At last it is done.
I have finally got the ICE upgrade done on my XUV. Got the car in March '15 and since then been bearing the horrible stock music system for the last 2 yrs. LIving in Bangalore a good sound system in the car is your best friend, what keeps you from crossing the line of insanity. Given I survived 2yrs is commendable but finally it had to be done and time taken out from the precious weekends to get the ice upgrade.
What were the requirements from ICE
- Clarity, I am no audiophile but I can tell good sound from bad. Stock system is very avg and music gets quite muddled. Wanted some clear sounding music
- Given XUV has no room to spare with last row pulled up, the plan was not have a sub woofer box which requires removing for space, under seat is an option for future
- Didnt want to blow away too much moolah. Whatever gets vfm decent sound
Concerns before going in for ICE upgrade
- New rattles popping due to opening of door pads, dash etc etc
- Prev gen XUVs HU is known to have a slight whine thats always present and tends to get amplified out of control post install. My installer ensured he will handle it before i decided to go for it
Installer - Sachin Autoshop, Koramanagala, Bangalore. Suraj, one of the owners from this place deserves a special mention. This is the third car of mine that he has touched in last 11 years and he still remembers details of issues we came across on them. I guess these small things is what gives confidence to let him get going on the XUV as well
Finalized Configuration
- Front Components - Blaupunkt Velocity VC 652, seemed best VFM components, polk/Rockford costed 2-3 times more
- Rear Doors - JBL Coax M208SI, Suraj was recomending Rockford for better mid range, but JBL gives better bass. GIven I wasnt planned to get sub, stuck to JBL
- Amplifier - Started with Blaupunkt 4CH EMA 455 during installation but finally swapped with JBL GX - A646SI. More on this later
- Went in for damping on all 4 doors to get better sound reproduction
- Suraj, got custom XUV W8 wiring kit created that required no cutting of wires. It plug n play with existing HU and compatible connectors. Makes wiring an amp so much simpler
Before I write more, some pics to do the talking for me.
First the equipment
Tearing up the interiors starts
Poor quality stock Nippon speakers
You can see the twisted pairs of the customer wiring. Couldnt take a pic before installation started. It has plug and play connectors for stock HU and existing stock connector. Makes wiring the amp lot more simpler without any wire cutting involved. Only wires cut were at the speakers since stock ones were directly soldered on
Extra damping behind the speaker on the inside of the door
Initial amp of choice, Blaupunkt after wiring up
Custom wiring was nicely marked to avoid errors
Inside of the door damped, esp all the joints
Closer look at the crossover
Comparison of the speakers
Completed front door
Rear door being put together
Final placement of the JBL amp under front passenger seat. Nicely packed with wires all hidden post installation
Ok so now with all the pics done lets talk about results of the install. First thing that happened when the system was powered on was this crazy annoying drone which was the biggest worry I had. Suraj then got into the car and started tuning the system down. After about 15mins he asked me to try it out. The whine was present though significantly reduced. Lets say at 80% but it was bothering me. Suraj confirmed the amp was sensitive at that freq and reducing further would be tricky. He proposed to try JBL which had better control and noise rejection. Went through the amp change and another round of tuning and another round of audition. This time result was 95% reduction. The whine is audible sitting in the car in a quiet place without music on, but with music playing its barely discernible. Suraj recommended to spend couple of weeks with it and see. He has some more ideas which need more time and that day with 7hrs already spend at his shop I wasn't gona spend more.
Review after 2+ wks of listening
- It sounds sooo much better. Clarity which was my main requirement is top notch. Guitars sound so much nicer
- Mid bass is good, bass guitar sounds nice, drums are clear. So far rock, hindi, punjabi, pop, hip hop all have sounded good
- Lack of sub woofer can be felt on some tracks. More felt on hip hop, punjabi kind of much
- JBL coax on rear door were a pleasant surprise. Decent vocals and bass for 2K INR in my view. Bass is actually more than the components on front
- The mild whine though present, is barely heard. I would try and get it fixed if it an easy fix, else I plan to live with it. I need to visit Autoshop for retune now that speakers have opened up well. Will check on options
- Regarding my concerns, no new rattles I can hear but then music is playing louder so dont know .
- Another thing from install, the stock tweeters are still connected. There is no easy way disconnect them without opening the entire dash. So I have 4 tweeters now. Though the stock ones are very feeble and not felt.
- Total installation costed 22K. Feels good vfm for the improvement in sound quality
Next on my list is an under seat sub at some point in time. No urgency for now. Enjoying the drive and traffic so much more. No more need to call people while driving than listening to music. And btw now I can tell GAANA app has so much better music bitrate than SAAVN, something i couldnt tell with stock install
.