Unhappy With My Installed Car ICE!

[puneet848]

Since some family friend had a ICE shop i had to go to him as he offered a v good price. Mistake. Car sounds totally weird and irritating. Grand i10

Here is what is installed.

Pioneer AVH 279BT H.U. - I thought this would be ok reading reviews etc. however it has a pathetic screen quality that reminds one of old nokia phones. One can count the pixels if needed. touch response and menu speed is ok with no lags but screen resolution is embarrasingly bad. Surprised no online review said so or maybe i did not do good research. Sound is decent and the loudness feature in HU adds great bass to the speakers. Also the side panel buttons are hard to press as they are small and not separate. one pretty much presses wrong button if not careful. The next song on touch screen too is very small , will have to invest in steering buttons for mute, next ,back and volume by buying a 2600 rs steering component for my car .

JBL CX 650 csi 6.5 inch comp. I'm not sure how tweeters are supposed to be aimed , installed fixed them on car sail panel facing each other. The speakers when using loudness feature on HU produce nice bass however without it they sound weird and not comfortable. Dunno how to describe but songs sound unnatural. Are they supposed to be like this ? are these speakers not good ? they don't even seem to be listed on JBL site . No damping done and speaker wires are factory ones that come preinstalled in car.

Can tuning EQ /High pass filter in HU etc correct it ?. currently everything off /normal as installer wasn't really an expert in tuning stuff. It has high pass filter from 50-125 but dunno which setting is to be used.

I only put front speakers and nothing on rear yet as i dint wanna further ruin stuff.

 

[puneet848]

Re: Unhappy with my Installed Car ICE !

Also does place ment of the crossover unit affect SQ in any way ? the Unit has a button on it that says 0db and +2db ( see attached pic) . how will it affect SQ ? . im not sure if the installer pressered or did not to them.

 

[ice_wise]

My brother has AVH279BT in his Dzire and you get what you pay for. It is not in league those top class Caskas or Alpine units, but performs decent for its price. Screen quality is bad, I agree but he uses the unit for playing music and reverse camera only, so the screen quality is decent for this. We cannot expect tablet/mobile phone quality at this price.

Placement of tweeters should be like this. The left tweeter should be facing driver's headrest and right one should face co-driver's headrest.

CX650 is entry level component from JBL and I hope you aren't expecting too much. Crossover placement doesn't affect SQ. The button will be for the tweeters. If you want to get more sound from the tweeters (sharp and loud hi notes), set it to +2, if you like laid back and sweet note, set it to 0dB.

In the HU, let it be normal/FLAT if you do not have a seperate driver (subwoofer, etc.) for handling bass. With a subwoofer, it should be around 80Hz, experiment yourself and find the best setting between 70 and 100 Hz. And what source are you using for playing songs? Use 44Khz or above songs for better quality. Correct your tweeter placement. And see if you like and what is lacking.

What exact problems are you facing with the sound?

 

[puneet848]

My brother has AVH279BT in his Dzire and you get what you pay for. It is not in league those top class Caskas or Alpine units, but performs decent for its price. Screen quality is bad, I agree but he uses the unit for playing music and reverse camera only, so the screen quality is decent for this. We cannot expect tablet/mobile phone quality at this price.

Placement of tweeters should be like this. The left tweeter should be facing driver's headrest and right one should face co-driver's headrest.

CX650 is entry level component from JBL and I hope you aren't expecting too much. Crossover placement doesn't affect SQ. The button will be for the tweeters. If you want to get more sound from the tweeters (sharp and loud hi notes), set it to +2, if you like laid back and sweet note, set it to 0dB.

In the HU, let it be normal/FLAT if you do not have a seperate driver (subwoofer, etc.) for handling bass. With a subwoofer, it should be around 80Hz, experiment yourself and find the best setting between 70 and 100 Hz. And what source are you using for playing songs? Use 44Khz or above songs for better quality. Correct your tweeter placement. And see if you like and what is lacking.

What exact problems are you facing with the sound?

i thought Jbl cs6c were the entry level and these would be good. The sound is like shrill and sharp and kinda hurts the ears. Will tryband get tweeter reaimed though installer threw the angled mounting cup. Will open doornand see if crossivernsetting put to 0 or not. Paid like 4k for these. I use 320kbps songs only will check the khz too

 

[ice_wise]

i thought Jbl cs6c were the entry level and these would be good. The sound is like shrill and sharp and kinda hurts the ears. Will tryband get tweeter reaimed though installer threw the angled mounting cup. Will open doornand see if crossivernsetting put to 0 or not. Paid like 4k for these. I use 320kbps songs only will check the khz too

CS6C are very basic ones, just for the sake of having that extra tweeter. I am not saying that your speakers are bad, but meant that you should not expect too much.

Set the crossover to 0dB for the tweeters. Try reducing the treble on the HU, and bring up the bass a bit. Aim the tweeters correctly, I think all this should do the trick. Because your tweeters are sending shrill frequencies towards each other and resulting in a highly sharp note at the centre. Aiming them as I suggested would bring this sharp note a bit lower and more towards the centre of the car. Do you need more bass or is it satisfactory?

Yes, 320kbps songs should be fine. Check the sampling rate, it would be around 44 or 48 kHz.

 

[puneet848]

CS6C are very basic ones, just for the sake of having that extra tweeter. I am not saying that your speakers are bad, but meant that you should not expect too much.

Set the crossover to 0dB for the tweeters. Try reducing the treble on the HU, and bring up the bass a bit. Aim the tweeters correctly, I think all this should do the trick. Because your tweeters are sending shrill frequencies towards each other and resulting in a highly sharp note at the centre. Aiming them as I suggested would bring this sharp note a bit lower and more towards the centre of the car. Do you need more bass or is it satisfactory?

Yes, 320kbps songs should be fine. Check the sampling rate, it would be around 44 or 48 kHz.

Yes will get them reaimed towards opposite seats. Bass is ok as i can anyway use bassboost and loudness feature in songs that have lot of bass. I mostly listen to hindi on my commute. Will see treble as well. Also will rear speakers help or they for fill only and surround effect. I now will have to get the steering part from top end car varient that has buttons as volume and change track on HU and touch screen is very hard to use.

 

[ice_wise]

Yes will get them reaimed towards opposite seats. Bass is ok as i can anyway use bassboost and loudness feature in songs that have lot of bass. I mostly listen to hindi on my commute. Will see treble as well. Also will rear speakers help or they for fill only and surround effect. I now will have to get the steering part from top end car varient that has buttons as volume and change track on HU and touch screen is very hard to use.

Rear speakers will improve the overall sound quality and give that surround effect, but I would say first correct 100% what you have now as correcting 4 speakers together would be difficult than 2. In a month or two, you can choose what is lacking and then decide which type of speakers you want for rear. Also note that speakers need some time to bed in (like running-in in cars) and you should drive them sanely (no high volumes, sudden pause-play of songs) for 80-90 hours of play time. After this period, you will know what actually your speakers are capable of.

That steering part from top end variant will not do anything as it will not connect with the HU directly. First you have to check whether your Pioneer HU has an optional steering control adapter (module) which will let you connect to the steering buttons. You will otherwise get used to the HU in some time.

EDIT - And as you are saying CX650CSI are not listed in official JBL site, I have a strong feeling that they are discontinued (and have existed in the market for long) and you known installer sold his unsold stock. They are not available anymore on any online site. If you have the box for these, check the MRP and Mfg Date of the speakers. Also please mention the price you got the 279BT for? It should be around 14k.

 

[furious_driver]

As ice_wise said, you get what you pay for!!! Since you said he is your friend, you can ask him to replace it to better unit just by paying the difference amount.

 

[docraj]

I know the feeling. My daily commute was mundane until i got my hands on a pair of boston ovals, powered by local/cheena made USB player.
Amazing bass, can give subwoofers a run for their money.

Fitted in 2010, still doing its thing(touchwood).

My indica eV2 LX came with factory fitted clarion ICE. It has features, i will give u that. But the sound output through front two door speakers (yes, it has just two) doesn't win hearts.
My car is still in company warranty, so didn't want to let outside decor guys toy around with it.
After its over, can someone give me suggestions for decent ovals since bostons are no more available.

 

[ice_wise]

I know the feeling. My daily commute was mundane until i got my hands on a pair of boston ovals, powered by local/cheena made USB player.
Amazing bass, can give subwoofers a run for their money.

Fitted in 2010, still doing its thing(touchwood).

My indica eV2 LX came with factory fitted clarion ICE. It has features, i will give u that. But the sound output through front two door speakers (yes, it has just two) doesn't win hearts.
My car is still in company warranty, so didn't want to let outside decor guys toy around with it.
After its over, can someone give me suggestions for decent ovals since bostons are no more available.

For excessive bass, you can go for Pioneer ovals. For a slight mix of SQ in your bass (read : low-moderate bass), you can go for JBL or Blaupunkt ovals. If budget is not a problem, GTO949 or 959 or S699 are good speakers. I have heard them, though the bass will be less, they blend in with the system (if you have vocal oriented front stage) very well, just like a pure SQ 8" kicking at the back.

Since you have a Cheena amplifier, you can go for higher brands like Infinity, Polk or Hertz. Hertz will be on the sweeter side and Polk would be on the bass-ier side. GTO949 and others which I mentioned also perform great with an amplifier.

What is your budget for this?

 

[puneet848]

Rear speakers will improve the overall sound quality and give that surround effect, but I would say first correct 100% what you have now as correcting 4 speakers together would be difficult than 2. In a month or two, you can choose what is lacking and then decide which type of speakers you want for rear. Also note that speakers need some time to bed in (like running-in in cars) and you should drive them sanely (no high volumes, sudden pause-play of songs) for 80-90 hours of play time. After this period, you will know what actually your speakers are capable of.

That steering part from top end variant will not do anything as it will not connect with the HU directly. First you have to check whether your Pioneer HU has an optional steering control adapter (module) which will let you connect to the steering buttons. You will otherwise get used to the HU in some time.

EDIT - And as you are saying CX650CSI are not listed in official JBL site, I have a strong feeling that they are discontinued (and have existed in the market for long) and you known installer sold his unsold stock. They are not available anymore on any online site. If you have the box for these, check the MRP and Mfg Date of the speakers. Also please mention the price you got the 279BT for? It should be around 14k.

The installer did say steering buttons can be added in the HU with a adaptor. Dunno how much a adaptor will cost.

Yes even i feel speakers are old and discontinued model. Box i did not check and dont have now. I got the Pioneer 279BT for 13.4k , with warranty card with serial number sticker. I have put budget of 3k to get steering wheel button next month and made new thread for it here , lets see. Willing to let go of these speaker for 3.5k and get Infinity Comps for 5k if someone buys these.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

I don't think Pioneer has inbuilt steeering input adapter, as in case of Sony it came along with it.

 

[docraj]

Has anyone heard of the fire in the new chevy sail on Delhi Faridabad highway?
The doors got locked and the driver couldn't get out and was charred to death...

Experts have said some shoddy wiring work is responsible for such incidents....
Now I am scared to get any work done from outside shops.

 

[ice_wise]

puneet848 - If you are interested in that remote I posted in other thread, it was available on Snapdeal for 1400 bucks. So I guess the aftermarket prices won't be above 1.5k. I know a member on TAI who has this interface (remote type). I will search and will let you know.

http://m.snapdeal.com/product/pioneer-cd-sr100-steering-wheel/651187


VISHNUCARCRAZY - Pioneer has a steering wheel interface (module) which is said to work with most AVH models. AFAIK JVC didn't have it.

Has anyone heard of the fire in the new chevy sail on Delhi Faridabad highway?
The doors got locked and the driver couldn't get out and was charred to death...

Experts have said some shoddy wiring work is responsible for such incidents....
Now I am scared to get any work done from outside shops.

Docraj, I have even seen that car. But I don't think the so-called professional installers "not from outside shops" can not make any such mistake. Best answer for this is to supervise all the work, and in Faridabad or Gurgaon, Maruti guys (and even Toyota) didn't let me supervise the work, which is more risky than getting work done under supervision through outside shops. Personally I prefer DIY as no one loves (and cares) for your car better than you. For instance, the aftermarket guys would complete an install with one half-used tape (black tape i.e.) whereas when I got to DIY on my friend's Polo, we used up 3 full pieces of tape. That is where the difference is.