I apologize in advance if this gets a bit long… but I want to be as specific as possible so I can try to find a potential solution to this conundrum. I have posted it elsewhere on the net (not @ the 12volt, but elsewhere) and could use whatever expertise you guys could offer…
As I was shopping for a new vehicle, I was already planning my next cost-effective high SQ system. My previous system included two Alpine amps (MrpF300 &m650), a Pioneer deck (premier 720 was it?), focal access speakers up from, CDT midbass drivers in the rear, and a single 12” Alpine type R in a custom sealed enclosure. Sounded great, but there was room for improvement.
So for this time around, I was planning on buying a new deck that meets all my specs and matches the new interior (surprisingly enough, I may end up with one of the new ’10 Sony xplod units), keeping my old amps, and pairing them with a new sub/speaker combo. The plan was: Focal Poly components in the front doors, the amp running bridged 150x2 into them and a JL w3v3 12” in a sealed enclosure. I really felt like the 165v2’s from woofersetc were the best deal, and that I could keep them for a while (put them in my next vehicle too…
But here is the catch:
The BMW came with a harmon kardon sound system. It includes 5.25’s in the front doors as well as weak little door tweeters and a pathetic 3” midrange by the armrest, not to mention another 3” midrange in the rear doors and 6x9’s on the rear deck. Sound imaging is horrible, soundstage is worse, vocals are muddied, drums are muffled, and tons of room is wasted by individual amplifiers etc. Not happy.
So should I buy the v2’s in 5.25? Should I handcuff myself to 5.25s? I don’t have the $ to buy new speakers every time I buy a new car (I am planning on keeping this beemer for 2 years and then upgrading.. it already has high miles as it is and I know I can resell and get my money back in 2 years time) and I want this thing to return to stock when I sell it (some BMW people are crazy and like everything OEM… aftermarket will hurt resale). And considering I want to return to stock, modifying the door location is probably not an option…
Also, if I do get the 5.25’s, I’d like to keep a bit of rear fill (perhaps off the headunit)… and I have no idea what to do about that: 3” door speakers and rear deck 6x9’s are equally undesirable…
Building a new system for my 330i... Alpine amps, sony headunit, CDT midranges, focal tweeters, MB quart 12" (sealed), active crossover setup... ready in 3 weeks?