Need help with ICE for new car (newbie here)

[Finclk]

Dear sifus,

 

I know it can be a hassle to explain everything to a newbie in ICE. I do enjoy listening to good music at home and on my digital player. So can appreciate good music but just new to ICE. I would like advice on what should i do or get. I would like to do everything at once.

 

Music i listen to

- Vocals

- Instrumental

- Rock/concert sometimes

 

Medias i listen to:

- CDs

- Digital lossless formats

 

My car

- Toyota Vellfire (has 2 front speaker locations and 1 rear speaker location for each side of the car)

 

Items i think i need to change (correct me if i'm wrong)

- change stock HU

- change Front speakers with Component for tweeters

- change Rear speakers to coaxial?

- Add subwoofer

- Add amplifier

- Do soundproofing

 

I'm not very particular as i know i'm listening in a car. And at most during weekdays spending about 1-1.5hrs in total in the car, weekends should be more. But i would appreciate some good music to listen to for the drives.

 

Budget: $3k max?

 

Thx for assistance.

 

[Altis72]

Hi I'm not an expert but I will share my experience as I have been through this before.

 

I mentioned in a previous post that unlike home audio systems, limited shops in Singapore have ICE system setups for you to listen to (maybe you have friends who have ICE in their rides) so I believe most owners depends on the installers' recommendation.

 

- change stock HU. You can consider a mid/top range Pioneer or Alphine HU. The top models cost around 1k. You may also need to change the console.

- change Front speakers with Component for tweeters

- change Rear speakers to coaxial? I didn't use my stock rear speakers as I prefer the music to be at the front.

- Add subwoofer

- Add amplifier. I used a 4 channel amp to drive my two front speakers and subwoofer and the HU can be used to drive the rear speakers if you wish. You can have separate amps driving your speakers and subwoofer if your budget permits.

- Do soundproofing. My soundproofing was done for 2 doors only with 4 layers of STP Gold. Some bros soundproof 4 doors or the entire car. There also a few brands of soundproofing available in Singapore.

 

I believe you are going for a passive system? If you are going for an active system you need to add a processor.

 

And don't forget to add the costs of the speaker cables and interconnects.

 

Unfortunately I went to a "reputable" shop and had the bad experience of poor soundproofing done and the ICE system was not tuned properly. I went to another shop to redo the soundproofing and tuning of the system. Not all installers are good tuners imho.

 

[Finclk]

Hi I'm not an expert but I will share my experience as I have been through this before.

 

I mentioned in a previous post that unlike home audio systems, limited shops in Singapore have ICE system setups for you to listen to (maybe you have friends who have ICE in their rides) so I believe most owners depends on the installers' recommendation.

 

- change stock HU. You can consider a mid/top range Pioneer or Alphine HU. The top models cost around 1k. You may also need to change the console.

- change Front speakers with Component for tweeters

- change Rear speakers to coaxial? I didn't use my stock rear speakers as I prefer the music to be at the front.

- Add subwoofer

- Add amplifier. I used a 4 channel amp to drive my two front speakers and subwoofer and the HU can be used to drive the rear speakers if you wish. You can have separate amps driving your speakers and subwoofer if your budget permits.

- Do soundproofing. My soundproofing was done for 2 doors only with 4 layers of STP Gold. Some bros soundproof 4 doors or the entire car. There also a few brands of soundproofing available in Singapore.

 

I believe you are going for a passive system? If you are going for an active system you need to add a processor.

 

And don't forget to add the costs of the speaker cables and interconnects.

 

Unfortunately I went to a "reputable" shop and had the bad experience of poor soundproofing done and the ICE system was not tuned properly. I went to another shop to redo the soundproofing and tuning of the system. Not all installers are good tuners imho.

 

Thx for the input. Noob question here. The i see there are 1,2,4 channel amp. Is it number of x-channel amp needs to pertain to the number of speakers or what?

 

What's the difference between active and passive system?

 

Also will my battery be drained faster with an increased number of power hungry items?

[coolbluepica]

Hi I'm not an expert but I will share my experience as I have been through this before.

 

I mentioned in a previous post that unlike home audio systems, limited shops in Singapore have ICE system setups for you to listen to (maybe you have friends who have ICE in their rides) so I believe most owners depends on the installers' recommendation.

 

- change stock HU. You can consider a mid/top range Pioneer or Alphine HU. The top models cost around 1k. You may also need to change the console.

- change Front speakers with Component for tweeters

- change Rear speakers to coaxial? I didn't use my stock rear speakers as I prefer the music to be at the front.

- Add subwoofer

- Add amplifier. I used a 4 channel amp to drive my two front speakers and subwoofer and the HU can be used to drive the rear speakers if you wish. You can have separate amps driving your speakers and subwoofer if your budget permits.

- Do soundproofing. My soundproofing was done for 2 doors only with 4 layers of STP Gold. Some bros soundproof 4 doors or the entire car. There also a few brands of soundproofing available in Singapore.

I believe you are going for a passive system? If you are going for an active system you need to add a processor.

And don't forget to add the costs of the speaker cables and interconnects.

Unfortunately I went to a "reputable" shop and had the bad experience of poor soundproofing done and the ICE system was not tuned properly. I went to another shop to redo the soundproofing and tuning of the system. Not all installers are good tuners imho.

Hi bro,

 

I feel my processor not tuned properly also. Do u know of any good tuners? Can share please.

Dear sifus,

 

I know it can be a hassle to explain everything to a newbie in ICE. I do enjoy listening to good music at home and on my digital player. So can appreciate good music but just new to ICE. I would like advice on what should i do or get. I would like to do everything at once.

 

Music i listen to

- Vocals

- Instrumental

- Rock/concert sometimes

 

Medias i listen to:

- CDs

- Digital lossless formats

 

My car

- Toyota Vellfire (has 2 front speaker locations and 1 rear speaker location for each side of the car)

 

Items i think i need to change (correct me if i'm wrong)

- change stock HU

- change Front speakers with Component for tweeters

- change Rear speakers to coaxial?

- Add subwoofer

- Add amplifier

- Do soundproofing

 

I'm not very particular as i know i'm listening in a car. And at most during weekdays spending about 1-1.5hrs in total in the car, weekends should be more. But i would appreciate some good music to listen to for the drives.

 

Budget: $3k max?

 

Thx for assistance.

Bro,

Velfire is a big car. You need good speakers and powerful amp, good soundproofing and box woofer to drive the sound. As your rear space is large, rear speakers not to be regretted also. Good Rear speakers needed to "fill up" the space at the rear in order not to allow the sound from front speakers to bounce to the rear. If it does you will have sound loss and will cause ear fatigue.

 

I think $5-6k budget for a decent set. (Excluding HU).

[Altis72]

Thx for the input. Noob question here. The i see there are 1,2,4 channel amp. Is it number of x-channel amp needs to pertain to the number of speakers or what?

 

What's the difference between active and passive system?

 

Also will my battery be drained faster with an increased number of power hungry items?

I am using a bigger capacity battery Bosch S5.

 

I had a budget and used a 4 channel amp to drive the front speakers and subwoofer. If you have a bigger budget you can have 1-channel amp to drive the subwoofer and separate amps for your speakers (low, mid, high). See photo in the link from UDC Thailand (they are the pros)

https://www.facebook.com/Udccaraudio.Bangsue/photos/a.667073126728784.1073741862.657693704333393/807309812705114/?type=3&theater

 

Have a read on active/passive systems here:

http://www.mycarforum.com/topic/1003154-active-vs-passive-setup/

 

Will you be getting 2 way or 3 way main speakers? 3 way speakers which come with separate mids. You can get a 2 way speaker and add the mid later on. For 3 way the installer will customise the pillars like this: 

https://www.facebook.com/198446056842400/photos/pcb.1337470492939945/1337470292939965/?type=3&theater

 

I would suggest you drop by a few installers and have a chat with them about your setup and budget.

Hi bro,

 

I feel my processor not tuned properly also. Do u know of any good tuners? Can share please.

 

My tuner is based in JB. If you're willing to travel, you can pm me.

My friend's ICE system was tuned by Ah Chai of Nam Huat Sin Ming for the EMMA competition. You can try him.

Difference between good and bad soundproofing:

 

https://www.facebook.com/XtremezAudio/photos/pcb.624429024387581/624428974387586/?type=3&theater

 

https://www.facebook.com/198446056842400/photos/pcb.1383102291710098/1383102228376771/?type=3&theater

 

ps I am just an enthusiast sharing information and have no relation to any installers mentioned here :)

Edited December 7, 2016 by Altis72

[coolbluepica]

I am using a bigger capacity battery Bosch S5.

 

I had a budget and used a 4 channel amp to drive the front speakers and subwoofer. If you have a bigger budget you can have 1-channel amp to drive the subwoofer and separate amps for your speakers (low, mid, high). See photo in the link from UDC Thailand (they are the pros)

https://www.facebook.com/Udccaraudio.Bangsue/photos/a.667073126728784.1073741862.657693704333393/807309812705114/?type=3&theater

 

Have a read on active/passive systems here:

http://www.mycarforum.com/topic/1003154-active-vs-passive-setup/

 

Will you be getting 2 way or 3 way main speakers? 3 way speakers which come with separate mids. You can get a 2 way speaker and add the mid later on. For 3 way the installer will customise the pillars like this:

https://www.facebook.com/198446056842400/photos/pcb.1337470492939945/1337470292939965/?type=3&theater

 

I would suggest you drop by a few installers and have a chat with them about your setup and budget.

 

My tuner is based in JB. If you're willing to travel, you can pm me.

My friend's ICE system was tuned by Ah Chai of Nam Huat Sin Ming for the EMMA competition. You can try him.

 

Difference between good and bad soundproofing:

 

https://www.facebook.com/XtremezAudio/photos/pcb.624429024387581/624428974387586/?type=3&theater

 

https://www.facebook.com/198446056842400/photos/pcb.1383102291710098/1383102228376771/?type=3&theater

 

ps I am just an enthusiast sharing information and have no relation to any installers mentioned here :)

Thanks. By the way anyone interested in hertz HDP5 channel amp? I'm letting go cos upgrading.

[coolbluepica]

I just replaced my amp to ground zero reference 4, full active front 2-way focal K2. Ground zero mono block micro one for my hertz box 12" woofer. Now iPhone connects directly to my helix processor for best sound quality.