Help me pick an amp and sub for an X5

[coloclimber]

I have an 01 BMW X5. I am using the stock headunit (non-DSP) and replaced all the factory speakers with component Focal 165 KFs (80W nominal power) in the front doors and coaxial Focal 165 CV1 (70W nominal power) in the rear doors. They are powered by a Sony XM-4S amp rated at 50Wx4. The system sounds good but needs more low end balance = I need a subwoofer.

I am planning on picking up another Sony amp for the sub- XM-1S. It is rated

at 500W x 2 ohms or 290W for 4 ohms. The reason I am going with these

amps is that they are class D and the space is very limited in the

back to place the amps in the hidden side pockets. There are motors

under the seats which make it difficult to put an amp there. I need to keep the space in the rear cargo area open.

I want to put a sub in the passenger side rear pocket and have seen

some pics online of other X5 owners putting in a single Kicker solobaric S8 in a sealed box.

Will a Kicker 8" square sub pair well with the Focal speakers and the Sony amps? Should I get the 2 ohm or 4 ohm model?

Click to read more...

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

In a ported box I'd say it would do a little better. You may want to go with a 10" sub as the Focals tend to be a bit bright. The one 8" may not hang with your mids and highs...

 

[exige 10+ year member]

sony FTL. if you can afford Focal and a Bimmer, then I suggest Sundown as your amp choice, and a Stereo Integrity Mag as your sub choice. Top notch stuff. Sony *****.

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

ditch the sony equipment. there is far better out there.

Give me a budget you would like to use. Focal themselves makes great subwoofers and you may want to look into them; great SQ overall. Why knock something that you have working for you? i can suggest another ton of great subwoofer brands but Focal would be ontop of my list.

as far as amplifiers go; what is your budget? We can go from superior brands to great budget lines that are far superior than sony.... sony is about the bottom of the pack with MOST of their stuff. They used to make great sq stuff but it's been a long while since they have made a quality product. Let me know and i'll try my best in helping you make an informed decision because "a watt is watt" is a false statement.

 

[coloclimber]

Thanks for the input. The reason I looked at Sony is that they fit in the space I allocated in the rear hatches. The dimensions of the amp are tiny- 8-1/8"W x 1-3/4"H x 8-13/16"D.

But I posted on this board to get real advise on a system. I am not married to those amps by any means. Its a space issue.

I can get about .3 cuft out of the side pockets, so I need a sub that can work well in a small enclosure.

There is a pre-made option out there for $700 with an 8" sub and 220W Alpine amp.

http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product.php/II=509/_cid=196

I wanted to create my own for less than that. $500-$600 for amp and sub.

Here is where the sub or amps can go: These pics are from someone else's install

Here is where I removed the cd changer and hooked up the ipod controller.

 

[exige 10+ year member]

wow didnt realize we were talking .3 cu ft.....thats a bit difficult....ill leave suggestions up to everybody else then.

 

[Babs 10+ year member]

I have an 01 BMW X5. I am using the stock headunit (non-DSP) and replaced all the factory speakers with component Focal 165 KFs (80W nominal power) in the front doors and coaxial Focal 165 CV1 (70W nominal power) in the rear doors. They are powered by a Sony XM-4S amp rated at 50Wx4. The system sounds good but needs more low end balance = I need a subwoofer.
I am planning on picking up another Sony amp for the sub- XM-1S. It is rated

at 500W x 2 ohms or 290W for 4 ohms. The reason I am going with these

amps is that they are class D and the space is very limited in the

back to place the amps in the hidden side pockets. There are motors

under the seats which make it difficult to put an amp there. I need to keep the space in the rear cargo area open.

I want to put a sub in the passenger side rear pocket and have seen

some pics online of other X5 owners putting in a single Kicker solobaric S8 in a sealed box.

Will a Kicker 8" square sub pair well with the Focal speakers and the Sony amps? Should I get the 2 ohm or 4 ohm model?

Out of curiosity...

How do you like that little class-D sony 4 channel???

Looks like a fair little budget 4-channel.

 

[johnson 10+ year member]

Will this fit under the seats or your enclosed space?

Alpine PDX amps

10-3/16"W x 2-1/2"H x 8-7/8"D

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

A little RE 8 is set up for an optimized .35 sealed enclousure....That Sony amp should be perfect and it will give you decent low end

 

[coloclimber]

Based on your replies and my curiosity, I had the an Alpine 4.100 PDX series amp put in to power the main speakers. Night and day difference with double the watts in the Alpine. The PDX fits right where the factory cd changer was located but couldn't fit under the seats. The cd changer is gone anyway with a Dice ipod adapter.

The Sony amp's SQ obviously wasn't as good but it was difficult to compare since the step up in watts was significant. The little Sony was sufficient for lower end speaker modifications. It just couldn't do justice to the Focals.

I am now needing a sub. I am debating between two models.

One is by BSW and it puts an Alumapro Alusonic 8" sub in a custom box for the rear pocket. $650 with Alpine amp.

http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/509/196/BSW-x108-Subwoofer-System-for-BMW-X5-00-06/

The JL AudioStealth box mates a 10" JL Audio 10W1v2sub in the same rear pocket custom fit. $600 with Alpine amp.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_stealthbox_detail.php?fit_id=1556

Both subs have ~150 W continuous power recommended. Both prices above use the same Alpine MRP-M450 mono amplifier with 220W at 4 ohms.

My gut is to go with the JL sub since it is less expensive and comes with a larger woofer. What are your thoughts?

 

[joem1cha3l 10+ year member]

Based on your replies and my curiosity, I had the an Alpine 4.100 PDX series amp put in to power the main speakers. Night and day difference with double the watts in the Alpine. The PDX fits right where the factory cd changer was located but couldn't fit under the seats. The cd changer is gone anyway with a Dice ipod adapter.
The Sony amp's SQ obviously wasn't as good but it was difficult to compare since the step up in watts was significant. The little Sony was sufficient for lower end speaker modifications. It just couldn't do justice to the Focals.

I am now needing a sub. I am debating between two models.

One is by BSW and it puts an Alumapro Alusonic 8" sub in a custom box for the rear pocket. $650 with Alpine amp.

http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product/509/196/BSW-x108-Subwoofer-System-for-BMW-X5-00-06/

The JL AudioStealth box mates a 10" JL Audio 10W1v2sub in the same rear pocket custom fit. $600 with Alpine amp.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_stealthbox_detail.php?fit_id=1556

Both subs have ~150 W continuous power recommended. Both prices above use the same Alpine MRP-M450 mono amplifier with 220W at 4 ohms.

My gut is to go with the JL sub since it is less expensive and comes with a larger woofer. What are your thoughts?

JL makes a great product for applications like that, but myself as a fellow bmw owner, i know that BSW is good quality stuff but just pricey. You would definitly be happpy with BSW as I am a former owner of this product.