Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 31
  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Santa Cruz County, CA
    Posts
    217
    I retained my factory head and bypassed the h/k amp completely, then wired in a pair of components up front and a 12" sub in the trunk. No rear fill channels for me.

    To achieve good midbass up front I had to fashion a baffle and cut out the door shell behind the mid-bass driver. The speakers I purchased thrive on airspace, so I had to do a lot of work to provide that. Once I did though, ooh baby, gobs of midbass up front and excellent blend with the sub in the trunk. Read this paragraph as... you cannot just bolt in a high-end set of speakers using factory mounting method and get awesome results. How the h/k gets as much bass as it does up front is still a mystery to me. I think they play serious EQ tricks to do it.

    I have yet to fully tune the system as I'm still undecided about tweeter position in my coupe. I have them currently in the sail panel behind the side-view mirrors, but will work on an a-pillar solution to try out next. That will raise the soundstage up and forward. The stock location on the coupe is terrible... soundstage is between your chest and the dashboard. Weaksauce!

    The tutorial you posted originally is a good way to go for a budget improvement. I have read good things about BSW and every debate that gets started evolves into a "yeah, but we did all the research and development!" to explain the big price tag. I have never heard a car with that solution in it though. When I was originally researching an upgrade I was turned off by them because back then they were just rebranding MB Quart and I was not a fan of that brand at all.

    I had a/d/s/ in my E39 that I transferred into this car and it never quite did the trick for me in the E46. I suspect it was part install and part tired components as I had owned them for 10 years and they were in 3 different cars. I went with Hybrid Audio Clarus components and an IDQ sub - very happy with these choices now that I've worked out the install. I think you get more out of the install than the components you select cuz an expensive driver poorly installed will sound bad too.
    Jeff

    Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA - Autocross - Join Us!


    "You drive like old people $#@%... slow and sloppy!" - George Carlin

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Sounds like you did it correctly.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Santa Cruz County, CA
    Posts
    217
    I could do a clean version of my thread at Fanatics if people are interested...

    http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=744817

    I'm also on DIYMA with similar thread. It was a journey and I learned a bit more in the process.
    Jeff

    Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA - Autocross - Join Us!


    "You drive like old people $#@%... slow and sloppy!" - George Carlin

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
    3,059
    Excellent job Jeff. Even if the OP doesn't go to the extent you did, I agree that the best way to get improved sound out of the E46 while retaining factory look is to keep the OEM head unit but replace everything else. Forget about using the OEM amplifier or speakers.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Valparaiso, IN
    Posts
    3,595
    Quote Originally Posted by Nivo View Post
    I believe the OEM speakers are like 2 ohm, subs are 3 ohm. as long as you wire up to the wires on the doors and not use the passive crossovers that come with the components you are fine. The amp will work from 2ohm loads to 8 ohm loads. The amp has the internal crossover tuned to the HK speakers. Also as you dial up the volume the system decreases the lower frequencies to keep your speakers happy.

    I am going to replace my whole HK system and that will be shown on my site.
    That's kinda what I figured... can't wait to see how your install goes though!


    Quote Originally Posted by Jon D View Post
    Disclaimer.. I swapped out my whole system including deck to get the sound I wanted.

    With that said if my objective was to keep the factory deck and get the best sound without a lot of custom work I'd go BSW and not look back. It is a real step up from factory but not to what you can do if you rip it all out and start over. But then you loose the factory radio. Your call.
    Yeah, I'd love to go with BSW, but it's more than I'm willing to spend on an upgrade at the moment. :/


    Quote Originally Posted by Oli77 View Post
    This thread is pretty informative. But basically, if you find speakers that are the right size (fit and line up), the right impedance, and a close match on the frequencies they can handle, you'll be alright.
    Thanks for the link - that's a very helpful thread!


    Quote Originally Posted by Oli77 View Post
    I thought the audax at this site would be small enough to fit.

    Isn't that what the jumboprawn link guy says in there?
    Thanks again for the link! I couldn't find those audax's anywhere!


    Quote Originally Posted by 808ZHP View Post
    are your speakers shot? By adding a subwoofer/amp, it takes away the bass frequencies from the speakers and redirects to the subs. I know mine sounded way better after adding subs.
    Kind of... well, they're at least sounding worse and worse. Not completely shot yet though. I was considering adding subs, but I really use all the room in my trunk sometimes. Especially in the summer with my golf clubs, which don't fit incredibly well as it is.


    Jeff- Wow that's an incredibly awesome install! I'm not very confident that I could actually do something of that magnitude though


  6. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Valparaiso, IN
    Posts
    3,595
    So I think I may get this stuff to start off with and see how it goes:

    Tweeter
    Midbass

    I'm not really sure either of them will fit correctly, or that it'll be too big of an improvement. I think I'm going to leave the midrange as it is, and hopefully it'll at least get me to a point of adequateness that I can stand Not really aiming for the super awesome stuff - just mediocrity!

    Does anyone know for sure if these will fit or not?

    Is this really me just wasting time/money?

    Thanks for everyone's help and input so far!


  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    Ryan, the impedance on these two speakers is wrong.

    Both must be 8 ohms. I'm looking ...
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Fort Worth
    Posts
    555
    So I think I may get this stuff to start off with and see how it goes:

    Tweeter
    Midbass

    I'm not really sure either of them will fit correctly, or that it'll be too big of an improvement. I think I'm going to leave the midrange as it is, and hopefully it'll at least get me to a point of adequateness that I can stand Not really aiming for the super awesome stuff - just mediocrity!

    Does anyone know for sure if these will fit or not?
    Did you see this comment on the midbass:

    I used these drivers along with a TB W2-803SM driver and a Dayton ND16FA-6 tweet to upgrade my factory HK stereo in me BMW 330 cic. It took a little engineering to get everything to fit, but WOW!!! There is no comparison to the HK system. I don't think I had ever realized the The Eagles "Witchy Woman" had RAVEN hair!!! Buy these! You will not be dissapointed.
    Sounds like you can make them fit if you want to.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    These are 8 ohms, not sure about fit, could work with some engineering.
    https://www.madisound.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=45_229_324&products_id=541

    The Tweeters that Go Horns is taking about are 6 ohms. Will probably be OK as tweeters don't suck much power, they may be little louder than the originals.


    There is difference in price too I just realized.
    Last edited by Oli77; 02-26-2011 at 08:53 AM. Reason: Price difference
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    Look here:

    http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a...TWEETER/1.html

    Fitment looks right too!
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. noob
    By 330i ZHP in forum New Members (or older members who have not introduced themselves)
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 07-02-2011, 05:59 AM
  2. Noob to the community...
    By CERF04ZHP in forum New Members (or older members who have not introduced themselves)
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 03-08-2011, 04:12 PM
  3. Once some of our 24" of snow melts, Car Audio will go in.
    By Nivo in forum Audio | In Car Entertainment (ICE)
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 02-16-2011, 10:58 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •