What Do I Need For Better Sound

[Grail05]

ok i purchased the car with regular sound system. now im getting tired and bored of the sound i want something better than bmw but a cheaper mod...

what do i need to do or need to buy without breaking the bank.

I am thinking of swapping the speakers and sub but my question is do i need to add a amp or stock is fine.

[DavidZ]

Wouldn't you think this topic has been covered ad nauseam by now? I found all I needed to know by searching before I even made my first post.

[Grail05]

Originally Posted by DavidZ

Wouldn't you think this topic has been covered ad nauseam by now? I found all I needed to know by searching before I even made my first post.

TRIED i have looked but looking for a straight answer than googling for hours and can only find one thing that is related to the topic without stupid comments from others or being sarcastic. been here long enough understanding how the process works and how search works hoping someone can chime in really quick.

but thanks not sure if you notice i made sure and put speakers that wont break the bank but better than the premium sound that bmw offers

basically what im looking for is

what brand of speakers i need to make it better

front left right
rear left right
sub.
amp

[kmarei]

Originally Posted by Sean05

ok i purchased the car with regular sound system. now im getting tired and bored of the sound i want something better than bmw but a cheaper mod...

what do i need to do or need to buy without breaking the bank.

I am thinking of swapping the speakers and sub but my question is do i need to add a amp or stock is fine.

anything less than about $1K won't make a big difference
you can do it in stages if you want
get the BSW speakers as stage 1
that's 2 front mids + 2 tweeters
and 2 rear mids + 2 tweeters
cost $475
the BSW speakers will work fine with the OEM amp, they won't sound amazing, but def better than stock

next step you can buy the Technic harness ($75 i think) and add a JL Audio XD-600/6 amp ($350 on ebay)
that will make a huge difference in sound quality

step 3 is to change the underseat subs to the SWS-8
that's less than $240

if i had to rank the components in the HIFI system
the worst thing are the tweeters, both front and back, they SUCK
then the amp
then the mids, subs


if you already own a small amp, you can buy the harness now and change the OEM subs to the earthquake SWS-8 for now and see how it sounds

i've been upgrading my sound system since day 1 (oct 2008)
and only now does it sound the way i wanted it to
i tired logic 7 speakers (not bad if you can find them used)
i tried about 4 or 5 amps
and the SWS-8 i tried and loved, kept those
i also added the MS-8, which is great
but the biggest bang for the buck is changing the tweeters
and adding an amp

[Grail05]

Originally Posted by kmarei

anything less than about $1K won't make a big difference
you can do it in stages if you want
get the BSW speakers as stage 1
that's 2 front mids + 2 tweeters
and 2 rear mids + 2 tweeters
cost $475
the BSW speakers will work fine with the OEM amp, they won't sound amazing, but def better than stock

next step you can buy the Technic harness ($75 i think) and add a JL Audio XD-600/6 amp ($350 on ebay)
that will make a huge difference in sound quality

step 3 is to change the underseat subs to the SWS-8
that's less than $240

if i had to rank the components in the HIFI system
the worst thing are the tweeters, both front and back, they SUCK
then the amp
then the mids, subs


if you already own a small amp, you can buy the harness now and change the OEM subs to the earthquake SWS-8 for now and see how it sounds

i've been upgrading my sound system since day 1 (oct 2008)
and only now does it sound the way i wanted it to
i tired logic 7 speakers (not bad if you can find them used)
i tried about 4 or 5 amps
and the SWS-8 i tried and loved, kept those
i also added the MS-8, which is great
but the biggest bang for the buck is changing the tweeters
and adding an amp

oh damn you sure did your homework... ok i guess i might have to pass on this mod. but yea ill still look into getting the one you recommended. i guess can still live with oem.

[signes]

Thanks kmarei for the recs. I haven't seen such a concise set of recs for the base audio system.

[STORM3]

Originally Posted by Sean05

oh damn you sure did your homework... ok i guess i might have to pass on this mod. but yea ill still look into getting the one you recommended. i guess can still live with oem.

If I wasn't on a budget, what are the best audio components I could replace the factory audio system with.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by STORM3

If I wasn't on a budget, what are the best audio components I could replace the factory audio system with.

- Morel Hybrid Ovation II (front)
- Morel Integra Ovation (rear and center)
- Morel ADMW9 underseat woofers
- E92 custom trunk sub enclosure with JL Audio 10W6v2
- JBL MS-8
- JL Audio HD900/5 and HD600/4
- HiFi harness
- Custom E92 front HOII spacers
- Custom ADMW9 spacers

That will do.

[JerryK73]

Originally Posted by Technic

- Morel Hybrid Ovation II (front)
- Morel Integra Ovation (rear and center)
- Morel ADMW9 underseat woofers
- E92 custom trunk sub enclosure with JL Audio 10W6v2
- JBL MS-8
- JL Audio HD900/5 and HD600/4
- HiFi harness
- Custom E92 front HOII spacers
- Custom ADMW9 spacers

That will do.

He has an E92 Technic. The Morel's aren't an easy fit in the front doors (though you have done it yourself). According to VP the better options are Rainbow's, Jehnert's, or Focal's in the door and from what I have read possibly the Dynaudio's (if you really want to go "sky's the limit").

Oh wait I just noticed he is in Florida so he could go to you for the install.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by JerryK73

He has an E92 Technic. The Morel's aren't an easy fit in the front doors (though you have done it yourself). According to VP the better options are Rainbow's, Jehnert's, or Focal's in the door and from what I have read possibly the Dynaudio's (if you really want to go "sky's the limit").

Oh wait I just noticed he is in Florida so he could go to you for the install.

The "Custom E92 front HOII spacers" will take care of the front Morel.

[JerryK73]

Oh I wasn't aware of that. Was this something recent? Ken and I were discussing that issue 2 weeks ago and he was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit the Morel's in my car in the same manner that you had done. Do you still need to modify the stock speaker cover in order to gain the extra space necessary for the window to not interfere or did you use a staggered adapter similar to what 6Speed had done (at least I think it was Dan who did that)?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by JerryK73

Oh I wasn't aware of that. Was this something recent? Ken and I were discussing that issue 2 weeks ago and he was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit the Morel's in my car in the same manner that you had done. Do you still need to modify the stock speaker cover in order to gain the extra space necessary for the window to not interfere or did you use a staggered adapter similar to what 6Speed had done (at least I think it was Dan who did that)?

The OEM grills will have to be modified...

[JerryK73]

Ahhh ok. Not something us plebeians would be able to easily accomplish
I will say you just keep making that 12 hour drive more and more tempting

[LarryV1000]

Technic, I just purchaced a 2011 335IS with the base system. I see you are located in Fort Lauderdale, do you have a shop? If so where are you located?I would be interested in seeing what we can do to upgrade system. I am rarely on site so please email me at :Larryv@aol.com. Thanks
Larryv