Basic stereo 6 speaker upgrade..update Amp added..final update, active subwoofer installed

[Silverstar]

Many thanks! I'll have a go at them over the next few days. Those Hertz C165 got cancelled apparently the store I bought them from didn't have stocks and couldn't tell me when they would arrive so I found some Hertz MP 165.3 (same thing but a little better) for 23 euros more, they arrived this morning and my they are heavy little things over 1kg each! Looks like real good quality speakers! I am still pondering what to do about the amp, I want to fit an Apple Car Play box first and see how that wires in before deciding on the amp.

[mr.tourette]

Many thanks! I'll have a go at them over the next few days. Those Hertz C165 got cancelled apparently the store I bought them from didn't have stocks and couldn't tell me when they would arrive so I found some Hertz MP 165.3 (same thing but a little better) for 23 euros more, they arrived this morning and my they are heavy little things over 1kg each! Looks like real good quality speakers! I am still pondering what to do about the amp, I want to fit an Apple Car Play box first and see how that wires in before deciding on the amp.

Yeah definitely worth seeing how you feel first, just doing the speakers is a huge improvement and you may not feel like you need the amp, that extra push to the rears was worth the money on its own for me though..the upgraded Hertz will be be no bad thing the 165c came in at 989g.. keep us posted

[Silverstar]

I found this interesting article online about stereo imaging and soundstage. It kind of explains BMW's reasoning for our attenuated signal on the rear channel:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MWAnDvoTB ... aging.html

[Pbondar]

I found this interesting article online about stereo imaging and soundstage. It kind of explains BMW's reasoning for our attenuated signal on the rear channel:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MWAnDvoTB ... aging.html

It’s a nice if simplified article with some practical suggestions..

[Silverstar]

So I am kind of half way towards installing all my upgraded speakers and I can immediately see what we all know, the heavily equalised signal of the head unit and not getting the best out of the new speakers. So browsing the web as I do, I have come across this thing:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AXTON-DSP-Ampl ... 561&sr=8-1

or here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AXTON-DSP-Ampl ... 561&sr=8-2

Both of the above are the same thing just listed by different sellers I think. Anyway if you look at the feedback on both it seems to be pretty decent. I am thinking to use this amp to drive the rear and door speakers and run a mono block amp from the preout of this unit with new cables going direct to the Hertz footwell speakers.

So would this unit clean up the signal for the rear and doors and send a clean signal to the mono block amp to drive the footwell woofers?

[mr.tourette]

Maybe. Im no expert on amps tho, Im guessing you will be able to amp up everything better using 2 amps but the only way to truly bypass the head unit setting will be to code to hifi. If you are happy to push your budget tho then it may well work very well, Pete would be better positioned to advise you here. I can say though that on my little vibe amp the benefit is huge, whilst the increase to the rears is still clipped by the head unit they're still very audible. You want the sounstage biased to the front of the car anyway so pushing too much to the rear may not be beneficial.
I think the speakers you have invested in dont need a mass of amplification to bring a positive result

Im currently pondering an active underseat sub wired direct to the battery which will then plug into the rca on the vibe, this (technically) should relieve the mid woofers of heavy bass duties and allow more power to the fronts from the vibe and cleaning things up even further.. food for thought

[Pbondar]

If you are going to get into pedantisms then..

Woofers (unlike sub woofers) as fitted in the E89 footwells should really be fed with stereo sound channels as the human ear can (at the frequencies that the woofer oeprates at) easily discriminate left and right.. so playback with woofer frequencies L/R merged would 'not help' to a successful stereo image of the playback..

To use a phrase in UK Lidl shops 'when its gone its gone'.. ie any post recovery attempt of the heavily processed rear channels is not going to work well, due to the fact that the signnal you are trying to recover is very suppressed..

But as in all these things if you think it sounds alright then that's all that matters..

As in all things.. a clean start results in a better end result .. but money / joy of twiddling are contra factors..

[Silverstar]

Finally finished installing all the new speakers and wow what a difference they make! Since they aren't plug and play its's a bit of faff getting everything to fit but worth the time and trouble considering the huge amount of money saved compared to going with custom speakers from the likes of Eton Focal etc. I wonder though how much difference if any there would be in sound quality between those and these Crunch / Hertz setup.

I decided to retain the factory wiring so got these plug and play speaker cables for the 4" mids:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series ... 2749.l2649

For the footwells I couldn't find any that looked like they would be an exact fit so ended getting some for Peugeot / Citroen of Amazon and cut them down so to expose the pins which fitted straight into the BMW factory connector after which I just zip tied them together so they won't come apart.

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The Crunch components DSX4.2 are great, you get the sound from the tweeters coming to you at more or less ear level so great for sound staging and the clarity is great. How much better they are compared to the coaxials I can't say as I couldn't be bothered to experiment installing one then the other. But for the little extra I paid compared to the coaxials I would say they are well worth it.

I installed the crossover using some velcro tape on door barrier protection sheet as can be seen in this picture:

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The tweeter needed a bit of fiddling around with to get them to fit the door mirror housings. They are a little bit too small to just clip in the housing so I wrapped a bit velcro around circumference of the tweeter, this way the tabs / clips of the mirror housing have something to grip on and once the foam backing is in place the tweeters aren't going anywhere. Also doing it this is way is totally non destructive to the housing and the tweeter:

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And this is how they look once installed in the car:

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Overall I am very happy with the upgrade, the Hertz woofers gives real low bass which was lacking before and the clarity from the Crunch is way better than stock. Although I am still lusting for some deep down bass which can only be had from a subwoofer, I hear what you say Pete with regards to the woofers in the kick panels needing a stereo signal so I will probably leave the four channels (rear, doors and kick panels) on one four channel amp and have another amp driving some subs.

I have thought the same as you Mir Tourette about getting some under seat subs and mounting them behind the seats. But would prefer it if somehow I could install them in the same location as original subs that you get in cars with the higher end sound systems. I wonder if I can somehow just mount them to the rear trim panel rather than getting the original enclosure and having to rip the whole rear apart to fit them.

I have Just got to decide now if to go for a standard four channel amp like the VIBE Powerbox 65.4 or to go for the Axton with the built in DSP, I would imagine it would give somewhat better sound due to the built in DSP?

[Silverstar]

Sorry I don't know why that last photo appeared again as I didn't upload it twice!

[Yoghurt]

Great write up Slverstar, thanks

[maxman]

This is an interesting thread.Excellent write ups by all

[mr.tourette]

Good job champ.. its a good feeling when you get those speakers running and listen to a few tracks, shows what a difference just some decent speakers make

No reason you couldn't mount a slim active sub behind the seat rather than under it, thats where i would most likely put mine provided i can make a neat install

[Silverstar]

Good job champ.. its a good feeling when you get those speakers running and listen to a few tracks, shows what a difference just some decent speakers make

No reason you couldn't mount a slim active sub behind the seat rather than under it, thats where i would most likely put mine provided i can make a neat install

Slim active subs behind the seats would be the easiest for installation but I like the idea of putting a couple normal subs mounted flush on the rear panel where the OEM subs normally go, it would make for a cleaner install. Rather than putting them in the OEM enclosure and mounting them behind the trim, I wonder if it is possible to just cut a hole in the trim and mount them from the front. Something small like the Kicker Comp RT 6.75" or perhaps some 8"

Saying that, the amps and subs will have to wait a while, next on order is an Apple car play MMI box. I want to see how that wires in and weather I can tap into the speakers outputs via the T Harness that will be supplied with the CarPlay box, thereby not destroying the factory wiring. I am thinking of sticking two amps in the boot where the factory amp would normally fit since you can easily get the power and earth from there.

[ianl]

Silverstar, do you have a link to the Peugeot connector on Amazon please? Thanks in advance.

[mr.tourette]

Silverstar, do you have a link to the Peugeot connector on Amazon please? Thanks in advance.

I think Silverstar might have missed this link i put in page 1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382269999366

it has a set of adapters for the footwells as well as one for either the doors or rears