Further to GTO asking me to give a brief on Audio Planet.

I got to hear about Auto Planet on a radio ad for NAKAMICHI car audio.

I called up details and took an appointment for a demo. I was then considering a probable upgrade for my car from Palio 1.2 petrol to a new diesel engine.

I went for the demo and was so impressed on the over all experience on what to consider configuring an audio/entertainment set up for the car. Most guys talk about jazzy speakers, funky head units, punch sub woofers, powerful amplifiers etc. Here the approach was different. Education on understanding the basics on listening preferences, taste of music genre etc is laid more emphasis. I went in for the similar configuration on my Elantra 2.0 CRDi as to what Mr. Palani (The proprietor) had on his Honda Accord then. A 2 DIN Pioneer head unit with four 6 .5" round Nakamichi speakers (2 front door and 2 rear parcel shelf). The front speakers also support 2 top dome tweeters with a 6 db cross over. There is no amp driving the speakers except for a 8" active sub.

Auto planet was started in 1999 as a car accessories retailer including car audio but soon took to specialising in car audio and over a period of time had a high percentage of our customers coming in for our specailisation in car audio than for any other segment of car accessories.
They were one of the first few to help a customer identify and understand sound quality than be obsessed with SPL. One of the few to have recognised the importance of Installation basics for maximising product USP's. They use Real time analysers to ascertain the quality of sound in the car since 2002 is a testimony to focus on installation. Brands take a back seat with more importance being placed on the concepts. All the reputed international brands are made available to the customer after help him evaluate his need to product synergy.

Our specialisation comes from the experiances gained in their sister concern where they work with very Audiophile products like ATC, Marantz, Mordautshort, Cambridge Audio, Monitor Audio etc where installation techniques and understanding of acoustics is of paramount importance for converting Product qualities into listening experience. The co-ordinatesL: -

Palani.Lokanathan
Proprietor: Auto Planet & Audio Planet
No.703/4, 1st Floor, 3rd Block behind BDA Complex,
Koramangala, Bangalore – 560034
E-mail: palani2155@yahoo.com
Phone: 080-25523016, 41101368, 64516446
Mobile: 9845019192, 98456949

(Shall post picture of the configuration shortly. Its been running for nearly 3 years now with no troubles what so ever.

[Ranga]

My Scorpio M Hawk was ICE by them . I vouch for there quality and knowledge on Car Audio and tuning them

[GTO]

Alphamike,

Thanks for sharing this recommendation. It's sure to help others.

I guess so this is going to be of help to others.
Ranga has already re-iterated what I have posted on Auto Planet

[reignofchaos]

Palani has some very good home audio speakers including ATC which is one of my top picks for home audio.

[Ranga]

On Audio planet : They are very serious to tune the ICE and take some time out testing all frequencies on the car . Today its just not about fixing our cars with the latest Audio stuff .We also need to make sure we have right ears to tune the cars according to speakers , amp and HU.

With most of the times , all cars allocating space for car speakers @ the worse possible position, a lot needs to be done to enhance the audio , direction and the sweet spot listening mode .

Of my previous experiences in JC Road Bangalore , its always 2 Hrs get the car in and get it out for the next guy and it always left a lot to be desired . I have not seen many working on a car from morning 10 to evening 9 PM to get the right effect on the car .

It needs patience and dedication . AP team has it and they will not hurry up things to just get it done . They give real dedication on the car and the clarity its needed .

What i miss in AP is that they need to document all there work properly with more photos and videos of all installations done till date . This will help for the new cars to understand the building process . A proper website with all installation details is really going to help .

Hope AP team is listening ...

I agree at Ranga on this.

Mr. Palani has done couple of modifications on the Ford Escort which also is a demo car in placing the speaker at the optimal positions or the so called sweet spot.

I am not really sure, how many of us would really agree to play around with the aesthetics of the car.

I was sure that I didn't want any to tweak around with the same, so even I dropped out of getting the silk dome ( not sure what is it called) tweeters. Instead preferred the factory fitted ones only in my elantra. But the NAKAMICHI speakers, they are really out of the world. I am now looking at upgrading my head unit (DVD Player) and drive the same with a NAKAMICHI amp as well. Any suggestions. I got to know that Roadrover has some awesome Car Audio,Car DVD,Car GPS,Car Entertainment units for the car with different makes.

You all might want to take a look.
Roadrover Technology|Professional GPS Entertainment Plant

Some of these models are available in India through Satnav Technologies. I use their GPS software on my Phone and these are pretty good. However, I would want to know, are there any headunits which can connect to google maps.

cheers:-)

A lil bit more information on couple of options: -

Satguide Offers Best Portable Car Gps Navigation System
Compatible Navigation Kit For Alpine And Kenwood From Satguide

Is any one aware of any head unit supporting google maps?

[kutlee]

did an ice upgrade to Hertz at AP Koramangala. This man works on concepts. Explains things (he gets irritated when people don't understand what he is saying). Think the shop fits someone with some knowledge on sound and music. But some valuable advise that he gave me was logical in line with my requirements. I walked in with budget setup and i am satisfied. May be i get same results from some other shop too. But i am not disappointed so to speak. Next visit is to audition home audio.

[yogeshnaik]

Among Pioneer FH-6050UB (2 DIN) vs SONY CDX-GT616UG (1 DIN), which will be better?

I have Pioneer FH-6050UB (2 DIN) and wanted to replace the set with another 1 DIN Head Unit. Any suggestions? Thanks

[PatienceWins]

My experience with Auto Planet is very bad. I was a novice in car audio when I dealt with them in 2007. I realized the importance of having a decent knowledge about ICE after dealing with them.

1) They recommended me to install 4" speakers on Getz door which has default provision for 6" speakers. The reason they gave was that size does not matter, it is the quality that matters. I later learnt that those were duplicate Pioneer speakers.

2) The boys who do the installation are not experienced at all. They are rough with the car. Even though there is provision in Getz to route speaker wires to the boot, they routed it through the panels behind the rear fender by using force. This resulted in damaged clips and a bad squeaking sound, which I am living with.

[Fabiaous]

I had installed Infinity Kappa for Fabia in June 2012.
THe did a good job and I had gone to them with a reference so I was guided by them, Was surprised when Palani told be of duplicates in speakers esp Pioneers.
Its hard to make out the duplicates, While I was in my home town Nasik, I just came accross a big Pioneer dealer , he told me doesnt stock duplicates and showed me some boxes with OEM mark on pioneer speakers stating these are for OEM installations. But fact is there are duplicates and difficult to identify unless one is a expert.

Dear Patiencewins,
With over 1400 posts on Team BHP, its kind of diff the say that you are a no voice with ICE. However, sorry to know that you were advised wrongly. I have had auperlative experience with Mr. Palani bith for my car audio as well as on the hone front.
My brother-in-law has a scorpio done by auto planet and is very much happy about the same.
I have many of my friends and colleagues referred to and by far all are pretty happy with it.
Now that you have had this experience, i am sure no ICE dealer would recommend a 4" in place of a 6". A pair of 4" speaker would cost abt 1100-1200 rs which is too less a cost to push in duplicate speaker instead. Moreover, if thats the case you should ve called up Mr. Palani directly and he would ve done the needful to ensure you don't complain.
Cheers!

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by alphamike

Dear Patiencewins,
Now that you have had this experience, i am sure no ICE dealer would recommend a 4" in place of a 6". A pair of 4" speaker would cost abt 1100-1200 rs which is too less a cost to push in duplicate speaker instead. Moreover, if thats the case you should ve called up Mr. Palani directly and he would ve done the needful to ensure you don't complain.
Cheers!

I just shared my experience so that it would help others. I have gained immensely from others experiences in the forum.
Forget calling them, I would not allow any of them to come near my cars in future.