Good car audio setup for my 12-year-old Maruti Ritz

Should I throw away the perfectly working JBL coaxials and get a new one?

BHPian Kannan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi All,

Following is going to be a long post, but I would like to set the context, hence the lengthy post.

Most of the head units have already been discussed in the various threads, but since I'm looking for the perfect combo, and also am having confusion regarding reusing the existing setup I started a new thread.

Back Story:

My car is a Suzuki RItz which is 12 years old with a double din slot.

Around 11 years before I installed the following:

• A single din Pioneer CD receiver with Aux-In
• A pair of JBL Components (Driven by Pioneer receiver with 4x50w inbuilt amplifier)
• A par of JBL Coaxial (Driven by Pioneer receiver with 4x50w inbuilt amplifier)
• Pioneer Monoblock 500w for subwoofer
• JBL 12" 1200w subwoofer on a custom made ported subwoofer.

Current situation:

• The Pioneer CD Player's volume knob is causing the left-hand side channel to lose audio. I need to press the volume knob to get the audio in the left-hand side channel.
• Both the woofers in the component speakers are not working. Only the tweeter is working
• The Pioneer Monoblock amp is not working.

I was initially planning to switch to an EV, but once I realized the cost is not going to come down for another 3 to 5 years I shelved the plan and decided to hold on to my Ritz.

I also decided I will upgrade my car audio so that I have a good time while I drive to my home city for 8 hours and during the weekend when I drive for a few hours meeting friends.

For the head unit, I have the following requirements:

• Should fit in the double din slot
• Android Auto support primarily for Google Maps
• The quality of the audio should be good. For the most part, I would be using Spotify or Amazon Music.
• Should have Bluetooth functionality to handle calls.

For the Speakers:

• Should be able to reproduce good bass
• Should be light on high-frequency sound (I get a headache if I listen to too much high-frequency sound)
• Retain the working JBL tweeters and high pass filters and use them with coaxials.
• Add new component speakers to the rear (I drive but still I prefer coaxials in the front than in the rear)
• Throw away the perfectly working JBL coaxials and get a matching one for the components.
• Throw away the perfectly working JBL 12" sub and get a factory-made 10" sub with a built-in amplifier.

Few questions going on in my mind:

1. Should I throw away the perfectly working JBL coaxials and get a new one? I haven't checked if they are damaged, but they are producing this brrr brrr sound at high volume on bass-heavy songs.
2. Should I get a new monoblock and retain the perfectly working 12" JBL sub or should I throw away the perfectly working JBL 12" sub and get a factory-made 10" sub with the built-in amp? During long drive boot space always become a problem.
3. Should I get a 4 channel amp for the speakers and monoblock for the sub or get a 5 channel amp (4x50w RMS per channel and 1x320wRMS) that can drive all the speakers and the 12" sub I have?
4. Is door damping required?

I reached out to a local car accessories shop and he suggested the following models:

Head Unit (My budget is up to ₹30K for the head unit). Do suggest any other models

• Blaupunkt New York 750 - ₹ 19,500.00
• Sony XAV-AX3200 - ₹ 21,500.00
• Sony XAV-AX7000 - ₹ 29,500.00 (I'm leaning toward this as the second choice)
• Pioneer MH Z5290BT - ₹ 23,800.00 (I'm leaning toward this as the first choice)
• Alpine ILX 650 ₹ 27,500.00

Component Speakers (My budget is up to ₹10K):

• Polk Audio DBT Series 100w RMS - ₹ 10,500.00
• Infinity Reference Series 90w RMS - ₹ 7,800.00
• Alpine S Series 80w RMS - ₹ 7,950.00

Which speakers should be good for good bass

Coaxial Speakers (My budget is up to ₹7.5K):

• Polk Audio 100w RMS - ₹ 5,200.00
• Infinity Reference Series - 55w RMS - ₹ 6,000.00
• Alpine 80w RMS - ₹ 5,500.00

Channel Amp (Should I go ahead with 4 channel and monoblock):

• Infinity Reference 7005A - ₹24800 (Seems to be too costly)

4 Channel Amp (Do I need them if I get the Sony XAV-AX7000. This model has 100w RMS per channel ?):

• JBL ₹7800/₹8800
• Infinity ₹9200/₹10800

Monoblock amp for sub:

• Infinity Prime ₹8800
• Infinity Reference ₹13800
• Alpine ₹17500
• JBL ₹8500/₹9800

Door Damping (Is it really required? The current doors are not dampened)

Per sheet cost range from ₹850 to ₹1200

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

Try JVC KW-V940BWM

When it produces such sound it doesn't mean they are perfectly working.

Check if it is because of dust or the voice coil damage. It can be easily repaired.

The active subwoofer will occupy a little more space (or the same) as your current 12" set-up. If you are bothered about the boot space go for the under-seat subwoofer

If deep bass is the requirement, go for a 4Ch amp to drive front components and Subwoofer in bridged mode.

Here's what BHPian navin had to say on the matter:

The 8" Infinity subwoofer will not produce either the depth or the volume of bass that the 12" Polk will.

There is no reason why you cannot mix and match brands. For example, you could use Infinity components and coaxial and use the Polk subwoofer and Pioneer amplifiers.

Have you heard the Polk and Infinity components? Do you prefer one over the other?

If so get the components (and matching coaxials) of the brand you prefer.

The Polk subwoofer, Pioneer HU, and Sony Amps will work with either.

You should listen to as many amplifiers and speakers as you can. If nothing, you will educate your ears and you will be surprised how easily even novice ears can tell the differences. After 45 years of building and listening to speakers, I am still learning.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.