Hello all.
I have passionately built my own home audio system that i am really proud of. It produces an extremely pleasant sound. I have never needed any corrections and always enjoyed the crystal clear yet very punchy bass.
I am now finding myself in the position of having replaced the stock speakers in my car only to find that the sound is completely muddy and lacking natural sounding bass. I have installed hertz speakers instead of the stock ones and the sound improved a bit, but not by much. I know good bass is hard to get in the car but at least i would like to have a pair of good quality speakers that sound clear. Can anyone advise on this matter?
I have passionately built my own home audio system that i am really proud of. It produces an extremely pleasant sound. I have never needed any corrections and always enjoyed the crystal clear yet very punchy bass.
I am now finding myself in the position of having replaced the stock speakers in my car only to find that the sound is completely muddy and lacking natural sounding bass. I have installed hertz speakers instead of the stock ones and the sound improved a bit, but not by much. I know good bass is hard to get in the car but at least i would like to have a pair of good quality speakers that sound clear. Can anyone advise on this matter?
depending on your taste of brighter highs or a warmer tone with a little more bass, i always recommend for stock powered speakers either jbl gto https://smile.amazon.com/GTO638-6-5...=1&*entries*=0&pldnCmp=rcol&pldnCrt=my-impact
or infinity reference https://smile.amazon.com/Infinity-R...Performance/dp/B002BZFSYA/ref=dp_ob_title_wld
Both are edge driven (larger cone for class) and "4ohm topology" 2ohm speakers. this means more power to them, without the risk of straining your factory amp or head unit. i've personally tested and run both, and haven't seen any others perform so well on so little power. most aftermarket speakers call for aftermarket power to be driven decently. if you want to go that route instead, these will still do real well, but there's also a hundred different other speakers that can perform well, entry to studio quality, only limited by your budget.
or infinity reference https://smile.amazon.com/Infinity-R...Performance/dp/B002BZFSYA/ref=dp_ob_title_wld
Both are edge driven (larger cone for class) and "4ohm topology" 2ohm speakers. this means more power to them, without the risk of straining your factory amp or head unit. i've personally tested and run both, and haven't seen any others perform so well on so little power. most aftermarket speakers call for aftermarket power to be driven decently. if you want to go that route instead, these will still do real well, but there's also a hundred different other speakers that can perform well, entry to studio quality, only limited by your budget.
what vehicle are you installing them in, and what location? It really does make a huge difference. The models listed are 2 flavors of harmann international.
Im installing them in an E46 3 series BMW.
Front speakers will be powered by the radio/CD unit because i do not want to rewire the car. Rear speakers i plan on amplifying later on as this is quite easy to do.
What about Focal speakers? I would go focal for the rear speakers but for the front door the woofer is mounter really low in the front door and here jbl components speakers appear to have a better bass response than focals.
Front speakers will be powered by the radio/CD unit because i do not want to rewire the car. Rear speakers i plan on amplifying later on as this is quite easy to do.
What about Focal speakers? I would go focal for the rear speakers but for the front door the woofer is mounter really low in the front door and here jbl components speakers appear to have a better bass response than focals.
it doesn't have the little subs under the seat? if you are only relying on the mods for bass response, and especially if you are not amping the fronts, i would definitely stick with my suggestions. the focals are very nice, crisp and clear, but i would strongly suggest running an active amp, or stand-alone cross-over/processor and amp to clean up the signal coming from the factory head unit, as well as beefing up the power. i gave my jbl's to a guy whom was not a fan of much bass,(he listens to oldies on a factory 07 chevy head unit) and kept the infinities. they have a larger motor and a little more bass. another thing to check first, is the mounting depth. i know those cars have pretty limited space in the doors.
There are no subs as the car is not equipped with the DSP unit.
I mentioned JBL but actually meant Infinity (same company).
I would go with Infiniti Reference 6500CX (same model as you recommended but with separate tweeter) for the front doors as they appear to fit perfectly and with the Focals Performance 165 on the rear. The rear speakers i will amplify and maybe also add small subs.
If you are staging your car backwards(rear amplification instead of front), you will be on a quest for super-efficiency, flat response having front speakers. In the harmann family, this is going to be infinity kappas or perfects. Kappas aren't going to break your wallet, and sound pretty darn sweet. Perfects are arguably the same or better sound quality as the hertz, focal, quart, etc. Not cheap. The front doors in bimmers are pretty well stiff and sealed up, so getting good midbass response isn't difficult.
The rear is a different story. To get that quiet ride, they seal the trunk off solid with lots of layers of "stuff". That's the main reason the premium sound setup has subs under the seats. A quickie sub in the rear will only work in the station wagon. For a quick, easy install, you can stuff the rear holes with a speaker that will biamp, running the woofer off a smallish amp with some sub-bass eq to get a decent amount of extra thump. The highs can come from the head unit or the other half of a 4-channel amp with a built-in crossover. With some level matching and crossover tinkering, this setup carries the best bang for the buck. Not earth-shaking or deafening, though.
The rear is a different story. To get that quiet ride, they seal the trunk off solid with lots of layers of "stuff". That's the main reason the premium sound setup has subs under the seats. A quickie sub in the rear will only work in the station wagon. For a quick, easy install, you can stuff the rear holes with a speaker that will biamp, running the woofer off a smallish amp with some sub-bass eq to get a decent amount of extra thump. The highs can come from the head unit or the other half of a 4-channel amp with a built-in crossover. With some level matching and crossover tinkering, this setup carries the best bang for the buck. Not earth-shaking or deafening, though.
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you aren't missing out on much without the subs. they are impossible to adjust right, either they are too quiet at higher volume, or they are overpowering at lower volume. if i had the factory sub setup, the first thing i would do is switch out the sub amp, lol. back on track: i don't typically push big box brands, but these do stand out in this niche. if i remember correctly, there should be some pretty solid factory boxes under the rear speakers, but last i messed with was a convertable. if you have them, then a free-air 8, or 10 in the rear deck is a pretty good option. i know there isn't much space in the trunk, but i have seen a pair of 10's get crazy for what they were, so that's a point in your favor, knowing you don't need to go that big, unless you really want to, when choosing a sub stage. i would think you would be happy if you find a nice 4x150 or 4x125 4channel amp, and power a sub from 2 channels, and the focals from the other 2.
i love me some perfects...... they are getting so hard to find nowadays, though.. i still have a pair of 10's i finally decided are going in the eldorado. i just can't secide which US made amp i want to pair with them.
The Kappas are 2ohms nominal so they require a stable 2ohm amp which the stock head unit most certainly does not handle ( or does it? Some say in newer cars stock speakers are 2ohms). But other than that i like the fact that they go quite low in bass response. Infinity reference are already a bit low at 3ohms.
Yes, for the rear i will go with A/B class 4 channel amp to power rear speakers in bi-amp mode or maybe speakers + woofers and tweeters powered by the head unit. I'll see how it goes.
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they will squeeze all available power from the factory head unit. Only disadvantage may be volume knob usefulness. At a certain (probably lower) position, all that comes out when the knob is cranked up is distortion. Depends on how stout the head unit is. Some aren't too shabby, most are the weakest link brand new. Very few are anything near audiophile grade.
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You are right. I might just to this the proper way from the beginning and also amp the front speakers.
The head unit i will mod myself to get the best possible sound and remove the built-in amp. Then i should be able to get a clean line-out for the amps.
Im also looking at Eonon GA5150F Android based head unit but there are no information regarding the sound of them. I would really like to know what DAC it uses, although most mobile phones nowadays employ really good quality audio DACs.
The head unit i will mod myself to get the best possible sound and remove the built-in amp. Then i should be able to get a clean line-out for the amps.
Im also looking at Eonon GA5150F Android based head unit but there are no information regarding the sound of them. I would really like to know what DAC it uses, although most mobile phones nowadays employ really good quality audio DACs.
There's a good looking shop in your area. Carsystems, hwy 59 and jiul. They are an alpine and jbl dealer, among others. Stop by, say hi, and have a conversation with some experts before you spend money on equipment that may not fit or sound good to your ears in your car. These local shops are becoming a dying breed since car audio equipment started being made in china.
Your car is a common model that discerning people upgrade often. These guys will have advice that is hard to find. They may or may not carry what you want, but that's ok. As with most audio systems, tastes vary. They may have some demonstration vehicles to audition. Be honest and they will help.
Your car is a common model that discerning people upgrade often. These guys will have advice that is hard to find. They may or may not carry what you want, but that's ok. As with most audio systems, tastes vary. They may have some demonstration vehicles to audition. Be honest and they will help.
in my experience, they have lives up to thier claim of "4ohm topology" put more aptly, the resistance provided by the interaction of the magnet on the voicecoil as it's playing maintains levels more common with 4ohm speakers at moderate and higher volumes. at lower volumes, the resistance may be closer to the 2ohm, but there is no hazard to your factory amp in the lower voltage range. this, i believe is a result, going hand-in-hand with the improved responsiveness by keeping the field of the motor and coil closer. this differs from other 2ohm speakers, as the coil can move further from the magnet field, loosing some of the flux-maintained resistance and feedback. that would allow for momentary current spikes and a higher drain on the rail voltage, which in turn, will introduce more clipping and distortion, further increasing the occurrence of current spikes, and so on. most 4ohm speakers do this as well, but with higher static resistance, therefore less current. so, i wouldn't exactly say it simply "sucks more power" the same as installing a normal "2ohm" speaker. doing a little more research into your m3, the year, and basic vs premium is going to make a huge difference in what you will get out of it, and if you make up your mind to run an amp on all 4 mids, then you will probably be much happier running 4 focals, than a mixed set.
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