[thirdmainroad]

I obsess about sound. I love music. I always have. And that coupled with my love for driving and being on a highway has made me go through many different speakers and installation teams.

I've been trying to achieve near studio quality sound on a budget and that's no easy thing.

I came across Speedfreaks, Annanagar on Facebook and decided to give them a try because all my previous audio upgrades had failed to give me the quality of sound I was looking for in my car. I listen to a lot of rock and metal and I wanted a setup that would suit my listening.

I was pleasant surprised to meet Karthik, the chief of Speedfreaks. Unlike all other people I had met, Karthik is a sound engineer who has studied sound and automobiles. He is really an expert in car audio, being an internationally certified judge for car audio competitions held across the world. He has done various courses and certifications and unlike any other place I had visited, used a host of complex equipment in cars to measure sound and various other electrical parameters to be able to perfectly tune a setup in a car.



During the time my car was being worked on, I watched them strip a brand new just out of the showroom Mercedes Benz AMG GLE 43 - no easy task with its electronics. The owner of this beast wanted the car to retain its OE looks but wanted to really beef up the audio and ICE. He had chosen 6 lakh Morel limited edition speakers, a DSP and some super sub which he wanted to connect to the OE head unit. And the team at Speedfreaks pulled it out and how! Below are some pictures.

The Merc GLE 43 wrapped up to avoid even a tiny scratch. Well it was BRAND new!



Everything was stripped and re done to perfection as I latter witnessed



Monitors being fit in the rear. I personally think they wouldn't do well in an accident!



The team working on the fabrication of the sub to make it look like OE



And they achieved it. Fantastic!



Not only are the OE speakers in the merc worth less than $10, but the spare tyre super cheap as in all expensive cars. Why do they do this?






Watching all this I definitively wanted Karthik and his team to work on my car. And I was on a budget as well - the least amount I could spend to get near studio quality sound. Having understood my needs perfectly Karthik reused as many components he could from my existing set up, and did not push me to do anything unnecessary like fabrication of the sub – which said was more for looks and convenience and not for sound. My Pioneer Z2090 HU, Focal 4 channel amplifier and Sub were retained, and Polk DB6501 and Focal AS 165’s taken out. I let him decide on what speakers to put in my car, and he chose the Coral MK165 in the front, Coral MC165 Coaxial in rear (speakers I had not heard of before but I was confident he would chose the best suited speakers at my budget.) A monoblock Amplifier was added to power the sub. Karthik stressed on the importance professionally done sound dampening and of fabrication of the tweeters to get them in a perfect “sweet spot” and angle on the A pillar. This was done with a lot of precision and measurement using advanced audio tuning equipment, unlike almost all other installers who fabricate for looks and style and not quality of sound.

Karthik of Speedfreaks



Dampening being done on the WRV






The end result has blown my mind. The balance and sound stage of the notes and music is unbelievable in the car. I really can’t put in words how good the sound is. You have to experience it to believe it. If any of you are close to Neelanakarai, or passing by, you should give me a shout out and listen to the audio in my car.

Not only was the fabrication of the A pillars to accommodate the tweeter in the sweet spot extremely well done, there was a lot of science and measurement that went into this.









If you are looking for a great quality professionally designed car audio set up, Speedfreaks is the definitive place to look up. They also do sound for homes and halls. Karthik has trained a extremely good out fitting team and they great jobs with leather seats and other car modifications – if you are looking for top notch work – give them a call, you won’t regret it.

It is better to give them a call before going in. Once anyone goes to Speedfreaks, they keep returning with their new cars or recommend others and the garage is quite busy with a host of big and small cars being worked upon - from car audio to other mods.





Speedfreeks is in Annanagar, Chennai. Highly recommended. Definitely one of the best, professional and scientific installation teams in India.

Their website:
https://www.speedfreaks.in

Karthiks phone number

+919840904059

[swiftnfurious]

My friend and colleague went to Speedfreakz for an audio installation and requested whether I can post his experience as he got the lead from team-bhp.

I was looking for nice audio installation. Being a swift ZDI, touchscreen head unit was not provided, I was inclined towards the android audio system.

I came across speedfreaks in Teambhp and did my research in google and other platforms where I found these guys are top-notch and deliver high quality.

As I use the car daily for only office commute around 25kms, I want some nice setup without much bass. One fine day I called karthick owner of speedfreaks to share my thoughts of what kind of setup I like (Android Audio system) and budget limitation, he patiently heard me suggest Pioneer head unit and sound magus components(no clue of the brand). He didn't push for pioneer head unit and informed he also can procure android head unit to install, but the output would not be as good as the pioneer since the android system concentrates on providing more options, whereas a pioneer is known for its sound.

Trusting on his caliber gave my car to him for installation while I was away for a 3 days on a office trip. He Informed the vehicle is ready for delivery after 3 days, I reached speedfreaks to pick up the car on the same day, and after the demo, I was blown away by the output.

The next day I found some glitches like reverse camera not working when parking lights are on and some vibration in the output when the volume is high.

He fixed these issues in my next visit.
Personally, what I like about Karthik is he doesn’t push for sales and knows the subject.
With just the head unit, component speakers and little door pad sound insulation, he made sure the output is as per my requirement.

I would say Speedfreaks is a bit expensive than others in the market but definitely worth every penny.

[NTO]

I had posted this audio upgrade in my ownership thread. Posting the same under the main thread of speed freaks. You can also read it on my ownership thread by clicking here (Vento Elemento - 6 years with a VW Vento 1.6 TDi)

Audio Upgrade on my Vento TDi

One thing that I learnt in the 100+ days sitting inside the 4 walls of the house is that Corona can kill us mentally before it does physically. You can try to prevent the physical exposure of the Virus however, staying mentally strong is the need of the hour. Hope all the BHPian families are safe and enjoying quality family time and my sincere prayers who are in the wrath of this deadly virus. This will pass and we will hit back stronger than ever!

After being locked down for over 100 days, my interaction with the external world was only limited to vaccine runs for my son and checking tyre pressure of my vehicles, I had this urge to do something with my Vento. As I finished my previous post, audio upgrade with a good sound insulation was in the list of things I had planned for my Vento. I have done audio upgrades in the past for my Punto and Civic and one thing that lacked with the installers is the knowledge on sound and how to tune it to your liking.

One wise man, in this case, my audio installer said, “You can buy the most expensive speaker but, you do not know if it performs in the way it should!” This had a very deep impact in my mind as my past installs have been with the best possible audio components however, they failed to give me the satisfaction I expected.

I was going through the cons of high-end audio installs – click to read, I still decided to simply not think about it and go ahead with the audio upgrade. Also, with the financial threat Corona has put us through, I have decided to retain the Vento for another 4 years and consider upgrading only when I feel it is absolutely necessary and not budging to my whims and fancies.

This one place has always been on the back of my mind. The name suddenly came to my mind when I was thinking about the audio install. My go to validation place, Team BHP also says the same about this place. Thanks to BHPians Thirdmainroad and SwiftnFurious for sharing their reviews. The place was decided. It is none other than Speedfreaks Anna Nagar. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I texted Mr. Karthik the owner of Speedfreaks with my requirement. He promptly replied asking a few questions.

Here are the questions from Karthik and my answers to them:
1. Utility of the car - personal or family?
90% personal use, 10% family use

2. Where you sit in the car?
I sit in the driver’s seat

3. What is the genre of music you listen?
I listen to a varied genre. From Carnatic fusion, to select few from Metallica, majorly Bollywood, a
few Punjabi (Wakhra swag, Bapu zimidar kind), coke studio, and good AR Rahman Tamil.

4. What is the source you play from?
Apple music, from iPhone mostly and Spotify

5. Define good sound according to you.
Crystal clear audio with mild bass

6. Budget?
30-50K for the audio components

Karthik said that he will revert in a while and he did with a suggested configuration. He also said that my budget will exceed for my requirement and that, a good audio installation can go a long way. I can carry it forward to any new car that I buy. With that, we fixed an appointment for the next Saturday morning.

Cut to next Saturday, I reached Speed freaks and Karthik arrives in his red Brio. After the routine temperature check and hand sanitization, we proceeded to Karthik’s office. I got two things in Karthik’s office. One is a physics lesson on sound and second is the learning that my initial planned budget was sufficient for just one component, the digital signal processor. Karthik also demoed the sound setup on his brio and I was simply blown away with the sound clarity.

At the back of my mind, I was contemplating whether should I spend so much on the audio install for a 6-year-old car. However, the excitement of the fact that my favorite place, the car’s interior, becoming even more attractive overruled all the calculations that were going on in the mind and I agreed to the installation. I paid a 30% advance and booked an appointment for Monday morning and left. I requested Karthik to also get my car sanitized once the work is over and he agreed upon to it.

This is the configuration of audio we installed in my Vento:

1. Sound Magus MP6X – 6 Channel DSP with 4 channel Amplifier

2. Mono Amplifier – Sound Magus DK-600.1

3. 6.5”component speakers from Xcelsus XU 6.2L

4. 3 layer damping on the doors

5. Source – Existing RCD 340G+ head unit

6. Rear fill – existing OEM speakers

7. 10”Hertz sub woofer ES250D

8. Weather protection for the speakers

9. Wires and connectors

10. Amplifier pads, Sub enclosure – Fabrication.

Let the pictures do a little bit of the talking

The dashboard with RCD 340G+
Vento Elemento - 6 years with a VW Vento 1.6 TDi-dashboard.jpg

Xcelsus tweeters on the A pillar
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Front left door
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Front right door
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Rear Door
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The door pads
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Amplifier pads in the boot
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Sub woofer
Vento Elemento - 6 years with a VW Vento 1.6 TDi-hertz-woofer.jpg

How much did it cost?
It cost me Rs. 1,52,000 inclusive of installation. 3X of my initial planned budget.

How is the install?
The audio is simply phenomenal. I am discovering new sounds in the audio I have listened before and I am simply loving it. I do not have any reason to step out of the house. But, just for the sake of listening to the audio, I am taking the car out for a spin every morning.

Karthik used 2 terms, Sound staging and sound imaging. Though I did not understand much about these terms, what I could feel is, sound comes from front of me, as if I was sitting in front of the stage of a concert hall. The sound is so beautiful, you should experience to understand what it is. By far the best audio I have experienced in any car I have travelled in so far. Though sound is very subjective, the audio in my car is perfect in fact, exceeds my expectation of what I want in a car audio.

In addition to the phenomenal tuning, Karthik has given me a remote with 4 presets. Driver seat focused audiophile listening, Front passenger seat focused audiophile listening, a bassy preset (for the Punjabi beats) for the driver and the passenger. Closing the eyes and listening, I can feel the sound travelling around me.

In addition to this, the damping and sound proofing has reduced the decibel levels in the car's cabin. The car runs way smoother. I would recommend speedfreaks to anyone who is not satisfied with their current car audio. They may not be the cheapest but, by far they are the best audio people I have experienced.

Karthik also gave a complimentary detailing for the car. The car just glows. If not for the pandemic, I would be on a long road trip with the car now!

Closing with a shot from a routine alignment and balancing.
Vento Elemento - 6 years with a VW Vento 1.6 TDi-closing-shot.jpg

[Arun1]

I'm probably going to go with Speedfreaks for my Audio Upgrade but I would like to shop around none the less. Anyone who has used their service but can vouch for any other installers in Chennai, I'd be happy to know.

[thirdmainroad]

Well, if you want the very best audio installation, Speed Freaks is where you want to go. There are 100’s of other installers around - but none as good really. The owner Karthik has recently been certified as a judge for the acclaimed EMMA (European Mobile Media Association) competitions. And also he constantly travels to other countries to make sure he is really up to date.

I’ve really spent so much money on equipment and trying so many different installers in Chennai and Bangalore and finally found Speed Freaks who are many leagues apart from everyone I ever visited

From EMMA - https://www.emmanet.info/competition/

“Furthermore EMMA encourages both competitors and installers to extend their knowledge about the equipment they are using. This will then result in a better quality standard for the installations and ensures the equipment will perform to its optimum. Ultimately this will result in a satisfied competitor and/or customer.“

[wild child]

Anyone who wants to buy musical experience and not just speakers, amps and DSPs, please look no where but Speedfreaks, Ambattur Estate, Chennai. Karthikk is very knowledgeable when it comes to sound and in understanding your musical needs. He exceeds your expectations with his simple yet purposeful build.
I recently got my car ICE'd there. The output has improved by leaps and bounds. He has a suggestion for every budget of yours. There is no compromise on basic must haves - like damping, wiring, speaker mounts etc, whatsoever. This was the first place where I have seen a car's music system being calibrated and tuned.
A special shout out to the entire team. Excellent workmanship and dedication! Very rare to find such boys these days.
Karthikk was kind enough to offer complimentary exterior polishing, interior deep cleaning and engine de-greasing.
At Speedfreaks, they are very clear on what, why and how to do their job. No wonder they get to work on luxury cars of almost all brands and also on Thars that are trucked in from other states.
Way to go!

[Benoit]

Does Speed freaks deal with headlamps and lighting stuff? I am looking for a good light accessories shop in Chennai. Any hint?

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by Benoit

Does Speed freaks deal with headlamps and lighting stuff? I am looking for a good light accessories shop in Chennai. Any hint?

Got an upgrade of headlamps on my WRV in Speed Freaks. They are beyond insane, perfectly fit and executed. But the issue is they are so good, I can’t drive at night with others. You don’t really know what you are missing unless you experience what you are really missing. And sometimes, that’s not a good thing, for once you experience the best, it’s very very difficult to downgrade.

[vagster]

Got my Octavia 2022 ICE'd from Speedfreaks, here is my experience.

I have been a fan of good-sounding systems, be it Home audio, personal audio or Car audio.

While Skoda has decided to give up on their Canton system on last Octavia deliveries (it was a stupid omission) , i tried to live with the stock 8 speaker setup by tuning my EQ at source. But i always had the thought of an upgrade as the stock speakers didnot impress.

Since VAG are notorious for rejecting warranties, i was skeptical to go for an upgrade as it might involve cutting/modifying the existing harness. The search continued for some retrofit of the OEM canton or an aftermarket one retaining the OE warranty.

Enquired with a couple of installers and zeroed in on Speedfreaks, Chennai. Though this outlet is ~700 KM from my place, i decided to go with them due to their quality work and experience on working with different German vehicles.

The below queries were asked by them and you can see my responses

1. Car model and year?
Skoda Octavia 2022 L&K , Non canton model

2. Utility of the car - personal or family?
Both Personal and Family.

3. Where you sit in the car?
Driver seat

4. What is the genre of music you listen?
I listen to AR Rahman, Yuvan and Ilayaraja music mostly

5. What is the source you play from?
Mobile Bluetooth / USB

6. Define good sound according to you.
I need to have clean music without distortion, not a bass head.
Looking for balanced audio or a setup that sound better than Skoda's Canton system

7. Budget?
1,00,000 INR

Also informed Karthik that I prefer a setup that doesn't hamper OE warranty (no cutting of OE wires)

Karthik took his time and came back with a suggested setup. Also appraised upfront that the budget may not be sufficient and i might have to extend it.

I had an adhoc plan to visit Chennai and enquired with Karthik if we can plan for an appointment. Karthik strictly wanted three business days and we locked in on Thursday for the installation.

He offered me to audition one of his completed setups to better understand my taste. I was simply mind-blown by its clarity and he made me understand that "Number of speakers doesn't factor the sound quality. It depends on what and how well the speakers are tuned"

This is the configuration installed on my car:

1. Front Focal IS VW 165 Components
2. Rear Focal IS VW 165 Components
3. Match 5.4 DSP cum Amplifier
4. Focal PSB200 Subwoofer
5. Wiring harness specific for the vehicle.
6. Helix Conductor (For selecting presets and adjusting subwoofer level)

The focal IS series (Focal inside) are specially designed for OEM retrofits and are available only at Speedfreaks, in Chennai location. It doesn't require any additional speaker wave guide, or speaker installation adaptors and they fit the OEM wiring harness. You can see from the pictures attached. They look like OEM speakers.

Speakers installed at Front Door


Speakers at the rear


The tweeters were slotted into the OEM provisions, A pillar at the front and doorpads at the rear. (Sorry i didnot take the picture of that)

Subwoofer at the trunk. I preferred a under-seat / sparewheel one . But unfortunately, the focal did not fit under the seat with my 3M Nomad mats on.

The Subwoofer can be detached/repositioned as per our convenience.



Tuning in progress by Karthik.
The door edges are covered to safeguard from minor scratches during the installation. The seats were covered as well.



Never knew that tuning needs such calibrations using a Real-time Analyser!!


Coming to the audio quality - I am impressed with the way the drivers deliver. It was a big leap in the quality of sound i hear with the deep bass. I am hearing new sounds from the system. The sound comes from the front as if you are sitting in a concert hall. Karthik tuned the system to my taste and gave me some presets (Focused for driver, co driver etc).

I came up with many queries in terms of the wattage, current draw by the system and karthik was patient and explained each and everything with calculations. This is something that no one has done on my previous ICE upgrades.

The vehicle was tested for a complete day as I had to travel a long way back. Karthik ensured that everything is done properly and explained how the setup is achieved without any cutting of wires. Trust me, not even a single wire was cut and everything was achieved through a single harness

The damping is pending and I'm planning to take it the next time i visit them.

If anyone is looking for a neat and clean ICE upgrade for your car, you can definitely check out Speedfreaks. They know how and what to do for their work and its worth the penny you pay.

[mmridul]

Originally Posted by vagster

If anyone is looking for a neat and clean ICE upgrade for your car, you can definitely check out Speedfreaks. They know how and what to do for their work and its worth the penny you pay.

Super interested in understanding how much the sub installation worked out to. Its one thing that I really find missing in my MY'21 Octavia.

Also, what was your final spend on the project? And were any wires / harnesses cut?

[vagster]

Originally Posted by mmridul

Super interested in understanding how much the sub-installation worked out. It's one thing that I really find missing in my MY'21 Octavia.

Also, what was your final spend on the project? And were any wires/harnesses cut?

Sub Installation - Are you referring to the Subwoofer? It is PSB200, Passive subwoofer and cost me ~20,000.

The total installation cost ~2.25L inclusive of the components, installation and other harnesses. Helix conductor is optional and can save you some 20k if you opt-out.

There wasn't any cutting of wires. The Match 5.4 can be connected through the ISO harness (Quad PIN). The harness takes care of the power supply as well.

You would need a separate wiring from the battery for power if you plan to run the amp in Hi-power mode, at its full potential.

[SanjuInGgn]

Hi vagster - Have a couple of questions:

1. Is there any effect of the installation on the auto start-stop? I believe the auto start-stop works basis amount of power drawn. Does the higher load of DSP/Sub cause the auto stop to not function properly OR every time that it starts up, does it power off n on due to the higher power requirement during auto-start?

2. You mentioned you didnt got the damping done when installing initially. Did you finally get that done too and if yes, is there any appreciable difference in the sound quality?

3. What is the function of Conductor? Just for presets selection OR any other function too?

4. Did the cost of 2L include sound proofing/damping too? Or is that over and above this cost?

5. Any rattles in the car, given they would have had to strip the interior trip to a large extent?

Would really appreciate your thoughts, since am in the same situation where you had start off - with a similar budget and concerns around warranty.

[vagster]

Originally Posted by SanjuInGgn

Hi vagster - Have a couple of questions:

1. Is there any effect of the installation on the auto start-stop? I believe the auto start-stop works basis amount of power drawn. Does the higher load of DSP/Sub cause the auto stop to not function properly OR every time that it starts up, does it power off n on due to the higher power requirement during auto-start?

2. You mentioned you didnt got the damping done when installing initially. Did you finally get that done too and if yes, is there any appreciable difference in the sound quality?

3. What is the function of Conductor? Just for presets selection OR any other function too?

4. Did the cost of 2L include sound proofing/damping too? Or is that over and above this cost?

5. Any rattles in the car, given they would have had to strip the interior trip to a large extent?

Would really appreciate your thoughts, since am in the same situation where you had start off - with a similar budget and concerns around warranty.

1. MY23 Octavia doesnt have Auto start stop system. So i cannot comment on it. However, i can say that i havent seen any issues with the battery drain as the audio is played only when the car engine is running.
2. I havent done damping yet! Reason - Octavia's NVH are really cool and it eliminates most of the road noise. If you need that extra 'oomph' on your audio system, you should definitely go for damping.
3. You can configure it to choose what you want. For ex - i have the default one for volume control. Push the button in and you can control Subwoofer's level. Push it again and you can select EQ preset. You can also select the audio source for the DSP (Handy, if you wish to bypass the HU and play directly via DSP)
   
   This is the controller's documentation - https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/b...ries/conductor
   
   IMO - If you are someone who wants to change the Subwoofer volume and EQ frequently, this works well.
   
4. Damping is above the cost i shared. Basically , i had four pairs of Focals - 20,000 each (approx). DSP (Match 5.4) - 80,000 , Subwoofer - 20k , Controller - 20k (I guess) , Misc (Harness, wiring for DSP etc)
5. No rattles, touchwood. IMO, it depends on the installer. My installer had right tools to open the door panel, A pillar, dashboard trims. If someone inexperienced does, you will observe issues. I would suggest you to get this done with the right installer.
   
   I see your location as banglore. I have seen autoplanet worked on ICE upgrade on Octavia (it was a three way setup with helix conductor). Im not sure about any other installers in banglore, you need to check.
   
   At Chennai, i can suggest my installer .
   

[SanjuInGgn]

Originally Posted by vagster

[list=1]
Damping is above the cost i shared. Basically , i had four pairs of Focals - 20,000 each (approx). DSP (Match 5.4) - 80,000 , Subwoofer - 20k , Controller - 20k (I guess) , Misc (Harness, wiring for DSP etc)

Thanks so much for your response. By 4 pairs of Focals, did you mean you have installed a pair of 6" mid-range speakers on each door? OR did you mean 1 mid-range + 1 tweeter for each door? I believe there is space for 1 mid-range 6" speaker and 1 small tweeter in each door.

I see your location as banglore. I have seen autoplanet worked on ICE upgrade on Octavia (it was a three way setup with helix conductor). Im not sure about any other installers in banglore, you need to check.

What's a 3-way setup with helix conductor? Pardon my ignorance.

[vagster]

Originally Posted by SanjuInGgn

Thanks so much for your response. By 4 pairs of Focals, did you mean you have installed a pair of 6" mid-range speakers on each door? OR did you mean 1 mid-range + 1 tweeter for each door? I believe there is space for 1 mid-range 6" speaker and 1 small tweeter in each door.



What's a 3-way setup with helix conductor? Pardon my ignorance.

It is a Two way component, one Mid bass and one tweeter.

https://www.focal-america.com/product/is-vw-165/


Three way system had a Mid bass, midrange and a tweeter (3 speakers in total) and the Helix conductor is the one you asked earlier (pt 3)