Speaker upgrade

[SloanZ]

The car kit is amazing--I put the microphone on the top of the driver's A pillar, just below where the top attaches (Roady), and I can talk on it at 80 mph with the top down no problem without the person I'm talking to knowing I'm not in my office.

Hope this helps.

Would you happen to have a photo of how you mounted your microphone on the A-Pillar?

[Mr Bingley]

I'll take one later today and post it.

[SloanZ]

Excellent! Thank you!

[Mr Bingley]

[SloanZ]

Thanks for the photo's Ralph! Was that little mounting piece included with your GROM? I don't remember seeing it in the package...

EDIT: Nevermind, from the picture on the site it looks like it is included. I'll have to dig out the box when I get home.

http://www.gromaudio.com/store/bt_ad..._splitter.html

[Mr Bingley]

It's part of the bluetooth kit and was included in that bag.

[wmcq6]

It's part of the bluetooth kit and was included in that bag.

Mr Bingley,
Would you be kind enough to post a link to the set up you installed? I think I found the Grom but want to confirm.


And if not too much to ask, I'm in the process of replacing the top, have the interior pretty much all pulled apart and figure this would be a good time for stereo upgrade.
I have 97 roady. I too like the CD43 head so if I was to replace the amp, which one and is there anything I need to run inside the car? I'm probably replacing all speakers, any recommendations?

[Mr Bingley]

Mr Bingley,
Would you be kind enough to post a link to the set up you installed? I think I found the Grom but want to confirm.


And if not too much to ask, I'm in the process of replacing the top, have the interior pretty much all pulled apart and figure this would be a good time for stereo upgrade.
I have 97 roady. I too like the CD43 head so if I was to replace the amp, which one and is there anything I need to run inside the car? I'm probably replacing all speakers, any recommendations?

Sure, although there are bigger stereo gurus than me on this forum to say the least--there is an entire section devoted just to this topic. That being said, I am happy with what I did, and I think it is a reasonable way to go.

My car is a 98' M Roadster. There are some pretty significant (from a stereo standpoint) differences between that and a 97' Z3. I had the HK single amp system with factory sub. 97's came with different options, and it is important to know what yours has from the factory. Another issue is the sub enclosure--98's have the roll bar enclosure, 97's do not (at least I think they don't--if yours does or does not, it is important to know this). The reason this is significant is it will determine what you do with the sub.

I installed a CD43 (mine came with the C33 tape deck), this was a simple plug and play swap. I installed a complete Bavarian Sound Werks stage 1 speaker upgrade with the optional rear speakers. This replaced the front mids in the kick panels, the door tweeters (they suggest you reuse the 2" door mids), and the rear behind the seats mid-lows. The nice thing about BSW stuff is that it is plug and play, and all impedance issues are already worked out. The BSW Stage I kit is this kit. I had the 2.5" factory rear speakers, these cost extra. You might have 4", 2.5" or no rear speakers.

I replaced the factory sub with an Integral Audio 80S subwoofer enclosure and Alumipro Alusonic 8" sub. I split the sub signal off from the factory wiring pre-amp, and diverted it to a Rockford Fosgate p200/2 bridged 2 channel amp, and added a Rockford Fosgate PEQ remote (wired) amp control (mounted in the switch plate behind the center console, where the defroster button mounts for the hard top--where the oddments tray otherwise goes).

I installed a Grom usb/ipod adapter with the optional bluetooth car kit. The Grom is this unit. The bluetooth car kit is this unit. You want to be sure to order the Grom with the noise suppressor wire harness right off the bat--you have to tell them you want this when you order. I wouldn't bother with any other cables, as the bluetooth is all you need. I mounted the Grom in the trunk.

The Integral Audio 80S subwoofer enclosure is no longer available. There are several threads on making your own enclosure, or putting a kicker 6" sub in the single sub box that came in later model (not yours) Z3's.

I also added significant sound deadening material when I had everything apart. I used a Fosgate 8 awg amp instal kit.

I kept the factor HK amp for everything but the sub, as it is now an 8 channel amp, and I wanted to keep that separation. To my ear it sounds great, but I'm not some fancy pants audiophile, so the factory amp may not be putting out as good a sound as a replacement might, although again, it sounds great to me (and very loud).

Good luck.

[wmcq6]

Thanks Mr B.

[johnnyo55]

Maybe you more experienced folk can guide me...here's what I'm starting with: stock '97 2.8 roadster with the in-dash cassette; window sticker lists a "hi-fi" subwoofer for $200, and a CD changer was added in the trunk. There don't appear to be any other speakers behind the seats. I don't have a TON of money to sink into this project, but would like at least more acceptable sound; bluetooth and iPhone capability would be nice. Where should I start?

[DuWop]

Has anyone been able to fit 5 1/4 inch speakers behind passenger and driver's seat? It looks tight but I think these speakers will fit, maybe.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB52...DB521&skipvs=T

[MrHahn]

Lenium put 4" Alpine sps410's behind the seats, and it looks like 5 1/4 might fit. However, I would probably stick with the 4" speakers he used only because I don't think you don't need more for that spot.

See post #14 of the "*Please* post details of your stereo installaion......." thread here:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...rs+behind+seat

[kojohns]

Has anyone been able to fit 5 1/4 inch speakers behind passenger and driver's seat? It looks tight but I think these speakers will fit, maybe.

Mounting Depth is the problem... there is a wall behind the speakers with the fuel tank behind that. There have been a few cases of individuals and installers screwing in surface mount speakers and running the screw right through the fuel tank.

Pull one of the existing speakers and you'll see how little space there is to work with.

[DuWop]

Mounting Depth is the problem... there is a wall behind the speakers with the fuel tank behind that. There have been a few cases of individuals and installers screwing in surface mount speakers and running the screw right through the fuel tank.

Pull one of the existing speakers and you'll see how little space there is to work with.

I have plenty of room for the 1/2 inch screws. I'm concerned with the speaker frame back hitting at the bottom/metal of car body. There is plenty of room elsewhere.

[kojohns]

Agree... as stated, Mounting Depth is the enemy here... the speakers you're looking at have a top mount depth of 2-5/16". Pull out your tape measure and check. I have also seen where someone added wooden spacer rings between the speaker and the mounting surface to get a deeper speaker installed.

[ajt36]

I have plenty of room for the 1/2 inch screws. I'm concerned with the speaker frame back hitting at the bottom/metal of car body. There is plenty of room elsewhere.

I have a '97 and I had to cut the holes larger for 4" speakers. I sized in the 5-1/4s I bought for the footwells just to see, but they (cosmetically, anyway) looked too big and didn't look right. They did seem like they would fit though if you didn't mind them looking a little funny and oversized for back there. That being said and FWIW, I installed a pair of 2 way 4" speakers from Polk (actually... it's these: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI4...io-DXi400.html), and I gotta say, they are really nice little speakers. They really fill in the sound nicely and sound "bigger" than 4" speakers. I don't think they make them anymore, but maybe they have a newer variant. I would look at those, TBH.

[DuWop]

I have a '97 and I had to cut the holes larger for 4" speakers. I sized in the 5-1/4s I bought for the footwells just to see, but they (cosmetically, anyway) looked too big and didn't look right. They did seem like they would fit though if you didn't mind them looking a little funny and oversized for back there. That being said and FWIW, I installed a pair of 2 way 4" speakers from Polk (actually... it's these: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DXI4...io-DXi400.html), and I gotta say, they are really nice little speakers. They really fill in the sound nicely and sound "bigger" than 4" speakers. I don't think they make them anymore, but maybe they have a newer variant. I would look at those, TBH.

I don't mind the looks. The depth appears to be OK.

BTW I found the polk 4 inch. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A12KEZCG9I0IOM

[ajt36]

This is how that 4" Polk looks when installed…
(My car had factory roll bars installed by the PO, BTW.)

1172488_10151681660148159_1012472690_o.jpg

[Terry F.]

For 4" speakers, a 2 5/16" depth offers a good many choices. I'd focus on a good tweeter, those little rears do a better job (IMO) than one might think considering their location. I have some very unremarkable Boston Acoustic 3.5" coaxials back there and they actually produce useable sound, driven with only 18wrms.

Don't focus too much on the looks of the grill covers, no one will ever see them anyway. Get a good tweeter and a rubber surround. Does anyone even use foam surrounds anymore? If so, avoid like the plague.

Terry

[DuWop]

I decided not to fight with trying to install the 5 1/4 inch speakers. According to Polk Audio the depth required is 1 13/16" for the DB401 4 inch marine grade speakers. They should be a shoe-in and people on Amazon.com that bought them love them so I went with the 4 inch at $56/pair.

[gbirkemeier]

I decided not to fight with trying to install the 5 1/4 inch speakers. According to Polk Audio the depth required is 1 13/16" for the DB401 4 inch marine grade speakers. They should be a shoe-in and people on Amazon.com that bought them love them so I went with the 4 inch at $56/pair.

Will those fit behind the factory grill or are you using the Polk grills?

[Terry F.]

I just ordered some Infinity Reference 4002CFX. These are 4" 2-way for the rear. Textile dome tweeters, no aluminum. What I like about them are the 92dB sensitivity and the two-setting crossover. They claim 3 ohm impedance with the sales pitch being true 4 ohm when wiring is factored in. You can run the tweeters at 0dB or +3dB. I'm interested in the +3 setting since they are behind the seats. I looked at some JLs and Focals at a much higher cost but the sensitivity was down around 84dB. With only 18wrms (per) to drive them, I want the increased sensitivity. The other choices would take more wattage, but I don't have it for those rears. The Infinitys are rated at 35wrms.

The idiots that installed my stereo used 3.5" rear Boston Acoustics with 4" covers. Bastards, you just can't trust anyone any more, they were supposed to be a top-notch shop. Install was very pricey, they did crappy work. If they were honest about using 3.5" speakers, I would have been ok with that. But don't lie to me and then fool me with the larger covers.

We will see how the new speaks do. Should be in by mid-week.

Terry

[DuWop]

Will those fit behind the factory grill or are you using the Polk grills?

The factory grills are too small for 4 inch speakers. The Polk grill should do fine and not contact the back of the seats.

[DuWop]

I assumed that a 4 ohm speaker would not produce as much volume as a 2 ohm speaker, at the same power level. It appears this may not be true.

My Z3 still has the factory amp. The previous owner installed a pioneer DEH-P7200HD 4 channel head unit. I don't have a clue how they wired it to the factory amp. The bass speakers in the box only receives bass frequencies as it should. Likely the amp handles this job with built in crossovers. The rear speakers are receiving only high frequencies. when I balance the front /rear volume the bass and rear speakers respond together because the rear head output supplies the rear bass speakers. I'm not getting as much bass from the box as I would like although it still has 2 ohm speakers in the box.

Apparently all the factory speakers are 2 ohm speakers. I installed 4 inch, 4 ohm rear speakers which was all I could find at the time, and this was likely a mistake, (maybe, maybe not) .

The speakers in the doors do not produce much sound at all. This doesn't matter because the speakers I installed in the kick panels and the rear are 4 way speakers. 5 of 6 speakers I removed were blown, so likely the door speakers are also.


Now that part of the job is finished I found these 2 ohm speakers on Amazon.com . I intend to replace the bass speakers in the box with these* unless someone knows of a better 5 1/4 inch low frequency speaker for the job. Also I should have put these in the kick panels, but it was a hard job for an old man so the Sony speakers will remain there .
*Infinity Reference 5032cf 5.25-Inch, 135-Watt High Performance Two-Way Loudspeaker (Pair) $49.92

The system as is works good enough for me. Just needs a little fine tuning. I don't want to spend the time or money to install a premium system. Anyway at high speeds with the top down there is so much noise I turn the music off.

There are two OEM bass speakers in the box. One facing front and the other facing rear. I'm wondering if BMW has the rear bass speaker's phase reversed. I'm thinking the box would produce more bass volume if the rear bass speaker is reverse phased. I intend to check this out.

I downloaded bass test and surround sound test from youtube to test my system. The 10/2 surround sound test did not produce sound for some channels. The 5/1 surround sound test produced sound for all channels tested. The bass test indicated all speakers are working good enough.

I'm getting much less low frequency sound, compared to the OEM speakers, from the Sonny xs-R1345, 5 1/4 inch, 4 way, coxial speakers I installed in the kick panels. The higher frequencies dominate. Perhaps I should have went with component type speakers, but it would be more work cutting holes, trying to hide the wires, and where to mount the crossover, etc. I'm not a fan of excessive work.

Video of component vs coxial speakers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRSllVoivBE

- - - Updated - - -

The OEM amp only feeds high frequencies to the small rear speakers, so if you are using the OEM amp it is not necessary to install large rear speakers

[DuWop]

The 300 Hz inline bass blockers was a mistake.

I blocked frequencies below 125 Hz to the front and rear speakers with the head unit. No distortion. The speakers don't get distortion until below 125 Hz. The inline bass blockers are removed. Now you know.
I think I will cut some holes in the metal between the trunk and passenger compartment and install two shallow mount 8 inch subwoofers, enclosed and an a 2 channel amp (2 X 150 watt RMS). This worries me a bit about body flex.

Bass, Treble, Hertz ? Which Hz is which range

Bass
(Approximately 20hz-140hz)
The 60hz-90hz range is where we notice the greatest perceptible changes in "bass response." Try a test tone and see just how well you hear 20hz or even 32hz, compared with the same volume of 60hz or 90hz.

Mid-Bass
(Approximately 140hz-400hz)
Mid bass has lots of instruments included in its frequency range. Cello, Bassoon, and Male Voice are samples of "mid-bass" sounds. This is also where most 'bass' controls can make a mess of your music. Too much mid-bass gives a muddy and "boomy" quality. Too little and it sounds hollow and thin.

Midrange
(Approximately 400hz-2.6khz)
Since our ears are most sensitive to midrange frequencies, midrange has the greatest effect on the overall sound of your stereo system. The "proper" settings are the ones most pleasing to you the listener. Female vocals and Bass Tuba are examples of mirange sounds.


Upper Midrange
(Approximately 2.6khz-5.2khz)
Pipe organ and piano are examples of this sound range. Speaker designers often boost output in this range to increase "presence" of the music. Too much gives a sound that is overbearingly harsh and fatigues the ears. A balance between this frequency range and the midrange frequencies gives the most pleasing sound.

High End
(Approximately 5.2khz-20khz - Two Regions)
5.2khz up to about 12khz is the realm of dreaded treble control. This is where harmonics can really enhance your musical enjoyment. It's this range that affects the brilliance of music. Too much gives an unpleasant, harsh and "piercing" (painful) quality to your music.

http://www.decibelcar.com/menutheory/141-treble-hertz.html