[St. Anger]

Hi all,

it feels good to be back on the forum after ages. Please be patient with the long introductory post.

My ICE journey so far has been a stuttered one, falling prey to shoddy installers, a irregular fund flow and a nomadic lifestyle.

My pre-teambhp journey began with a sony cassette player powering Xplod! 4" co-axials and Kenwood 6*9" ovals. over the years i upgraded in the following stages.

I moved on to a Sony Xplod 3300S CD player powering JBL CS396/696 ovals and the same fronts.

Quickly realizing that the fronts lacked bass and the sound was towards the rear, I then followed the advice of an auto-journalist and landed up at FM drive, in Khar, Bombay.

There i took the next step and upgraded to a Pioneer HU DEH 5750MP powering Oxygen Audio 4" co-axials, O2 sub and 2-channel amp while retaining my JBL rears and then added a 4 channel Pioneer GM4000F(?)

I then went through my last pre-teambhp upgrade where my car was hacked by a shoddy installer, to install components Kicker DS and then Helix Blue Components along with a clarion 4-channel amp in place of the earlier O2 amp.

It was while i was being severely tortured by the mish-mashed equipment that i found my way to teambhp three years ago. In early 2008, i took a giant leap of faith and found my HU nirvana in the Clarion DXZ786USB, possibly being one of the first people to have this amazing HU. Conversations and a few meetings later with Doc. Frank, Invincible and B&T, i had chucked my mish-mashed equipment and went with the following set-up that has lasted till date.

Source Unit - Clarion DXZ786 USB

Front Stage - Illusion Electra EL 6.1 components

Rear fill - none
Sub - my old O2 12'' sub in a lossy sealed enclosure

Amp - JBL GTO 75.4

Damping - the one used by B&T

A big shout going out to B&T, Doc Frank, Invisible, Navin, Sam and the rest of the members for having been so patient in helping me build the above system.

In 2010, i decided to re-build my system, as i have understood over the years, what it is that i crave for in my ICE! So here we are, at the beginning of a slow SQ build that might span my current car and the future one, with some old bits thrown in.

Thank you for your time and patience. I would be very happy to learn from everyone's knowledge in a constructive manner.

Cheers,

tanmay

[Invinsible]

That reminded me of all the various meets we had and here we are now in process of building another story and a lot to remember.
Last I heard your sound stage was quite phenomenal for the amount of money has gone. One of the best VFM system I heard.
So what's coming up my friend.

[Bass&Trouble]

Lol Tanmay, thanks for the kind words, but I know I have been guilty of not being able to spare much time with your setup. All the best. Do post updates.

[St. Anger]

Hey Invinsible, great to hear from you. Some fond memories on those meets. All those improvements emerged from the collective experience of all those involved and even i was pleasantly surprised by the improvements. Made me rue the torture that my car was put through to get to that stage.

I'm still a long way from coming home but am already excited at the improvements that you too have put your baby through

@ B&T, I'm praying that the Time Gods are better aligned this time around.

Will be posting my updates as they come along. Right now, all I'm doing is keeping my fingers crossed about everything.

Cheers

[St. Anger]

Hi,

I'm trying to do a comparison between a DLS A7 and the HK CA470; which one would have the SQ edge over the other?

The DLS is a used one while the HK is brand new and the price is the same for the both.

Awaiting your inputs on this

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by St. Anger

I'm trying to do a comparison between a DLS A7 and the HK CA470; which one would have the SQ edge over the other?

The DLS is leagues ahead of the HK amplifier. Just make sure of two things - that the amp is not repaired, and even more importantly, that it is genuine.

[Invinsible]

+1 to what B&T mentioned.

Dls A7 is on another level compared to the HK. As he said make sure its genuine. However if you can find DLS reference, I would suggest to pick one up.

[St. Anger]

thanks guys,
I'm learning already.

any pointers on checking if the amp is genuine and hasn't been tampered with ?

@ invinsible - I am open to options; unfortunately, the reference series is way over my stretchable budget! Will keep posting as things come along.

[Invinsible]

Are you gonna stick to the same HU or add any processor ? Also, what are the speakers that you looking at ? probably than we could decide what amp would fit in.

[prince85]

Originally Posted by St. Anger

thanks guys,
- I am open to options; unfortunately, the reference series is way over my stretchable budget! Will keep posting as things come along.

Bro, the DLS reference series amps are cheaper than the DLS Ultimate range of amps by around 25% approx......soo if you had shortlisted a used DLS Ultimate A7......then for sure a new DLS Reference RA40 or even the RA50 wouldn't cost you much more than a used A7. Like B&T and Invinsible ealier said..... the DLS Ultimate or for that matter even the Reference amps would be at another level compared to the HK..

cheers

[Epic]

Originally Posted by St. Anger

Quickly realizing that the fronts lacked bass and the sound was towards the rear, I then followed the advice of an auto-journalist and landed up at FM drive, in Khar, Bombay.

There i took the next step and upgraded to a Pioneer HU DEH 5750MP powering Oxygen Audio 4" co-axials, O2 sub and 2-channel amp while retaining my JBL rears and then added a 4 channel Pioneer GM4000F(?)

I then went through my last pre-teambhp upgrade where my car was hacked by a shoddy installer, to install components Kicker DS and then Helix Blue Components along with a clarion 4-channel amp in place of the earlier O2 amp.

It was while i was being severely tortured by the mish-mashed equipment that i found my way to teambhp three years ago.

Hi Tanmay,

Please correct me if I am wrong here as that is the impression that I am getting with your above post. Are you saying that your installation at FM Drive Khar was not good with mis-matched equipment or was it some other installer? I have never had a personal experience, but as far as Ive heard, FM Drive are one of the best in ICE installs.

[Invinsible]

Originally Posted by Epic

Hi Tanmay,

Please correct me if I am wrong here as that is the impression that I am getting with your above post. Are you saying that your installation at FM Drive Khar was not good with mis-matched equipment or was it some other installer? I have never had a personal experience, but as far as Ive heard, FM Drive are one of the best in ICE installs.

It's not about how the installs looks in the end or how good quality wires are used. What is more important how you route the wires, how you tune the setup which means understanding what freq every driver is able to handle and what freq. the driver can handle. Apart from that it's the mounting location / installation of the drivers that also plays a important role.

[St. Anger]

Originally Posted by Invinsible

Are you gonna stick to the same HU or add any processor ? Also, what are the speakers that you looking at ? probably than we could decide what amp would fit in.

The Clarion meets my requirements in all aspects on the price-performance scale and i see no upgrades on that front. The processor is mainly for the future with a new car, where i won't be allowed to change the integrated HU.

The reason for amps first is that they are cheaper here than back home. Again, I have weirdly tuned ears that love a hint of smooth sparkle to their treble (if i'm making sense). Hence with speakers, i would prefer purchasing them once i'm back, unless some body makes me an offer i can't refuse! How i wish for someone to part with their mint condition Lucies or Carbons .

Originally Posted by prince85

Bro, the DLS reference series amps are cheaper than the DLS Ultimate range of amps by around 25% approx......soo if you had shortlisted a used DLS Ultimate A7......then for sure a new DLS Reference RA40 or even the RA50 wouldn't cost you much more than a used A7.
cheers

Hi Prince,
What you said is entirely correct for amps bought brand new. I haven't found a used RA40 to fit my budget yet. If my current negotiations over the A7 fall through, i shall use your advice in my next search. Thanks again for that tip

Originally Posted by Epic

Hi Tanmay,

Please correct me if I am wrong here as that is the impression that I am getting with your above post. Are you saying that your installation at FM Drive Khar was not good with mis-matched equipment or was it some other installer? I have never had a personal experience, but as far as Ive heard, FM Drive are one of the best in ICE installs.

@ Epic,
my apologies for the confusion there. Pankaj bhai @ FM Drive is one fine person in the world of AV. Resourceful and extremely helpful.
It was this other guy near Goregaon telephone exchange on S.V. road with non-existent ICE skills who made a mess of my car .

Originally Posted by Invinsible

It's not about how the installs looks in the end or how good quality wires are used. What is more important how you route the wires, how you tune the setup which means understanding what freq every driver is able to handle and what freq. the driver can handle. Apart from that it's the mounting location / installation of the drivers that also plays a important role.

+1 to that. This is why, knowing what you want & what you DON'T want; and having a knowledgeable installer is so crucial to a great system.