Looking for best installation with current equipment

[Richie82]

I'm currently re-installing my car's audio for optimal performance with my current equipment. I half assed it the last time and will do it from scratch again. It wasn't a neat install.

Car is an e36 1997 BMW 328i Sedan.

My head unit is a Sony Xplod CDX-F5710 (52w x 4, 7 band equalizer, 6 pre amps - front, rear and sub)

+ Kenwood KGC-4042A 5 band equalizer ( 1 L/R input, 3 outs front, rear and sub)

+ Coustic XM-3 electronic crossover

2 60watt amps

1 250w x 4 amp

Stock speakers (2 Kickpanels + tweeters and rears)

+ 2 12" 600 RMS Subs

My main question is, since my head unit already has a built in equalizer, should I use that and skip the Kenwood EQ? The Kenwood was being used with the stock stereo which was replaced with the Sony back in '05. I'm not sure how good the built in eq's are in the Sony Xplod but it has more bands and the same amount of outs.

I will also be replacing my stock fronts and rears with 5 1/4" and 6x9"s next week. The smaller amps will be replaced too if need be.

What would be the best configuration?

Currently its HU > EQ > CROSSOVER > AMPS > SPEAKERS

The 60w amps are powering the fronts and rears while the bigger amp is bridged for the subs. The HU is passing the fronts signal to the EQ and nothing else. I would prefer to use all of the outs on the HU instead if it would increase performance and eliminate some unnecessary wiring.

Looking forward to any input

Click to read more...

 

[zen 10+ year member]

look you dont need the crossover and equalizer because you have 3 pre outs from hu... so i think it has hp and low pass filter..

speaker...

stock speakers will be blown in a short time.. so need new speakers.. and a bigger amp for speakers and subs..but everything depends on how many bucks do you have.. and how many you want to spend

pm any question

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i agree that the HU can feed a signal directly to the amplifiers even if the amplifiers don't have built-in crossovers. make/model will help us make recommendations on the amps and how to feed them.

According to the owner's manual, the head unit has selectable HPF and LPF at 78Hz or 125Hz. it does not note the slope (typical poorly written Sony manual). what setting you use depends on the speakers you buy.

The XM-3 crossover is not necessary but could be used for better control if you don't want to be limited by the HU crossover points. The XM-3 can also act as an active crossover between tweeters and woofers for front components. And since the XM-3 has front/rear/sub inputs and outputs, your HU fader and sub level control are retained.

From my experience, Sony Xplod decks sound poor, and a good EQ can strengthen the low level signal, resulting in better overall sound (thanks to better op amps). That Kenwood EQ is a solid piece.

Or you can sell the EQ to fund better front speakers. EQ's like that still fetch $100 or so.

get us the amp make/model and we can finalize our recommendations.

naturally, the performance of the system is strongly influenced by the quality of the speaker installations. just dropping aftermarket coaxial into factory locations usually results in sub-par performance. many of us use component speakers for the front and just midrange drivers in the rear for attenuated fill.

Manuals for reference:

Crossover: http://www.coustic.com/support/pdfs/XM-3.pdf

EQ: http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/Manuals/113/1134042A.PDF

HU: Sony eSupport - CDX-F5710 - News & Alerts