I own a BMW e36. What do I do for my soundstage?

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

Ok stock my car has: (3 way)

Tweeters near the rear view mirrors by the window.

Mids in the middle of the door

Woofers at the bottom of the door

I want an SQ setup. Right now I have 1 SQ sub that is going in a 1 cu ft sealed box. I want the best possible front soundstage as well and will probably be trying to pick up a great SQ set like the image dynamics xs65 or rainbow cmx 265 or rainbow germs.

HOWEVER, I am curious.

#1) Would it be better for me to get a 3 way component set? Like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JL-Audio-Evolution-XR653-CS-3-way-Component-System-J-L_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ38646QQihZ007QQitemZ170171066195QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

#2) Where would be the best place to mount everything for SQ? My stock locations? Kickpanels? Can I have the local car audio company design kicks for comp sets to go in?

Keep in mind this is a BMW so the interior cannot be:

Torn, cut, or removed at all. Everything has to stay in 1 piece.

Also should I get a 3 way or 2 way frontstage and should it or should it not be in my stock locations? Should I put it through a high pass filter up front to cut out my lows and keep them only coming from the sub?

Please help me out I am REALLY confused how to setup my sound stage

Click to read more...

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

Here is a picture of the stock locations. Keep 3 way? Make 2 way? Mount in kicks? Mount in stock? HPF?

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

i put the woofers in the stock spot in the doors in my car, and i put my tweeters in my stock kickpanels. different car though.

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

nvm confirmed

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

what are ya gonna go with?

 

[livinlegend 10+ year member]

probably the image dynamics xs65 if i can find them for a decent price, maybe a 3 way set if someone can recommend it. whatever i can find a good deal on is what im gonna go with but i need help in deciding whether to go 2 way / 3 way or whether to put it all in my kicks or go stock

 

[shiipseki 10+ year member]

Active setup. You can possibly get dayton rs tweets and mids which shouldnt cost you too much. Tweets can go in mids location and you can make a kickpanel for the mids.

 

[Gary S 10+ year member]

If you are serious about having the best sound stage and imaging, and are willing to and can build rigid kick panels with at least a little air space, a two-way set in the kicks will probably give you the best overall sound.

If you need more midbass, you could always add a 6.5' to the stock location and cross it low.

An alternative/compromise... if you can't get great enclosures for decent midbass in the kicks, you could do what TCguy85 did.

The problem with all speakers in the doors... it's not as good speaker placement as kicks... kicks make for more equal path lengths to your ears. With door speakers, the speakers in the door closest to you are too close and drown out the other side... and if you try to use the balance control, you make things even worse for the listener in the other seat.

Almost all amps have active crossovers built-in these days, so your subs can be set to play sub bass, while the front amp plays midbass and up on your comps.

Out of the speakers you listed, the new ID's are the best choice, and hard to beat. However, if you go for a high power system over the rating of the ID's, you may be able to get Critical Mass comps in same price range and those would be even better.