[Rtech]

What are the differences, pro's and con's of each? Which would be a better buy considering the driver is not an audiophil, but just wants some decent sound.

Some say components in the front with coaxial at the rear is a good compromise if budget is an issue, as you don't want the rear to drown out the front.

Another pro of components is that it's easier to find a decent one to fit the standard space given for the speaker (about 6.5" front/5.5" rear).

Who would you rate as the best - worst manufacturers here? And where does JBL fit into that list?

Any opinions from the audio guru's here (I know there a lot!)?

[muni]

If someone is gonna respond ...kindly give the prices+ installation charges also . That would be useful/helpful for us.

[viper]

Hey Rtech,

I'll try and answer your query even though i'm not a guru. Components are definitely better if you want clarity. They are also a costlier option and can handle power more effectively.

As far as the worst/best manufacturers go I dont think most of the products available are manufactured, they are mainly imported either in CKD or as a whole. To the best of my knowledge i'll list the brands sold "officially here in India.
1> Sony 2> JVC 3> Alpine 4> Kenwood 5> Panasonic 6> Clarion 7> Blaupunkt 8> Nakamichi 9> Sound Stream 10> Kicker 11> Rockford Fosgate 12> JL Audio 13> Cervin Vega 14> Boston Accoustics 15> Earthquake 16> ORION 17> a/d/s 18>Precision Power 19> Pyle 20>JBL

Out of these the worst would be Clarion and the best would be a/d/s.
However only the first 9 brands manufacture a full range i.e. head units,changers, spkrs etc whilst the rest manufacture everything other than the head units. Jbl fits into the bottom of the above list. Hope I have answered your question satisfactorily.

Viper

[viper]

Originally Posted by muni

If someone is gonna respond ...kindly give the prices+ installation charges also . That would be useful/helpful for us.

Hey muni,

It is very difficult to post prices as the list is too large. However as a point of reference you can get a basic MP3 setup with 4 speakers, antenna and fitment for approx. Rs 8000/-. The sky is the upper limit depending on the brand . Basic installation charges range from Rs150/- and can go as high as Rs25,000/- depending on what you install and what materials you use.

Cheers,

Viper

[navin]

i dont know much but what i know is....
it is best to hear the speaker in the car as everyone has different tastes, cars, expectations etc. i know this is a vague answer so i wil give you my expereinces and you can infer what you like from that. all of my recent experiences have been with components.

Today I would choose between Alpine, Blaupunkt and JBL. Between these 3 I have prefered Alpine. I consider these 3 to offer the best price-performance ratio of what is available easily in india.

If one wants to get crazy one should consider a/d/s, boston and polk. I would list MB Quart too but i think they have gone under.

I have not heard Rockford at length to comment on them.

and is you dont really have a budget then vifa, focal, etc.. are available but these would have to be imported by the car owner. i dont know any one who officially sells vifa car speakers in india. Corrson in bangalore sells Vifa TC series of home drivers so you can ask them if they can help.

as far as coax speakers got he one co ax that has impressed me (few do) is the Alpiine 690A.

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by Viper

Jbl fits into the bottom of the above list.

You mean to say JBL makes lousy speakers?? I always thought they were one of the better companies out there?!?

I'm looking at JBL GTO 506Ce (6.5") fronts and GTO606Ce (5.25") rears to begin with. They fit in the OE speaker positions and sound decent, if a little lacking in bass. Will probably add a tube a bit later.

Price for these components come upto Rs.11,500/- inclusive of fitting. Decent price?

[vivaid]

hey RTECH...

my baleno has a alpine HU and JBL GTO series speakers - both 3 way - in the front and in the rear... and to a great deal i too have requirements like urs....

an important factor in fitting music systems is also the interior dynamics of the car.. which will to a great deal determine the accoustics...

since u are in mumbai... would suggest that u visit Chandrika Electronics... near portuguese church, dadar... the guy, mr shetty over there.. is an audio freak himself and more importantly is technically knowledgable guy in contrast to the regular traders.... not to forget.. he has some mind blowing system combinations to his credit...

if u happen to be in the fort side of town.. u cud have a peek at my config too...

and yes. if you want to go in for component speakers in the front.. go in for alpine.. cost some 8 grand.. but is mindblowing...

cheers..

[navin]

alpine is good. polk, a/d/s, boston are better. vifa and focal are better still. blaupunkt and JBL are almost as good as alpine but i find alpine laid back HF nicer. if you prefer a brighter sound maybe JBL or blaupunkt will suit you better. i think blaupunkt is very good VFM for component speakers.

I have used alpine, polk, a/d/s, boston and vifa at one time or another all of them made me happy.

[Edmund]

Originally Posted by viper

Hey muni,

It is very difficult to post prices as the list is too large. However as a point of reference you can get a basic MP3 setup with 4 speakers, antenna and fitment for approx. Rs 8000/-. The sky is the upper limit depending on the brand . Basic installation charges range from Rs150/- and can go as high as Rs25,000/- depending on what you install and what materials you use.

Cheers,

Viper

My understanding in the acoustics dept. are nill and since im looking for a really basic and affordable setup could you elaborate on the bold text that i have quoted.......anyone for that matter.....!!!

[iceman91]

yes, an ideal set up is of components in the front and a good set of triaxials at the back. this is when you are the driver and looking at front seat sound. here the back speakers are fill ins. if you are concerned about all round sound then can go for components in the front and back.
good components for VFM i would say BOSTON or RF the fanatic series. get them for 8k..while a good set of speakers will cost the same. (sorry but i do not consider pioneer or sony speakers good)
components give much better vocals and a crisper base..for the low frequencies you need a sub. they have very good timbre and are pleasant to the ears.
my ideal system setup for a sedan is:
1. components of 125 rms power at front
2. components of 75 rms min. or triaxialls at 100 rms. at the rear.
3. a dedicated 4 channel amplifier
4. a sub which is driven by a monoblock.

regards to the ratings of the components manufacturers i would say this:
1. FOCAL KEVLAR SERIES
2. DLS
3. AUDIOBAHN
4. BOSTON
the above four are high end and give you what you pay for.
5. ROCKFORD FOSGATE
6. ALPINE
7. A/D/S
8. MB QUART (not the current fake ones which have flooded the market)
these are a grade lower then the first 4 but are to suit a lower budget.
will not recommend any ohter brands to a friend...no jbl,pioneer,sony,polk etc.

[devarshi84]

Greetings from the boyracer.

A system is the heartbeat of a sports cars.But it is very necessary for the system to be perfect and be done by a perfect tehnician.If the system is overdone like two woofers in the car then it is again not going to be of any use.the best setup would be

1. Sony/blaupunkt/alpine headunit(no mp3's here please)
2. two 4" front speakers (looks for kevlar cone and not paper ones)
3. two tweeters attached with the front ones
4. Two co-axials at rear (4 way or 5 way preffered )
5. A 8" or 10" woofer with bi-amps(depends on the money you have)


the above system will be enough in any car.preffered brands are boschmann,rockford,blaupunkt,jbl,kenwood,pioneer,( best to worst in order)

cheers
Boyracer

[navin]

Iceman you forgot Vifa! and Blaupunkt :-) and besides I hear MB Quart (the official one) is in liquidation so any MB Q that is out there might be fake. Be very careful.

Devarshi,
1. almost all HU (other than NAK) have Mp3 facility.
2. front speakers will be limited to what fits in the froont door, kick panel or what ever place the manufacturer sought suitable. Many of these locations are limited in depth so one has to work around that limitation as well (either sing shallow drivers or spacer rings).
3. tweeters should be from the same component set to match voice, sensitivity, etc.
4. i find that in many cases having coaxials in the rear actually detract from the sound. The resons could be becuase coaxials are not often built to the same exacting standards set for components. coxials are a good stand in but beware of turning them up too much. in short fade to the front"
5. There is no law that say 1 sub is better than 2 or vice versa. It usually depends on the location of the sub and the acoustics of the car.

At the risk of repeating myself (my senile mind does not remember if I have said this before)

HU: preferably with seperate sub out and 4V pre outs (better S/N ratio) real wordl budget 10-20K
Front speakers: Best components you can afford real world budget 6-15K
Rear Speakers: Use stock till you can afford components (free)

You can have a good starter system for about 16-35K. I know this is huge range but then so are the cars we drive (800 to Ferrari) and our incomes (mine-Mr. U know who). :-)

1st Upgrade:
4 channel amp

2nd Upgrade:
Active sub or 2

3rd Upgrade:
Components for the rear

beyond that you can have DSPs, 5.1, Screens, DVD changers and have a ball. If however you dont have a system that can play music well all this is mute.

[devarshi84]

Hey Navin ,

Not the car audio scene has changed a lot.What I wanted to point out is that mp3 music is not preferred as most mp3 cd's are pirated.I would recommend one with memory cards like memory stick and sd cards though like Blaupunkt provides.

2. Almost all cars (I dont think there are any exceptions) come with 4 inch slats in the doors or in the dash .I have not seen a different size until now.

3. Agreed on ur 3rd point .

4. I would recommend you get the co-axials reinstalled as they are able to repoduce the low frequncy sonds better and over sound quality is crisp and clear too(not by a gr8 margin though)

5. Agree again but A big one instead of two is personally recommended due to various reasons.

The configuration I gave was for a normal audio system.A friend of mine has spent 1.75 lacs on the audio system in his Mondeo(replaced the old crappy system ) But I can never match that .Doesnt mean my system sounds crappy.

Cheers
Boyracer

[navin]

Dev,

Sure I think MP3 CDs as well as most MP3 available on Kazza, Limewire etc. are poor. I use EAC and LAME to create my MP3s. A SD RAM / Compact Flash based machine would be sooooo much nicer. I did not know they were available. WOuld love to know the brands and model numbers.

My car (Octavia) took 6" woofers in the front and so did my Opel Astra (albeit slim line). My wife's Sail takes 5"woofers in the front and the space is deep enough for a Vifa!

[johnjacob]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Not the car audio scene has changed a lot.What I wanted to point out is that mp3 music is not preferred as most mp3 cd's are pirated.

That's not an issue if you burn your own (I do). This way I get more songs on the same CD, with no noticeable deterioration in quality.