Audio upgrade

Cavey1638

Cavey1638

Member
Hi All,

At long last have the audio upgrade completed by Source Sounds of Sheffield. Thought I would show a few pictures of the work done. All the front speakers have been replaced with 3 way Hertz Hi Energy Components, tweeters custom fit to the original position. Mids fitted in the doors and the six and a half inch mid/bass in the floor kick panels. The front speakers Bi-amped from a dedicated Hert 4 channel HDP 4 Amp. The rear 12" sub in a custom made enclosure powered by a Hertz HDP1.

I have then gone for an Audison Bit Play HD and an Audison Bit 1 processor.

I now have 240GB SSD drive on the Bit Play HD with an external 64GB USB stick.

The quality of the sound is now absolutely awesome and a real credit to Paul Ellis who oversaw the install. The soundstage is fantastic and using FLAC or WAV files - You can tell the difference.

NeilP commented a while ago about not needing any speakers behind you and he was correct. The quality of the Audison gear is absolutely spot on. The only gripe I have is that their software interface is very dated, but I believe is about to be upgraded.

Some pics for info.

Regards

Cavey











 
Looks great, I bet that sounds a lot better, What was the reason for the Sub going in the boot instead of behind the seat out of interest?

Did you have loads of sound proofing installed?

I'm guessing this was a lot of cash, if you don't mind me asking how much was the install?

Ash
 
Wow that's some system, I see you have good taste in music...Seal, great artist and I bet he sounds fantastic in your car
 
Ash,

Difficult as it was done in stages.

Alpine head unit with HPD4 and components first.

Then sub

Next was the HPD1 amp

Alpine sat nav add on

Bit one + Bit Play HD

Sound insulation and lighting.


The sound is what can only be descibed as awsome. Paul spent some considerable time setting it up but well worth it. The bass extension is exceptional.

We tried the subs in back but not 10% on the boot enclosure.

Regards

Cavey.
 
Fantastic looking set-up.

I just couldn't justify pretty much losing the whole boot and all that quality sound in a rattly, crashy, 2 seater soft-top.
 
Cavey1638 said:
Turn the volume up.. I have llst about a third of the boot space. Not that its that much anyway.
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Understand. I like the engine noise though and drop large cases in for business ttravel :)

Still think it looks awesome
 
Easy really. The Audison processor can store pre set levels so I have a roof up and down setting. The higher frequencies are tweaked a few db for roof down.

Regards

Cavey
 
Tidy! Well done for getting a proper job done. Think I'm going to go Hertz 3-way soon, with no amp/head unit upgrade initially, and go from there. It's when you start routing things front-to-back that this kind of job starts getting expensive.
 
Just Googled some prices
Bit play HD £450
Bit one £420
Hertz hdp1 £490
Hertz hdp4 £450
Front speakers £290 maybe more depending on which range exactly
Plus the head unit
Plus the sub
Plus fitting
These are just ball park prices I found on the net, an not related to what the op has paid
 
Those prices are about right but I have a good relationship so got some components cheaper. The issue is finding an installer who takes the time and effort to show what you can do. I am really pleased at the quality of sound and the sound stage this set up produces especially from .wav .flac files. The downside is having to set up the analogue side for the Alpine head unit & the sat nav software. So when switching between the bit play and say FM radio don't leave it set at -6db as the whole street can hear it! If you do go the bit play HD + bit one the software is due an upgrade in January by Audison so should be a lot more slick.

Regards

Cavey

Forgot Alpine Head unit £500
Sub about £300

Still worth it!

If my Mrs reads this I will be living in the car now!
 
RayM said:
Circa £3K then. A little rich for me but very nice.
Click to expand...

That's your biggest problem right there.

Little point in assessing what someone else has spent on their equipment.

Audio is so subjective that you may hear that £3k system and not be satisfied with the initial outlay.

It's the single reason I always encourage people to go check out their local car audio outset and hear the equipment before buying.
 
Hi All,

I have always liked music but disappointed over the convenience -v- quality issue. I totally agree that this is a subjective matter and with audio it normally becomes an exponential curve with diminishing returns in relation to cost and quality.

I started with the head unit which although this was okay just would not cut it by todays standards. I managed to find an audio installer that likes music and actually listened to what I was trying to achieve and not what they wanted to flog. An example being I went through four sizes and shapes of sub to find the 'right one.' (Clearly to my listening taste and no reference to 'which is best!). Paul actually stated that in reality only about 5-10% of customers are bothered about the quality which surprised me.

The system install was done over a year in stages as yes it was not cheap.

In conclusion I have to say if it was worth it ....absolutely. The depth, slam, extension, clarity and sound stage have reinvigorated my listening to my music. To the point I have spent days ripping my library to .Flac or 'Wav files.

For info the speakers I have had fitted are the Hi-Energy 3 way components which are by no means the 'most expensive' but when driven with a 'clean' signal - sound amazing......

Now the controversial bit.... I am fed up with lack of choice for down loading quality files. The big players are only just warming to the fact that its not all about convenience and we the public would like more quality for our money.

I like the fact that we should have choice - not just what the main players in the audio/music industry think we should have.

Regards

Cavey
 
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