General Hi-Fi Interscope system

[PoriGhand]

Hi,

I have just bought a 1.4 sport with the Interscope already fitted BUT i have the storage space under the passenger seat.
I had previously read on this forum that I would not have storage but when I picked the car, the salesman showed me and then queried if I had the Interscope system fitted or not.
Looking under the drivers seat, i can see the subwoofer in a plastic box.
Looking under the passenger sea, i dont see nothing, so now i am worried.
The salesman assures me I do have Interscope but everything i have read on this forum says that I should not have the storage.
Talked to someone at Fiat HO, who told me to go to the dealer...mmmmmm

 

[white 500]

if your car is leaft hand drive underseat will not fit with interscope BUT if you have a right hand drive ( u.k ) car then yes you could have both, like me !, so to clarify the sub is ALWAYS fitted under the frontseat on the right hand side of the car (viewing from the back). easyest way to check is look at the speakers next to the windscreen they should have a small badge on them both that says "interscope". i'll take some photo's later

 

[pearce_jj]

In answer to the original query about the interscope, yes it is quite good for what amounts to a cheap car system. Simple stuff like jazz & classic in particular does sound pretty good.

The system adds a small sub woofer under the drivers seat (125mm DVC paper cone job in an ABS case with a 30w amp), and uprated speakers elsewhere powered by an amp mounted behind the rear quarter panel (also on the drivers side). The amp encorporates quite a bit of digital signal processing (which isn't adjustable).
The system retains the 7-band EQ in the head unit.

Bass extension is OK to about 60Hz with the usual pronounced hump towards the lowest end of it's spectrum. The sub plays right through the mid-bass region to probably 300Hz, which means it will cover road noise easily and male voices sound realistic, but can get boomy. Female vocals are really quite good.

The system will play quite loud (about 100dB before noticable distrotion starts appearing) but sub-sonics can trouble the sub.

Finally the DSP spatial processing does have a very hard time with sources already containing spatial processing, such as Radio 1 jingles. These sound very odd to say the least, jumping out with a pronounced mid-range "nasal" quality to them and completely overpowering what is playing.

Overall, pretty good I'd say, especially for £250.

 

[Lloyd71]

Bass extension is OK to about 60Hz with the usual pronounced hump towards the lowest end of it's spectrum. The sub plays right through the mid-bass region to probably 300Hz

Probably a good job I avoided it then, I listen to a lot of dubstep! Will have to find a way of getting my fix for really deep bass somehow....

 

[Kernow]

I'm glad we chose it as an option, I think it's OK as a manufacturer add on, certainly better than the terrible Harmon Kardon system which was a £400 option in an MG ZT I once owned! The only thing that is annoying us at the moment is the fact the radio turns itself on every time you switch the ignition on!

Stef

 

[Lloyd71]

I'm glad we chose it as an option, I think it's OK as a manufacturer add on, certainly better than the terrible Harmon Kardon system which was a £400 option in an MG ZT I once owned! The only thing that is annoying us at the moment is the fact the radio turns itself on every time you switch the ignition on!

Stef

Mine did the opposite, it wouldn't come on when I wanted it to!
Having read the sound insulation thread I'll be doing that before upgrading the speakers, the massive lack of insulation means it would be difficult to really benefit from the better sound otherwise.

Then I'd love to fit an underseat sub like Mark has got, but I'm also considering finding a way of fitting a 12" sub in the boot and an amp somewhere in the car, as I already have both of those! Anyone got any ideas where they would go?

Didn't someone on this site post pictures of his 500 with a really nice install in the boot?

 

[Nuova500]

I'm glad we chose it as an option, I think it's OK as a manufacturer add on, certainly better than the terrible Harmon Kardon system which was a £400 option in an MG ZT I once owned! The only thing that is annoying us at the moment is the fact the radio turns itself on every time you switch the ignition on!

Stef

You can change this setting to stay off unless you turn it on. However, if you have used the Media player then it will always turn on, unless you say Stop Media and then remove the USB stick or MP3 player etc.

 

[Kernow]

You can change this setting to stay off unless you turn it on. However, if you have used the Media player then it will always turn on, unless you say Stop Media and then remove the USB stick or MP3 player etc.

I've just found that bit on another thread, I'll give that a try and see if it works.

Stef

 

[pearce_jj]

I'm also considering finding a way of fitting a 12" sub in the boot and an amp somewhere in the car...anyone got any ideas where they would go?

I personally think a 12" would give you problems in that you'd end up sitting in a bandpass enclosure (the entire car) due to it's small dimensions.

If you do want a boot mounted sub though the spare wheel well might be a good place to fabricate something. It will need a fair bit of dynamat or similar - once the wheel is removed it is literally a 20" drum!

 

[Lloyd71]

I personally think a 12" would give you problems in that you'd end up sitting in a bandpass enclosure (the entire car) due to it's small dimensions.

If you do want a boot mounted sub though the spare wheel well might be a good place to fabricate something. It will need a fair bit of dynamat or similar - once the wheel is removed it is literally a 20" drum!

I'm only thinking of a 12" one purely because I already have one in a box, and the box would fit in the boot but would fill half of it completely! I imagine the 500 is a little boomer though since they're so small!