Chim audio upgrades??

[sharkyTVR]

Has anyone gone down the 'ICE'(in car entertainment) route with their chim? I've seen it done very nicely in cerberas as they have that handy place in the rear seats for speakers etc but i cannot work out where to put anything in a chim. I've got the dvd player headunit and obviously the front components are pretty straight foward but where can u put a subwoofer and amps etc? The rear shelf is a possibility but it may interfere with the roof. Just wondered if anyone knew of any exisitng examples or done a similar thing themselves?


I aknowledge this may not be to everyones taste but hey I'm 21 and I need my bass and tv screens!! lol

[CaptiV8ed]

I've just put some 6x9s in the back panel where the 2 black vents are (mine had 10cm speakers in place of the vents anyway). Quite honestly, I like good tune quality, but with 6x9s (not amp'd) I cannot play it at anywhere near full volume - and it's very bassy.
I found that the 6x9s do fit, but at the mo their pushing the carpet trim above the fuel tank out of place. I have seen some 6x9 spacers (about 1" thick) for the princely sum of 10 whole English pounds which should move them out of the boot a bit and make everything rosey.

Remember that a Chimaera cabin is very small compared even to a fiesta for example, and your heaad is right by those 6x9s. I would consider an amp in my car, no need whatsoever.

Food for thought perhaps.

Nick

[burriana]

CaptiV8ed said:

Remember that a Chimaera cabin is very small compared even to a fiesta for example,

Only if you have the roof up

[CaptiV8ed]

Good point!

However, it's still feckin loud!

[900T-R]

My Chim came with a cheap & cheerful system that was quite obviously pro installed - a free-air Alpine 10" sub is sitting in the panel above the fuel tank, a Caliber amp driving it and to protect both items and finish the trunk, a panel had been made clothed in the same carpet as the inside boot and fuel tank. There's a pair of 6 x 9" Pioneers in the rear shelf and a pair of 6.5" Pioneers in the OE door panel location. It works well enough, although personally I'd choose front speakers of a higher quality level than the rears - here it's the other way round, the fronts being from the cheapo TS-G range.

[gavstar]

Speak to Carl Baker at TVR Alarms - he'll tell you about something called transducers - things that are wired into the seats to create the illusion of extra bass. He knows his stuff and will probably convince you that a sub is pointless in a Chim.

[Woody_450]

I removed my 6x9s from the rear, they were fitted to a carpet covered piece of MDF which was screwed into the rear bulkhead. I replaced them with two 5.25" Infinities 5001i which i) freed up a lot of space behind the seats and ii) sound better than the old JBLs I had before.

I swapped the front speakers for 5.25" Focal V Slims with a 1" tweeter mounted higher in the door.

I've fitted a Kenwood active sub behind the passenger seat (sorry can't remember the model number), ok it's a bit of a squeeze but does the job well.

I upgraded the HU to a better Pioneer one, not the best but it has a CD/MP3 playback and linked in with the existing pioneer 6 CD changer in the boot.

The overall sound is great, and if you crank up the sub the passenger gets a nice treat with their seat vibrating along with the music!!

Rich

[john p]

Is the wiring already there to fit rear speakers,or do you have to run wires back to the head unit?

[victormeldrew]

You'll need to run wires. I did find some loose connections in the boot on either side, and the same behind the head unit, but didn't check to see if they were end of the same wires. Too thin for decent ICE anyways.

Mine has 7x10 Kenwoods (that's the Spinal Tap 6x9's ) in the rear shelf. No probs mounting flush when you get the angle right, but you do need to cut the bulkhead. A couple of Pioneer amps in the boot, decent head unit, Pioneer, with "front emphasis" mode (shunts bass to rears). Alpine DD components at the front. Sounds great, perfectly audible at 130mph top down. My kit is a bit old now, it was fitted in '97, but still sounds superb.

PS I have seen 8" sub boxes built onto the parcel shelf, so it is possible, but in my (old fart!) opinion not necessary.

Edited by victormeldrew on Thursday 25th January 18:41

[sharkyTVR]

thanks for the help guys!! its good 2 hear that ICE is an acceptable modification. I think i will go with a sub above the fuel tank and a few decent components in the front. Like u say it shouldnt need a lot being such a small interior.

[lwt]

How about take the pre-cats out and sleeve the exhaust - who needs ICE??

[sharkyTVR]

hmmm true, i may do that aswell....cant get enough of that engine noise mmmm!!

[BIG COL]

lwt said:

How about take the pre-cats out and sleeve the exhaust - who needs ICE??

Wondered how long it would be till someone came out that old one.

[vee8]

I've just had Carl install a Clarion Music Catcher and replace the front speakers with MB Quartz units. The look is superb, and the sound is far better than I expected. I can hear the music clearly, and this with a debaffled exhausts

Edited by vee8 on Friday 26th January 22:01

[crisp500]

Hi Sharky,i think you are going the right direction with your set up.I,ve got sleeved pipes and just love the noise more than anything,but there's always room for ice
I've got some amped Dynaudio components up front,and am running two 8" JLw6 subs in a custom made box above the fuel tank(in matching cloth to the boot),using the rear shelf vents to port.It's all nice and stealthy and sounds well,even at loud speeds

Harley

[RCA]

This worked well, Roof still fitted in the boot no worries.
Had a 12" Sub on the Rear shelf which didn't interfere with the roof when it was down.