Hi guys.

I was one of the first ones in the country to get my Neo (June 2006), and one of my first projects was to upgrade the ICE. So I did the first stage to my car, using low mid-range parts, and then was quite happy with it for a year.

So for one year, the car has had:

- Sony CDX-GT800 Head Unit
- Kicker KS65.2 2-Way Components (Front) (Full-Active)
- Kicker ES65 Coaxials (Rear)
- Kicker KS-80 8" Subwoofer
- Planet Audio EC20 Electronic Crossover
- Kenwood KAC846 4Ch Amp (driving front mids and sub)
- Audio Sysyem Twister F2 2Ch Amp (driving front tweets)
- Good cabling all round
- Dynamat everywhere

Well, I just got poisoned again, and this week I changed the head unit, front components, four channel amp, crossover, subwoofer and added a few little small things to make it more stable and run smoother. And I did this all in one day!

I think it is best to let pictures tell the story, so here goes...



Door card taken off. You can see the top layer of soundproofing. There is also a thick layer of Dynamat around the speaker mounting and the inside of the door is all fully plastered with Dynamat. As a result the door is really heavy and closes shut with a satisfying "thunk", like a BMW.



The old Kicker midrange speaker ready to be taken off. You can see more clearly the Dynamat around the speaker.



The speaker taken off, with the Dynamat on the inside of the door clearly visible.



The new speakers installed. They are Focal Polyglass 165V Slim speakers. I actually wanted a set of Boston Acoustics speakers instead, but they wouldn't fit in the door (kena the window mechanism). It could fit if I drilled out the speaker grill from the door card and fitted the Focal grill, but I didn't want it to jut out and I wanted it to be stealth so I don't attract attention from theives.



The new Focal tweeters, nice, simple and no branding - I like it that way so that people don't know what it is! They asked me if I wanted to make a fibre moulding of the A pillar for the tweeter, but I didn't want as I want my system to appear cheap from the outside.



This is the old Planet Audio crossover that I have in the car. I was still planning to use it back, but after all the speakers were installed we found out that it is a bit broken and that the channels came out wrongly-balanced, so I had no choice but to get a different crossover there and then!



The new AudioCraft active crossover. Exactly the same functions as the old one - no difference! Fitted into the hole underneath the driver's seat. I also installed a small Helix capacitor, which is hidden next to the crossover, which you cannot see in this picture.



Preparing the new mounting board for the new amp. It is an Alpine V12 MRV-F545 4-channel amp. Quite powerful!



New amp fully installed, along with a new capacitor and power bridge also on the mounting board. Channels 1 and 2 of this amp drives the front midrange speakers, and 3 and 4 are bridged to power the subwoofer.



This is the old Audio System F2.190 2-channel amp that I am keeping from my old setup. This amp is used to drive the front tweeters only.

New Rockford 12" subwoofer! MUCH bigger than the Kicker 8" tube it replaced!



Rear view of boot setup. Nice and clean, and the woofer is attached with velcro, so when I need the extra space I can always remove it.



New head unit, which is a JVC KD-AVX33. This head unit can do EVERYTHING, which is why I like it. It has bluetooth built in, so the moment you step into the car you do not need to touch your handphone to make or receive calls. When you are listening to music and you receive a call, the music will just pause and then you can answer the call and talk to the person as if he or she were a passenger in your car. This is VERY useful. Then when the call is over the music continues. Here is the head unit playing the film Gladiator in the built-in monitor from a DVD. It will also read MP3 and DivX files from DVD, CD, USB etc with no problem. And the sound is true 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS built-in! No need for a separate DSP or anything. Surround sound is awesome when watching movies.



Radio function.



USB function. It will read both memory sticks and hard drives, and can play MPG, AVI, MP3, WAV, WMV, AAC etc!



This is a front loader head unit.

----------------------------

That's it!

The sound is very good, especially after the tuning. It needs to run in a bit more though and then in a couple of weeks I will tune it again. The biggest change is in the POWER. My previous system can run loud, but as you approach maximum volume you can hear the sound thinning out. This one feels like it will go so loud it can blow your eardrums. Plenty of power, and of course power isn't just about power, it's about control. Sounds come out smooth and full. Running the tweeters full active also makes a HUGE difference. The highs are controlled, tight and very crisp, and you can hear all the fine detail in the music.

I hope this will inspire you to do something with your Neo's ICE too.

Please ask if you have any questions!

i like ur HU...mind sharing how much it cost?? n the focal comp set as well..congrats on ur upgrade

HU bought in UK - cannot buy in Malaysia or Singapore because not released yet. After conversion cost is around RM2400 without shipping. Can also buy from US, which will be cheaper (around RM2k), but the US head units have an odd tuning system (different frequency steps and range), and they don't normally have the RDS feature (the thing which allows your radio to display the info like "FLY FM" etc). So getting an European unit is still the best.

Comps I think around 1500+/-. Receipt packed away already and lazy to go dig it up.

cool...seems like u really spend alot in ICE...hope u enjoy it =)

had the previous version of that JVC before, now phase out already
it has got a smaller screen compared to yours

but after a while i found out that its quite useless
so i sold it off and change to an eclipse instead

izizt the screen too small when u wanan watch movie?

is it a 2-din player? cz it looks like something smaller than a 2-din..

how i wish if it could haf a GPS as well.. nice setup clean installation.. from kf audio?

it's still a 1 din size HU
lawl

yes, very

is your woofer ported or sealed?

nice HU, mine cap ayam

sorry no actual pics cause don't have camera, i like your HU cause it has better background scene

This post has been edited by Vervain: Aug 19 2007, 08:46 AM

how much is the cap ayam? warrarty?

nice set up.
how long you play ICE?

i bet the ppl sitting behind will get a fast heart beat

if i have this then sure langgar lembu le
keep watching movie
but sure nice if stuck in the jam

price for the HU? rm930 like that, i bought a bundle of other items inclusive of reverse camera and antenna for TV, total is around rm1200 excluding labour installation. why single din? cause i don't like flipout monitors blocking the aircon controller. and although flip out looks cool but its not really impractical esp when you go in and out of the car often and i doubt the motor will last.

This post has been edited by Vervain: Aug 21 2007, 10:02 AM

Hey Vervain nice choice. Does it work well? What about sound quality? It is MUCH cheaper than the JVC, so I think if it works well then it is much better value for money.

And yeah, driving with a movie on is really dangerous! Great for traffic jams though, but I won't put a movie on. The only thing I will put while driving are live DVDs of music bands etc, so even if you're not looking you can still enjoy the sound.

erm. so so ar for the SQ. output is 60w since i'm using a stock speaker, i can't comment greatly on the SQ since the output is overpowering the speaker. but compared to a stock Wira SE lousy HU which is terribly worthless in bass the sound quality is better. the lack of Manual EQ adjustment was a set back where the manufacturer has preset a few setting. however, it can be overcome with amps and Equalizer. Personal opinion on feature wise its great. not only i get TV feature, still i can play my favorite DIVX MTV. plus, some players have divx or mp4 feature but unable to play via thumb drive. this player works well in playing videos from removable drives. For me, the touch screen is a plus when you're the passenger, but for a driver, its a bit too small. so using the remote is one way of eliminating the hassle of aiming the the thumb properly on pressing the button. for me, the reverse camera feature works great in looking through all the blind spot esp my car has a short high butt where estimating the remaining clearance is crucial. radio reception is good, Tv reception is average, sometimes its clear without plugging in the antenna some times it requires long extension of antenna (which is why i have a 4 retractable antenna behind) for better reception on low signal area. its a normal for mobile car TV. Personally for me, i need the Divx feature, and some xvid clips is playable. The bluetooth feature is convenient in keeping your hands on the wheel. for me its better than the average cap ayam player.

nice setup wo..