[baarish84]

This poll could not have come at the more appropriate time for me. I was wondering the same thing for last few days, if its really worth it to update factory fitted audio gear.

As a background, I drive Hyryder top variant which comes with Arkamys Sound tuning , marketed as premium sound with 4 special speakers (Toyota's wording !) & 2 tweeters. In reality, audio is no that premium - as it lacks a base driver.

I was exploring the costs for a decent car audio set up with damping (while retaining OEM HU). Nothing high end.

Set up with brands like Nakamichi is costing close to Rs 1 lacs . If one wants to install the same set up for brands like Alpine , cost will easily escalate to Rs 1.5 lacs.

For clarity , I think a decent set-up should consist of a DSP, under-seat subwoofer, two-way components pair at front doors, co-axial pair at back doors, a 4 ch amplifier and damping sheet set (4 doors and boot) . All these costs add up , even if one selects mid range brands.

Further, what I observed is wiring set (comprising of OFC cables, pre-amp harness, DSP snake cable, RCA plugs, speaker harness, amplifier wiring kit etc) costs significant amount of money up to Rs 15K. Then there are labour charges.

Effectively , you have to chose between a decent set-up playing audio in sync (but will cost close to Rs 1 lakh) OR

you replace standalone parts to decent ones, add a subwoofer (which may play out-of-sync) and be little happy than your earlier situation.

[Gaur]

Not an audiophile by any distance at the moment, however many decades back i was fascinated by high end music systems thanks to my brother who had a great setup at home consisting of Denon and Nakamichi components the price was eyewatering I remember we went shopping for some cables with gold plated connectors, a few thousand rupees a piece and i thought he was crazy.

To my limited knowledge beyond a particular point the cost-performance ratio doesn't improve significantly.

But i do understand people do spend big bucks on fancy stuff, nothing new in it but there would be an underlying relation to other factors as well.

e.g an apartment of X amount and spend on interior 0.3X
An income of X amount and a designer watch/bag worth 0.3X

But a car worth X with a music system/modification worth 3X is difficult to digest.

[anoopGTkrish]

Since the topic is "Is spending big bucks on a high-end audio system worth it?" and not specific to in-car audio, I would say its totally about what you are passionate about and how much you are willing to spend towards that passion.

Music is a big part of my life. I have learned carnatic music and enjoy listening to emotions being rendered by the singers and appreciate the layers of instrumentation added within the songs. For this I need a good set-up but I don't really believe in spending big bucks. You could do a couple of things to enjoy music much better within a limited budget:

1. Upgrade to a better audio streaming service: Most of us enjoy watching/ listening to audio on Youtube/ Saavn. Gone are the days of storing mp3/ wma files on your phone. But these platforms compress the audio files and they lose quality in the process. You could switch to lossless streaming services that offer better quality audio. My preferred one would be Apple Music. At 90 rupees a month, you just can't beat the value.

2. Better Headphones/ Speakers/ IEMs: If you listen to audio on your phone, you could get in-ear monitors (IEMs) across a range of prices. There are some really good ones in the 1K to 2K range - 7Hz salnotes, KZ ZSN pro, etc. These are from Chinese manufacturers focusing on budget audiophile gear. If you want to use bigger headphones with your phone, you can also get dongle DAC/ Amp (Digital to analog converters) which are basically compact amplifiers that help the phone drive the larger headphones. Audio technica has some easily accessible headphones.

Active bookshelf speakers are another great upgrade to home audio setup. You could get great ones from Edifier for around 10K.

These upgrades serve my purpose and I'm really happy with it. Each to his own.

[ac 427]

To Each his own.

I believe I have a decent set-up at home with Q-Aqoustics towers and a high End Marantz AVR, but in my car - its the Stock system.

I know of one crazy fellow, he has a pioneer audio system on his Kinetic Honda.

So, ya thats my answer.
If you feel its worth it. Its worth it.
If its not, its not.

Happy listening
Ac

[anilntny]

I am also agaist this kind of upgrade for following reasons,
1. Risk of voiding warranty is high
2. Getting a desired result is difficult
3. Huge loss expected at time of resale, second hand buyers usually don't add any value for these upgrades

All these observations are based on my personal experience.

[N.K]

While we are on this topic, I am curious to know what source of music is the best to experience these high-end audio setups?

Are there websites to source such music, also is apple's lossless music enough?

Can y'all share some sources of high end music?

[straight6]

The answer to this thread also depends on what amount of money if big bucks to a person. I'm an audiophile too but I wouldn't want to spend more than around 1.25 to 1.5 lakhs on a system.

The best source of hi res music online is Apple Music in India, even on Android. To get Qobuz or Tidal you need to do a lot of "jugaad" and those are around 15 to 20k a year where Apple is 1k.

[Sbk__Audiophile]

That depends on what standard regarding audio you're expecting and how much you're ready to spend. Audio is generally considered as money wasted however it has a value in the used market. Each product faces different depreciation and that's a better way to look at it. For eg. Helix DSPs and Amps, Audible Physics Widebands are more in demand and might command a premium in the used market.

Once decided to go for proper audio, 15-20K for damping and 10-15K for wiring should be least expected. Above that choose a speaker as per your standards and choose the other equipments to match it. In my case i chose a 2 way component for 35K and I had a sub. To run it I went with a Helix M six (38K INR) and a Helix DSP. The setup came to around 1.5L but I'm very clear on what value I am retaining. Mind it this is not a High end build rather than a good daily.

To put things into perspective, Id rather extend my budget to buy an iPhone and retain 60% value than going budget and dumping money on some cheaper android. In both cases I might be losing the same amount of money, but Ill have to bear with the cheaper equipment.

I saw a Jimny audio build with the latest Pioneer DMH AP-6650 9" headunit and basic plug and play speakers F165A from Ousail (Properly damped). Cant praise enough on the staging and quality and mind these are 10K INR speakers (the tweeters were angle mounted). The cabin was smaller and the headunit was good so that contributed.
Going big money on expensive equipment is not the only way to do car audio. The basics should be proper.

Also let me add the most important part is installation. Before the current setup, I went to do a team-bhpian most mentioned in audio recommendation in kochi and god he gave me nightmares. It was the worst wiring and installation I had ever seen in my life. Imagine the fuses were done where the wires were wrapped around the preferred fuse. On my brand new car. Hows that!

Once spotted called him, sent his the videos and he asked me for half an hour. Called him 10 times later, didnt attend once. Gave me "Live with it" attitude. Sorry @muneemmk I trusted you and this is just not the way to do it. Will be posting the photos soon on teambhp. Refer the video you did on how to not do Audio. The photos and videos I sent you had turn out worse.