[hushymushy]

How does it feel to have ICE in your chevys?
Worried about the wiring?

Hi to all forummers of Chevy Station, I'm new here.
Will be getting an Optra in few days time and my gf is driving the Aveo.

So back to the questions about ICE and having warranty void.
I don't foresee a good reason for the warranty to be void as long as the
wiring of your audio system do not interfere with the car wiring system.
I would suggest you guys to go to the right installers.
Here's a few tips when having your ICE installed:

1. Make sure you use the right power cable; for ie: 4Gauge/8Gauge
2. All amplifiers to be properly grounded.
3. RCA interconnects must be magnetically shielded, with twisted pair
inside; for ie: Monster Cable 301XLN
4. Speaker cables that have been double shielded so that your THD (Total
Harmonic Distortion) is minimized.

I had ICE installed on the AVEO, no problems detected so far after 4
months of driving the car. The cables that you put with the system is
just as purely as important with reference to the price you pay for your
amps or HUs.

For those who would like to share please do e-mail me. I love listening
to music, whether is it home or in the car.

[ajay67]

hushymushy,

i think aveo & optra owners are not worried so much on ICE installation
since the car is korean (which is still not differ much to japan-based i
think). only the nabirans have added worry since our car is european-
based & have different wiring/systems. nevertheless, good tips...

p/s : congrats on being a chevy couple!! may be consider nabira after got
married & have children?

cheers

[euanerin]

hushymushy ,

Check with SharkyPG , an Optra owner too. He is an ICE man....

The Warranty Void issues is very sticky ...depends on how the HCMB look
at it .

[hushymushy]

ajay67,

I did consider the Nabira, but its kinda out of my budget. Well paying at
that range (100K+) there are many options to choose.
Nabiras, Citroen Picasso, Toyota Wish...just to name a few....
Nabira a good challenger among all....wished my bos would increase my pay
so that I can afford it....kekekekeke not likely...

Anyway, if you guys are interested in upgrading your ICE, and if you are
in Klang Valley area, you might wanna try KK LAU Audio at Taman Bahagia,
PJ. Just behind the Taman Bahagia LRT Station. Great people and good
installers.

[euanerin]

Yup , one of the better place to install ICE...so what r u putting into
ur optra ?

[ajay67]

t.wish is definitely not in the same price range. it's 50k more & not
supported by toyota. otherwise, i'm driving one!! 110k is just about the
max i can afford

[Wazafi]

Wish better mileage coz basically a normal saloon car with extended back.
But damm hot last row. No blower or Aircon. Lighter body.

As for the Zafira/Nabira, just came back from KL. From Mobil/Sungei Besi
Toll to Esso/2ndLink @SG/Johor. Driving average speed of 100km/h and DUAL
Aircon ON (no.2 speed for Front and REAR too), got consumption of
13.8km/l. (BTW, ICE (LCD w DVD) is ON all the way).

[leongts]

Hi hushymushy,

Great tips on ICE. Thanks for sharing. Just want to add.

1. Absolutely. Right size is important. If possible put flexi-hose to
wrap the +ve power cable to protect its jacket from cuts.

2. Yes. Should be of the same gauge size as the +ve cable.

3. No need to be magnetically shielded. Just make sure the RCA cable
routing doesn't go near in parallel to any power cable. No need for brand
names either as any well constructed cable eg Belden 8761/8762 can beat a
lot of more expensive cable out there.

4. Use the biggest gauge speaker cable your amp/crossover/speaker
terminal can accept, regardless of whatever brand. Again, no need to be
expensive. Just watch your amp's gain so that it doesn't push clipped
output to the speakers.

Regards.

[hushymushy]

For the optra....not getting any new stuffs. In fact all of it is from my
old car.

HU: Alpine CDA-9835R
CD Changer: CHA-S634 MP3/CDA Changer
Amps: Alpine V12 MRV-F340 (ver. 2002)/ Alpine MRD-M501 monoblock
(ver.2004)
Speakers: Alpine SPX-177A (Type X year 2003, front components)
Alpine SWS-1242D Type-S 12" Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer
Cables: 4 Gauge Power Cable from Battery terminal to spliting fuse
6 Gauge power cable from spliting fuse to amps and for grounding
2 2M Rockford RCAs (use back old one, no money to upgrade)
Speaker cables...havent decided yet....as long as OFC and low THD
Sound Proofing: Need to check with those installers whether required or
not.
Configuration:
1. HU front pre-out to four channel amp. Rear pre-out not required.
2. Channel 1/2 from amp output to crossovers for tweeters
3. Channel 3/4 from amp output to crossovers for mid-bass
4. Subwoofer pre-out to mono-block.

Effects of configuration:
1. Front staging sound, minimized on back sound stage. Feels like home
hifi.
2. Bi-amping effect on the front components, though using only 1 4-
channel amp instead of 2 2-channel amps.

Pros: Good when driving alone with superb sound staging. Bass feels like
coming from the front instead from the rear.

Cons: Back passengers will not benefit from the comfort if the volume is
low, bcoz rear passengers only get the bass if volume level is low.

Next question from you guys would be; how much did I spent on such a
system for full Alpine...well guys....if you go online and ur friends are
in ICE as well....not everything has to be brand new.
So basically most of my items are second hand when i bought them, all of
it few months old.
The only thing I bought new was the HU, coz my old HU died on me. Front
speakers was new when I bought it.

[euanerin]

hushymushy ,

Hi Alpine Kaki...you have very interesting setup. Different channel to
drive your tweeters and mids , with the build in Cross Over in the 9835 ,
staging control can be done easily! only serious ICEr will do this set
up...

Well , pls come yo this 19th Chevy TT , really looking forward to see
your system.

Regards