subwoofer and audio.

[Notae30]

recently i posted a thread on a head unit. turns out i went a little to far. i thought i was going to stay with just a head unit. well then i went to alpine website. and bought a amp 400 watt a/b class with 6.5 rear speakers and 4x6. this isnt really going far. i had 2 kicker 12s wasnt enough bass. i bought 2 skar 15 evl subs sitting in my trunk with 2 rocksford fosgate amps D class 2500 watts. so want to ask about everyone elses audio. i didnt post in the subwoofer thread because it was very old. will post pictures soon.

[Preacher's 5]

I made some upgrades to my audio system. This is my setup.
Kenwood KDC-BT32 Bluetooth CD Receiver 50Wx4; (2 Door Mounted) BMW E90 Audio Tweeters; (2 Front) POLK AUDIO DB461 4" x 6" 2-Way 120W; (2 Rear Deck) Rockville RVL69W 6x9" 300w Competition Subwoofer w/Enclosures; (2 Rear Deck) Polk AUDIO DB522 5.25" 300W 2-Way Speakers w/(2) BMW E60 Audio Tweeters; KOLE KX4 600W 4 Channel Power Amplifier.
A friend of mine tuned the system to my car. The sound is great. The Rockville 6x9 subs give great low end and midrange bass.

[Blue Shadow]

My 5 has
alpine hu
a/d/s/ amps
strengthening cap
a/d/s/ 300i plates
a/d/s/ 320i front separates
Goldsound woofers boxed and firing into the passenger compartment.
Sony XEC-1000 crossover
all new wires
need to install the alpine amp and bridge the a/d/s/ amps for a bit more.

Does just fine for an audiophile sound, not trying to impress the folks on the sidewalk.

[vinceg101]

-Blaupunkt SQR88 Woodstock HU
-(2) a/d/s/ PH15 Amps (Bi-Amped setup, split L/R)
-a/d/s/ AC206 DIN Assignment Module
-a/d/s/ 642ix Processor
-a/d/s/ 300is Rear Speakers
-a/d/s/ 344is Front Low Speakers
-Orion PX concept.2 Front Tweeter Speakers
-Coustic 328 8" BassPump Subwoofer (with 2 MTX speakers, but soon to be replaced with a/d/s AS8 speakers)
-a/d/s/ AC501X Remote Bass Control Knob

[Mdreamer]

You guys are getting me hyped about what's going into my car. I'll check back in once it's done!

[gwb72tii]

the biggest impact you can make is not the size of the subs, its having the sub fire to the inside of the car.

I'm not familiar enough with e28's, but e30's have a knock out panel immediately behind the rear center arm rest, which provides the ideal opening for a sub. When done correctly, as Blue Shadowman can probably attest to, outside the car you don't hear anything dramatic. Inside the car, a properly tuned amp with the sub firing inside the car will knock your socks off for volume and fidelity.

Also, brand name speakers are nice, but will not sound good until and unless you tune your amp. That, along with the sub firing inside, will absolutely blow you away for sound quality, and also volume without distortion.

[vinceg101]

I'm not familiar enough with e28's, but e30's have a knock out panel immediately behind the rear center arm rest...

The E28 does not have one of these, you would have to cut the rear bulkhead out.
E28's could be modified to fit the E30 Ski Sack by this method.

[alemac1]

pretty basic setup for me really.

Alpine 9887r HU
Alpine S65C front components (home built kick pods) hem tweeter pods
2x JBL GTO 12 inch subs in the boot 9@ 2ohm)
1x 5 channel amp running everything.

need to figure out the front end a bit as it does lack some mid range, but i want to completely re make the kick pods.

[Notae30]

pretty basic setup for me really.

Alpine 9887r HU
Alpine S65C front components (home built kick pods) hem tweeter pods
2x JBL GTO 12 inch subs in the boot 9@ 2ohm)
1x 5 channel amp running everything.

need to figure out the front end a bit as it does lack some mid range, but i want to completely re make the kick pods.

get infinty kaapa or ds18. love alpine but lacks in mids
if you want to try something for the front.

[camplo]

get infinty kaapa or ds18. love alpine but lacks in mids
if you want to try something for the front.

I've been looking for 4" mids. I just hate the fact that the ds18 look so corny. Why do they have to color the cone like that? Hopefully a grill will fit over them.

[Notae30]

get infinty kaapa or ds18. love alpine but lacks in mids
if you want to try something for the front.

I've been looking for 4" mids. I just hate the fact that the ds18 look so corny. Why do they have to color the cone like that? Hopefully a grill will fit over them.

yeah im not a fan of the color. looks cheap. looks like some speakers i would buy at walmart. but their qualtity is good. audio is clean.

[alemac1]

pretty basic setup for me really.

Alpine 9887r HU
Alpine S65C front components (home built kick pods) hem tweeter pods
2x JBL GTO 12 inch subs in the boot 9@ 2ohm)
1x 5 channel amp running everything.

need to figure out the front end a bit as it does lack some mid range, but i want to completely re make the kick pods.

get infinty kaapa or ds18. love alpine but lacks in mids
if you want to try something for the front.

i'll look into that, thanks i just put it down to the kick pods i made (very rough and ready as they were my first attempt haha!)

[cyclist]

You can also buy a plate to convert the front 4x6 to 4" components. I am getting ready to install a set of focal es100k's into the front of my car using a plate adapter

[camplo]

So I tried out the DS18 mids and did not find them any better than what I already had. They sounded clean but didnt have much umph to them. I currently have these from parts-express. It fills in the mid/lows much better than the DS18.

I kind of have a mismatch of parts. The head unit is a Alpine CDE-143Bt. Up front I have pioneer 7/8 tweeters, the dyaton 4" mid, both crossed with mb quart FSA216 crossover. In the rear I have the premium speaker holders with alpine SPE-5000 (two way 5-1/4). All together it sounds ok I guess. But its really missing low end. When I do turn it up loud, it distorts all over. I have a sub, but I am a bit too lazy to run the wiring for the amp. I also dont know much about car systems to know what I should replace to improve the sound quality.

[Notae30]

So I tried out the DS18 mids and did not find them any better than what I already had. They sounded clean but didnt have much umph to them. I currently have these from parts-express. It fills in the mid/lows much better than the DS18.

I kind of have a mismatch of parts. The head unit is a Alpine CDE-143Bt. Up front I have pioneer 7/8 tweeters, the dyaton 4" mid, both crossed with mb quart FSA216 crossover. In the rear I have the premium speaker holders with alpine SPE-5000 (two way 5-1/4). All together it sounds ok I guess. But its really missing low end. When I do turn it up loud, it distorts all over. I have a sub, but I am a bit too lazy to run the wiring for the amp. I also dont know much about car systems to know what I should replace to improve the sound quality.

do you have an amp for the ds18s? what rms are they? if you have them connected straight to the headunit it could not match the power needed for the speakers. so its causing clipping or distorision. for higher end speakers you need a ab class amp. for subs a d class.

[camplo]

do you have an amp for the ds18s? what rms are they? if you have them connected straight to the headunit it could not match the power needed for the speakers. so its causing clipping or distorision. for higher end speakers you need a ab class amp. for subs a d class.

Ah, that you for pointing that out. Looks like the headunit is only 18w per channel. The DS18 are 100w and I am guessing all my other speakers are being underpowered as well. I will look into getting an amp. Not looking forward to running all the wires

[Notae30]

do you have an amp for the ds18s? what rms are they? if you have them connected straight to the headunit it could not match the power needed for the speakers. so its causing clipping or distorision. for higher end speakers you need a ab class amp. for subs a d class.

Ah, that you for pointing that out. Looks like the headunit is only 18w per channel. The DS18 are 100w and I am guessing all my other speakers are being underpowered as well. I will look into getting an amp. Not looking forward to running all the wires

i ran mine through the firewall under the carpet 3 amps in the backseat. ds18 has nice ab class amps. and it wont be to bad running the wire took me about 45 mins. their is already a ground under the backseats. so its just a remote wire power wire and rcas. under the carpet along the doors is a good place. nobody has noticed them.

https://www.skaraudio.com/products/rp-7 ... rUQAvD_BwE. a budget one skar is nice ran them for awhile. people will fight on weather skar is good or not.

https://www.amazon.com/Taramps-TS400X4- ... 9131256072. Taramps makes amazing amps.

once you get an amp you will love the sound quality of the ds18s. and your other speakers.

[Blue Shadow]

Dang lucky to be able to get class D. My amps were multiple times that price for the same power in 1988 or so. Adjusting for inflation that's like a million dollars today and you got an amp for a c-note.

But my wires to the trunk are under the carpet.

[camplo]

i ran mine through the firewall under the carpet 3 amps in the backseat. ds18 has nice ab class amps. and it wont be to bad running the wire took me about 45 mins. their is already a ground under the backseats. so its just a remote wire power wire and rcas. under the carpet along the doors is a good place. nobody has noticed them.

https://www.skaraudio.com/products/rp-7 ... rUQAvD_BwE. a budget one skar is nice ran them for awhile. people will fight on weather skar is good or not.

https://www.amazon.com/Taramps-TS400X4- ... 9131256072. Taramps makes amazing amps.

once you get an amp you will love the sound quality of the ds18s. and your other speakers.

Thanks again for all the info and recommendations. The only reason I havent run the wires yet were because its a pain in the ass. The previous owner had the interior changed from beige/cream to black carpet, but the place he got it done at just placed the black carpet on top of the old one. So when I ran the wires for the speakers and crossovers it was such a pain in the ass. If I do run a wire for the amp and rca from the hu it would be a project. I would probably take the seats out and rip out the old carpet where I can just to make room.

Where in the firewall did you run the power wire? I havent looked in the area since its mostly blocked by the brake bomb and master cylinder.

[vinceg101]

Where in the firewall did you run the power wire? I havent looked in the area since its mostly blocked by the brake bomb and master cylinder.

It's more accessible from the interior cabin:
There is a major pass-thru rubber grommet just above the clutch pedal. This is the clearest photo I have:


From there you can run down the driver's side floor against the lower rocker to the rear seat well.
From there you can get into the trunk on either side through one of the wire harness access holes in the rear bulkhead.

In the engine bay this puts you just under the whole brake bomb & hydraulic complex; from there you can run along the frame rail to the battery.

[Blue Shadow]

I've got a red snake like that in a box somewhere. I need to install it to replace the measly 10Ga or two wires I have running from the battery I have in there now. I don't know if I can just solder the old to the new and pull it through the car in sections to get that job done. That would be nice.

[Notae30]

i ran mine through the firewall under the carpet 3 amps in the backseat. ds18 has nice ab class amps. and it wont be to bad running the wire took me about 45 mins. their is already a ground under the backseats. so its just a remote wire power wire and rcas. under the carpet along the doors is a good place. nobody has noticed them.

https://www.skaraudio.com/products/rp-7 ... rUQAvD_BwE. a budget one skar is nice ran them for awhile. people will fight on weather skar is good or not.

https://www.amazon.com/Taramps-TS400X4- ... 9131256072. Taramps makes amazing amps.

once you get an amp you will love the sound quality of the ds18s. and your other speakers.

Thanks again for all the info and recommendations. The only reason I havent run the wires yet were because its a pain in the ass. The previous owner had the interior changed from beige/cream to black carpet, but the place he got it done at just placed the black carpet on top of the old one. So when I ran the wires for the speakers and crossovers it was such a pain in the ass. If I do run a wire for the amp and rca from the hu it would be a project. I would probably take the seats out and rip out the old carpet where I can just to make room.

Where in the firewall did you run the power wire? I havent looked in the area since its mostly blocked by the brake bomb and master cylinder.

straight through to the glovebox ran it through behind to the carpet. ill send some pictures but you cant even see it. spent so many hours cleaning it because i bave ocd

[Notae30]

completely redoing my sound system. as my alternator got cooked. i will be going with a 140 amp for the main battery. and a 320 amp alternator for the sound system and audio battery. dont know how mounting will go with the new one and a custom belt. but i will be running sundown x15v3 (2) i dont want to make a cutout but it might have to happen. ds18 4x6 and ds18 6.5. will be running 2 fosgate 2500s and a down4sound abclass for mids and highs. should have enough power. i will be doing a whole project with pictures and more.

[Notae30]

completely redoing my sound system. as my alternator got cooked. i will be going with a 140 amp for the main battery. and a 320 amp alternator for the sound system and audio battery. dont know how mounting will go with the new one and a custom belt. but i will be running sundown x15v3 (2) i dont want to make a cutout but it might have to happen. ds18 4x6 and ds18 6.5. will be running 2 fosgate 2500s and a down4sound abclass for mids and highs. should have enough power. i will be doing a whole project with pictures and more.

been rethinking this i think ill end up having 4/6 12s and have a port straight out the center back seat something like this

https://imgur.com/a/9prVh2u quick sketch