Sound Ideas

[Ripper]

If you get a 4 channel amp you can run the 6X9's and the front 6's off it. Or you can get a 2 channel amp and run only the 6x9's off it and run the 6's off the remaining outs on the head unit. (you will have 2 sets of outs-one will go for the amp) Running 6's off the head unit is not problem unless they are high end/componant speakers in which case you will need to 'amp em. Also remember you will need another set of 2 amp channels for the sub when you do get one. So you should look for a 4 channel amp now itself. Of course your ideal setup would be one 2 channel/mono amp for the sub only and a 4 channel amp for the speakers Whats the model number of the head unit your looking at?

Pila

sorry for the zero knowledge on the topic... when you get a 4 channel amp...is this a separate unit over the head unit?

The most headunits i've checked on the web say they have 4 channels Mofset averaging 50w per channel...

I wanna do the sub separately at a later stage so right now all i wanna try and do get a good Headunit that have provisions for upgrades....6x9's and component speakers...

on such a config, to get good power/performance i suppose you will still need another amp...am i right?

you think i can do all this for 50+k?

btw gian is here and he's talking about a drive you guys took together on ya new ride

[gunat]

DLS are swedish- thats the same country B&W loudspeakers, Audio Pro, Procella come from. Scandanavians know their sound...

Also, theres no harm in starting small- why not invest in speakers first, then progress to Amps, Subwoofer, etc? If 50k is your total budget currently; you might be a little cash strapped for the Amp.

Edited February 13, 2008 by gunat

[Ripper]

DLS are swedish- thats the same country B&W loudspeakers, Audio Pro, Procella come from. Scandanavians know their sound...

Also, theres no harm in starting small- why not invest in speakers first, then progress to Amps, Subwoofer, etc? If 50k is your total budget currently; you might be a little cash strapped for the Amp.

yep...you're right... that's why i wanted to get inside info on a good headunit since that's key to the whole system...

I'm thinking of head unit, component speakers and 6x9's only at this point...dunno for sure if i can even take that on with ma budget...can stretch it a bit but not as much as i would want to

I've seen ads by gilbert on DLS speakers and they had claimed those speakers were nominated as speakers of the year or something like that if i'm not wrong... Still when it comes to these sorta thing it's difficult to go for an "unknown" brand though it might end up being a better choice...

started googling for reviews on those products to see if i can get an insight into them

One of my buddies in office just told me that i should be able to run components and 6x9's only from the headunit without causing any damage but won't get full performance from them... If that works i'm ok to suffer a few months like that and later move onto a 4ch amp for the speakers and a separate amp for the Sub

Hell i'm driving with only an ipod on now so it can't get worse than that

[Ripper]

DLS are swedish- thats the same country B&W loudspeakers, Audio Pro, Procella come from. Scandanavians know their sound...

Also, theres no harm in starting small- why not invest in speakers first, then progress to Amps, Subwoofer, etc? If 50k is your total budget currently; you might be a little cash strapped for the Amp.

Gunat

check the reviews for DLS... people seem to love the sound quality..... Din't come across a single review that said sound was bad but apparently it's quite pricey...

guess doing a small run to the agents and checking them out is worth the hassle...

they seem to have good pioneer head units too...

what do you think about their installation/service values etc? good people to bust hard earned bucks on?

and all soundaholics...

any recommendations for a good head unit model under pioneer?

[xXx]

One of my buddies in office just told me that i should be able to run components and 6x9's only from the headunit without causing any damage but won't get full performance from them... If that works i'm ok to suffer a few months like that and later move onto a 4ch amp for the speakers and a separate amp for the Sub

Taking your budget into consideration this is the best starting point IMO. You can build up on it later i.e. Amp and the sub.

Regarding Pet#o Vs Advance, I’ll go with the first one. There’s a reason why things are expensive or cheap, what ever way you wana look at it.

[Ripper]

Taking your budget into consideration this is the best starting point IMO. You can build up on it later i.e. Amp and the sub.

Regarding Pet#o Vs Advance, I’ll go with the first one. There’s a reason why things are expensive or cheap, what ever way you wana look at it.

well the first option was the one a few folks at office recommended too since they are supposed to be better at installation etc etc...

you think i should be able to get a decent setup with my budget that include 6x9's, front components and a good head unit or should i find a way to increase the budget

Gunat's recommendation also seems to be good but the DLS brand seems to be pricier over competition in the international markets... doubt it'll be any different here

any of you guys know of a good combo that will fit close to my budget....

headunit...pioneer it is... if anyone has some good info on a good model it'll be really helpful

6x9's... rockford or jbl... thought of going to pet*o and deciding there since i'm clueless as to their pricings to decide whether these fall within limits

component speakers front... thinking of infinity but not sure that bubble will burst after going to the stereo join when i add everything up...

one way or the other...this saturday i shall have a stereo... and you all are responsible if i get a bad one without me getting tips on it :lol:

seriously guys... need all the help i can get... the only car friend i have at work is also buggering off to HK for some training thingy

[xXx]

Ripper, if you want things done economically you can’t make snap decisions. If you know anyone traveling to Dubai, Singa or Malaysia get one from there. It’ll be cheaper than getting one off the shelf in SL. But make sure your mate know at lease few bits and bobs about car audio.

Both Pet#o and Advance are very good when it comes to installation. It’s the goods that are bit doggy in the later one.

My advice is wait a bit, stick your iPod in your ears for few more weeks, keep an eye out for a head unit and speakers. You may come across a good deal. There are lot of Sri Lankans working in middle east when they come home they normally bring things of this nature to make an extra buck. Some spare part joints sell used headunits (I’m on about ones used in Japan not locally) brands like Addzest is very famous in Japan and they are of high quality too. Keep your options open and happy hunting.

[Ripper]

Ripper, if you want things done economically you can’t make snap decisions. If you know anyone traveling to Dubai, Singa or Malaysia get one from there. It’ll be cheaper than getting one off the shelf in SL. But make sure your mate know at lease few bits and bobs about car audio.

Both Pet#o and Advance are very good when it comes to installation. It’s the goods that are bit doggy in the later one.

My advice is wait a bit, stick your iPod in your ears for few more weeks, keep an eye out for a head unit and speakers. You may come across a good deal. There are lot of Sri Lankans working in middle east when they come home they normally bring things of this nature to make an extra buck. Some spare part joints sell used headunits (I’m on about ones used in Japan not locally) brands like Addzest is very famous in Japan and they are of high quality too. Keep your options open and happy hunting.

the hitch is when getting used ones you can never be sure when they are gonna go bust... especially electronic items...

guess i'll have to do a few runs to these local audio joints to get a better picture of things both in equipment and budget wise

Hopefully Pila can spill some beans on his new setup the bugger seems to be into sounds and might know the pricings here etc...

[Supra_Natural]

If i may make a suggestion, you might want to consider B*ra stereos in dehiwala as well.... range i believe is not quite as big as the other two, but pricing is competitive, and they do the installations and such very well (in my experience anyway)

[Devinda_Z]

brands like Addzest is very famous in Japan and they are of high quality too

i second that!

Addzest is essentially the JDM variant of Clarion!

the blokes@ Bara in Dehiwala aren't the heavily commercially inclined types - the owner is fairly straight up chap from my expereince

and they are very competitive when it comes to pricing as S_N mentioned

[xXx]

If i may make a suggestion, you might want to consider B*ra stereos in dehiwala as well.... range i believe is not quite as big as the other two, but pricing is competitive, and they do the installations and such very well (in my experience anyway)

i too can recommend Ranga. Even though i haven't done any work through them i know few examples including his own cars (Premio and the RX7 to be precise) and couple of my mates.

[gunat]

Only the high-end DLS units are expensive- but they have a range called "Classic" which pretty much rivals JBL, Infinity and other known brand units.

Price is very reasonable if you ask me, when you consider sound quality- i could have gone for the higher end stuff, but reviews pointed to the fact that unless i'm an audiophile, not worth the expense.

I'm very, very happy with the end result.

On the agents- they have a great range, and most importantly their service and installation are impeccable.

No shoddy workmanship like one of the other 'popular' stores mentioned in the thread here. The installers are very respectful of the car (take off their footwear before getting in!) and clean up properly once the work is done. Although i didn't negotiate or indicate that i was iffy about pricing, they gave me a discount, which was a pleasant surprise when i got the bill. All in all, a good place to go i think.

I'm told that Ad*ance comes close to same kind of service, and i believe they carry a wider range of the known brands.

B*ra carries the beautiful (expensive!) Nakamichi Head units- brilliant quality and sound; but mainly for low volume music; they certainly don't do the ghetto blasting stuff.

BTW- i had JBL GTO 6x9's on my previous car- and Kim can attest to how good they sound. Head unit was a pioneer- can't go wrong with most of their stuff, except the lower grades...

The research you're doing now will pay off later, for sure...

Edited February 13, 2008 by gunat

[Ripper]

Man and i thought getting the moolah sorted was my biggest issue

thanks guys for all the info... i'm still un-decided on a place...

It's a split between pet,bar and gilb

not an easy call to make

I think i'll have no choice but to go to a joint and decide there...

Gunat seems to be highly HIGHLY satisfied with his works at Gilb*... After reading hundreds of his posts here the man seems to be knowing his stuff so i'm leaning towards them for the moment

Still waiting for pila to come in with a suggested combo... heard good things about his new ride and new setup

[StarScream]

if your looking at hooking your ipod + pen drive to a pioneer then check out deh-p7950ub. it has USB connection plus ipod aux (adapter necessary as far as i know). else you can check deh-p6950ib (minus the USB).

i think first set up it more towards 30k and the latter is more towards 20k ... not sure about exact pricing though.

i was on the hunt for a headunit that can be hooked up to ma ipod as well. in the end settled for a clarion. let me know if u need further details.

[Ripper]

if your looking at hooking your ipod + pen drive to a pioneer then check out deh-p7950ub. it has USB connection plus ipod aux (adapter necessary as far as i know). else you can check deh-p6950ib (minus the USB).

i think first set up it more towards 30k and the latter is more towards 20k ... not sure about exact pricing though.

i was on the hunt for a headunit that can be hooked up to ma ipod as well. in the end settled for a clarion. let me know if u need further details.

thanks mate

I got a creative zen with 30 gigs on it and wifey's got the ipod nano with 2 gigs... I can pass on the USB if it comes to a push but defa need the aux input for the mp3 players we got i did check the clarions on gilb*rt web, couldn't get any good reviews on the web for the though.. all AL folks seems to be pioneer head unit fans...probably with good reason Think i'll stick to that but will experiment with speakers like Gunat has suggested

Bit over 20for headunit should be ok...i'm assuming that i can sort out the headunit cost, speakers, assembly fees etc with 50k...can push it for 60k max but that's about it

[StarScream]

hi ripper,

if by any chance you need any info on clarion setups let me know as i did some research on them before purchase. also, hooking up an ipod via a usb slot to the headunit is a general bad idea unless "ipod direct control" support is present via headunit itself. else u'll need a recommended adapter. but some of these adapters are quite pricey

[Elvis_Pil]

Ripper.. I went in for the Pioneer DEH6950 from Advance which is minus the USB port which comes in the 7950 which is in the range of the prices that Starscream noted. As I got no space for 6X9's I went in for Infinity 2 way 6's on the rear doors. Cant remember the model number (will let you know tomorrow) these are powered by a 850w Blau 4 channel amp which also powers a 650w Boss double core sub. Future plans include components for the front to keep up with the sub on high volume . On the head unit I'd recommend it to anyone ,as it comes with a full band EQ and independent sub output adjuster which lets you refine your sounds more than other sets- does not look to bad as well with a full LCD display. On the installation- Adv*nce did a good job and I prefer them to Pe*co. At the time the prices are not as cheap as my other joint- Ori*nt audio on highlevel road. (who is weak on the installation front)

Gilbert is among the best though for installation as Gunat noted- they use the best quality materials by far. But the prices me thinks is waay off the scale. Head units and amps were the most costly I've seen in town. At the sametime they got some great wires that would really make a difference in higher power setups. I want to eventually get my amp power wire done with them- they charge around 1k per meter of the stuff though.

[Elvis_Pil]

Pila

sorry for the zero knowledge on the topic... when you get a 4 channel amp...is this a separate unit over the head unit?

Yep, two channels from the head unit go in to it

The most headunits i've checked on the web say they have 4 channels Mofset averaging 50w per channel...

I wanna do the sub separately at a later stage so right now all i wanna try and do get a good Headunit that have provisions for upgrades....6x9's and component speakers...

Both can be powered by the head unit only- but you aint gonna get make use of the speakers potential

on such a config, to get good power/performance i suppose you will still need another amp...am i right?

you think i can do all this for 50+k?

Hmmm decent amps start at around 16-18k each

btw gian is here and he's talking about a drive you guys took together on ya new ride

Its was before having dinner

[Ripper]

Ripper.. I went in for the Pioneer DEH6950 from Advance which is minus the USB port which comes in the 7950 which is in the range of the prices that Starscream noted. As I got no space for 6X9's I went in for Infinity 2 way 6's on the rear doors. Cant remember the model number (will let you know tomorrow) these are powered by a 850w Blau 4 channel amp which also powers a 650w Boss double core sub. Future plans include components for the front to keep up with the sub on high volume . On the head unit I'd recommend it to anyone ,as it comes with a full band EQ and independent sub output adjuster which lets you refine your sounds more than other sets- does not look to bad as well with a full LCD display. On the installation- Adv*nce did a good job and I prefer them to Pe*co. At the time the prices are not as cheap as my other joint- Ori*nt audio on highlevel road. (who is weak on the installation front)

Gilbert is among the best though for installation as Gunat noted- they use the best quality materials by far. But the prices me thinks is waay off the scale. Head units and amps were the most costly I've seen in town. At the sametime they got some great wires that would really make a difference in higher power setups. I want to eventually get my amp power wire done with them- they charge around 1k per meter of the stuff though.

Hey Pila

thanks for taking the time mate. appreciate it

Gian is also out of town so i'm going blind on this one

You reckon Adva*ce is good then eh... people had mixed reviews and no one seemed to like them...especially on the hardware front...

changed my mind on gilb*rt if they are way pricey...

If can bug you further...if you were working with my budget 50k... minus the sub and amps cos those can some later... what sorta setup will you go for...

already have 6x9 spaces cut in my rear panelling so was thinking of those and front door speakers only with the head unit for the moment...

thanks man

[Ripper]

[its was before having dinner smile.gif]

he he...good for gian then...

he was shocked at the speeds said your ride was nothing like his TP12 and we've hammered in that thing with sports mode or whatever that high revving thing on

the bugger is still not thrashing the sky though...

guess you would've seen the two big a$$ subs he also have got hooked on.... didn't like the bass of them too much but didn't wanna bust his bubble too :)

[gunat]

Guys, just to give you an idea of how much i spent:

Front DLS Classic K6 Component speakers (6.5" round, 16mm Tweeter; 80W max power; with integrated crossover)

Rear DLS Classic 226 (2 way; Also 6.5"; 80W Max; with integrated crossover)

with installation came to abt 22k, including new wiring etc. I've lost the price list they sent me, but if i recall correctly, they have a 6x9 for around 12-14k from the classic range.

Edited February 14, 2008 by gunat

[Ripper]

Guys, just to give you an idea of how much i spent:

Front DLS Classic K6 Component speakers (6.5" round, 16mm Tweeter; 80W max power; with integrated crossover)

Rear DLS Classic 226 (2 way; Also 6.5"; 80W Max; with integrated crossover)

with installation came to abt 22k, including new wiring etc. I've lost the price list they sent me, but if i recall correctly, they have a 6x9 for around 12-14k from the classic range.

Dunno if they will reply but fired an email to Gil folks asking rates for the head unit pila has got, DLS classic series component and 6x9's, installation cost etc...

let's see tomorrow if they will respond or not

Fired mails to Pet and Advan too... same headunit but infinity speakers for component speakers and 6x9's...

www is making all of work a bit smarter and a lil harder...hopefully

[gunat]

You could give GilCo a call too- they will fax the price list to you, if requested.

Edited February 14, 2008 by gunat

[Ripper]

You could give GilCo a call too- they will fax the price list to you, if requested.

thanks mate... if they don't get back to me tomorrow morning...shall fire them a call...

tad difficult to scoot off after getting into office these days

[xXx]

pills i think its high time for you to post some pics of your ride and the sound system. i'm sure everyone will love to see them.