[shreyak_ss]

Thanks for sharing this with us. Passion trumps over anything and everything, indeed. The satisfaction you have got here should be enough, as aptly summed up by GTO.

If possible please post a breakdown of the products you have installed, just wanna know out of curiosity.

[-xplora-]

hi

That is a sick setup and it takes guts to load a Kia Sonet with that kind of Audiophile kit. I am sure every timbre is clearly separated, wonder what kind of setup you have at your home if this is in your car ?


Couple of observations:

Taking a look at the schematic / flow diagram that you have posted, a question arises. Why is the HU the OE ? Now I do understand you have the DSP to offset the low quality output and a USB 192k/32bit or the Cayin input. But whoever designed your flow, what is the objective of having the OE HU in the mix ? unless its only and only for visual interaction ..i.e. changing tracks etc, while audio source is separate, that is not clear from the diagram.

The reason is, since you are an audiophile, you'd know that OE HUs are not sealed in anyway neither their sources are anywhere near fidelity so Garbage In Garbage Out applies big time in audiophile level systems.

Also, I presume you would only be using FLAC / WAV audio sources or you are planning to use streaming platforms audio? as those sources are also compressed audio.

[ninjatalli]

Nice setup. I would second GTO's request of a video if possible. A few additional Qs

1. Possible to share a breakup? Would be interested to know how the 29L break up into.

2. Those darkened windows. Are they actually that dark / tinted or is it just the photography post-processing at work. If that is what it is actually, must say it adds to the color combination of the car.

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by -xplora-

Taking a look at the schematic / flow diagram that you have posted, a question arises. Why is the HU the OE ? Now I do understand you have the DSP to offset the low quality output and a USB 192k/32bit or the Cayin input. But whoever designed your flow, what is the objective of having the OE HU in the mix ? .

Thanks a lot. The OE is connected to the Brax so that I don't miss out on the safety feature alerts and the ability to answer calls via Bluetooth. However, the primary source is the CAYIN N8ii. Its a portable DAP with class A and Tube modules, and that's where I play my music from. I use lossless audio, and my primary app is Amazon Music. I download it onto the DAP and play from that.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Nice setup. I would second GTO's request of a video if possible. A few additional Qs

1. Possible to share a breakup? Would be interested to know how the 29L break up into.

I will try to upload a video once I find time over the weekend.

The breakup is as follows;

1. Utopia M(3 way + Sub) - 7,50,000
2. Brax DSP with HD USB - 7,50,000
3. Helix Conductor - 20,000
4. Ground Zero Reference - 8,25,000(2,75,000 * 3)
5. Sound Proofing - 2,55,000
6. Cables (Techrnov Gold) - speaker cables and RCA - 1,50,000
7. Fabrication, Installation and Tuning - 1,50,000

The installation was done in two stages. First, with the Helix ultra and once the Brax arrived, the second stage consisted of the Brax install and the mid-bass fabrication. The Sonet Boot is so cramped, and the amount of time and effort that went into getting three Class A biased amps in them while providing sufficient space for heat vents was humongous.
Also, the Utopia Sub needed at least a volume of around 23 litres against the 16 litres specified in their tech data sheet. This is the volume it performed to its best. Getting 23 litres in the boot without sacrificing a significant portion of the boot was a challenge, and the guys at Speedfreaks pulled that off amazingly.
Almost close to 250-300 actual hours of work went into the entire installation and I feel that I got a great deal towards the installation fee.


Mod Note - Use the MultiQuote feature to reply. Proofread before posting.

[CArspeed]

I am just out of words to even congratulate you on being a such a car-music enthusiast. I don’t even know if enthusiast is a right word for you. I don’t want to call it mad as it’s a question of heart over mind that everyone wants to achieve. Kudos to you. Wishing you lakhs of miles of music.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by flipflop

What I have in my car is truly an experience and cannot be expressed in words or by pictures. I would love to share this experience with any serious connoisseurs of audio on this esteemed forum and invite those teambhpians to have a listen.

I'm one who will never spend much on car audio, but I have experienced cars with expensive upgrades and loved them. The passion that you guys have towards good quality output is amazing. Years ago, I used to be shocked when I discovered that people spend 3-4 lakhs on car audio; but you have hit that ball out of the park. Waay out.

I imagine Sam Kapasi would call you nuts and then be very very proud of you.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by flipflop

I will try and upload a video once i find some time over the weekend.
the break-up is as under;
1. Utopia M(3 way + Sub) - 7,50,000
2.Brax DSP with HD usb - 7,50,000
3. Helix Conductor - 20,000
4. Ground Zero Reference - 8,25,000(2,75,000 * 3)
5. Sound Proofing - 2,55,000
6. Cables (Techrnov Gold) - speaker cables and RCA - 1,50,000
7. Fabrication, Installation and Tuning - 1,50,000

Almost close to 250-300 actual hours of work went into the entire install and i personally feel that i got a great deal towards the intallation fee

Hi, I truly understand the value behind your last statement on efforts put in.

Questions:
1. What’s the HD USB interface for?
2. You say Amazon? It doesn’t offer lossless streaming at all unless you gimmick you are from US Switch to Apple Music and please let me know how it sounds.
3. Cayin sourced from headphonezone India?

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Hi, I truly understand the value behind your last statement on efforts put in.

Questions:
1. What’s the HD USB interface for?
2. You say Amazon? It doesn’t offer lossless streaming at all unless you gimmick you are from US Switch to Apple Music and please let me know how it sounds.
3. Cayin sourced from headphonezone India?

The HD usb is for digital streaming directly to the brax. The HD usb was offered as a free ad on

Yes. Mistake is mine. I use Apple Lossless. Typed Amazon instead

[inwester]

Originally Posted by flipflop

What I have in my car is truly an experience and cannot be expressed in words or by pictures. I would love to share this experience with any serious connoisseurs of audio on this esteemed forum and invite those teambhpians to have a listen.

Wow, what a custom audio set up you have done. Bravo!

+1 request for an Audio/Video review.

Leave you with one food for thought. Since you have gone great lengths to do damping, perhaps try and do some sort of "felt lining" on door pockets, cubby holes, glovebox, storage space etc. Nothing ruins good music like bottles or keys rattling on that hard plastic. This is one thing that top luxury cars give you out of the box, which mainstream vehicles don't. It should be fairly cheap and easy to do as well.

[abaliga]

This is surreal! Dont get me wrong, I appreciate quality audio at home and in the car, but this a sticker shock to me and is something I had never heard of till now

This will put Porsche optional upgrades to shame! Hope you are enjoying every bit of it.

I can only imagine the kind of set up you have at home if you have spent as much on a car, would love to get details on that as well!

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by flipflop

The HD usb is for digital streaming directly to the brax. The HD usb was offered as a free ad on

Yes. Mistake is mine. I use Apple Lossless. Typed Amazon instead

Should have been more specific. When you say, "Digital streaming directly to the Brax", is it like a USB media player OR you can connect your iPhone and HD USB acts like a DAC OR both?

[KP56]

My 21 year old brain who just got his first intern allowance of the lowest 5-digit figure a few days back is still processing the amount of money that you have spent xD

But jokes apart this is quite a big motivating factor for me. The fact that you're spending your hard earned money on what really makes the heart happy is all that matters at the end of the day. Wouldn't call myself an audiophile in front of purists like yourself ( thanks to my life as a drummer in school and college, me and my band have simply forgotten the importance or rather the existence of proper audio levels)

The X-line paint job paired with the 5% tint ( I'm assuming ) looks killer as well. Will definitely run up to you if i ever spot you someday to at least have a glimpse at that beautifully put together set-up !

And yes I'm an ARR kanni as well
Wishing you happier and melodious miles ahead sir !!

[Electromotive]

Wow. That's just incredible. And I mean I N C R E D I B L E.
Which is to say that I find it very hard to believe that any rational person would spend the money you claim to have spent on that car for something as nebulous as sound quality. While I won't label myself an audiophile but I do indulge in top of the line Shure, Marantz and Sennheiser equipment. If I were the audiophile you claim to be, I would have just bought top-of-the-line wired headphones for my in-car audio needs and called it a day, but that's just me. You, on the other hand, are incredible.

[flipflop]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Should have been more specific. When you say, "Digital streaming directly to the Brax", is it like a USB media player OR you can connect your iPhone and HD USB acts like a DAC OR both?

Basically, the USB interface lets you connect your source digitally, I.e through the USB input to the brax and the brax acts as a DAC

[-xplora-]

Originally Posted by flipflop

thanks a lot. The OE is connected to the Brax so that i dont miss out on the safety feature alerts and ability to answer calls via bluetooth. However, the main source is the CAYIN N8ii. its a portable DAP with class A and Tube modules and that's where i play my music from. I use lossless audio and my primary app is Amazon Music. I basically download it onto the DAP and play from that.

Got it. So your interaction interface then is only the Cayin? Or are you mirroring that on the OE? Or is it dash mounted? It would be great to have Cayin controls from the steering wheel, may be a custom API call or they might have an app / android auto integration solution. Because we all have now got into the habit of using basic audio functions from steering controls, its safer too.

Does Amazon's Ultra HD have the same library size as their prime / compressed audio or it is severely limited? If its the same library, its a no brainer to upgrade to that service.