1: What is your audio setup?
2: Did you use stock mounting positions
3: How would you improve it
4: If you had a choice to do it over, would you pick different brand, kit, sizes etc.
"The most important thing is balance." - KT
I'll be interested in this since I am thinking of upgrading my system. Right now I just have a Sony Xplod head unit with aux jack to plug my ipod with four 4x6 speakers in stock locations (2 Sony in back and 2 Polk in front). It sounds fine if you're parked with the engine off.
I got jvc 5 1/2's in the rear with 80 watt rms they pump, a jvc mp3/wma deck and i'm getting a 6x4 eclipse for the fronts, door mounts look like ass in e21's i know, i've tried it twice.
Crappy 5 year old pioneer deck w/ no functioning CD player or aux input (free). 2 Pioneer 4x6's in the front (also free). 2 Pioneer 4x6's in the rear, but for some reason they're not connected.
It's pretty awful.
Once I get the car running right I'll focus on getting a better setup.
Last edited by M3Cosmos; 03-19-2009 at 10:29 AM.
1997 M3 | 1980 320i | 2007 328it
Stock tape player, stock 4x6s up front, some crappy 5-1/2 Jensens in the rear deck. Needless to say I have usually listen to the sound of the car...
It pisses me off because the 5-1/2s are much louder then the 4x6s so most of my sound comes from behind me which is horrible. I almost want to disconnect the rears...
If I had the cash, build of the door pockets for some decend midbass components amped with about 100rms to each side. Put some 4x6s in the rear deck for some rear fill, probablly off HU power. Then a sealed 10'' Fi Q subwoofer in the trunk getting about 1200rms from a Sundown amp A HO alt with all 0/1awg
i went a little overboard in this department but here ya go
front speakers:
hifonics 6 1/2 components with tweeters in e30 mounting positions and woffers cut into door panels. crossover boxes under driver seat
rear speakers:
axton components imported from germany. 1 2" neodymium tweeter and 2 20cm midranger woofers per side. all cut into the back speaker shelf. had to remove trunk opens her get the to fit. trunk now doesnt stay open and it weighs a friggen ton.
head unit:
alpine cda-9885 modified with red insert in screen so everything is nice and red at night
Sub:
alpine 10' r-type in sealed box, cuz i like very responsive bass
amps and whatnots:
alpine mrp-f450 4 channel amp running front and rears
alpine pdx 1.600 mono for sub
and a 1.5 farad capacitor (really made a difference)
what id do differently is probably mount the speakers to a soild surface. they do sound great now but just imagine how theyd sound if properly mounted
I will just take a picture.
It started like this:
While I was doing bodywork, I opened up the rear deck to accept 6x9's:
Modified my rear strut brace to hold my sub box in place:
Modified the sub box to both maximize air volume and to fit as far back in the trunk as possible:
Found a nice place to install my amp:
Ends up being pretty discrete:
Built some spacers to raise the 6x9's up so that I can keep the trunk springs in place and then installed said 6x9's:
Installed some custom fuse blocks for in dash audio equipment since the head unit alone draws more power than the OEM circuit was designed for, allow for the HD radio & SAT radio add on modules, and will also allow for future expansion of a 12V power socket to run a laptop. (this was a good idea, but I still need to re-work some of it):
I still need to do some work to relocate the forward sunroof drain tubes as the OEM location conflicts with the large magnets on the back side of my Polk 4x6 plates, so as of right now, they are still not installed. I also still need to do some work to re-install the amp signal wires and the positive battery cable, as they are all running down the passenger side rocker and are not shielded well enough, so I am getting some ignition feedback.
Unfortunately I don't have any good pics of it, but I have my Alpine head unit installed in a non-AC console.
Last edited by Jester323; 03-19-2009 at 12:22 PM.
I want to start off by saying this is what I would be running if I DDed my e21...or drove it on the street, period.
10 year old Pioneer DEH-10, running Pioneer 4x6s in the front and 5x7s in the rear tray, plus a dual-channel Pioneer 760w amp powering a Pioneer sub (homemade box).
If I made the e21 my DD for a long time, I'd ditch most of the Pioneer kit for Boston Acoustics stuff, front and rear, with a shallow-mount BA sub to save trunk room.
I would redo the center console to make a horizontal mount an also install cup holders.
Jake
e28 premium(lol not premium at all) component speakers fronts w/ side mirror tweeters & rears componets w/ grills and a 5yrold brushed aluminum jvc head. (decent for now, if you don't like bass????) I'm going to throw my audiobahn 10" w/ jbl amp in when i relocate my battery. (know i'm thinkging of it, i'd rather just use one of the 10's.
While we're on the subject, what is a good deck to have where you can see the display with the deck mounted vertically? I can't read the display on my old Pioneer unless I put my face directly over it (not safe while driving).
In addition, do CD decks normally fit (depth-wise) vertically? Mine seems to hit the bottom and therefore is about 1 inch raised from the panel.
1997 M3 | 1980 320i | 2007 328it
M20
Head Unit:
Sony with full ipod control, red backlit, you hit the browse button and volume knob works just like the click wheel to scroll through ipod menus - love it! - $130
-Ipod jack in the small pocket in the glove box, ipod fits like a glove, pocket lined with 1/2" foam
Front Speakers:
Blaupunkt 4x6's with base blockers and foam surrounds - fit under factory speaker grills with no modification, on sale for $20
-e28 door tweeter pods glued on top of stock door triangles, hugely enhances front imaging- will post pics of the mod tonight.
Rear Speakers:
Kenwood 6x9's cut the rear deck while the glass was out. Did NOT have to space speakers up or cut trunk springs
Sub:
Kicker Comp 12", sealed box to keep it tight.
Amp:
Rockford Fosgate P3000 300W - bridged to power single sub
-stock speaker knob to turn the RF amp gain via a vacuum line... works like a charm:
Things I would do differently:
Rear speakers need bolted to the rear deck, currently mounted with the stock speaker nuts to the cardboard parcel shelf, lose response that way
Base blockers operate at double the hertz level I need since I'm running the door tweeters in parallel and ohms are cut in half, so they are cutting too much midrange out of the front
Things that need upgraded:
Need a capacitor
Need a 5 channel amp so I can power all 4 speakers plus the sub in one shot. I hate how big and heavy 4 channel amps are and I'm not going to mount 2 amps in the car.
Amp is velcro'd to trunk carpet, needs bolted down
Sub is strapped to rear strut brace with tie strap, need to mod strut brace to mount box permently
love that stock speaker knob mod, sOo dirty...great job!!
That knob is clever!. freakin sweet! I will definitely be using that idea in the future. thanks for sharing!
After busting the body of the switch off all that's left is the shaft. Visible in the second pic is the plate on the back of the shaft that contacts a stop. I had to file teh cam plate down to get full rotation of the rockford fosgate knob.
Last edited by jrcook320; 03-19-2009 at 03:52 PM.
None
-apline 4x6 up front, stock position
-alpine 6.5", cut hole in rear mantle
-had dual 12" pioneer subs, running through rockford fosgate p600 amp, and a stinger 1 farad power cap. just sold them yesterday
-currently have two 10" lightning audio subs running through a bolt amp.
-low end new pioneer mp3 deck
all n' all it sounds great, but our cars aren't very.. acoustically set up. so until you go with all quality stuff, it will just be an ok improvement.
what i wish i did: use dynomat sound proofing aroud the inside of speaker cut outs.
suggestions: when you cut a hole for the rear speakers, put it in a position where from the underside you can put a box around it. ie: you put the speaker on the rear mantle, and put a mini-enclosure from underneath
STOP PM'ING ME ABOUT MY WHEELS
-Crager D-window , 17x8 et0 (then add 12mm spacers up front and 15mm spacers in the rear). falken ziex 912 205/40/17
The tweeter pods:
nice josh looks good, i should do that, i have mine installed w/ that gap at the bottom showing. LOL On the passengers side on mine you can see some of the sticky tack i used to hold them in. They hold good but that gap at the bottom of mine is an eye sore.
Alpine cd/mp3 player jl audio components 6 inch rear 4x6 front jl 1000/1 amp powering 3 jl 10w7s. Optima yellow top and 95 amp e30 alternator to power it all
Alpine cd/mp3 player jl audio components 6 inch rear 4x6 front jl 1000/1 amp powering 3 jl 10w7s. Optima yellow top and 95 amp e30 alternator to power it all
Last edited by shadyduk1979; 03-19-2009 at 09:39 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
The first freedom is not speech, or guns or religion. It's choice.Originally Posted by jrhaileYou know, it's time like this that brings a tear to my eye about this community: We all tuned in to support a fellow BMW driver elude the po-po. In the end, there is only one winner here: bimmerfourms.com and its members. I hope one day when I'm doing 150mph down the freeway that you will all support me, as did this fellow enthusiast. Drive on bimmerheads, drive on
320I building enough boost to run air tools..on CIS, waiting for my rear diff to
I have 2 pioneer 4x6 speakers in the front and 2 4x6 pioneers and 2 6x9 jvc speakers in the back and a mtx 12" sub and ported box with a sony deck i am just waiting to get a mtx amp and a 1.5 farad capacitor
i've got a panasonic deck that has ipod, sub controll, and adjustable crossovers for the speakers. i mounted it where the ash tray goes so i could actually see it. Blaupunkt speakers up front, nothing in back yet. and a diamond d3 powered by a kenwood amp.
1: What is your audio setup?
Blaupunkt head unit (stock location), JL Audio Cross Over/EQ (under glove box), Alpine 5 ch Amp (trunk), Blaupunkt 4x6 Front (stock location), Blaupunkt 6x9 Rear (semi-stock location), JL 8" Sub (trunk).
2: Did you use stock mounting positions?
Yes on most items. I moved the rear 6x9's in closer to the center for better clearance. I covered the rear deck in black speaker cloth (looks like carpet, but not as thick). The rear speakers are mount below the deck, so it looks like there are no speakers in the back for a stealth look.
3: How would you improve it?
Use a little sound dampening material (like dynamat) in key areas like the door panels. I plan on running a set of pillar mounted tweeters like Josh's set up. The sound from the front gets lost and sounds muddy. Also the tight space limits what you can install there. The sound just never seemed balanced to me.
4: If you had a choice to do it over, would you pick different brand, kit, sizes etc.?
Yes - In process. The sound is good enough since I do not listen to alot of music in the e21. That being said, my next build my not make sense given the cost of the equipment vs the market value of my e21.
I am planning on running a full McIntosh system. I have selected this brand mainly because of the build quality and classic "old school" looks. The only remaining item on the list are the component speaker system that consist of dome tweeters, 6.5" woofer midrange drivers, and cross over networks.
Does this make sense? Well not really, but it is mainly driven by my other obsession - electronics. Plus I have owned my e21 for 28 years and like some folks I stopped counting the $$$ I have spent on this car many years ago.
Here is what I have so far;
The 6 ch amp is overkill, so I might swap for a 4 ch and delete the sub?
I will be modify the center console to accept the head unit and amp meters.
The last item on the list are these speakers. They will go with the McIntosh Sub I recently acquired. It came OEM on the 2005+ Ford GT40's.
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