[the_maassk]

Originally Posted by nisarg86

It was a pleasure to meet you Bapu. We will not spare that Karnavati Guy on Saturday.

Guys. Gain wasnt set properly on AMP.Hence Bapu has to Pump up the volume to max. and i didnt fiddle it coz AMP was under the front seat. To my limited Knowledge on ICE. One has to set the Gain Properly to get the ample loudness at Low Vol. from headunit.
Right ?
I will get you the good quote on JBL Compos tomorrow.

I'll set up the gains on the amp for you Bapu. Although I am no expert, I have done the tuning on my install myself and it has turned out good (at least for me). I also did the tuning on Vishal's Getz. Once we tune it, we'll know where the weak point lies in the system.

We are still set to meet tomorrow. I'll call you up when I am approaching Ahmedabad - Tentatively around 9:00 - 9:30 AM.

[chiragh_bir]

Originally Posted by nisarg86

It was a pleasure to meet you Bapu. We will not spare that Karnavati Guy on Saturday.

Guys. Gain wasnt set properly on AMP.Hence Bapu has to Pump up the volume to max. and i didnt fiddle it coz AMP was under the front seat. To my limited Knowledge on ICE. One has to set the Gain Properly to get the ample loudness at Low Vol. from headunit.
Right ?
I will get you the good quote on JBL Compos tomorrow.

its vice versa.. one should get best at around 85-90% of the volume level from the head unit and should not clip even the volume is touched to the max , this means gains should be set on amp accordingly also check for HPF and LPF settings on head turn both of them to 80 Hz !! ( Its difficult to explain in words may be gurus can simplify and explain )

[Bapu]

Originally Posted by nisarg86

It was a pleasure to meet you Bapu...Gain wasnt set properly on AMP.Hence Bapu has to Pump up the volume to max. ..

The pleasure was all mine Nisarg. Your car's ICE is something

I had repeatedly argued with their installer that why should i take it to the max volume for getting optimum sound. Logic explained was that it's to ensure that the speakers were not harmed. So setup is such that after 25-30 volume, i can actually start hearing anything and "best" sound comes after 50+ to 66.!!!

Tomorrow it is. Have taken the day off from work.

Originally Posted by the_maassk

I'll set up the gains on the amp for you Bapu...Once we tune it, we'll know where the weak point lies in the system.

We are still set to meet tomorrow. I'll call you up when I am approaching Ahmedabad - Tentatively around 9:00 - 9:30 AM.

Yes Sir. Looking forward to meeting up. Probably Nisarg also shall join us. Will be waiting for your call.

Originally Posted by chiragh_bir

its vice versa.. one should get best at around 85-90% of the volume level from the head unit and should not clip even the volume is touched to the max ,

Eccjhatly. That's what i was trying to repeatedly explain to the installer. Thanks!!

[greenh0rn]

Originally Posted by nisarg86

To my limited Knowledge on ICE. One has to set the Gain Properly to get the ample loudness at Low Vol. from headunit.
Right ?

Originally Posted by chiragh_bir

its vice versa.. one should get best at around 85-90% of the volume level from the head unit and should not clip even the volume is touched to the max , this means gains should be set on amp accordingly also check for HPF and LPF settings on head turn both of them to 80 Hz !! ( Its difficult to explain in words may be gurus can simplify and explain )

Ok here we go about setting the gains right. First thing, it is not necessary to aim for millimeter/millivolt/degree precision on the gains potentiometer (potentiometer=pot=the knob on the amp that you turn round with a screwdriver). So, relax, take a deep breath and take it easy!

First step- check if your HU has Highpass filter (HPF) and (sub-woofer) Low Pass filter (LPF) settings.

1. If it does (I suspect Hamburg would definitely have it), then set HPF at somewhere between 50 hertz or 125 hertz (any figure will do, though 80 hz and above will make your speakers sound a little better. Of course, don't fret about it too much- you can experiment with this filter over the next few days to see what suits you best). Leave LPF as is, or if there's an option, set it to 'Through' (since you don't have a sub).

2. At the HU, Set all audio controls (bass, treble, digital sound expander, Dynamic Sound enricher, Digital/Electronic Bass Boost etc... you get the drift) on your HU to flat or disabled. Disable Parametric Equalizer, if you had enabled it. Make it sound as flat as it can. Do the same thing at the amp, set all bass boost etc. to off.

3. Now, do either of these two things. (a) At HU, set the Fader all the way to Front speakers. (b) At Amp, Remove the RCA cable for rear-speakers from the amp. (b) is of course preferred.

4. If you are still at the amp, reduce the front-speaker gains to minimum. Zero, all the way to left/bottom. Also check to see that you have put the HPF/LPF/Flat setting to Flat. Or disabled HPF. (Since you are high-pass filtering from the HU itself).

5. Now, put some effective ear plugs in your ears.

6. Come back to your HU, raise the volume to 70%, 80%, 90%, stop where you hear clear distortion from the speakers. You could practically go all the way to the max and still hear no distortion, in which case, congrats! You've got a good in-built amp for your HU!

7. In case you hear distortion say at 70% or 80% of max volume, stop and reduce the volume a little bit.

8. Now come back to the amp, and start raising the gains (turn the pot towards right - that's how it is with most amps)- it will get louder and louder but somewhere again you'll start hearing speaker distortion. If it gets too loud for your taste 'before' any distortion, and if you take a solemn pledge that you'll never listen to your set up any louder, then just stop right there.

9. Congratulations! Your front speaker gains are set!

10. Now simply reconnect the rear speaker RCA back to the amp, or return the Fader control to normal.

11. The next steps are basically a repeat of 4,5 6, 7 and 8 steps above- relative to the rear speakers this time. This time though, you are setting the gains on rear speakers purely as per your personal taste. If you are going to drive solo most of the times (no rear passengers), the sound from rear speakers should be barely heard from your driver's seat. In other words, when you are driving, you should hear the sound only from the front, not from the rear speakers. Therefore, it is best to ask a helping friend to adjust gains on the rear speakers, while you sit on the front seat and see how the sound from rear matches to your personal taste.

If your HU doesn't have HPF/LPF, you can proceed to set the HPF at the same levels (80-125hz) at the amp in the same way as described in Step 1, for both front and rear speakers.

That is it folks. Your amp is tuned for a 4-speaker set up! Now just play around with the HPF figure over a few days to figure out what works best for your ears, your speakers, and of course your car doors.

[nisarg86]

Thanx. greenie. will keep these tips in my mind. when we set the Gain tomorrow.

[the_maassk]

Gentlemen -

I'll let Bapu post his experiences with the change in his ICE today. All in all - it seems to be tuned and modified to his liking as of now. He'll be listening to it for couple of weeks and make notes of things he observes. We'll fine tune the system if needed in the Vadodara meet of TBHP.

[ghpk]

wow, looks like i've to visit Ahmedabad to meet nisarg, his carputer is getting popular and so is his skills.

oops i think Bapu is still in the car listening to his tuned ICE, cause he's late in reporting the improvements.

[nisarg86]

@the_maassk. Pleasure to meet you buddy. It was a good experience with nicely tuned system. maask.You better write TA plugin for my carputer.
TA can certainly make difference.
Now i knows what is missing in my system. TA is must.
I will keep in mind your suggestions regarding tweeter placement.

@Bapu. Post your review. How do you find your system now ?

It was the 1st time i listen to JBL GTO608C. and it was indeed bright. not my liking at all. Bapu likes them better.

I find loudness in my system is ted low after hearing maask's clarion HU. but its due to preout volts on creative x-fi card. But i am not bother about it as far as X-Fi is giving me clean sound.

[Bapu]

Originally Posted by greenh0rn

Ok here we go about setting the gains right.....

Thanks Greenhorn for the update. I believe Maassk tuned it this way only. And did a pretty good job with the Vibe speakers which we eventually changed to the JBL 608C Comps.

Originally Posted by the_maassk

Gentlemen -

I'll let Bapu post his experiences with the change in his ICE today....We'll fine tune the system if needed in the Vadodara meet of TBHP.

The experience has been WONDERFUL to say the least

It was great meeting up with no less than 3 TBhpians. Thanks to Ashish, Nisarg and Sanjay for staying around and helping out and then again working on the tuning. And yes, i have a few tweaks that i would like you to work on.

Originally Posted by ghpk

oops i think Bapu is still in the car listening to his tuned ICE, cause he's late in reporting the improvements.

LOL. Yes, i was out till late last night. But yes, am much happier. The components at the front have made a huge diff.

Originally Posted by nisarg86

It was the 1st time i listen to JBL GTO608C. and it was indeed bright. not my liking at all. Bapu likes them better.

I find loudness in my system is ted low after hearing maask's clarion HU.

Yaa. I realise after listening to your systems that am preferring more of bright sounds than laid back sounds. I learn.

After hearing Maask's system... i think it's better left unsaid. AND he has left me with having thoughts about getting a subwoofer!!!

Thanks once again guys.

Just for the record, my system is now this :

Blaupunkt Hamburg 57 HU - 8.5K
JBL 608C components - front - 5.5K
Vibe co axials at the back - 5K
Blaupunkt Amp GTA 4 - 6.4K

The system has cost me around 25K including all cables and fitting charges.

Now am off to get some of the basic stuff... mud flaps, matting etc..

[Bapu]

Update time Saars

Major update : Got the Clarion 785

Now time for the Sub!!

I really didnt have much of a reference point as have never had a sub setup in any of my cars ( and have seen only Nisarg's and Masskk's cars )

The installer bridged all 4 speakers ( JBL 608C Compos + Vibe rear 6" coaxials fitted on the doors ) onto 2 channels and has powered the Sub from the remaining 2 channels on the amp.

Tried out the following :

1. Blaupunkt Velocity VRT 10 - it's a 8" - very very tight and punchy bass ( http://www.rhymenrhythm.com/images/p...city_vrt10.jpg ) - around 8K
2. Blaupunkt Bass Tube - I think 10" - not very sure of the model but didnt really like the effect. No idea on the pricing.
3. Vibe 12" Sealed Sub - Sounds wholesome, but the bass notes tend to give a more of a constant jarring rather than specific beats. ( not sure how to put it in another way) - around 11K

The Vibe Sub is currently fitted and is under observation.

Now, i'm not really a audiophile or ICE specialist and found that the overall sound from the sub somehow mutes down the mid bass.

The installer also suggested that for "better sound" i should get the rear speakers mounted on the parcel shelf tray.

Also, it may be just my feeling, but somehow think that the speakers and the sub might not be playing in tandem (like it is a tad off) and you hear the bass a second after the vocals have gone thru.

I'd tentatively planned a budget of around 6-8K for the Sub. So options in that range requested.

I request all Guru's to advice on other probable options.

[the_maassk]

Originally Posted by Bapu

Update time Saars

Major update : Got the Clarion 785
Congrats!
Now time for the Sub!!

I really didnt have much of a reference point as have never had a sub setup in any of my cars ( and have seen only Nisarg's and Masskk's cars )

The installer bridged all 4 speakers ( JBL 608C Compos + Vibe rear 6" coaxials fitted on the doors ) onto 2 channels and has powered the Sub from the remaining 2 channels on the amp.

Tried out the following :

1. Blaupunkt Velocity VRT 10 - it's a 8" - very very tight and punchy bass ( http://www.rhymenrhythm.com/images/p...city_vrt10.jpg ) - around 8K
2. Blaupunkt Bass Tube - I think 10" - not very sure of the model but didnt really like the effect. No idea on the pricing.
3. Vibe 12" Sealed Sub - Sounds wholesome, but the bass notes tend to give a more of a constant jarring rather than specific beats. ( not sure how to put it in another way) - around 11K

The Vibe Sub is currently fitted and is under observation.

Now, i'm not really a audiophile or ICE specialist and found that the overall sound from the sub somehow mutes down the mid bass.

The installer also suggested that for "better sound" i should get the rear speakers mounted on the parcel shelf tray.
Not necessarily

Also, it may be just my feeling, but somehow think that the speakers and the sub might not be playing in tandem (like it is a tad off) and you hear the bass a second after the vocals have gone thru.
This is where you use the TA feature on the 785

I'd tentatively planned a budget of around 6-8K for the Sub. So options in that range requested.

I request all Guru's to advice on other probable options.

Will meet up with you today when you get here. You can also check the JBL sub I have by putting it on your setup.

[phamilyman]

yaar,

I got JBL CS1205 for 2800 and 400 bucks for the box including a detachable connector.

How much do you wanna spend?