Z4 Stereo System

C

crooner12

Member
For those with the non-Carver upgraded system, do you notice any sound coming out of the two bass speakers behind the seats? Our car is supposed to have 10 speakers regardless of the system choice. I'm wondering if the bass speakers are just duds or really poorly built, because I really don't hear any bass whatsoever coming out behind the seats.

Even when I've adjusted the EQ and such, all the bass seems to come from the front. I know bass is unidirectional below 50 hz or so, but I'd still expect to hear/feel something from the bass drivers in the rear. I'm going to check out another z4 tomorrow and see if it's just me or if this is the case with other cars.

Also, for those with the upgraded sound system, do you notice a big difference in the sound output/quality between that and the "base" system?
 
I have the Carver system and even with that I have noticed that pretty much all the bass is coming from the front which really surprised me. I used the fader to go just to back and then just to front and noticed that I wasn't getting any or very little bass from the back speakers. Maybe the front kick panel speakers are mid basses?
 
i seem to remember the subs in the back are driven from the front section of the EQ, so fading backwards will turn them down. not 100% but that would explain it.
 
same here. and i still dont know if i have craver or not.. i asked about it and i was told (here in the forum) that if i have the 2 subs behind the seats so its carver..but i guess not.. so how can i know ?
 
if you have the EQ settings and it's prefacelift, it's Carver.

if it's post facelift with EQ it's DSP, I believe it's not the same as the Carver, it's a bit newer..

If you have all the speakers but no DSP, it's the upgraded Hifi system, no extra amps.

http://users.telenet.be/AcousticSolution/z4infoweb/bodycarhifi.htm
 
Post facelift, DSP, 2 speakers behind the seats, it should be Carver. Try it with DSP off and crank it up a bit, there should be a more prominent subwoofer sound. You can also turn up bass or try it with the DSP.
 
I went into the boot with a torch and on side of the amp on the tiny barcode, you can see the words Carver.
 
moodhead said:
I have the Carver system and even with that I have noticed that pretty much all the bass is coming from the front which really surprised me. I used the fader to go just to back and then just to front and noticed that I wasn't getting any or very little bass from the back speakers. Maybe the front kick panel speakers are mid basses?
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I think in the "neutral" setting, the system is set so that the sound is coming from the front, center. As others have said, you have to crank it up to get the full Carver effect.
 
I don't think I have the Carver system in my Z4 (just says Professional CD on the head unit). When I use the DSP setting, I notice that "Jazz" has the most bass by far...perhaps too much so that it sounds unbalanced. I actually prefer more bass than less, but surprisingly I felt that this setting produced too much bass, or perhaps strained mid-bass. The simple fact is that 6"drivers are not the best design for sub 50hz bass. The Carver high-back EMF design tries to cheat the laws of physics by using high-excursion, large magnet power. Ahh...the power of air displacement. If the car had a simple 12" in it , then it would be a different story :)

Sadly, I'm away from my Z4 at the moment, but when I return, I'm going to do a more thorough test to see what's going on in the "subs" behind the seats. If they claim that there are 10 speakers in the car, then all 10 should be "active." I'd be really sad if those without the "Carver" system really had all of the parts, but the difference was that the subs are not connected.

On a side note, I recently test drove an '06 G35 before deciding to go with the Z4, and happened to listen to the "upgraded" Bose system, and it was absolutely horrific. Even after I spent 10 minutes adjusting the bass, treble, fade, eq, etc, it did not do the car justice. Even my wife had a disappointed look in her eyes. Same thing happened in a Audi TT with the Bose system. At the end of the day, I still think that we all have a halfway decent stock stereo system in our Z4s, at least compared to some competition.
 
Smokin said:
Wondermike said:
crooner12, if you have the DSP setting then you have Carver :)
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yep! :thumbsup:
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Interesting. I didn't see any mention of it in the window sticker or anything. When I say DSP, I mean the 3 different built-in EQ settings. Otherwise, I think it's halfway decent sounding, Carver or not 8)
 
What year car do you have? Coupe or roadster?

My 2007 coupe only says "Premium sound system with DSP. The packages were a bit different coupe/roadster as the coupe only came in 3.0Si and //M versions.


(edit: looks like the 3.0Si has Carver/DSP whether it's coupe or roadster)
 
Smokin said:
What year car do you have? Coupe or roadster?

My 2007 coupe only says "Premium sound system with DSP. The packages were a bit different coupe/roadster as the coupe only came in 3.0Si and //M versions.


(edit: looks like the 3.0Si has Carver/DSP whether it's coupe or roadster)
Click to expand...


I've got the '06 3.0i roadster. I guess I could ask the dealer to know for sure.
 
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