Blaupunkt Car Audio Range put to test!

Once you are finally behind the wheel of the car you always wanted, the long never ending list of add-on accessories begins. Now most cars today already come music systems in-built, but unless you have bought yourself an Audi or Mercedes which come equipped with the likes of Bang and Olufsen and others, the audiophile in you is never going to be satisfied with what is offered in the bread and butter cars. Now Blaupunkt has been around since quite a while and has been synonymous with providing ear pleasing music. We put together a few audio components that Blaupunkt has to offer.

Blaupunkt London 120 head unit

Now this isn’t the best that Blaupunkt has to offer and is pegged at Blaupunkt’s entry level range. The London 120 replaced another Blaupunkt unit in my car, the San Diego MP27. So as far as aesthetics are concerned, the London 120 looks pretty slick with its black dot-matrix display. Functional is how Blaupunkt likes it and as a result you get no flashy lights or weirdly shaped buttons.

Through its elegant styling, combined with sophisticated materials and surfaces, this is a genuine treat to have in any cockpit. Another stellar aspect is the utter ease of use, which is a signature Blaupunkt feature. Function keys are reduced to the absolute essentials and, what's more, they are unambiguously arranged. This means the driver's concentration is always on the road, whereby the London 120 practically ensures versatile entertainment on its own. Standard file formats such as MP3 or WMA from CD or a USB stick can naturally be played back, and the stored track information (ID3 tags) can be displayed at the push of a button.

Sound quality even without an amplifier is more than decent thanks to the units max power of 4x45 W and coupled with X-Bass and three different sound presets, you have more than ample bass considering you are using a nice set of co-axial speakers. The only drawback here, is that even with a high-ish sticker price of Rs. 6,990, this unit does ‘not’ support an iPod. With cheaper head units offering the same, this comes across as one of the few but glaring drawbacks of an otherwise brilliant head unit.

Blaupunkt GTA 470 SF 4-channel amplifier

While the head unit is sufficient for handling your normal set of speakers, a 4-channel amplifier is what you need when you really want to turn the music up. With a total power of 420 watts in single channel mode, two or single channel operation and a frequency range of 10-30,000 Hz, the GTA 470 SF 4-channel amplifier is more than adept at handling the situations once the number of speakers start increasing. At Rs. 8,990, this is an expensive proposition but then one needs to invest in a good quality amplifier which will result in top quality sound.

Blaupunkt GTb 8A active subwoofer

To produce bass, you need a sub, an enclosure, and an amplifier, and it can be little tricky to match them all up. A powered sub eliminates all the hassle, as the manufacturer designs the enclosure to house the sub and amp together. This all-in-one solution is especially useful in smaller vehicles, where there's no room to mount a separate amp, or in any vehicle where you need every bit of cargo space.

The GTb 8A is one of the best in its segment. You'll feel the bass you've been missing as the 8" spun-paper woofer pumps out the low-end thump. Its built-in 75-watt RMS amplifier keeps you from having to match up a separate amplifier — you just wire this sub up to your system and you're good to go. At under 11" deep, this compact sub will fit in some pretty tight places. And with both speaker level and line-level inputs accepted, the active sub can be connected to any type of car radio, including factory-fitted models. This powerhouse of a boom box retails at Rs. 9,990.

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Blaupunkt Velocity VC 652 2-way Component system

With the subwoofer and the co-axial speakers jamming at the back, its important for the treble and the vocals to come from upfront. With a properly powered set of matched components, you can count on sound that images better and is noticeably more detailed and dynamic than you could expect from conventional speakers.

Mounting the separate tweeter closer to your ears optimizes your speakers' imaging and brings out a level of detail you may have never heard before while the VC 652’s premium-quality woofers deliver forceful, dynamic bass and midrange while the separate crossover networks do a great job of properly routing your highs and lows to protect your tweeters and make your system sound its best. The Velocity VC 652 components have faired well in most speaker shootouts and at Rs. 7,990 are good value too.