help me design modest system, im newbie

[chuckster 10+ year member]

I have an 89 BMW M3, Id like to put a BMW CD43 head unit. I know its not the best but it looks stock in my old M3 and gives me indash cd player. What speakers, amp etc. I have to keep everything stock looking. Its a garage queen. 5.25 components in stock locations and a sub in the trunk

I was thinking Boston pro 50 or diamonds.

I was thinking BASSLINK by infinity.

I dont want to go over board on price.

Im also 45 years old, dont play loud.... but must be clean in sound and accurate.

My home system is all mrk levinson if that rings a bell to anyone

thks chucker

Click to read more...

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

i'd go with the boston pro never really cared for the basslink but i'm sure you can find something. but it wont' compare to ur mrk levinson lol

 

[killdevil fox 10+ year member]

I'm new too. Lets be noob buddies!

I guess it all depends on what your willing to spend and what music you listen to.

What is your planned budget?

Are you looking for sound quality or for volume?

I'm guessing you want a stealth system. That's what I need. My planned head unit is a joke. Its a 1995 Bose CD/cassette player I pried out on an infinity J30 for $21. but i need it because I cot 48 hrs of Irish music on cassette.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

The Boston Pros shouldn't be bad. I had some of those a long time ago.

As for the Infinity Basslink, refresh my memory with your particular year of BMW. Does it have a steel plate in the trunk with a ski-hole pass through? One of my friends had two 12" kicker free air subs mounted in an IB setup through holes that were cut in the steel plate in his old BMW (in the early to mid 90s) being powered by a Rockford Fosgate Power 300. I would look into an infinite baffle sub with enough power to drive it if you just want some decent low end fill versus something that will rattle the fillings out of your teeth.

If you have the steel plate in your trunk behind the rear seat backs, that Infinity Basslink will not be enough to provide decent low end because the steel results in a lot of cancellation.

 

[joshualittle]

Have you looked into hertz and arc audio? I'm doing a sq system and I'm doing all hertz and arc stuff. It's resonably priced and I know someone who can get it pretty cheap with warranty. Pm me if your interested. Hertz hsk 130.3's would fit and be great for your highs and an arc audio ks 300.4 would be great for a component amp.

 

[chuckster 10+ year member]

Guns, my m3 is the original, way before pass thru ski bag stuff. heck you cant get much even in the trunk. its does have the steel plate between trunk and back seat. basslink is the self contained selfpowered 10" class d amped subwoofer. the steel plate would propbaly cancell the bass.

what 5.25 components to use, say 150 each pair max...

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

So your M3 is similar to the 325i that my friend Shane had while in college. He had a 1.5 inch baffle board made and cut holes in the plate on each side to mount a pair of 12" Kicker free airs. Although it was firing through the rear seat, the output was not that bad. The fun thing now is finding subwoofers that are rated for infinite baffle use.

The Boston Acoustics Pro components should hold up rather well to that amount of power, especially if you high pass filter them around 80 Hz. I wouldn't hesitate to look into Focal, Hertz, and Morel for other high end components.

 

[joshualittle]

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=7078. They're a little above your price range but I'm sure you can find someone in this forum to sell them cheaper. They'd have pretty d a m n good sq.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

lol, I left Rainbow out.... doh

ETA: I thought he meant power when he said 150 each pair max.... I fail at reading to day. It is just that Boston Acoustics Pro and $150 don't go together in the same sentence.....

 

[chuckster 10+ year member]

Guns and josh, yeah i found the woofersetc website. Thats my trouble.. i am like a kid in a candy store, it all looks good. so the rainbows are good stuff for the money?? at 90 db they are effecient, thats good... but i will take the stock bmw cd43 amp (ebay special) and run the signal which is speaker level, no rca out jacks, to my amps and then use an equilizer to correct right? right? help me,

where does the subwoofer come in all this wiring, where can i read this ??

in high end home audio, you just pay gobs of money for equipment, set it up properly, make sure its away from reflective walls and let it play. no x-overs required. help help

chuckster

 

[joshualittle]

Just remember that woofersetc.com's prices are high. Feel free to pm me and I'll refer you to someone who will beat their prices and with warranty. Yes rainbow makes some pretty high quality stuff. And you should beable to utilize your factory amp. However I'm not sure what you would do for a subwoofer. I would recommend jl audio or alpine if jl's prices are too high for you. I've ran jl woofers in the past and loved the sq.

 

[chuckster 10+ year member]

josh the factory amp may run the components, 2 sets.....which will the rear seat and the front kick panel set, thats all i can have to keep factory look. so i need to figure out the subwoofer set up. i may jump over to my BMW website and ask a few questions. thks chuckster

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

You could always give the factory amp a try first to see if you are satisfied with its performance. In order to add a sub, you are going to need an aftermarket amplifier with high level inputs or you will need to purchase a LOC (Line output converter). Personally, I would get a LOC and try to tap into the speaker level outputs from the stock head unit versus trying to reduce the output of the factory amplifier to a line level, but that is just me!

If you were to use an aftermarket 4 channel amplifier in lieu of the factory amp, I would recommend a product such as a Rockford Fosgate 3sixty or the JL Audio Cleansweep. The 3sixty offers options to do all kinds of crazy stuff, but if you don't need those options, the Cleansweep may be the unit for you!

I am still trying to find you some decent infinite baffle subwoofers that you can either hang from the rear deck OR mount to the steel via MDF baffles on the seat backs.

ETA: If you have the room, you could always get one of **THESE**

ETA2: On another forum, some guys are also running the IDMAX 12 subwoofer in an infinite baffle situation, so a pair of 12" subs should be easy to integrate into your install.

 

[chuckster 10+ year member]

guns4me, thanks for all the help, i am learning. guys on my m3 site say the stock amp sucks, maybe 8 watts per side. so i would ditch it. i will have the carpet out of the car in 2 weeks so i want to run new wire from the head unit to the trunk and plenty of it in case i change my mind, and want to do some thing else later.

i can fill the whole trunk up if needed with subs... i only store my car cover in there when driving and maybe a six pack or two coming back from the store.( heh heh.). this is just a joy ride car, no travel, etc.

 

[joshualittle]

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=19300. Here's the jl audio cleansweep gunz was talking about. Since your running a stock hu and u'll prolly have to do after market amps.