My journey getting a custom audio setup on my Hyundai Creta N-Line

The challenge was to get the A pillar customized for three 3-way setup.

BHPian vkhandelwal recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Part 1:

The Journey has been long and many ups and downs so please be prepared for a long post.

I love travel and long drives. Some 18 years ago, I had a setup in my Swift that included Alpine IDAX100 and PXE100 with JBL and Infinity amps and speakers. It was quite an eventful journey to get all those installed and learn to configure the DSP.

Given that experience and the lack of car audio components and installers in Indore, I kept it simple for my second car, a 2016 Creta. I replaced the factory head unit with a Pioneer 5900BT head unit and a Sony DSP/AMP with Infinity speakers.

Last year, I moved to automatic and started searching for a car within 30L of my budget. Tried many but eventually settled for Creta NLine 10 (Again). That came with the Bose sound setup.

I went to the local market to see if the situation for car audio in Indore had improved, and I was not surprised that it remained the same.

With that situation, I thought that I should go for a simple Integrated DSP and Amp and found Alpine PXS-080-88 (Optim 8).

The Alpine Optim promised eight DSP and AMP channels, including a controller with Bluetooth and USB, coaxial input, and an iOS microphone-based multipoint tuning app.

I also purchased Morel Sensus 62 2 way component speakers, Morel coaxial for rear, and JL audio woofer with a Sealed Enclosure. Used Morel Dampening sheet for car dampening

Got the wiring and installation done at Car Jewelers Indore. They have been doing the wiring and installation for me since my first car. They did a decent job for wiring, Dampening, and Installation. When I started tuning and configuring, I found out that the Optim 8 sound, though good, was more oriented towards people who don’t want complexity in life ( ) and mainly for an easy and automated Tuning.

The newer firmware had bugs, and people were waiting for the latest firmware release.

With all these research and findings, I was determined to get a proper DSP, AMP, and quality SQ setup.

I decided to move to Helix as a DSP and bought Helix DSP3s. Initially, I thought I would use the Alpine Optim 8 purely as an amp, but then I decided to go for a three-way active setup this time.

The challenge was to get the A pillar customized for three 3-way setup. Thinking of getting one in Indore was a distant dream. I contacted a couple of installers from Mumbai and Bangalore, but they asked me to bring the car for a proper setup. A couple of them asked me to send the A-pillar, but I was not convinced with their craftsmanship.

Concept12V in Bangalore is the importer of Helix in India. I contacted them and requested their help. They also shared that fabricating an A-pillar without a car and other parameters would be challenging, but I persisted and requested that they fabricate one.

Meanwhile, I got an extra pair of A-pillars through the service center and sent them. I also purchased Helix S3m mid-range drivers and sent the tweeter with A-Pillars to them.

When I received the A-pillar, I did not find them proper with angle. I instantly knew why everyone was asking for the car.

I had already lost a couple of months in all these things, and the wires in my car audio were disconnected, so I decided to go to Bengaluru for proper installation and fabrication. It was a 1400 Km drive from Indore, but I was ready to take the plunge.

I also discovered the option of shipping the car directly to cities like Mumbai or Bengaluru. I also contacted and was in touch with Satya from EVO and Ramie from Sound Factor Mumbai. They both needed the car for installation and proper tuning.

I had planned to drive, but then, due to a situation with my friend, he could not join, and driving alone for 1400 Km would have been hectic. I decided to go to Delhi for proper installation, A-pillar fabrication, and Tuning.

I contacted Subhan from Driven Gurgaon for installation and Amandeep from Retune in Delhi for tuning. Amandeep suggested Babloo, an independent fabricator.

Continue reading on BHPian vkhandelwal's car audio installation for BHPian comments, insights and more information.