E46 Stereo Upgrade

[chris98891]

Ok, ive gotten my ipod installed, my radar detector hardwired, and now im gonna focus on the stereo. right now i have the standard 10 speaker system that doesnt have a sub and an amp a little bigger than the old 60 gb ipods. ive done most of my stereo shopping through www.bavsound.com , as they have a plug and play system from rainbow that is supposedly pretty clear.
they said it does lack kick, so i was going to go for the subwoofer system they offer, until i added prices. the speaker replacement system (http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/pr...I=481/_cid=174) is 578 dollars, which is a steal by far. but the subwoofer system (http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/products.php/CA=196) , which includes a speaker/s, amp, and box, ranges in price.
----1 10 inch for $698,with a BSW a300.2 Class A/B Amplifier
(300W @ 4 Ohms).
-----theres a single 12" with the same amp for $738.
-----theres a dual 10" system which attaches to the roof of the trunk, a feature i love, that comes with the mentioned amp or an upgrade to a 600 watt for $60, making it $848 or $908. does anybody know anything about e46 stereos? or any knowledge in general would be helpful. im not looking for pure loudness, just quality, and my only budget is as cheap as i can get. thanks for any help or reviews/comments!

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

It's a shame you couldn't find an E46 with the standard Harmon-Kardon system, but my advice is to keep looking round. However, don't skimp on price. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

10" subs are for pussies. You want either 1x12, 2x12 or 1x15. You'll get an amazing bass sound if you have either of those three (trust me, I've been in the stereo wars in the college car park!).

I'd go for that $578 system. It seems to have been designed for a BMW, with the criticism apparently addressed. If they have outlets nearby, have a look and see how good they are.

If I were you, out of those three subs & amps, I'd take the 1x12 with the 300w amp. It'll be a nice compromise, relating to price and quality.

[chris98891]

thanks for the help, yea im definitely going with that speaker system, but do you think it might be worth it to hit around to other higher name subs for dual 12"s and a separate 6 channel amp? the crap we have at circuit city isnt worth anything.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

That sounds like an awesome idea. There's a guy at college with twin 12" subs, and it makes the floor shake- as in Tarmac! A seperate amp would be amazing...

[crisis]

As you stated you are interested in sound quality over loudness. Multiple bass drivers need to be placed together as close as possible to avoid phase cancellations. One good one with a suitable amp is really all you need to achieve a good sound. If you are into playing drum and bass music to the neighbourhood phase and frequency response issues are irrelevant so get as big as amps as you can and as large subs!
Keep in mind that a 30 Hz signal which is a fairly deep bass sound needs 11 metres to complete a cycle. So you will never actually hear that frequency in your car no matter how many or how large your subs are. This is why the neighbourhood are the only ones who really benefit from your $$$$$$$.

I have this fairly simple and inexpensive set up which plays music nicely and loud enough to cause hearing damage when required. You also don’t need to throw $$$$ unnecessarily at equipment. A bit of research will uncover bargains although avoid the bargain basement stuff. Also use good quality cabling but again there is no need to buy name brands in this area. Electronics shops carry everything you need without the mark up that Car audio Dealers seem to include for stickers and pretty packaging.


http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-wavelength.htm

[chris98891]

crisis, how do you like your jl audio subs? ive been shopping around for a higher quality sub, ive heard mtx is just like the kia of subwoofers. does anybody else have a setup that they would recommend? thanks for all the help guys

[crisis]

crisis, how do you like your jl audio subs? ive been shopping around for a higher quality sub, ive heard mtx is just like the kia of subwoofers. does anybody else have a setup that they would recommend? thanks for all the help guys

I have had it for a few years now but it hasn’t missed a beat. It is only one of their basic models. You need to make sure you build the enclosure to the specs of the speaker to have it work at its optimum. I don’t know much about the MTX speakers but I have seen them fairly cheap. A lot of this stuff is manufactured in China these days which while not a bad thing means you need to listen to them or seek advice form others who have them. Quality can vary. It is also a fact that many brands may have their drivers manufactured by a second party so a Song Sub may be built in china by the same company manufacturing other brands or generic types.

[chris98891]

awesome..just surfing more companys and forums, a guy has the dual 10"s with the trunk attachment for 400 dollars barely used on e46fanatics. does anybody know about the quality of these speakers? "BSW by Alumapro 10" Alusonic EX Aluminum Cone Subwoofers"

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

It truly depends on what sort of bass sound you want. Do you want a tight, punchy sound, or a deeper, woolier, bassier sound? What sort of music do you listen to?

If you want tighter, go for 10s. They have a much shorter attack and release, compared to, say, a 12 or 15 inch. 15 inch subs are for true hardcore bass fans, or just to annoy snakes. 12s are a nice balance between the two, and sound utterly wonderful when there's two of them.

So, the decision is if you want the sound to punch you in the head, or rattle your intestines

[crisis]

awesome..just surfing more companys and forums, a guy has the dual 10"s with the trunk attachment for 400 dollars barely used on e46fanatics. does anybody know about the quality of these speakers? "BSW by Alumapro 10" Alusonic EX Aluminum Cone Subwoofers"

I have not heard of them. Google the name and there are some comments and some info.

[chris98891]

i listen to a variety of music, mostly jack johnson kinda chill stuff, alot of rock like incubus and foo fighters and then a tiny bit of rap like atmosphere and babbletron.
i definitely dont think that i want either extreme as far as size, and youre right, i think 2 12's would definitely be a great solution.

crisis: I went to car reviews.com and the whole alumapro line has nothing but positive comments, saying it hit hard with extremely accurate bass with excelent low end.

thanks for all of your help guys

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

You've got exactly the same taste as me then! I love Incubus, I've got all their albums and I'm going to see them in April... saw the Foo Fighters last year at Hyde Park, too. Queens of the Stone Age supported- wow!

If you can find a decent 2x12 setup, it'll be perfect- especially for Incubus' stuff. The basslines need to be heard (Summer Romance, Are You In?, Dig). Good luck, Chris! Keep us posted.

[chris98891]

haha thats awesome, what do you think of light grenades? i love it. and i'll definitely keep you posted, i found out i can get all kinds of kicker and polk subs for 400-500 dollars off through accommodation purchases at work

[werty]

you definetely need to check out www.crutchfield.com if you want a serious stereo in your car

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

haha thats awesome, what do you think of light grenades? i love it. and i'll definitely keep you posted, i found out i can get all kinds of kicker and polk subs for 400-500 dollars off through accommodation purchases at work

I'm in two minds over Light Grenades- like everyone, I love Dig and Anna Molly, but I hate both the Earth To Bella's and the title track itself. Love Quicksand & A Kiss To Send Us Off. Oil And Water is brilliant. Diamonds And Coal is also very good indeed. However, I don't think they'll ever top Morning View, which is one of my favourite albums of all time!

They also just postponed their April 13th gig in the UK... not a happy bunny!

And if you can do it through work, make sure you do. If you do that here, you can get it 'off the books' (depending who you work for), which immediately takes off 17.5% of the sale price.