[Eddy]

Sorry santosh, can't offer advice but something similar was discussed here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...mp-buy-us.html

[frankmehta]

1. Components: CDT audio CL62 ($150)
CDT Audio CL-62 - CDT Audio 6.5" 2 Way Component Speakers

never heard them, so wont comment. why not a brand that you can service in india just in case anything goes wrong? like image dynamics, or jbl power series or alpine type R?

2. Sub: CDT audio EF100 ($100)
CDT Audio EF-100 - CDT Audio 10" 500 Watt Cast Alloy Audiophile Versabox Subwoofer
I was initially thinking of 12" version, which is $20 LESS (due to clearance sell). But later looking at their response plots on cdtaudio website, it looked like 10" would have smoother "in-car" response than 12" which is more peaky. Also I believe 10" would generally be more precise/clean as compared to 12", though low on SPL and efficiency.

without listening to the speakers, its a gamble. for $100 you can get a Ground Zero sub in mumbai which i feel is the best sub below Rs. 8k. OR you could get the image dynamics CTX sub from usa.

3. Amp: Power Acoustik OV4-1600 ($120)
Power Acoustik OV4-1600
(the above page does not mention power number! refer to following instead)
Power Acoustik OV4-1600 - Power Acoustik 4-Channel 1600 Watt Amplifier

no power acoustik! please! for $120 you can get a good 2 channel mb quart or alpine or eclipse or pioneer amp supplying decent power to the compos. for another $100 you can get a BANG for your buck 2 channel for your sub!!!

4. HU: Clarion DXZ785USB ($130)
This is mouth watering! It is one of their high-end HUs with USB support, probably next to only HX-D2. It has many audiofile features, important ones being- 24-bit DAC (though not BB), 6V/6ch preouts, preamp disable, TIME ALIGNMENT, internal crossovers supporting active configuration. Plus I can optionally add quality bluetooth support (next item).
Amazon.com: Clarion DXZ785USB CD/MP3/WMA/ACC Receiver with CeNET Control, Time Alignment, 3-Way Crossover, Rear USB Port, Satellite Radio Ready: Electronics

greaaaaaaaat choice!

5. BT adaptor for the HU: Clarion BLT370 ($75)
This is not so cheap, but I need bluetooth (only for mobile, not steaming)
BRAND NEW 2009 CLARION BLT370 BLUETOOTH HANDS FREE NEW! - eBay (item 320347114750 end time Mar-12-09 10:04:49 PDT)

happy to hear you are getting the BT kit. fancy one myself!!!!!


Questions:

1. Equipments:
Is it a good choice? I am sure many people would have got ICE components from abroad, please suggest if you know of any better choices, WITHOUT stretching the budget (though I am open to small stretch of 10-15%, 20% max). I don't really want to spend a bomb on "diminishing" returns!

you made the right choice!!

2. Customs in India:
Is it necessary to keep original bills (as a proof to justify that things don't cross exempt limit)? Or just price tags on those items will do? In case of bills, is it important to have it in the name of person who is carrying it? (last one is a real stupid question, but anyway I need clarification!)

keep the original bills but shouldnt be a problem. pack the amps and comps in the checked in luggage and carry the sub with you!

3. Technical query regarding the HU:
The manual does not mention anything aoubt changing tuning to European mode (I mean Indian). However, I vaugely remembered somebody giving a "hidden" trick to do that. I digged it up, and by chance it happened to be regarding Clarion HU itself! Should be applicable to the HU in question as well. Refer to this post-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/ask-gu...tml#post264508
Just want to know if somebody has tried that and it really works. (Tried sending a PM to the person who posted that, but he doesn't seem to visit tbhp any more)

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man...020D785USB.PDF

heres the link to the manual. please read and post here too! lots of people want to know!

[DerAlte]

@santosh.s, you live in Bangalore and you want to get the speakers from US! At the prices you are getting the CDTs etc. in USD, you can get pretty decent components in INR in Bangalore itself, without having to worry about customs and service. And, you get to audition before buying, instead of having to rely only on others' judgement.

The HU, though, makes sense getting from US - very decent price for the feature complement. Don't worry about the BT adaptor - you can get one locally at about the same price.

[ankit_chd]

Components: CDT audio CL62 ($150)

One of the good component speakers , even i was considering to buy the same but was already over weight . Though u have many other options too. Look at Rainbow , Morel etc too.

[santosh.s]

Thanks for replies! There is nothing more to say about positive comments, but regarding negative ones, let me put my views:

Hearing versus "reading" reviews:
I personally feel like I am not "qualified" enough to make buying judgments based on auditions on my own. Because I strongly believe that one needs to have an exposure to the same quality audio systems for which purchase it targeted, and that too for an extended period. I have listened to many audiophile setups in passing, so I do have a vague idea. But that is far from enough I suppose. I know making judgments based on "reading" reviews is a gamble, but my selection was based on plenty of them, from different people and different sites. It was a collective opinion, not based on one off cases where the reviewer is going all praises or venting out his disappointments over problems (real or perceived) unfortunately faced. I have more confidence in the later approach. May be using CDTs for a couple of years would change things in future for good. Moreover, finding so many cars with required setups for audition is practically very difficult. Listening to speakers fitted in planks or boxes in showroom doesn't make too much of sense I believe.

Warranty/Service:
All the products listed come with warranty for an year or more (for US). That gives be me high confidence about their reliability. But when it comes to actually utilizing it, I think it is very very unlikely that something fails within warranty period (otherwise they wouldn't offer it!). The next likelihood is that something fails after warranty period, in which case warranty doesn't mean anything as it becomes a paid service.

Particularly for speakers, I don't know how important servicing would be. What fails? coil, cone, surround, spider? When they service it, does it really get back close to it's original performance? CDT does seem to have a dealer in Mumbai (Welcome to J & B Sound), but for an 8K speaker if servicing turns out to be 4-5K plus hassles, then I would anyway prefer to order a new one!

Buying speakers in India versus US:
I am sure we get decent components for 7-8K here. But for the same money one can have a pair belonging to a higher league, but of course at cost of warranty/service. It is a trade-off, and I would prefer 2nd option.

HU and BT:
That seems to be a unonimous, no brainer! Good for me.
Regarding BT, since the HU has "telephone mute" input, I have other options too. I can go for Clarion's "universal" model, or there may be even cheaper 3rd party options as well (need to check out). The most important BT features in my opinion would be- automatic mute/unmute, reliable device detection and loud n clear voice on both ends, followed by more of frills like caller ID display, voice dialing support etc.

Originally Posted by frankmehta

for $100 you can get a Ground Zero sub in mumbai which i feel is the best sub below Rs. 8k.

Some recent posts suggest that it has been discontinued? For local options, GZ and Bull were indeed on top of my list.

no power acoustik! please!

Any particular reason? I have "read" only good things about them, except here on tbhp. What was the comparison against?

for $120 you can get a good 2 channel mb quart or alpine or eclipse or pioneer amp supplying decent power to the compos. for another $100 you can get a BANG for your buck 2 channel for your sub!!!

Humm... you have already used up the quota for budget stretch! I know that is an usual symptom of SQ bug's bite. In my case it's a different breed, which keeps pushing me towards lower budget rather that the other way around

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man...020D785USB.PDF

heres the link to the manual. please read and post here too! lots of people want to know!

Referring to the manual was the first thing I did after knowing about this deal. That didn't help, there is no mention of switching tuning modes.

[joshguy]

Hi Santhosh,

If you are keen on a good ICE do visit this site.These people are best in chennai and i think you would spend 2 days in chennai for a wonderful life time experience .I have seen customers from BLR driving down to this shop for ICE.You can only see E/C/S class mercs ,Porshe,Proados here.(guess what i was there last saturday)

All the best man
:: Welcome to TECNOKRAT ::

[blueraven316]

Steer clear of Power acoustik amps, CDT components are supposed to be competition grade, and pairing with a Power Acoustik will be a joke. I have used some of their amps, you can be happier with JBL GT5 series amps compared to PA.
Seeing is believing, but since you say that you cannot figure out by auditioning something, you will learn with experience.
Buy where ever you want but don't get very impressed by technical specs put up by any brand, sound is entirely a different game, I have changed at least 10 Full scale audio setups in my own cars in the last 4 years. Even I learnt the hard way, so you will learn over course of time what your ears really need from the Audio
All the best!

[vikram18]

I have CDTs in my Civic. I love them. The imaging and clarity is superb as is the midbass kick.

[nitrous]

Off-topic:

Originally Posted by joshguy

Hi Santhosh,

If you are keen on a good ICE do visit this site.These people are best in chennai and i think you would spend 2 days in chennai for a wonderful life time experience .I have seen customers from BLR driving down to this shop for ICE.You can only see E/C/S class mercs ,Porshe,Proados here.(guess what i was there last saturday)

All the best man
:: Welcome to TECNOKRAT ::

No buddy, its the other way round .
But, myself, Esteem_Lover, flipsyde, MillionSword's friend, and quite a few more have driven 350 kms from Chennai just for an install.
I've been a customer of Technokrat. And I've helped a whole lot of Chennai BHPians with their ICE . Technokrat's USP is finish. ICE components, wiring, final sound quality,tuning take the backseat. Its not just Tk,but the entire ICE "specialists" in Chennai. Show me one audio enthusiast ICE "specialist" here.
Well, one of the greatest audio specialists in the country,Deepak Asrani used to run a small setup here. But, he's moved to Bangalore. :(
Here's a quote from another thread.

Originally Posted by im_srini

Chennai may be good at quite a few things, but I don't think car audio is one of them. The good installers (relatively speaking) are just plain haughty, even arrogant, to the point of being rude. The rest couldn't be bothered with the quality of their work. Case in point, the tweeter install in my car which is guaranteed to make children cry and give people nightmares !

If you ask me, if you're burdened with "sensitive" ears, and have the inclination and the resources for high-end audio (again, relatively speaking) - travel west to Bangalore for your install.

Cheers

[frankmehta]

Hearing versus "reading" reviews:
I personally feel like I am not "qualified" enough to make buying judgments based on auditions on my own. Because I strongly believe that one needs to have an exposure to the same quality audio systems for which purchase it targeted, and that too for an extended period. I have listened to many audiophile setups in passing, so I do have a vague idea. But that is far from enough I suppose. I know making judgments based on "reading" reviews is a gamble, but my selection was based on plenty of them, from different people and different sites. It was a collective opinion, not based on one off cases where the reviewer is going all praises or venting out his disappointments over problems (real or perceived) unfortunately faced. I have more confidence in the later approach. May be using CDTs for a couple of years would change things in future for good. Moreover, finding so many cars with required setups for audition is practically very difficult. Listening to speakers fitted in planks or boxes in showroom doesn't make too much of sense I believe.

the debate can go on and on! lol. anyways specs never mean nothing!
reviews do point you to a reliable product. but for all you know, it might not be to your liking. someone might LOVE the jbl components for their 'shiny' nature, but I personally cannot have the GTo608C/607C playing in my car (the power series is BRILLIANT). Someone who loves a lot of brightness might cringe at Illusion Audio Speakers! I agree that extended listening is the best solution, but buying speakers you haven't listened to at all is totally a gamble. You might love them , or, albeit unluckily might hate them too sometimes.
Just a pointer and no hard feelings against the brands!

Buying speakers in India versus US:
I am sure we get decent components for 7-8K here. But for the same money one can have a pair belonging to a higher league, but of course at cost of warranty/service. It is a trade-off, and I would prefer 2nd option.

i feel that buying the higher end models of NOT so high end Brands is a much better option than buying the Entry Level speakers of Higher end brands.

Some recent posts suggest that it has been discontinued? For local options, GZ and Bull were indeed on top of my list.

it looks like it HAS been discontinued, perhaps. But there is a model that is known as the TW30T from GZ. 8k is a good price for that sub!

Any particular reason? I have "read" only good things about them, except here on tbhp. What was the comparison against?

they are overrated amps and are good for SPL setups. you pairing PA amps with refined components like CDT is a crime! Right said satya!

Humm... you have already used up the quota for budget stretch! I know that is an usual symptom of SQ bug's bite. In my case it's a different breed, which keeps pushing me towards lower budget rather that the other way around

eventually you make the call. we can only give you good advice.

Referring to the manual was the first thing I did after knowing about this deal. That didn't help, there is no mention of switching tuning modes.

PM st anger. he is using the same HU!

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by blueraven316

Steer clear of Power acoustik amps, CDT components are supposed to be competition grade, and pairing with a Power Acoustik will be a joke.

Point taken! Even though I heard only good things, I am not sure if any of them were a part of high SQ setup. Can you suggest a few alternatives for <$150? Does the JBL that you mentioned fit here?

Looks like the clarion and CDTs should/will stay.

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by vikram18

I have CDTs in my Civic. I love them. The imaging and clarity is superb as is the midbass kick.

The crux of the matter! Almost all of the owners say exactly the same.


BTW, some time back, I had done some reading about how human brain perceive sound location/direction. I would like to share one thing that I learnt- even the world's best speakers can not duplicate directionality/imaging of the original source! To do that, we have to replicate sound heard by each ear, individually. While stereo recording and playback systems can do a pretty decent job, the real difficulty is in transmitting individual channel to concerned ear without affecting each other. It is inevitable that both ears hear sounds from both speakers. It can be done only through headphones, provided recording was also targeted for that. I had heard quite a few interesting recordings which illustrate the theory. Ones I remember are- a binaural recording of a barber making your hair cut, to be listened through headphones. It is funny too, you can precisely pinpoint where is scisor is! Another one was a digitally processed recording of natural instruments, to be listend through ordinary strereo speakers, but you have to sit on the centerline and at a specified distance. The processing would overcome the basic limitation mentioned above and the instrument would be placed far away from both speakers! Well that was too much OT!

In context of CDT, I guess excellent imaging probably relates to their special attention to "phase" among other technical things.

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Amazon.com: JBL Power Series P650c 6-1/2" component speaker system For 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" openings: Electronics

here you go! link for the JBL P650C

Is this regarding <$150 question? that was about amps, not speaker

[blueraven316]

I cannot really place any amp under $150 which would do justice to your components,
You can try amps like the

Infinity Ref475a (you need a good installer to tune this one, or it will sound horrible)
Scosche eFx HD4600 (Good SQ, most powerful in the pricing, 100 RMS @ 4 Ohms, PM Souljah for a review, he is running a pair of Illusion Lucents with this amp)
None of the other amps will have the brute force under $150 to bring those compos to life.

My ideal suggestion would be Increase your budget, try to get at least a JL Audio G4500 amp which is around $250. If not the power but the SQ will be taken care of.

[santosh.s]

Sorry, I just missed this post!

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Just a pointer and no hard feelings against the brands!

Whether I like it or not, follow it or not, I would be grateful for and respect each and every suggestion for sure

i feel that buying the higher end models of NOT so high end Brands is a much better option than buying the Entry Level speakers of Higher end brands.

Exactly! But some brands are more generous in terms of their entry level offerings. I perceive CDT and rainbow as probably best examples.

they are overrated amps and are good for SPL setups. you pairing PA amps with refined components like CDT is a crime! Right said satya!

As I mentioned earlier, I am re-thinking about amps part. Have about a week to decide.