Toyota Mark X - Game Set Matched

Choose the right audio components and enjoy great-sounding music on the move

Picking the speakers, amplifiers, head unit, and other bits and pieces that make up a car audio system is akin to selecting the ingredients for a delicious meal. The correct items, of high quality and cooked the right way, will ultimately result in a satisfying culinary experience.

Likewise, it is imperative to seek advice from a good “cook” when the time comes to install an ICE system. Businessman Lim Boon Pin did just that for his pearl-white Toyota Mark X. A fervent mobile audio enthusiast who must listen to music when he drives, Lim sought the services of Tune Attack, an installer and authorized dealer of Rainbow and Sinfoni – two well-known names in the ICE industry.

Toyota Mark X

Tune Attack might be new to the game, having been established only last year, but the firm’s work is already starting to get people’s attention. Take this Mark X, for instance – it won an award for installation (which takes into account various factors such as neatness, design, and the placement of the components) at a local car audio competition.

Rainbow and Sinfoni need little introduction. Both these brands are distributed locally by Wize Electronics, and their products have been used in a wide variety of applications ranging from simple setups for the casual music lover to full-blown monsters for competition usage. More importantly, Rainbow speakers gel very well with Sinfoni amplifiers. And it is precisely this combo that headlines the ICE “pack” in Lim’s Mark X.

For the active three-way front stage, Lim chose an assortment of Rainbow models from the Platinum and Vanadium lineups. The customized A-pillar mounts hold CAL 28 Platinum tweeters and CS 210 Vanadium mid-range speakers. Said mounts, with matching trim, are also accurately angled towards the driver for optimal listening pleasure behind the wheel. Completing the six-speaker array are CS 275.28 Platinum mid-bass speakers. These woofers are responsible for the higher-frequency bass notes that accompany the deeper, lower ones.

While we’re on the topic of bass, a 12-inch Vanadium subwoofer takes pride of place in the boot. Installed in a specially fabricated enclosure, complete with Perspex cover and circular blue-and-red lighting tubes, it forms a very stylish boot “complex” together with the amplifiers and other accessories. Speaking of amplification, four Sinfoni units were selected to provide ample “juice” for the entire system.

Head of the class: Alpine’s most advanced head unit is the “conductor” of this mobile orchestra with the works

Two Prestigio Class A amplifiers are connected to the tweeters and mid-range speakers, while an Allegro amplifier takes care of the mid-bass speakers. The final member of the foursome is the Grave two-channel amplifier. Boasting the ability to drive even the most demanding of subwoofers, this gorgeous amplifier is more than capable of handling the Vanadium subwoofer’s strong magnet and large cone, as a result of it being bridged to a single channel.

Elsewhere, an Alpine IVA-W502E head unit is the “brains” of the whole network, with support from an Alpine PXA-800 digital processor (mounted next to the subwoofer in the boot). To ensure that no unwanted noise penetrates this “concert hall”, Dynamat soundproofing was applied all around the cabin.

This “surround sound” Toyota saloon demonstrates how a recipe of carefully coordinated components, together with expert installation, can create an ICE system that not only offers hours of aural enjoyment on the road, but is also able to withstand intense scrutiny by a panel of ICE competition judges.