# car-audio - suggestions needed for components in the chain



## GhorMaanas (Aug 1, 2014)

Hello everyone!

posting this on behalf of a friend. he is contemplating buying a hatchback (may be a punto or a wagon r). also wants to buy stereo components for it, the budget ones. he is heavily inclined towards pioneer, as he has listened to them earlier, and the sound has stuck to him. please suggest an HU, a pair of coaxs (or components, if cheap), and a pair of ovals for him. budget for HU --> 3-4k; and upto 4-5k for each speakers-set. source of music would be pen-drive/phone.

thanks!

P.S. - installation to be done by a car service technician, while source of purchase would preferably be online.


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## The Incinerator (Aug 1, 2014)

Pioneer DEH X-1690UB
Coaxial Oval TS A 935H or non H (Cheaper)
Door TS A 634/635 either or.

Sound is on the richer warmer fuller side. Get good cables to feed signal, 2.5 mm OFC is good,less resistance for a 4ohm system.


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## sandynator (Aug 1, 2014)

GhorMaanas said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> posting this on behalf of a friend. he is contemplating buying a hatchback (may be a punto or a wagon r). also wants to buy stereo components for it, the budget ones. he is heavily inclined towards pioneer, as he has listened to them earlier, and the sound has stuck to him. please suggest an HU, a pair of coaxs (or components, if cheap), and a pair of ovals for him. budget for HU --> 3-4k; and upto 4-5k for each speakers-set. source of music would be pen-drive/phone.
> 
> ...



If CD Unit is not important then you can check Kenwood KMM-X10 [FLAC Support]
KMM-X10 | 1DIN & 2DIN Receivers | Car Electronics | Kenwood India

Just my few cents...


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## GhorMaanas (Aug 1, 2014)

thanks! was awaiting inputs from both of you.

@TI - any suggestion(s) in components?
  @Sandynator  - can't see any mention of price online for it. moreover, if its costlier than a pioneer alternative, it won't be of use, as my friend barely knows about 320k MP3s or/and the difference between them and their LQ siblings, and has little to no idea about FLACs.


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## The Incinerator (Aug 1, 2014)

If he like Pioneers sound then I believe he loves rich full and warm sound. Which if he wants to implement in other components then he has to get - Rainbow JL Audio DLS Morel,MTX and they are very expensive.

I would suggest him to go for the set up I mentioned,Im sure he will be satisfied.I have fitted that in to a very old and emotional Baleno of ours! Just ask him to mix and match with a Kenwood HU, they make a wonderful set up and is a littlle lean sounding match than the all Pioneer. Some seem to prefer Kenwood HU/Amp with Pioneer speakers.


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## GhorMaanas (Aug 1, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> If he like Pioneers sound then I believe he loves rich full and warm sound. Which if he wants to implement in other components then he has to get - Rainbow JL Audio DLS Morel,MTX and they are very expensive.
> 
> I would suggest him to go for the set up I mentioned,Im sure he will be satisfied.I have fitted that in to a very old and emotional Baleno of ours! Just ask him to mix and match with a Kenwood HU, they make a wonderful set up and is a littlle lean sounding match than the all Pioneer. Some seem to prefer Kenwood HU/Amp with Pioneer speakers.



thanks! yes; he intends to listen more of house, trance, edm, and such tracks. he had shown me some pioneer component-speakers, available on ebay for 4.5k. won't do justice?


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## The Incinerator (Aug 2, 2014)

Component speakers are better when driven with an amplifier rather than the HU low current built in amp. It won't do justice to the component. Snapdeal is giving great discounts on audio for cars,check em out


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## sandynator (Aug 2, 2014)

GhorMaanas said:


> thanks! yes; he intends to listen more of house, trance, edm, and such tracks. he had shown me some pioneer component-speakers, available on ebay for 4.5k. won't do justice?


Best option is to get an demo of few equipments & then decide.

I guess you are from Thane so see if you can come down to ghodbunder rd. 

Welcome to Sound Factor

Take an prior appointment before visiting. This guy[Ramie] in fact his entire team is very helpful. He met us around 10.30 pm at western express highway on his way to andheri to discuss my cousins setup. He can suggest you proper setup as per your friends requirement. Only thing is you need to be bit flexible with M Tonic.  

Mix matching in audio is hell of a job better leave it to experts [MENTION=146621]The Incinerator[/MENTION] bro can guide better.

You can source* infinity comps, pioneer HU*for cheaper also if you can come down to Opera House.
Powerbass is also decent brand definitely better that JBL's. you can source amp for cheaper from the distributor, *Suraj Enterprise* who is also located at Opera House.

Around 2012 I had a chance to demo Kenwood KDC 6043/6046 & they had better in Midrange presence than Pioneer range.


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## GhorMaanas (Aug 2, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> Component speakers are better when driven with an amplifier rather than the HU low current built in amp. It won't do justice to the component. Snapdeal is giving great discounts on audio for cars,check em out



thanks! that's indeed a solid reason to factor out components from the choices then. 
and a forum-member recently purchased stereo-parts for his car from SD at 25% discount, but now its reduced to 20%, though ebay have come up with 25% now, but perhaps with products listed at bloated prices again!

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sandynator said:


> Best option is to get an demo of few equipments & then decide.
> 
> I guess you are from Thane so see if you can come down to ghodbunder rd.
> 
> ...



thanks! that's indeed helpful. yes, am from Thane (G.B. road). my friend strictly believes in administering the M Tonic in as low a dose as possible, so i will keep a note about Sound Factor with me for any of my own or any other friends' future purchases. opera house, it won't be possible to buy from there as would then have to ultimately ship to him, which would be a risky and costly task. for domestic buyers like me or other localiites, its indeed a good proposition. 

and i'll convey your message regarding Kenwood mid-range HUs to him. since his source would primarliy be LQ MP3s, i wasn't keen on recommending Kenwood to him as an HU, owing to their supposedly 'lean-and-clean' output. i myself have a Kenwood KDC-U349R, and i feel that it gives more-or-less an uncoloured output - good in, good out; garbage in, garbage out (which is a good thing IMO). hence, i was holding myself back on suggesting Kenwood to him; plus his heavy leaning towards Pioneer, so i thought let him have his choice, else his mind may keep getting haunted by thoughts of Pioneer. but now, will suggest to him, if playing LQ MP3s also isn't much of an issue with Kenwood.

P.S. - Powerbass being better than JBLs? hmmm. good info for me too. will tell him. so now we have the Pioneer set-up suggested by Inci and a Kenwood+Powerbass by you.


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## The Incinerator (Aug 2, 2014)

Thats exactly the reason I love "Lean Clean" Kenwood with richer sounding Pioneer amp/speakers in the chain. It balances out!

Kenwood with Focal or Infinity = Hell Bright and Forward
Kenwood with Infinity/Soundstream/Pioneer(Bassy/Warm) = Match

Note Infinity speakers are bright but the amps are warm for the balance.


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## sandynator (Aug 2, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> Thats exactly the reason I love "Lean Clean" Kenwood with richer sounding Pioneer amp/speakers in the chain. It balances out!
> 
> Kenwood with Focal or Infinity = Hell Bright and Forward
> Kenwood with Infinity/Soundstream/Pioneer(Bassy/Warm) = Match
> ...



Thanks for this info.

Will keep this in mind if I decide to ICE up my TANK anytime soon...

Can you throw some light on Soundstream basic series speakers & components too? Offlate since 2011-12 had heard the quality has taken toll.
How would you compare Soundtream & Pioneer speakers??


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## The Incinerator (Aug 2, 2014)

Soundstream is better with Infinity speakers,with pioneer they sound warm and rich,not bad if you like fuller sound.


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## sandynator (Aug 2, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> Soundstream is better with Infinity speakers,with pioneer they sound warm and rich,not bad if you like fuller sound.


I guess here you meant by Soundstream Amplifier combo with Infinity as well as Pioneer Speakers..

I want some info on the quality of Soundstream speakers if combined with Kenwood Head unit. 

Which Speakers brands [front coaxial + rear Ovals] would give balanced output with Kenwood Head unit only? The car in consideration is Fiat Palio.
 [MENTION=120775]GhorMaanas[/MENTION]
 Sorry for hijacking your thread...


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## The Incinerator (Aug 2, 2014)

I have no idea about sound stream speakers,they are good with amps. With Kenwood try sound stream amp and Infinity or Focal speakers.


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## sandynator (Aug 2, 2014)

Thanks a lot bro
So I may try out kenwood HU with Pioneer speakers then but first really wanna try *D.I.Y. of Creative 2.1* in the car. 

I hardly take this car out so I think it will satisfy my needs & with the saved moolah I can upgrade to better DAP from my Nationite N2 & may be some better IEM's too...


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## The Incinerator (Aug 2, 2014)

That's great!


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## GhorMaanas (Aug 3, 2014)

The Incinerator said:


> Thats exactly the reason I love "Lean Clean" Kenwood with richer sounding Pioneer amp/speakers in the chain. It balances out!
> 
> Kenwood with Focal or Infinity = Hell Bright and Forward
> Kenwood with Infinity/Soundstream/Pioneer(Bassy/Warm) = Match
> ...



thanks for that info!

if you remember, i have the Kenwood-Focal set-up. can't comment on the SQ being what type, as haven't listened to any other set-up intently to draw a comparison, but yes, at the default settings, could be said to be bright (i once played a CD of Hindustani classical music, and felt so; though i like the sound of such instrumentals to be a little bright, esp. the Santoor. gives a sort of cheerful feeling!), but i have EQed the set-up to be more warm/balance out, to do justice to the kind of music i mostly listen to now-a-days.

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sandynator said:


> I guess here you meant by Soundstream Amplifier combo with Infinity as well as Pioneer Speakers..
> 
> I want some info on the quality of Soundstream speakers if combined with Kenwood Head unit.
> 
> ...



no problemo! the thread will have additional content beneficial to any and everyone.

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sandynator said:


> Thanks a lot bro
> So I may try out kenwood HU with Pioneer speakers then but first really wanna try *D.I.Y. of Creative 2.1* in the car.
> 
> I hardly take this car out so I think it will satisfy my needs & with the saved moolah I can upgrade to better DAP from my Nationite N2 & may be some better IEM's too...



before i had got my ICE set-up, even i was contemplating such a move. 
if you do that, please post a brief/lengthy description on what you did, how you did, etc.


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## sandynator (Aug 3, 2014)

GhorMaanas said:


> before i had got my ICE set-up, even i was contemplating such a move.
> if you do that, please post a brief/lengthy description on what you did, how you did, etc.



Actually I 'm finding a way out to connect speakers to cars electrical in such a way from which no alternator whining or any sound creeps in from speakers. 

One of the co. member from gearheads.in had suggested to draw wires from steering column so that the speakers would be off when the engine is shut off & it won't draw unnecessary power from cars battery. I'm yet to find some skilled electrician for the same job as I do not want to blow my speakers. Will try that out in November for sure.


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## GhorMaanas (Aug 3, 2014)

sandynator said:


> Actually I 'm finding a way out to connect speakers to cars electrical in such a way from which no alternator whining or any sound creeps in from speakers.
> 
> One of the co. member from gearheads.in had suggested to draw wires from steering column so that the speakers would be off when the engine is shut off & it won't draw unnecessary power from cars battery. I'm yet to find some skilled electrician for the same job as I do not want to blow my speakers. Will try that out in November for sure.



alright. all the best!


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 12, 2015)

reviving this thread. requesting attention of  @The Incinerator  and  @sandynator .

my friend has finally booked a car today, renault pulse. he wishes to purchase stereo components online from snapdeal, give them to the showroom, get them fitted there itself, and THEN take the car-delivery. we've decided upon the HU as Pioneer FH-X369UB. undecided on speakers. i was thinking of suggesting rockford fosgate to him, as some of these listed on SD fall under his budget (10k +/-). other options are jbl and pioneer. please suggest which would be better with this HU. following are the ones listed there, under his budget:

1. rockford fosgate:

rears - r693
fronts - a pair of 5.25" or 6.75" spkrs, whichever will fit.

2. jbl:

rears - gt6 s699 
fronts - cs 6

3. pioneer:

the ones suggested by incinerator on pg 1; [STRIKE]except that for fronts, A 624 is available on SD, instead of 634 or 635[/STRIKE]. available; a google-search revealed.


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## The Incinerator (Jan 12, 2015)

TS-D 1720C Elite if he has a budget of Rs6k for speakers ask him to get this ultra fabulous Pioneers from Snapdeal eyes closed,its a Rs9K speaker! 
For Coaxial look at the TS 6975V2 Elite ,the best coax money can buy.

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For HU spend a Rs 1000 more and get the X559Ui anyday over the 369, the former has a 24 bit DAC!

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The best HU in that category is the Kenwood DPX-U5120 ofcourse the price is higher at Rs 7K+.....

So there you go....


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 12, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> TS-D 1720C Elite if he has a budget of  Rs6k for speakers ask him to get this ultra fabulous Pioneers from  Snapdeal eyes closed,its a Rs9K speaker!
> For Coaxial look at the TS 6975V2 Elite ,the best coax money can buy.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> ...




hehe. thanks! he was saying y'day to me - "blessed would be you if you could advise me a set-up for under 10k". LOL. time to give him some electrotherapy now! 

will be back here soon!

EDIT: 1. in case he expresses inability to up the budget by more than 1-2k, which of the speakers from my last post would you suggest? the pioneer ones, or RF/JBL?

2. also, the 1720c are component spkrs, which would be driven better by an amp if am not wrong. that would again set him back monetarily. i can say with surety that he won't be willing to spend that much, and the 6975 are for 12k! i rest my case here. 

i then suppose that considering his budgetary constraint, an X559UI coupled with JBL or Pioneer speakers would be good, as these speakers are a little cheaper than the RF ones. would leave up to you to advise on that further.


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## The Incinerator (Jan 12, 2015)

Just don't pair a JBL with Pioneer, somehow they miss the synergy. Get an all Pioneer for that warm tonal balance and Rockford fosgate for a brighter balance and Focals for their openness.

The Pioneers TSA935H are absolutely great coaxials, already mentioned in the first page.Get them if he is on a tight budget.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 13, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> Just don't pair a JBL with Pioneer, somehow they miss the synergy. Get an all Pioneer for that warm tonal balance and Rockford fosgate for a brighter balance and Focals for their openness.
> 
> The Pioneers TSA935H are absolutely great coaxials, already mentioned in the first page.Get them if he is on a tight budget.



thanks! will do.

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The Incinerator said:


> Just don't pair a JBL with Pioneer, somehow they miss the synergy. Get an all Pioneer for that warm tonal balance and Rockford fosgate for a brighter balance and Focals for their openness.
> 
> The Pioneers TSA935H are absolutely great coaxials, already mentioned in the first page.Get them if he is on a tight budget.



could you please suggest some matching fronts? A634/A635 i read on SD don't have a good reproduction of the lows. i have got a coupon from ebay (won't be for long). can use it to purchase if SD has the speakers for a higher price.

UPDATE: used the coupon to buy some footwear. 
gonna buy from SD only now.

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UPDATE: have decided upon TS-R1650S for the fronts after viewing pioneer website's section on car-fittings for my friend's car.
found only one negative review on SD. awaiting your suggestion on this particular speaker  @The Incinerator  before placing the order. 

another doubt - the official listing of X369UB shows the label of 24-bit converter; just the RCA pre-outs and an anti-theft mechanism seems to be missing. is it correct?


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## The Incinerator (Jan 14, 2015)

If the car can mount 6 inch then of course get them, but be careful to mount them with care and proper damping,the door speakers doing lows will bring in vibrations if the doors are not damped with foam and wurth. So be careful. They are great speakers so go ahead. I'm not sure about the 369 but have heard the 559 and they are great this side of the Kenwood and  an Alpine.The RCA outs are also high current with 2.5A.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 14, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> If the car can mount 6 inch then of course get them, but be careful to mount them with care and proper damping,the door speakers doing lows will bring in vibrations if the doors are not damped with foam and wurth. So be careful. They are great speakers so go ahead. I'm not sure about the 369 but have heard the 559 and they are great this side of the Kenwood and  an Alpine.The RCA outs are also high current with 2.5A.



yes, i had experienced such vibrations in my car once, which i got then rectified by the dealer from whom i had purchased and got the speakers fitted earlier.

so alright. for fronts i will keep the R1650S, as even pioneer's website tells that they will fit in a renault pulse.

but i got into confusion after reading an old (2009's) thread on HFV. there people were praising pioneer+JBL combo, saying the JBL speakers have got very good bass and clarity. one member wrote that pioneer speakers have polycones and hence not very pleasant to the ears, while JBL ones have treated paper cones or something and the sound is very good. don't know how much true is it, esp. now. 
my friend likes to listen to more of techno, trance, house, such kind of music, and least of filmi-songs and such. in that case, would pioneer speakers do justice, or JBL ones? 

about X369UB vs X559UI, i guess will have to call pioneer and then decide.

thanks again for the help!


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## The Incinerator (Jan 14, 2015)

JBL has the attack that Pioneers laid back/warm nature  dosnt quite like much. Pair a JVC HU with JBLs he will love the combination over the present ones we are concluding upon. Just get a JBL + JVC combo for his kinda music eyes closed. I completely over looked his music preference. 

Paper cones are light and hence they move fast and keeps up with the tweeter which moves even faster hence the timing is great but paper is not always the stiffest of materials and are prone to absorb moisture and loose stiffness if its not treated which is not the case with other materials as Aramid,ceramic, polypropylene...etc etc...They all have pros and con's but the fact is they are all good IF only DONE properly.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 14, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> JBL has the attack that Pioneers laid back/warm nature  dosnt quite like much. Pair a JVC HU with JBLs he will love the combination over the present ones we are concluding upon. Just get a JBL + JVC combo for his kinda music eyes closed. I completely over looked his music preference.
> 
> Paper cones are light and hence they move fast and keeps up with the tweeter which moves even faster hence the timing is great but paper is not always the stiffest of materials and are prone to absorb moisture and loose stiffness if its not treated which is not the case with other materials as Aramid,ceramic, polypropylene...etc etc...They all have pros and con's but the fact is they are all good IF only DONE properly.





JVC+JBL combo was even my first choice when i had started looking into ICE components for my car.
got to start the hunt all over again now! any JVC HU that you may have in mind?


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## The Incinerator (Jan 14, 2015)

JVC KW-R500/510 is an option within his budget.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 14, 2015)

ok thanks! but the conversation is on now buying the X369UB. he is leaning towards pioneer only.


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## The Incinerator (Jan 15, 2015)

But if its Pioneer + JBL , its bad combo,its alright for casual listeners but in some days he will get the point. The source + speaker match or synergy is completely missing.The two are at two ends of sound signatures.That's my opinion others view may vary. Get the Rockford Fosgates instead over JBLs for Pioneers.
.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 17, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> But if its Pioneer + JBL , its bad combo,its alright for casual listeners but in some days he will get the point. The source + speaker match or synergy is completely missing.The two are at two ends of sound signatures.That's my opinion others view may vary. Get the Rockford Fosgates instead over JBLs for Pioneers.
> .



he's a casual listener only, most of his audio-files being MP3s of 128 or 192 kbps bitrate. 
but anyway, have decided upon pioneer speakers only! 
TS-A935H, and either R1350S, or R1650S, or A634/635 (LOL. still undecided on the fronts).

any comparable RF speakers? or these pioneer speakers above will be better?


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## The Incinerator (Jan 18, 2015)

TSA635 is the speaker to go for,its a proper match with the rear being from the same series. Timber matching is essential. You don't want different kinda response to frequencies ...... TSA is way better over the TSR series.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 18, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> TSA635 is the speaker to go for,its a proper match with the rear being from the same series. Timber matching is essential. You don't want different kinda response to frequencies ...... TSA is way better over the TSR series.



thanks for clearing that up! done then!


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 28, 2015)

[MENTION=146621]The Incinerator[/MENTION] - do you have any experience with blaupunkt HUs and speakers? my friend met an acquaintance of their family in his city, who is a distributor for blaupunkt, but also deals in other brands' products. my friend is leaning towards an all-blaupunkt set-up now. HU is new orleans 220. review tells it to be good, albeit that it has some issues in folder-navigation. hope you have some idea.


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## The Incinerator (Jan 28, 2015)

[MENTION=120775]GhorMaanas[/MENTION] Blaupunkt was very good very detailed but quality has gone down a bit these days. They have gone mass market now and some of their low end speakers are plain crap and best avoided. They used to be Merc oem but not anymore for a reason.They have serious after sales issues. God forbid if something goes wrong spares parts becomes an issue. But but but I still love their HU s....their sound signature. Choose the speakers wisely.


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## sandynator (Jan 28, 2015)

Last year I had installed Blaupunkt velocity 6x9 [VX692]speaker in my cousin's WagonR & is going well & he is loving it.

Velocity range is good IMO & even few years back when there were hardly any car audio speaker manufacturers I preferred Blaupunkt over JBL
. [MENTION=120775]GhorMaanas[/MENTION]
If you wanna audition it then we will be at Decathlon Thane on weekends


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 28, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> @GhorMaanas  Blaupunkt was very good very detailed but quality has gone down a bit these days. They have gone mass market now and some of their low end speakers are plain crap and best avoided. They used to be Merc oem but not anymore for a reason.They have serious after sales issues. God forbid if something goes wrong spares parts becomes an issue. But but but I still love their HU s....their sound signature. Choose the speakers wisely.



the dealer had told him that the sound signature is neutral. about speakers, he had mentioned that there are a pair of 440W ovals, which he could fit in the car (rear). i think they are from the GTX series (unsure). and for the fronts, he had mentioned a GTX series 6" coaxial pair, and velocity 652, if components. so do you recommend a Blaupunkt HU and speakers from Pio/JBL?

also, after looking at the pic of the new orleans 220 HU of Blaupunkt, and then viewing a video of X559UI and X369UB HUs of Pio on youtube, he's leaning heavily towards the Blaunpunkt HU (matte finish, sober looking V/S the flashy, bluey HU from Pio, perhaps an unmatch for his car's interior, as per him).  

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sandynator said:


> Last year I had installed Blaupunkt velocity 6x9 [VX692]speaker in my cousin's WagonR & is going well & he is loving it.
> 
> Velocity range is good IMO & even few years back when there were hardly any car audio speaker manufacturers I preferred Blaupunkt over JBL
> .  @GhorMaanas
> If you wanna audition it then we will be at Decathlon Thane on weekends



thanks for the invite! though i doubt my friend would wait till the weekend. he's jumping with excitement. has got the car a few days back, and is now itching to get the system installed.


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## The Incinerator (Jan 28, 2015)

Get the Blaupunkt HU fitted and then try different set of speakers to see which sound signature he likes. That would be the best way.


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## GhorMaanas (Jan 28, 2015)

The Incinerator said:


> Get the Blaupunkt HU fitted and then try different set of speakers to see which sound signature he likes. That would be the best way.



agreed!


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