[emkay.india]

One of the components (Woofer, GTO 608c) in my front gave up after ~10 years. I was running the car with just one woofer (right) and 2 tweeters for lack of time to get them replaced.

Planned for a trip this weekend and so replacing the speakers was on the cards. Zeroed in on JBL CS 760 CSI but unfortunately it was not in stock. Then they suggested Infinity Reference 6520cx as they're also owned by Harman. It was quoted at 8k and I checked about GTO 609c and that was quoted at 10k. 10k was a bit high and decided to go with the Reference. I was skeptical if it would be as good as the GTO 608c (which was my purchase criteria) but boy was I wrong! It was too good - mids were clear and highs were bright, not so bright but just the right bright I feel the lows lack a little bit but it may be due to the speakers being new. I have Polk coax at the rear and the car is now filled with music. I don't have any amp or dampening - that's for the future after I fix some cosmetic issues in the car.

My queries are,

1. How good or genuine are the products (read speakers and amplifiers) sold in Amazon? Do they have warranty as products bought from brick and mortar stores? The Reference speakers are selling at ~6k in amazon and I paid 8k for them including installation. I didn't purchase from Amazon for 2 reasons - 1 is my apprehension if the product will be original and 2 being lack of time.

2. What would be a good 4 channel amplifier to drive these 2 components and 2 coaxials? I don't plan to use a sub.

3. What would be a good dampening sheet and how much would it cost? I plan to dampen the front doors. I was quoted 1800 for a sheet and was said it would take 3 sheets to dampen the front doors.

Again for the amplifier and dampening sheet the first question applies - how genuine are the products if they're to be bought from Amazon?

Along with the speaker replacement, I also replaced my conked trumpet horn to a Roots Windtone and upgraded the stock headlights to Philips Rally 100/90 with Philips relay. Cross checked the QR code on the headights and found them to be genuine. Horn replacement was 850 and headlights were charged 1650. All these were done at Kar Jewels, Annanagar.

[greenhorn]

Question to the gurus - not necessarily the ICE gurus, but the folks that work for auto OE industry.
I see a trend of OE speakers being made with plastic instead of metal. We poke fun of speakers with stamped metal baskets, and a lot of modern oe car speakers come with plastic baskets.
Any idea why?
Initially I thought cost, but then a lot of them come with expensive neodymium magnets, so its probably not cost

Weight? That kinda makes sense, but not sure if from a cost benefit point of view, adding a neo magnet to save a few grams makes sense ?

[_nitink_]

I was not able to find the answer to my question in this thread thus posting my question. I have a Ford Aspire TDCi. I am planning for the ICE upgrade. I have one question. Does the amplifiers cause any damage to the battery? I will be installing two amplifiers, one will be a 4 channel amp to drive the components and the other will be for the subwoofer. Will the power generated by the car be enough to drive this setup? or will it give extra stress to the battery?

[bharatbits]

I do not have much knowledge about car ICEs. Not much of a music enthusiast. I have stuck to the stock ICE setup in all the cars i used so far. I now have a Linea Classic Plus which has a basic setup only CD and FM. I am looking to get a Bluetooth so i can make and take calls while driving since i am spending a considerable amount of time in the car driving these days.

This is how the current setup looks like.

What are your recommendations? How should i go about this process?

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by _nitink_

Will the power generated by the car be enough to drive this setup? or will it give extra stress to the battery?

The alternator should be able to drive the ICE easily. However if you plan on listening to music a lot with the engine off, your battery will be drained quickly

Originally Posted by bharatbits

What are your recommendations? How should i go about this process?

You have two options
1. Buy a bluetooth FM adapter
2. Buy a bluetooth Aux adapter and do this
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...aux-input.html

Option #1 is plug and play. Option #2 has better sound quality

[5hadow]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

What are your recommendations? How should i go about this process?

Get this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Xiao...ceBeautifyAB=0

I use its previous version, which sometimes is not a snug fit. This one is better. SQ is not CD quality but better than any local available FM/Bluetooth adaptors.

[sharktale]

General query post :

Off lately, no one's been recommending Sony HUs and speakers, for entry level ICE.
Everyone's either suggestion Pioneer or JBL.

Is there something gone wrong with the company's car-audio products?

My entire home setup is from Sony only, and is serving our family extremely well since my birth with their products. The HiFi system my dad got in '98 is still potent enough to bring make my neighbours knock our door in anger.

I checked out Pioneer HU, on a friend's Creta, who was also using JBL co-axials. The interface felt absolutely yucky! My non-touchscreen Sony has a much cleaner setup on my i10.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by sharktale

General query post :

Off lately, no one's been recommending Sony HUs and speakers, for entry level ICE.
Everyone's either suggestion Pioneer or JBL.

Is there something gone wrong with the company's car-audio products?

Sony home equipment might have been good - I have a vintage cassette Deck and turntable of theirs which I love, but I don't think Sony ice was ever recommended.

Their hu's were pretty unreliable( several friends had theirs replaced under warranty, which was never needed for other brands), and their mainstream speaker models sounded like crap.

Their amps are ok if you're on a budget, but usually Kenwood or pioneer amps are only slightly more.

[meetgds]

Hi, I have a fluidic Verna and only the front stock speakers (I bought a used car and somehow the rear speakers don't work). I was living with this setup but now I feel like upgrading, to add more bass and improve sound quality. I mostly drive alone, so I don't necesarily need the rear speakers. What should I be looking for if all I want is :

• More Bass
• Better Sound Clarity

Do you recommend a sub woofer and/or an amp? Please suggest

[_nitink_]

Originally Posted by meetgds

Hi, I have a fluidic Verna and only the front stock speakers (I bought a used car and somehow the rear speakers don't work). I was living with this setup but now I feel like upgrading, to add more bass and improve sound quality. I mostly drive alone, so I don't necesarily need the rear speakers. What should I be looking for if all I want is :

• More Bass
• Better Sound Clarity

Do you recommend a sub woofer and/or an amp? Please suggest

I think you have three options.
Option 1: Buy good quality plug and play components along with a woofer powered by an amp.
Option 2: Have amp powered components at front and coaxials at the rear with woofer powered by an amp.
Option 3: Have components at front and rear powered by a 4 channel amp and a woofer powered by a mono channel amp.

[Enigmatic]

Would you guys recommend using a Class D amplifier to power component speakers? It seems that although Class AB amplifiers are good for powering components, Class D amplifiers are better suited for a subwoofer. The reason being that Class AB amplifiers produce less distortion compared to Class D amplifiers.

I ask the above because I am looking to change my Blaupunkt GTA 470 DSP that is powering the Morel Tempo-6 in 2-Ch mode (Focal ISS 165 components at the rear and the JBL CSX-1400BP sub will continue to be powered by the JBL GX-A646SI amplifier). The issue with the Blaupunkt amplifier is that it is extremely sensitive to low voltage and clips all the time. The Civic only charges the batter when the voltage drops below a particular threshold. It seems that the charging threshold of the Civic is below the tolerance level of the Blaupunkt amplifier and even after upgrading the batter to 75Ah (IMHO stock is 35Ah), the issue was not resolved.

In this process, I came across the Pioneer GM-8604. It is a 4Ch Class-D amplifier that delivers a healthy 100W RMS per channel.

What do you guys recommend?

Thanks,
Enigmatic

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

The issue with the Blaupunkt amplifier is that it is extremely sensitive to low voltage and clips all the time. The Civic only charges the batter when the voltage drops below a particular threshold. It seems that the charging threshold of the Civic is below the tolerance level of the Blaupunkt amplifier and even after upgrading the batter to 75Ah (IMHO stock is 35Ah), the issue was not resolved.

The charging system and the battery may not be at fault. But did you get them tested before fitting a new battery? Fitting a larger battery helps only with extra run-time when you run accessories with the engine off. Also the stock battery on a Civic is 45 AH not 35 AH.

Car amps and HUs are designed to run between approx 11-15 V DC depending from model to model. Which is why you can listen to music when your car engine is off. A fully charged battery's output is 12.6 V. The amp should not clip even when the engine is not running.

I'd get that amplifier's wiring and power input checked to begin followed by the output circuitry. It could be something as simple as a wiring or earthing problem.

[Enigmatic]

Originally Posted by R2D2

The charging system and the battery may not be at fault. But did you get them tested before fitting a new battery? Fitting a larger battery helps only with extra run-time when you run accessories with the engine off. Also the stock battery on a Civic is 45 AH not 35 AH.

Car amps and HUs are designed to run between approx 11-15 V DC depending from model to model. Which is why you can listen to music when your car engine is off. A fully charged battery's output is 12.6 V. The amp should not clip even when the engine is not running.

I'd get that amplifier's wiring and power input checked to begin followed by the output circuitry. It could be something as simple as a wiring or earthing problem.

Thanks R2D2,

The alternator and the charging system were checked during the battery replacement and everything was found in order. Infact, last weekend I got the system re-checked because of the amplifier clipping issue and again the charging system was working fine. Thanks for the clarification on the stock battery size.

The issue with the Civic is that the Electric Load Distributor limits the current from the Alternator and only charges the battery once the voltage drops below 12.5V. This makes certain sensitive amplifiers clip. This issue was also discussed in the following thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...lved-steg.html

Also, since only the Blaupunkt amplifier cuts out and the JBL amplifier continues to work fine, I am inclined to believe that it is an issue with the Blaupunkt amplifier.

After burning my hands with a number of installers in Mumbai, I recently found my go-to guy. The first thing I did was to get the entire wiring re-done. Hence wiring should not be the issue however I will get it checked this weekend. I hope it is an earthing issue.

Also, have recently noticed that while starting the car and while switching it off, there is a slight pop from the Morel's that are being powered by the Blaupunkt. I think this amplifier is on its way out.

Best,
Enigmatic

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by bharatbits

I am looking to get a Bluetooth so i can make and take calls while driving since i am spending a considerable amount of time in the car driving these days.

I have been using a Jabra Tour for 4 years plus and it is a pure no-nonsense buy. Clip it on the driver sun visor, pair to the phone and use; clear transmission and reception.

The battery holds for long.

I have a Kenwood 413BT but prefer to use the Jabra.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

Thanks R2D2,

The issue with the Civic is that the Electric Load Distributor limits the current from the Alternator and only charges the battery once the voltage drops below 12.5V. This makes certain sensitive amplifiers clip. This issue was also discussed in the following thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/car-en...lved-steg.html

It might be worth trying out a DC voltage booster like this
https://www.amazon.in/xcluma-Convert...oost+converter

Maybe not as a long term solution, but at least you can use it to test your low voltage hypothesis