[vkhandelwal]

Part 1:

The Journey has been long and many ups and downs so please be prepared for a long post.

I love travel and long drives. Some 18 years ago, I had a setup in my Swift that included Alpine IDAX100 and PXE100 with JBL and Infinity amps and speakers. It was quite an eventful journey to get all those installed and learn to configure the DSP.

Given that experience and the lack of car audio components and installers in Indore, I kept it simple for my second car, a 2016 Creta. I replaced the factory head unit with a Pioneer 5900BT head unit and a Sony DSP/AMP with Infinity speakers.

Last year, I moved to automatic and started searching for a car within 30L of my budget. Tried many but eventually settled for Creta NLine 10 ( Again )
That came with the Bose sound setup. This sound setup was not sounding even half as good as in my previous car, so I decided to upgrade.

I went to the local market to see if the situation for car audio in Indore had improved, and I was not surprised that it remained the same. Some shops try to sell people expensive equipment from brands that give them the maximum profits. They have no skill in tuning or configuring.

With that situation, I thought that I should go for a simple Integrated DSP and Amp and found Alpine PXS-080-88 (Optim 8).
The Alpine Optim promised eight DSP and AMP channels, including a controller with Bluetooth and USB, coaxial input, and an iOS microphone-based multipoint tuning app.

I also purchased Morel Sensus 62 2 way component speakers, Morel coaxial for rear, and JL audio woofer with a Sealed Enclosure. Used Morel Dampening sheet for car dampening

Got the wiring and installation done at Car Jewelers Indore. They have been doing the wiring and installation for me since my first car. They did a decent job for wiring, Dampening, and Installation
When I started tuning and configuring, I found out that the Optim 8 sound, though good, was more oriented towards people who don’t want complexity in life ( ) and mainly for an easy and automated Tuning.

The newer firmware had bugs, and people were waiting for the latest firmware release.

With all these research and findings, I was determined to get a proper DSP, AMP, and quality SQ setup.

Continued....

[vkhandelwal]

Part two:

I decided to move to Helix as a DSP and bought Helix DSP3s. Initially, I thought I would use the Alpine Optim 8 purely as an amp, but then I decided to go for a three-way active setup this time.

The challenge was to get the A pillar customized for three 3-way setup. Thinking of getting one in Indore was a distant dream. I contacted a couple of installers from Mumbai and Bangalore, but they asked me to bring the car for a proper setup. A couple of them asked me to send the apillar, but I was not convinced with their craftsmanship.

Concept12V in Bangalore is the importer of Helix in India. I contacted them and requested their help. They also shared that fabricating an Apillar without a car and other parameters would be challenging, but I persisted and requested that they fabricate one.
Meanwhile, I got an extra pair of Apillars through the service center and sent them. I also purchased Helix S3m mid-range drivers and sent the tweeter with APillars to them.

When I received the apillar, I did not find them proper with angle. I instantly knew why everyone was asking for the car.

I had already lost a couple of months in all these things, and the wires in my car audio were disconnected, so I decided to go to Bengaluru for proper installation and fabrication. It was a 1400 Km drive from Indore, but I was ready to take the plunge.

I also discovered the option of shipping the car directly to cities like Mumbai or Bengaluru. I also contacted and was in touch with Satya from EVO and Ramie from Sound Factor Mumbai. They both needed the car for installation and proper tuning.

I had planned to drive, but then, due to a situation with my friend, he could not join, and driving alone for 1400 Km would have been hectic. I decided to go to Delhi for proper installation, Apillar fabrication, and Tuning.

I contacted Subhan from Driven Gurgaon for installation and Amandeep from Retune in Delhi for tuning. Amandeep suggested Babloo, an independent fabricator.

Continued...

[vkhandelwal]

Part 3:

I drove to Delhi and stayed at my brother-in-law's place in Ghaziabad. Babloo was in Rohini ( 40 km from there), and Driven was in Arjan Garh Gurgaon ( Again, approx.. 35 km) ( all three at three sides of Delhi NCR)

I started by Visiting Babloo, who took all measurements and angles using a laser-pointing tool. Seeing this made me feel relaxed and that I was in the right place. I had to stay there for a few hours as he cut the Pillars and adjusted them while I sat in the driver's seat.

In between, I was looking for a better midrange driver and got a used Jlaudio C7 350. I got a good deal ( I think so ) and gave that to Babloo


The next day, I visited Driven. Its owner, Subhan, is a soft-spoken and knowledgeable guy. He has a skilled installer named Monty. We replaced the speaker wire and power cables with proper oxygen-free ones. We also got high-level inputs from the factory amp instead of getting them from the speaker terminals. Seeing them easily do all these things, I knew the car was in good hands. Proper crimping and routing were done, and they never tried to sell or upgrade anything.

On the Fourth day, I got the A-pillars. The wrapping was made of alcantara, and the finish was good. They looked good in the car and were installed without any modification or alteration.

After the installation, it was time to go to Amandeep for tuning. Amandeep is a great guy who knows sound engineering and tuning very well. I had watched a few of his videos and liked his approach and concepts.

We discussed it, and he measured it with me while seated in the driver position. It was midnight, and I left the car at his office as he continued working on the car tuning. When I visited him the next day, he asked me to check the sound. The sound was not to my liking, and he adjusted a few things. It was already half the day by then, and I left to return to Indore.

Continued .. Will finish in next post I promise

[vkhandelwal]

Part four:

With installation and fabrication done, I was okay, as I knew I would tune the sound to my preference. I have watched many videos and content from Raw CAT, PSsound, and Resonix. I already had a Umic1-calibrated microphone and some RTA sessions.

Once I was back in Indore, if someone could measure and tune remotely, it would save me time, and then I could fine-tune that to my preference.
I contacted PradeepJi from Concept12V, who has been very helpful and responsive. He checked and arranged for his Tuner, Roshan, to have a remote tuning session.

I prepared a laptop with the Helix DSP tool, REW, and test tones. Roshan also asked me to install JL audio Tun for measurements. As he asked, I fixed the microphone and gave him remote control of the laptop. I played the TL click track and white noise from the source, and within an hour or so, he measured individual speakers and created a profile for High-level input. Instantly, the sound went to the next level.

In the meantime, I purchased a DAP ( and Hiby Audio R6 2025) and requested that he create a tuning profile for the DAP's Bluetooth HEC input and Line IN.
The next day, he created two more profiles using the test tones from the source.

Roshan is skilled and learned, and I like his enthusiasm and energy. Post-tuning the sound has gone to the next level ( I like the Hiby DAP input, obliviously)

I still must fine-tune it a bit.
But I am finally enjoying the music in my car, and in the end, all the efforts were worth it !!!

I thank NavinJi, PradeepJi, and Roshan from Concept12V Bangalore, Tanmay from Car Jewellers, Subhan from Driven Gurgaon, Amandeep from Retune Delhi, Babloo from Delhi, and Satya from Evo Audio. Special thanks to Shon ( Sbk_audioPhile in team BHP) for the many helpful discussions and being a constant buddy in the journey. And many more people whom I bugged a lot. Thank you for your patience and support. You all rock !!

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by vkhandelwal

Part four:

With installation and fabrication done, I was okay, as I knew I would tune the sound to my preference. I have watched many videos and content from Raw CAT, PSsound, and Resonix. I already had a Umic1-calibrated microphone and some RTA sessions.

I still must fine-tune it a bit.
But I am finally enjoying the music in my car, and in the end, all the efforts were worth it !!!

You all rock !!

Very informative. Would you mind sharing the ball park costs of the equipment and the labor charges at these places.

It will also be worthwhile to share a couple of pics of the final install, the A pillar especially.

[after]

Good to see someone so passionate about audio! Have you put an equal amount of effort into your home audio setup too? Or is listening to music something you do only while driving?

[vkhandelwal]

Originally Posted by autotranny

Very informative. Would you mind sharing the ball park costs of the equipment and the labor charges at these places.

It will also be worthwhile to share a couple of pics of the final install, the A pillar especially.

Here are some of the pics of installation

[vkhandelwal]

Images of Apillar

[vkhandelwal]

]

Originally Posted by after

Good to see someone so passionate about audio! Have you put an equal amount of effort into your home audio setup too? Or is listening to music something you do only while driving?

Thank you!

Not Equal, but more effort goes into my home setup
Below are some of the pics of my home setup



[ATTACH=IMG_6667.JPG]2736354[/ATTACH

[after]

Originally Posted by vkhandelwal

Below are some of the pics of my home setup

Simply amazing I'm guessing you either work in the music industry or this is a huge passion of yours? Also, I can see an iFi Zen DAC in one of the pictures, what headphones do you use?

note: mods, feel free to delete if this is too off-topic

[Autofahrer]

Really amazed to see how you passionately followed your audio goals.

[vkhandelwal]

Originally Posted by autotranny

Very informative. Would you mind sharing the ball park costs of the equipment and the labor charges at these places.

It will also be worthwhile to share a couple of pics of the final install, the A pillar especially.

Below are the costs of different components and labor charges. Please note that I might have forgotten the exact figure, but this is to give a rough estimate.

[vkhandelwal]

Originally Posted by after

Simply amazing I'm guessing you either work in the music industry or this is a huge passion of yours? Also, I can see an iFi Zen DAC in one of the pictures, what headphones do you use?

note: mods, feel free to delete if this is too off-topic

Thanks !. This is a passion. I am a Cybersecurity IT professional.
we can discuss other setups separately.

[NOTORIOUS]

Very Nice , thank you for sharing. just wanted to ask that why custom RCA's were used instead of pre built ones ?

[vkhandelwal]

Originally Posted by NOTORIOUS

Very Nice , thank you for sharing. just wanted to ask that why custom RCA's were used instead of pre built ones ?

I used both. I needed short cables to connect the DSP with the Amps, and I could not find half-meter OFC cables. I also needed the Balanced 4.4 to RCA cable for my DAP, so I also got them made.

I am still looking for a type C to Coaxial( RCA) for Hiby and have not found one anywhere in India.