help me out, recommend some stuff / setups

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

Ok basically I own a 2001 BMW 328i with the factory harmon kardon sound system and a bunch of blown out shitty speakers that are all OEM and need to be exchanged.

OEM HU

Front: 2 Front 6 1/2" (bottom mounted) door panel speakers, 2 mid range speakers (3"), 2 tweeters

Back: 2 Back 6 1/2" rear deck speakers. 2 back tweeters.

My system currently sounds like shit and just sounds blown out. The volume doesn't go very high, the base sounds like shit and rattles. All that really sounds good are the highs in techno songs. hip-hop sounds like shit and rock is not impressive.

I was thinking about replacing all 4 6 1/2 speakers with component systems and putting in new tweeters and everything, then putting in either 1 or 2 10" subs in a ported box in the back. But according to the guys ive talked to, the tweeters probably wont fit into my car's old tweeter ports and Ill have to do some custom work or something.

But honestly, I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do with this system? Dump the tweeters and just get full range speakers? According to crutchfield this is going to be hard as **** to replace / retrofit because of the weird tweeter oem setup.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... this situation is so ****ed up I dont even know where to start.

So say I want good bass, nothing too loud, and really good sound quality. Good highs/lows/mids. Should I just get rid of my tweets and install full range speakers? Or replace my tweeters in front, mids in front, speakers in front, along with the speakers in back. I don't even know where to find mid range speakers, should I keep them or get rid of them?

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[livinlegend 10+ year member]

am I going to have to end up going to a custom car audio shop around here? this seems ridiculously difficult to upgrade.

 

[bwell 10+ year member]

Bump this man needs Help

I would say since your highs ( your tweets) are working fine just get 2 sets of speakers and not mess with replacing tweeters.

Just get a system that creates music not noise.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

Ill probably be replacing my tweets and mids too

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

Talked to another person and got some insight.

The tweets, mids, and front speakers all go into a 3 way crossover, which are apparently much harder to find. So now I have the choice of either keeping my mids, replacing my mids, or completely ditching my mids. Apparently replacing the mids is gonna be a giant hassle cause nothing fits the BMW ports. Keeping them is also a hassle apparently cause I have to find a component set with 3 way crossovers.

Would it be worth it to replace my mid ranges with some nice ones by finding a component set with 6 1/2" speakers, tweets, and mid ranges with 3 way crossovers? (if such a set exists)

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

Where are the mid-range speakers located up front?? If they're in the doors, you could easily fab up a bracket to mount a set of 6.5" components in there. Then just disconnect the factory tweeters. I would personally go with a new set of 6.5" comps up front, and a nice 12 in a ported enclosure. Get yourself a pair of amps, a 2 channel for the comps, and a D-class mono for the sub. Totally disconnect the rears, since they sound like poop, or replace them with a decent 6.5" coaxial and run off the factory amp. Just my .02

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

The mids are in the doors. So you're saying get rid of the mids completely and mount my tweets where the mids were?

Then completely disconnect my rears (and the tweets with them?).

Then get a d-class mono amp for a nice 12" sub in a ported enclosure. (Should I get the enclosure custom made? And why?)

And a 2 channel amp for the comps up front.

This is what I gathered. Thanks a lot for the help by the way I really have barely a clue what I'm doing so this is all a learning experience for me.

What am I going to need to look at when selecting an amp? Ideally I want to have the best possible sound I can //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

The mids are in the doors. So you're saying get rid of the mids completely and mount my tweets where the mids were?
Then completely disconnect my rears (and the tweets with them?).

Then get a d-class mono amp for a nice 12" sub in a ported enclosure. (Should I get the enclosure custom made? And why?)

And a 2 channel amp for the comps up front.

This is what I gathered. Thanks a lot for the help by the way I really have barely a clue what I'm doing so this is all a learning experience for me.

What am I going to need to look at when selecting an amp? Ideally I want to have the best possible sound I can //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Yup, that's basically what I'm saying to do. When looking for an amp, go with a good brand. We could reccomend some if we know what budget you have. Also, you're gonna want to match your amp with your speakers. Not brand matching, power matching, ie: you don't wanna buy a 25x2 amp for components that can handle 100 watts. For the sub, you need to match power and resistance. If you get an amp that's only 2 ohm stable, don't get a sub with Dual 2 ohm voice coils, get one with dual 4's. It's really rather easy, once you start doing it. Like I said before, we could recommend everything you will need if you give us a budget.

Oh, and do you really have to keep the factory HU?? I would definitely recommend buying a new one. Will work wonders on your system.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

I'll ditch the factory HU for sure. Maybe get the Alpine CDA-9856 (this would look nice in my car for sure). Budget I think would probably be somewhere around $500-600 but the HU wont figure into it (so HU will not dent my budget). I really appreciate the help by the way I know I am a total n00b.

According to http://www.crutchfield.com, who I called, only the Kicker KS6.2 6 1/2" comp system fits my ride. You can see this if you click "Find What Fits My Car" and select an 01 BMW 3 Series without Harmon Kardon sound. Then click Front Door and after calling them and talking to them only the kickers are going to be a fit for the port in my door. Supposedly cause they are rear mounted and I guess thats the way my car has the 6 1/2" speakers... according to them nothing but what they're saying fits will fit.

$200 retail here:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-a4szwztlLPD/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=400&I=2065KS62

stats:

» component speaker system includes woofers, tweeters, and crossovers

» 6-1/2" polygraphite woofer with Santoprene surround

» 1" aluminum dome tweeter with multiple mounting options

» tweeter may be mounted on woofer as a high-performance coaxial speaker

» external 2-way crossover (4000 Hz, 12 dB/octave high-pass, 6 dB/octave low-pass)

» marine ready with water-resistant mounting hardware

» power range: 6-75 watts RMS (150 watts peak power)

» frequency response: 35-21,000 Hz

» sensitivity: 88 dB

» top-mount depth: 1-15/16"

» warranty: 1 year

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

Ok, so $500-600 budget for a set of components, a sub, and two amps. You're not gonna get the best quality stuff out there, but I'll see what I can put together. And on a side note, you can make any set of components work. Crutchfield tends to err on the side of conservatism(if that's a word), it's mostly to cover their butt. Anywho, let's see what we can do....

Components: Infinity Reference 6010cs: $119.99 http://www.sonicelectronix.com

Subwoofer: Ascendant Audio Assassin 12": $90.00 http://www.ascendantaudio.com

2 Channel Amp: Phoenix Gold Xenon X100.2: $169.99 http://www.sonicelectronix.com

Mono Amp: Phoenix Gold R8.0:1: $184.99 http://www.sonicelectronix.com

Total: $564.97 before shipping. That doesn't include a box or wires. Figure another $150 for that if you build the box yourself. You can get all the wiring you need from http://www.knukonceptz.com for pretty cheap, and it's good quality stuff too. I would recommend running 0 gauge to a distro block, then 4 gauge to each amp.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

alright i think honestly the budget is gonna be more anything under $1000 if i can make ends meet.

those comps sound really nice. i think id probably be needing a sub in a prefab box though. maybe something like this:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=17&series_id=56&family_id=58&item_id=108298&locale=en_US&p_status=

would that do well?

or would it be better to just find someone who will design a nice box for me and port it?

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

btw thanks again so much for helping me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

i guess if you wanna redo it and try to keep under 1k i really apologize for ****ing up earlier on the budget. if theres anything you feel thats nicer that i can put in that would give me greater quality of sound feel free to change / add it

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

alright i think honestly the budget is gonna be more anything under $1000 if i can make ends meet.
those comps sound really nice. i think id probably be needing a sub in a prefab box though. maybe something like this:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.asp?cat_id=17&series_id=56&family_id=58&item_id=108298&locale=en_US&p_status=

would that do well?

or would it be better to just find someone who will design a nice box for me and port it?

I would stay away from that Rockford box. It's gonna sound like poo. With a budget of anything under $1000 there's not much I would change in that system. Just get someone to build you an enclosure for the sub. It's recommended 2.0 cubic feet tuned to 32 HZ. I'm sure someone on here can do it for you. And as for that Alpine HU, it's a decent HU, not exactly a SQ champ, but it does have everything you will ever need on it. If you're looking for a little better SQ I would go with an Eclipse CD-5000 or 7000.

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

i guess if you wanna redo it and try to keep under 1k i really apologize for ****ing up earlier on the budget. if theres anything you feel thats nicer that i can put in that would give me greater quality of sound feel free to change / add it

Don't worry about it. Like I said in my previous post. I wouldn't change that setup. Just use your newfound money to buy a HU and get a proper enclosure built for the sub.