dsp AMP Dead

[PatDanz]

Right then.

My friendly local Eastern Europeans jet washed the car for me and kindly managed to fill up the boot while they were at it with water: the result - an unsatisfied punter and a knackered DSP (Sat Nav equipped car) amp.

Breakers and the flea bay not coming up with the goods.

Relaise some smart bods have dropped in an Alpine substitute and got it working wonderfully with the Carver set up - will this be as simple as plug and play ? I relaise there's been a lot of discussion re losing the DSP facility and internal crossovers etc. ... guidance would be much appreciated...

[srhutch]

SK93 is your man for this I think.

Are they paying for it?

[sk93]

hey hey.. I am indeed the man, as I faced your exact problem.

I tried three times to get an amp from breakers/fleabay that would actually work, but there is so much minor detail you need to be checking, as you won't find exact matching part numbers (absolute rocking horse!) unless you're extremely lucky with your timing.

To that end, I ended up buying an Alpine amp and replacing JUST the DSP amp with an aftermarket amp (Alpine PDX-v9), a set of passive crossovers for the door speakers and a set of caps for the tweeters.

All in, the damage was way WAY less than a new amp from the stealer.

I was going to do a full howto writeup on monday, but have actually died of manflu.
I should be up and well again for the weekend, at which point, I'll put together a thread.

The one thing I will say right now is this:
When my amp died, I had heard a lot of people banging on about how you can't use the existing subwoofers with an aftermarket amp, or that the headunit doesn't provide a lineout, or that the signal was all digital, etc, etc.
This worried me, as it all seemed stupidly complicated AND expensive to go any other route than OEM.
Plus, I thought the DSP settings were pretty decent.

However, now I've done the work with zero guidance on what to do or what does what (all of which took a few good hours one afternoon), the quality of sound from my original carver setup is by and far a thousand times better than it was under any DSP setting.
Having the ability to adjust the crossovers for each set of speakers individually and actually spending a bit of time with a sound expert on hand (ask your local car hifi guy for ten minutes of his time ) means you can really get amazing sound clarity and quality from these decent "standard" speakers.

Also, the subs can, if desired, actually be felt - heck, I've had them shaking the wing mirror glass quite spectacularly.


Don't get me wrong, It's not going to compare to a £5k car audio setup, but considering the total cost of this "mod" is less than a new DSP amp by quite a bit, I'd HIGHLY recommend turning this unfortunately problem into an opportunity to 'maximize' the potential of your original 'top hifi' speakers

[srhutch]

So I assume you lose the DSP setting option. How do you actually chsnge the settings?

[srhutch]

So I assume you lose the DSP setting option. How do you actually chsnge the settings?

[sk93]

yes.. you DO loose the ability to change DSP modes.

However, you still get bass, treble and balance control.
(you also loose fade, as that's digitally controlled by the amp!)

If you did want to change the "dsp" settings, you would need to do it on the amp..
However, I've not once had to change my amp set up since having it done, and I listen to a WIDE variety of stuff

[PatDanz]

I'll look forward to the write up sk93: the Alpine stuff is nice gear and financially it seems much more viable...

Had a real crisis of interests with the car at moment... engine management light has also come on along with recurring airbag light... and since having a replaement set of rear run flats fitted one keeps deflating - it's been back 3 times !

That plus the intermittent parking sensors after I inadvertently backed it into the neighbours wagon (oops) and it is detracting from my driving pleasure... must get sounds sorted ASAP...

Incidentally now might be the time to disconnect the auto changer and have some sort of bluetooth connectivity in its place - possible sk93 ?

[PatDanz]

SK93 is your man for this I think.

Are they paying for it?

not a chance - they can hardly string a sentence in English together so some battles are not worth fighting... plus it's a question of evidence/blame : i'll get nowhere

[PatDanz]

got any pics of amp wiring that you had to do sk93 ? The Alpine amp route looks inevitable but want to get a feel for what I'm letting myself in for... where did you house the new cross overs and tell me more about capping the tweeters !

Hoping I can rope in an ex installer mate of mine: he knows his stuff (except that time he drilled thro into a petrol tank on the last car that is.... !)

[Chris_D]

hey hey.. I am indeed the man, as I faced your exact problem.

I tried three times to get an amp from breakers/fleabay that would actually work, but there is so much minor detail you need to be checking, as you won't find exact matching part numbers (absolute rocking horse!) unless you're extremely lucky with your timing.

To that end, I ended up buying an Alpine amp and replacing JUST the DSP amp with an aftermarket amp (Alpine PDX-v9), a set of passive crossovers for the door speakers and a set of caps for the tweeters.

All in, the damage was way WAY less than a new amp from the stealer.

I was going to do a full howto writeup on monday, but have actually died of manflu.
I should be up and well again for the weekend, at which point, I'll put together a thread.

The one thing I will say right now is this:
When my amp died, I had heard a lot of people banging on about how you can't use the existing subwoofers with an aftermarket amp, or that the headunit doesn't provide a lineout, or that the signal was all digital, etc, etc.
This worried me, as it all seemed stupidly complicated AND expensive to go any other route than OEM.
Plus, I thought the DSP settings were pretty decent.

However, now I've done the work with zero guidance on what to do or what does what (all of which took a few good hours one afternoon), the quality of sound from my original carver setup is by and far a thousand times better than it was under any DSP setting.
Having the ability to adjust the crossovers for each set of speakers individually and actually spending a bit of time with a sound expert on hand (ask your local car hifi guy for ten minutes of his time ) means you can really get amazing sound clarity and quality from these decent "standard" speakers.

Also, the subs can, if desired, actually be felt - heck, I've had them shaking the wing mirror glass quite spectacularly.


Don't get me wrong, It's not going to compare to a £5k car audio setup, but considering the total cost of this "mod" is less than a new DSP amp by quite a bit, I'd HIGHLY recommend turning this unfortunately problem into an opportunity to 'maximize' the potential of your original 'top hifi' speakers

Did you manage to do a write-up for this fella?

My amp dieded recently and after having it kidnapped and returned still non-functional 3 months I'm now thinking about Alpine unit and retaining the original speakers etc.
Could do with replicating your approach....

[pcube]

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/matc ... rs/up-7bmw

This is a more current solution... plug and play replacement amp for cars that came with Top Hifi option. If you're willing to change the stock stereo as well then any amp would work with the existing speaker wiring, just some splicing and cutting involved which is pretty straightforward.

[GuidoK]

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/matc ... rs/up-7bmw

This is a more current solution... plug and play replacement amp for cars that came with Top Hifi option. If you're willing to change the stock stereo as well then any amp would work with the existing speaker wiring, just some splicing and cutting involved which is pretty straightforward.

I dont think that amp is compatible.
They say its a replacement for option 676; top hifi dsp on the z4 is option 677.
But you can check with the manufacturer.
(also that amp is about €800)

[Chris_D]

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/matc ... rs/up-7bmw

This is a more current solution... plug and play replacement amp for cars that came with Top Hifi option. If you're willing to change the stock stereo as well then any amp would work with the existing speaker wiring, just some splicing and cutting involved which is pretty straightforward.

I dont think that amp is compatible.
They say its a replacement for option 676; top hifi dsp on the z4 is option 677.
But you can check with the manufacturer.
(also that amp is about €800)

Yes, the UP7BMW is a bit too expensive for my liking.
Anyone apart from SK93 hooked up the Alpine PDX-v9?
SK93, any clues?

[pcube]

I dont think that amp is compatible.
They say its a replacement for option 676; top hifi dsp on the z4 is option 677.
But you can check with the manufacturer.
(also that amp is about €800)

I know the OP has already mentioned that this is too expensive, but I'll clarify for anyone else who reads this thread in the future that the amp is compatible with Top Hifi. However, it being a 7 channel amp will result in the loss of output on the carver subs as well as the mid range speakers in the doors.