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Thread: Need help with poor sound in e36

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Need help with poor sound in e36

    Hey guys, After garaging my car for several years, I've recently been working on restoring it, including my interior. But the audio is awful and I don't remember it sounding this bad.

    - Stock e36 325is deck (want to keep OEM look)
    - Rockford Fosgate R169X3 Prime 6 x 9 Inch 3-Way Full-Range Coaxial Speakers in back
    - HK's in kick panel
    - Stock non-HK speakers in door panels

    Something just doesn't sound right in the car and I am not sure which component it is. Whether it's the speakers, the deck, the amplifier, I am not sure... My wife thought the bass was not there. But it's kind of hard to pinpoint for myself what exactly is wrong.

    Any thoughts?
    Last edited by xxxxxxx; 05-15-2020 at 12:35 PM.
    CARS
    02.92 325is / 06.72 2002 / 02.91 XJ / 08.04 R53 JCW



  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    West London/Heathrow - UK
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    03 530dT - Ex Police Car
    Hi,

    No one can hear your setup and if you aren't sure if you can hear anything wrong, there's not much to suggest.

    Take the car to a local reputable, experienced and knowledgeable car audio dealer and have them listen and suggest what might be wrong. You might have reversed the polarity on a speaker, a simple fix, or you might have a failing component of the setup, so you'll need to test each one by swapping out with known working replacements.

    Cheers, Dennis!

  3. #3
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    Ok did some tests today. It is definitely a bass problem. Front and back the bass is nearly not functioning.

    This would lead me to believe it is either the cassette deck or the amplifier.

    Would either of these be more likely than other?

    I guess next steps are just as you mentioned, Dennis. Replace one piece at a time.
    CARS
    02.92 325is / 06.72 2002 / 02.91 XJ / 08.04 R53 JCW



  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Idaho
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    10
    My Cars
    1999 323i Convertible
    Hard to say. I replaced my stock HK setup in my convertible with new speakers and a new amp. Kenwood XR900-5 amp, a pair of Infinity reference 860W 8" subs in a custom box in the trunk that still leaves me plenty of grocery room, Polk Audio DB 5251 2 way in back and in front. Up front I mounted the 5.25" driver in the kick panel and the tweeter behind the factory grille in the door panel. This combo sounds amazing....crystal clear and loud. The bass is tight and loud but not boomy. I would really like to upgrade the subs to a 12" for even more bass but dont want to sacrifice the space for a larger box. Also added a 3 farad cap to the amp. Its nice, in this case, to have the battery right there in the trunk. I utilized the factory wiring for the door speakers but ran new RCA cables from the headunit to the trunk and heavy gauge cables to the subs and proper power wires to the amp with an inline fuse. I bought everything on Amazon and I think I paid about $900 for everything. I already had an after market head unit with RCA outputs installed in the dash. This route might not work with the factory head unit due to the lack of the pre-amp RCA outputs.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    2018 BMW M240i
    A potential cause of poor bass is how the speakers are mounted. There has to be an air tight seal between the front and the back of the woofer. Ask me how I know.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    USA
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    E90, E36, F10, E38, E23,
    What amp? Why is this system made this way?
    This sounds like frankensteins monster, and that you might have impedance issues that blew the amp.

    The HK and non-hk speakers have dramatically different impedances.

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