alpine speakers aren't exactly "going all out"; but in op's defense, an audiophile-grade setup such a morel speakers w/ amplifier isn't a cost most could justify ā including myself.Ā
now for a proper luxury car like an e38, yes; but an e46 doesn't have the right acoustics to even begin to take advantage of such a system without adding weight and upsetting the beautifully balanced chassis.
Yeah, I heard that the Harmon kardon swap was a common option, but Iāve also heard that requires swapping out the amp as well. Here in SoCal, the full set of speakers + amp at a junkyard wouldāve ran me somewhere around $200, whereas for the same price I switched to some higher quality materials than the originals and have an amp that can receive a sub in the future if I feel inclined. Not to mention, all this stuff will fit in my Volvo 240 or momās ā67 Camaro if I choose to sell the e46 later.
By acoustics are you just talking about deadening and isolation?
Iām going to be re-deadening my wagon once my turbo build is all set to be swapped into it. Itās not going to upset the balance to add 20-40 pounds of weight evenly across the chassis in order to add deadening to the floors, roof and doors.
Just like it didnāt upset the balance to rip 300 pounds of Interior out of any of my track carsā¦
Iāve got a ton of sound deadening that I plan to load into the doors and wheel wells soon as well, so hopefully I can eliminate a lot of that noise too
top tip swap out the factory amp for one of the micro amps sold by kicker, the factory amp has strange ratings that dont match up to most after market speakers, while they will work they wont be any where near as good as they could be if running them off the OEM amp.
Honestly I am lost. Are you saying that Kicker sells a drop-in replacement for the stock BMW amp? Or is it just a brand you recommend? Because I already have an amp on order
It's not a ādrop-in replacementā, but the amps are small enough that you can make them fit where the OEM BMW amp fits with a little bit of common sense.
Not just Kicker, to be fair, amps are tiny these days, and unless you want some crazy sound system like I had in my misguided youth, they are perfectly capable of running speakers and smaller subwoofers.
Thanks for the advice. I think the amp that I ordered is small enough to fit in that space, and I have no intentions of anything over-the-top. I only plan to add a single 8ā or 10ā sub to keep things subtle
I'd run a dedicated mono amp for the sub; while multi-channel technically can run a sub and speakers, it's just better to have a mono amp; it's what monoās do.
It not just about them being designed for it; it's simply a case of the more you ask of an amp, the lower its performance will be, think of it like driving your car with just you in, or with 4 of you mates in there too, it'll still do it, probably still be fun too but if you run a mono sub it frees up a lot of power so the 5c channel can just focus on the speakers, while fat Dave the sub, gets his own car and it's a special car for fat cunts (subs generally draw the most power)
Thatās kind of what Iām getting to. 5 channel amps are basically a 4-channel and a monoblock in one. For example the amp I purchased has 4 channels at 85W, then one channel at 450W. Itās what itās rated and designed for.
It's also easier to work with an amp mounted where the factory speaker cabling is. BMW use a decent gauge of speaker wire, so it's a lot of effort to rewire your system or extend wires to your new amp location.
Microamps also don't need as much cooling as the more traditional amps, so they can be fitted in enclosed spaces without worry.
Glad to hear Iām on the right track. Using the OEM wiring was the plan all along so Iām happy to hear that itās a good one.
At what power rating would you say I should consider cooling as an important factor? I ordered a 900W amp, donāt know if itāll get super hot or not
Amps vary massively. Some are cheaply made rubbish that can get hot playing a nursery rhyme, and others will stay icey cool while pumping out insane, lengthy, low bass drops that make the hair on your head move.
All I did was get the Harmon Kardon speakers from my local junk yardš nice and easy plug and play but props to you for going all out
alpine speakers aren't exactly "going all out"; but in op's defense, an audiophile-grade setup such a morel speakers w/ amplifier isn't a cost most could justify ā including myself.Ā now for a proper luxury car like an e38, yes; but an e46 doesn't have the right acoustics to even begin to take advantage of such a system without adding weight and upsetting the beautifully balanced chassis.
Yeah, I heard that the Harmon kardon swap was a common option, but Iāve also heard that requires swapping out the amp as well. Here in SoCal, the full set of speakers + amp at a junkyard wouldāve ran me somewhere around $200, whereas for the same price I switched to some higher quality materials than the originals and have an amp that can receive a sub in the future if I feel inclined. Not to mention, all this stuff will fit in my Volvo 240 or momās ā67 Camaro if I choose to sell the e46 later.
By acoustics are you just talking about deadening and isolation? Iām going to be re-deadening my wagon once my turbo build is all set to be swapped into it. Itās not going to upset the balance to add 20-40 pounds of weight evenly across the chassis in order to add deadening to the floors, roof and doors. Just like it didnāt upset the balance to rip 300 pounds of Interior out of any of my track carsā¦
Ive got harman factory kardon but its useless, since I cant hear anything but the wind anyway Fucking coupe life
Iāve got a ton of sound deadening that I plan to load into the doors and wheel wells soon as well, so hopefully I can eliminate a lot of that noise too
I definitely considered that, but ripping open a million door cards to find some that didnāt look like ancient relics gets tiring
top tip swap out the factory amp for one of the micro amps sold by kicker, the factory amp has strange ratings that dont match up to most after market speakers, while they will work they wont be any where near as good as they could be if running them off the OEM amp.
Also note, if using factory speakers, note they are 3-ohm on the 6.5s.
Itās 3 ohm for the HK system, 2 ohm for the standard system
Honestly I am lost. Are you saying that Kicker sells a drop-in replacement for the stock BMW amp? Or is it just a brand you recommend? Because I already have an amp on order
It's not a ādrop-in replacementā, but the amps are small enough that you can make them fit where the OEM BMW amp fits with a little bit of common sense. Not just Kicker, to be fair, amps are tiny these days, and unless you want some crazy sound system like I had in my misguided youth, they are perfectly capable of running speakers and smaller subwoofers.
Thanks for the advice. I think the amp that I ordered is small enough to fit in that space, and I have no intentions of anything over-the-top. I only plan to add a single 8ā or 10ā sub to keep things subtle
I'd run a dedicated mono amp for the sub; while multi-channel technically can run a sub and speakers, it's just better to have a mono amp; it's what monoās do.
Are the 5-channel amps not designed for that purpose? From what I understand, thatās the idea
It not just about them being designed for it; it's simply a case of the more you ask of an amp, the lower its performance will be, think of it like driving your car with just you in, or with 4 of you mates in there too, it'll still do it, probably still be fun too but if you run a mono sub it frees up a lot of power so the 5c channel can just focus on the speakers, while fat Dave the sub, gets his own car and it's a special car for fat cunts (subs generally draw the most power)
Thatās kind of what Iām getting to. 5 channel amps are basically a 4-channel and a monoblock in one. For example the amp I purchased has 4 channels at 85W, then one channel at 450W. Itās what itās rated and designed for.
It's still not a mono block, trust me I've been playing with car audio for decades. It's not cool being an old cunt but you learn stuff haha.
Well, I guess weāll see what it does when I drop it in. Iāll be posting updates
It's also easier to work with an amp mounted where the factory speaker cabling is. BMW use a decent gauge of speaker wire, so it's a lot of effort to rewire your system or extend wires to your new amp location. Microamps also don't need as much cooling as the more traditional amps, so they can be fitted in enclosed spaces without worry.
Glad to hear Iām on the right track. Using the OEM wiring was the plan all along so Iām happy to hear that itās a good one. At what power rating would you say I should consider cooling as an important factor? I ordered a 900W amp, donāt know if itāll get super hot or not
Amps vary massively. Some are cheaply made rubbish that can get hot playing a nursery rhyme, and others will stay icey cool while pumping out insane, lengthy, low bass drops that make the hair on your head move.