Honda Civic In Car Entertainment

Hello there,

Now since I am officially into audio, I am finding ways to get attached to audio some way or the other. Yesterday I got a chance of meeting Pankaj Chheda of FM Drive, a famous ICE installer in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. We were there to meet him to get ICE done of a colleague's Civic. We started at 7 from Vashi and reached Santacruz at around 9:15 and could not audition anything, thanks to heavy traffic in Mumbai.

We got an estimate of components of ICE for the car which is as follows (all prices approx):

He suggests change the stock head unit as it's almost useless. However, if we love the stock looks too much, we can keep it and he will have to use an interface for powering the amplifier. He said, if we choose to replace the HU, we will get at least 35% better sound quality. My colleagure, though loves the in-dash HU looks, readily agreed to replace it.

1. Civic fascia panel to host a two-din HU. 5,500.
2. HU: Alpine 103EBT (Bluetoofth and USB): 13,000. Alternative is some Eclipse model costing around 15,000.
3. Front components: 6.5" Morel/Illusion Audio/Polk Momo/Eclipse. He recommended Morel for around 11,000.
4. Rear components: Illusion Audio Electra. Around 6,000. Says in rear you don't need to invest that much (got reminded of Dhawan saab )
5. Amplifier: MTX/Alpine. 14,000-15,000.
6. Cables/RCAs/Connectors: around 4,500
7. Door dampening: Around 5,000
8. Installation charges: 2,000
9. An 8" Polk (Momo?) subwoofer (optional. if we feel bass is not enough) for around 5,000.
10. A mono-block or 2-channel amp for driving the woofer, if we go for it. Around 7,000.
11. Total: Around 75,000. Sigh!

The person getting it installed listens to rock mostly, U2 types and would prefer sweet and non-annoying sound at high volume levels. Does this kind of setup will be good for his taste?

We plan to get it done on this Thursday.

Hi

That is some wiked instillation.Sweet and Non annoying sound I think the can skip the subwoofer and amp for the woofer.This is the kind of instilation for a person who is a serious Bass and Punch Fanatic

sounds like a fun project. If your friend wants clear sound at good volume, here's what I would do and why.

1. HU: I would spend a little more here. I would look at alpine 9887, pioneer p-80rs or the clarion dxz786. All are single din, sq units. What I need from a hu iis a clean signal around the 5v rms mark, digital processesing in terms of time alignment, eq and the ability to run an active 3 way network. Sub, mid, tweets. Eclipse is not in the shortlist, because while eclipse puts out a high volt signal, all eclipse units that I have heard including the top end models lack 'sweetness' in the sound (Right brain definition). Alpine and Clarion units have this in abundance. The Pio has about 75% of what the alpine has in sweetness, but pio by far offers the best and most flexible processing. The 103EBT is a basic hu. One question why do you need a 2din fascia if the unit is 1din? Recomended HU would cost 19-22k. The clarion may be a bit more.

2. Front Stage : Morels, Dynaudio and DLS rule the 'best speakers money can buy' category. The high end speakers they sell are all 50k+ and yes they are in a league of their own. I auditioned the morel elates and the dynaudio esotec a while back. (Then the reality of the cost factor sank in). The morels being offered by the dealer would be the pulse model. This is Morels attempt to cash in their reputation with customers in the sane price segment. I can bet my momo's at 12k would beat the pulse. The really good Morels start at the ovation series level. For front stage I would look at Polk momo / mm series. See if you can get the MM series. I would also look at the ID CXS52. 12-13K

3. Amp 4ch: I would look for an 4 ch amp that puts out 80-100watts rms to drive the front components. The basic function of an amp is to increase the voltage and current of the input signal. Ideally it should do this without adding any colouration (distortion) to the signal. But we dont live in an ideal world. So all amps add some amt of distortion while amplifying the input signal. Without going into the physics of hopw an amp works, suffice to say that a decent brand with required power will do. Alipne, Kenwood (older models), Polk, Kicker, RF are some names that come to mind. MTX make some excellent high end amps, but the morel analogy applies. The polks, Kicker, RF, Audion would all be 22k+, the alpine / kenwood etc would be 10-13K. For this install and based on the assumption that your friend is not a total sq freak (like someone we know ) The alpine / kenwood range would be fine. Budget 12K

4. Amp Monoblock: I would definately run a sub and give the sub its dedicated monoblock amp. A decent amp here would be around 8k

5. Rears : No rears. Now you now where the extra $$$ for the HU is coming from. Install the setup without rears. Let your friend get it tuned and run if for a few days. If he still feels the need for rears these can be added later.

6. Sub : I would go for a min 10" sub. 8" are good for smaller cars. Polk, ID are two brands that come to mind. there are others as well. Cost Appx 8-9k

The equipment total comes to about 60K you would have to negotiate. What the dealer is quoting are prices at full margin. Depending on if the shop is a primary or secondary dealer for a given brand, he would make anywhere from 10-20% on the MSRP. This gives you a 5-10% negotiation play. Also keep in mind he doesnt install 60k systems everyday.....how you should connect this setup and how it should be installed is another full post. Lets get the stuff first.

@Banwari Lal Sharma:-

You met right people for right thing. FMDrive is a reputed name in ICE. Pankajbhai is very simple & cooperative person in nature, I personally dealt on my ICE. He gave me free advices which has its own cost!

HU:- Undoubtly High end qualitative HU makes most different & more sense for you. Alpine/Eclipse are on that boat...go ahead which u like from that...but call has to be taken for A.S.S. without fail for such imported products..

Front:- yeap go for compo in Polk/Illusion/Morel

Rear:- go for 6x9 if u dont want to add subw. Better u audition both setup 6x9 or with subw & then decide.. no need to go for component here...6x9 : infinity9633i, polk db690/691 or morel tempo.....Subw: polk8"/10" but DVC, IDx series or JBL..

4Campl:- JBL 1004, Blaunkpunkt MKII, Kenwood...

dont forget good wiring brand & tuning of your installed system..(dont woory u r in safe hand of pankajbhai..)

I asked him for Alpine 9887 and his straight answer was, 103EBT is newer series. Plus my friend is very fascinated about pairing his phone via bluetooth to make/receive calls. Hence need a bluetooth HU.

Do we get w/o B&W 9887? Is it recommended? What is the bluetooth counterpart of 9887?

I believe he said Civic's fascia comes only in 2-din. He says he will cover the extra space up and it won't look bad. I am sure we are going ahead with a 1-din unit. Do we get 1-din fascia for Civic as well?

Suggestion taken. However, is there any difference in MM and Momo series? I always thought they are identical!

Alpine. Done, sir!

Brand?

What about rear passengers? My friend usually have a friend or two in the rear (not always though). If he gives rear speakers a miss, will this setup sound good to rear passengers as well?

Even I thought of 8-inch sub as a little too small. I wondered my Polk coaxials would give more punch than this one! So a 10-incher Polk is done!

That's a valid point. I wasn't sure whether we were going to negotiate or not. But now, we will.

Another point I have is, we haven't auditioned anything from the installer. I am not sure how a good sound setup sounds like. I mean again, I have no benchmarks. How do I audiotion different equipments? Say I want to audition components from Illusion, Polk and Morel. How do we do that without putting them in the car? I am sure they won't sound same in the shop! Any clue on this?

Thanks for reassuring, man. Appreciate it. Yes, I liked him a lot.

my 2 cent

HU : Alpine cda 9887, i have it, i love it! got it for 20k, very hard to find in india, about the 103- ebt being a new series, the dealer is taking u on a ride! pio p80-rs is amazing too, tuners paradise as they call it!

Front Comps : Polk MM series are VFM, try rainbow sound line slc comps too, bit expensive but great, handmade in germany after all

Amp 4 Ch: Jbl 1000.4 for the budget, bi amp the comps with this amp

Sub: get at least a 12" sub, its a big non-hatch car after all, polk MMs are good, can look up the Image Dynamics ID 12" sub

Monoblock : as suggested by Mr. Dhawan, chuch the rears, get a sub, get a mono for the sub if ur looking for SQ

ps : hearing is believing, audition stuff before buying, patience pays!

happy ICEing

The CDE/A is a new series, yes. However, its nowhere close to the 9887 in sq terms. The dealer offered this cause your friend wants bluetooth connectivity for his phone. Tell him he can have one or the other, not both.

When youre spending this kind of money, buy with B/W. The MM 6501 are updates to the momo series. Simmilar sound quality levels. The upper mids are a touch warmer on the MM's. You may have to look for these as most places would still be carrying the momo's, till they clean out their stock. If you look you'll find them. Trust me both the momos and the MM's will sound better than the entry level morels.

Mono amp you can look at JBL, vfm. On rears, like I said, dont install now. If your friend still needs them you can always drop in a pair of 6x9 and run them off the hu. I'm betting he and his friends at the back, wont need then if he sets his front stage properly.

The 8" polk in your palio would take your 6x9 to a new level. Your coax's wouldnt stand a chance against the 8" when it comes to playing the low end. But thats in your palio. In a civic its presence would be less. Hence you need at 10-12". The MM/momo sub is good sound and value.

Most places that sell mobile audio equipment will not have decent demo facilities. Even if there is a demo room, between the fact that the installs will be of poor quality and that the fact that the room itself will be much larger than the space in your car........nutshell, the sound in your car and the sound in the demo room would be two different things, like you mentioned.

Your best bet is find someone who will let you demo the stuff in your car. Its a bit time consuming, but for the money youre looking to spend, its the least he can do.

Or Stretch a little more an get an eclipse 7200. Bluetooth and SQ both in one go.

Bluetooth adapte for 9887 would also be a good option.

And how much is that little stretch, Ami? ;-) I just checked on crutchfield, the Eclipse 7200 MKII is selling in US for around $550 that means the head unit in India will cost anywhere around 50,000! My colleague is not that enthusiast. In fact he is now thinking of trying out with getting an interface for the existing Civic HU for taking high-volt preout for amplifier. He is in love with Civic's in-dash HU looks and he also doesn't want to do away with the rear-seat armrest audio controls!

We've not been able to audition anything so far. Looks like the install is getting postponed for next week.

hey banwari lal sharma,

though i dont belong to bombay, i know of some place called hermit audio somewhere in bombay doing installs in the range of decent to very damn amazing

im sure u'll be able to audition some stuff there

cheers