcel tray.

Does UVA have a higher variant that comes with a stereo/ speakers? It'll be interesting to see what speakers they provide with it, in that case. Maybe passive radiators? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by moralfibre (Post 578540)

BlueRaven, your description of the door pads and speaker location gives me a thought that the U-VA demands a shallow mount midbass something like the Illusion Audio Luccent and the Carbon series.

I thought so too, but how shallow ? total depth of 1 inch from speaker basket to magnet ? Even the magnet circumferance has to be smaller than the electras as the glass converges towards the door frame at the bottom.

I wanted the stock look to remain, wouldn't prefer the speakers to jut out. Doesn't matter if the glass doesn't come down all the way.

FYI guys, the rear windows glass doesn't come down all the way by design :Cheering: Thank GM-Daewoo for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueraven316 (Post 578524)

That limiting the glass is not a preferred install practice, but this was possible becase this was an entry level UVA and did not have power windows, cars with power windows we have to make custom pods on the exterior and door pads have to be cut in the process.

I'm happy that deciding on buying the entry level car has gone my way!