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Thread: Your Audio setup:

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Canberra, ACT, Straya
    Posts
    2,682
    My Cars
    82' E21 318i, 92 MB-180E

    Your Audio setup:

    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

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    1,150
    My Cars
    1982 E21;'06 E90;'14 F30
    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.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Perth Western Australia
    Posts
    1,244
    My Cars
    81 318i..eurotrashed
    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.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Columbia, SC
    Posts
    1,053
    My Cars
    97 M3, 80 320i, 07 328it
    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

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Houghton, MI
    Posts
    530
    My Cars
    '80 320is, '88 325ix
    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


  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Mountain view, CA
    Posts
    2,778
    My Cars
    83 320i (M20 Powa)
    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

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    583
    My Cars
    1983 320i
    I will just take a picture.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Tigard, OR
    Posts
    3,032
    My Cars
    '81 323i, '87 325
    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.
    e21: 1981 2.5L sleeper
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    click here for the latest updates

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Claudville, VA
    Posts
    3,464
    My Cars
    '96 Ranger, '83 RX7 GSL
    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

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Toronto & Kingston , ON
    Posts
    1,430
    My Cars
    e9 / e21 / e36
    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.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Columbia, SC
    Posts
    1,053
    My Cars
    97 M3, 80 320i, 07 328it
    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

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Vancouver, Washington
    Posts
    714
    My Cars
    80 323i in pieces :-)
    M20

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    6,763
    My Cars
    E21 320i, e39 540i/6
    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

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    Toronto & Kingston , ON
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    e9 / e21 / e36
    love that stock speaker knob mod, sOo dirty...great job!!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Pioneer, CA
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    1,865
    My Cars
    73' tii 79 320i 73'2002
    That knob is clever!. freakin sweet! I will definitely be using that idea in the future. thanks for sharing!

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    6,763
    My Cars
    E21 320i, e39 540i/6
    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.

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Orange County, So CA
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    Turbo E21,12 WRX,03 S2K
    None

    E21 LEGION


    Crypto success: http://brief.watchersfrontline.com/SHV

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Vancouver, British Columbia
    Posts
    958
    My Cars
    1982 BMW 320i Century Turbo
    -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

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    6,763
    My Cars
    E21 320i, e39 540i/6
    The tweeter pods:








    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Toronto & Kingston , ON
    Posts
    1,430
    My Cars
    e9 / e21 / e36
    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.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Natick, Ma
    Posts
    1,325
    My Cars
    79 elky, 320 Turbo
    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
    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
    The first freedom is not speech, or guns or religion. It's choice.
    320I building enough boost to run air tools..on CIS, waiting for my rear diff to

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Montreal, QC
    Posts
    56
    My Cars
    1979 320i
    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

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Kennebunkport, ME/PCB, FL
    Posts
    479
    My Cars
    '77 320i
    I have Alpine MP3/CD head unit
    4x6 Pioneer's up front
    6'' Pioneer's in the rear
    Eventually I want to install one of these infinity sub/amps
    Like the idea of having all in one!


  24. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    kalispell, MT
    Posts
    155
    My Cars
    1995 540i 1991 850i
    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.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Fresno, CA
    Posts
    352
    My Cars
    79 e21, SL500, Titan
    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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