[gendarmee]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Give the installers an earful.
Thats the worst way to install speakers.
You need to install them with spacers.

Yes, It was a trigger happy reaction when i decided to get the HU and speakers replaced. The situation was that no one at minister road was ready to let me listen to the speakers before deciding except sony, JVC and a few other no-so-popular brands.(I didnt know anything about anything either) A friends' aquaintances' shop, promised that I wouldnt be disappointed. As it was long pending, I went ahead. dropped the car and picked it up after the job was done. Got a good discount as well, so cant give him an earful now. 'have to get it fixed right.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Your speakers seem pretty OK from the looks of it. But, now you have to either gather courage to do some modifications yourself, or go to a better installer. The fact that the current installer had set the XO to +3dB speaks volumes about his thinking.

1. Get some 19mm MDF spacer rings for 5.25" - ...

6. Mount the doorpad back, and fit the original speaker mesh cover on the speaker frame (it is usually a press fit)

Thank you very much for the Promt reply. It gave me a clear cut idea as to whats to be done.

As finding time is difficult through the week, and MDF rings had to be picked up from Minister road, I figured I could get this done at one of the competent-looking stores. Everything on the step-by-step procedure is clear, except for the fact that after the door card is fit there is another piece of plastic that goes over it. That piece will not fit if the ring is too large. So, though these professional-looking guys could do a better job making it all fit - stopped by FastTracks.

Explained everything to them, got a positive reply so asked to start to work Thought nothing could go wrong. 5 people started working on the 2 doors and I went inside for about 10 mins and came out seeing that the door is getting hammerred with a metal hammer( pics attaced). The speaker wells are messed up now, and have more holes in them. After I made them stop they said MDF rings cannot be fixed w/o doing this. The also corrected the crossover wiring, now the HU output goes to the woofer andfrom there to the crossover then to the tweeter. Worse part, the speakers are touching the glass even with the 2 nuts now. Gave these guys an earful. They said only 4inch speakers fit, so I am trying to mis-match speakers, MDF wont work here either.Was suggesed to get 4" 2 way focal brand speakers. And I though nothing could go wrong. The speakers are fixed with double sided tape and some rubber bushes for adding space. Polarity is messed up too, and the sound bad - back to square 1.

I guess the next three Sundays will go into correcting this. I did get extra pair of MDF rings for 5.25" speaker size and checked if they'd fit. They are slightly larger than the front base of the speaker, again it'd be like mounting the speakers just by the 4 mount points. I'll have to get pieces of MDF from a hardware store for the purpose. that. Box cutter + a metal file do a good job though.



(The Right side speaker's rubber is slightly damaged. I'm guessing we cannot replace the rubber, will have to get new speakers.)

Found another problem. The rear speakers are fixed to a carpetted MDF ring(installed at the showroom prior to delivery), but the ring isnt fixed to the body, if one lifts the speaker up the speaker along with the matting rises up.

A rant post, I guess. pretty unhappy about the turn of events.

[condor]

Originally Posted by gendarmee

.. the door is getting hammerred with a metal hammer( pics attaced). The speaker wells are messed up now, and have more holes in them. After I made them stop they said MDF rings cannot be fixed w/o doing this. The also corrected the crossover wiring, now the HU output goes to the woofer andfrom there to the crossover then to the tweeter. Worse part, the speakers are touching the glass even with the 2 nuts now. Gave these guys an earful. They said only 4inch speakers fit, so I am trying to mis-match speakers, MDF wont work here either.Was suggesed to get 4" 2 way focal brand speakers. And I though nothing could go wrong. The speakers are fixed with double sided tape and some rubber bushes for adding space. Polarity is messed up too, and the sound bad - back to square 1.

@gendarmee, that job was botched. It is a pretty simple install.

5.25" will fit. I am using Boston Audio's in my Ikon. Spacer rings required. But only 5mm (or so). Check the last pic here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post1284645

Your original installation had the speakers '"spaced" using nuts ! That is absolute nuts !!

I had got my installation at Satya's here. He had the regular size (thickness) spacer rings, so he cut it into half to get the 5mm rings.

I have my tweeters near the ORVM adjuster knob, and the woofers in the stock location. I would suggest to retain the tweeters at this location & not on the door pad - just to keep it closer to ear level. One thing you could do is to have one of those angular facing tweeter mounts, so that they are pointed towards the listeners than to each other.

You should not need the foam that you have used. The door pad in my car looks to be pressing to a small extent, but that is something I am ok with.

The wiring from HU first goes to the Cross-Over before splitting to the tweeters & woofers. I think the wiring in your set up is wrong. The cross-over serves to split the frequencies, and sends the appropriate frequencies to the respective speakers.
(Guru's - pls correct me if I am wrong here).

One thing that I couldnt close was the gap at the bottom of / below the speaker grille isnt completely closed.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by gendarmee

... Thought nothing could go wrong ...

Good Lord!!! Commisserations, @gendarmee. Looks like they didn't understand your instructions at all, or never had any intention of following them. The minute you turned your back they would have jumped to the opportunity of showing their prowess ... in doing something dumb!

No, you wouldn't need pieces of MDF at all, though you would definitely need a rasp or wood file to file away parts of the MDF ring that interfere. Don't work anymore on the door metal sheet - just let it be.

"but the ring isnt fixed to the body": What do you mean the ring isn't fixed to the body? Were the speakers fixed to the rings and just placed there (would have rattled albeit softly if you went over potholes), or were some of the speaker screws going through the ring and into the body metal? The 2nd case isn't too bad - I think they avoided making extra holes to screw the ring separately.

[archat68]

I have a Kenwood HU with front JBL 609C component in my Swift. The components are directly powered by the HU. There are two unknown co-axials in the rear doors (doesn't matter as I am the sole occupant most of the time).

I'll be going to change the wiring of my ICE (while checking I found it was patched in many places).

My question is: will the addition of an amp in the current setup increase the SQ? I'm not planning to install a sub. I don't like the thump. I like natural sound. Mostly listen to bollywood and old english pop.

If yes which amp?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by archat68

I have a Kenwood HU with front JBL 609C component in my Swift. ... will the addition of an amp in the current setup increase the SQ? ...

Yes, it will, since you will get more power into loud passages - and this will increase the dynamic range of your system.

Look for a Kenwood or JBL amp - should cost you ~6K.

Originally Posted by archat68

... I'm not planning to install a sub. I don't like the thump. I like natural sound. ...

A sub is *not* about thump! Leave that for people who want to show off.

Do you realize that without the sub you are leaving out crucial parts of music that was originally meant to be heard? 'Natural' would mean listening to all the components of music as it was engineered to sound.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Look for a Kenwood or JBL amp - should cost you ~6K.

I'll require a four channel amp - right?

Originally Posted by DerAlte

A sub is *not* about thump! Leave that for people who want to show off.

Do you realize that without the sub you are leaving out crucial parts of music that was originally meant to be heard? 'Natural' would mean listening to all the components of music as it was engineered to sound.

Lots of people who installed sub play in such a way that would give me a heart attack listening to the thump produced by the sub. I can't understand how they can sit inside the car listening to that kind of thump. Not my way. That's why I was staying away from a sub intentionally :( .

Which sub and enclosure do you suggest? i have Swift so boot space is at premium.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by archat68

I'll require a four channel amp - right? ...

Yes, a 4-channel amp. Use 2 channels to drive the front speakers, bridge 2 channels to drive sub. The rear speakers can remain on the HU.

Originally Posted by archat68

... Which sub and enclosure do you suggest? i have Swift so boot space is at premium.

12" Infinity Ref, JBL, Polk, Bull etc. in a sealed enclosure. The sub would cost you 4-6K, and the enclosure 700-1K.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Yes, a 4-channel amp. Use 2 channels to drive the front speakers, bridge 2 channels to drive sub. The rear speakers can remain on the HU.

12" Infinity Ref, JBL, Polk, Bull etc. in a sealed enclosure. The sub would cost you 4-6K, and the enclosure 700-1K.

How is Kenwood 846?

Also, which sub do you suggest - I like a balanced music - not thumpy and not loud.

Thanks again for taking time to reply .

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by archat68

How is Kenwood 846? ...

Should be good if one goes by the older Kenwood amps. Haven't heard it myself though.

Originally Posted by archat68

... Also, which sub do you suggest - I like a balanced music - not thumpy and not loud. ...

The Infinity Ref. But, it is better that you audition all that you can before deciding.

[archat68]

Another query - which is the cheapest HU with TA settings?

I can spend about 15K right now.

i) I can get a 2 channel amp (used) from a friend and power the front comp. Install a pair of 6x9 on the parcel tray and them using HU (BTW can I bridge the HU front and rear channels and power the 6X9s?). Also, upgrade the HU from the basic Kenwood (forgot the model no. but has 2 pre-out) with a HU with TA.

ii) Keep the HU. Get a 4 ch amp, 12inch sub. Power the front and the sub through amp.

Some damping to the front door will be done in both cases.

Which will produce better SQ ?

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by archat68

Another query - which is the cheapest HU with TA settings? ...

Either a Kenwood 8016 / 7016 or a JVC (don't remember model) - around 13-15K.

Originally Posted by archat68

... can I bridge the HU front and rear channels and power the 6X9s? ...

No you can't. Each channel is already internally bridged.

Originally Posted by archat68

... Which will produce better SQ ?

With Option 1 you will get a better image but only a feeling of bass. With Option 2 you will get bass going deeper, but the image is not going to be that great (better than using coaxes all around, though).

Ideally, you should change to an HU with TA + get 4ch amp (front+sub) + Sub.

[Leo_Rulez]

Hi,
could sum1 suggest a good dealer for high end HU in mumbai, i need a suggestion regarding upgrading HU in a soon to be bought Pajero Sport.. i hav an option of either to buy the pajero sport anniversary edition or buy the base edition ( which saves me 1.5L after discounts) and use the money in buying the best HU available.... thanks

[mashmash]

I recently bought a Figo. The car came with a USB cable routed in the glove box. Though I can play Pen Drives, my iphone4 refuses to charge when connected to the USB cable. Is there something I can do, so that the phone charges?

PS: Phone is connected to its data cable which is in turn connected to the Figo's USB cable. The phone charges and plays music when connected using the same data cable to a Pioneer HU in another car. So its something with the Figo that's not letting it charge or play music. Compatibility issues?

Please Advice.

MaSh

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by mashmash

... my iphone4 refuses to charge when connected to the USB cable. Is there something I can do, so that the phone charges? ...

Check the manual first. There may be a setting to charge the phone or not. Worst case, it may be possible that the HU is not putting out the right voltage on the USB socket pins.

[archat68]

Is there any 8inch subwoofer available in India? Was searching for JBL and found that the product is discontinued!!