speakers

[grahamsy2k]

So Im looking to buy some new speakers and stereo head unit

And I was wondering what were the best brand now a days.
Im not looking to blow tons of money on this stuff, but I'm willing to spend a good amount if they speakers are good.

[Threehz]

For head units I think the JVC offer some of the best options right now and are good quality. Also for good prices.

I'm ordering this later today KD-R720

You can make it any color you like so you can match the bimmer amber or go crazy, it has front & rear usb, front aux, you can control the ipod from it, or the ipod, interchangably, two sets of 2.5v pre-amps and one is rear/sub switchable, and it has expandability options out the ass!

What more do you need? For 100$ not bad especially since Sonic gives you the wiring harness all the adapters for free.

As for speakers it all depends, coaxial or component? And how much do you want to spend?

[grahamsy2k]

With speakers and a headunit, no more then 600 really.
Are apline or sony speakers any good?
And I want component, cause Im wanting tweeters too. This is my first time really ever buying any aftermarket audio stuff.

[Threehz]

Oh my well that gives you quite a few options, I've heard Sony stuff is ok, no clue though never used it.

I've never used Alpine either but they have a sterling reputation and I'm sure you'll like them, of course at the price they are.

Infinity
JBL
Rockford Fosgate
Focal
MB Quart
Image Dynamics

Those are all well known good brands, there are TONS more, I mean I personally have had great experience with Lanzar speakers.

Anyone one big question is are you going to power these speakers with an amp?

Getting really nice speakers and not powering them with an amp isn't going to hurt but it's kind of silly to spend the money on nice speakers and not at least give them some power.

[grahamsy2k]

I have an Alpine amp that the previous owner put in my 30, Im not sure how many wats tho, I haven't taken the time to look at it. But from the glances it looks nice.

[Threehz]

Well I'm sure that'll work fine.

Now I'm guessing you want to replace all four speakers in the car?

Do you want to go the component route for all four?

I'm about to do a full build for my E30 and I'm going to do component in the front since the doors have the tweeter locations if you get the premium audio tweeter cards, and then use coaxials in the rear since it's a perfect location.

I'm using these components for the font of the car, best component set I've found for under 100$
Diamond Audio D151

Now for 100$ there is quite a range of component speakers available and quite a few good ones.

Rockford Fosgate P152-S

Pioneer TS-D1320C

Those two would be my first choices, and then this Boston Acoustics set got good reviews and I've always heard good things about Boston.

Boston Acoustics S50

Also those are all 5.25" which should fit in your stock speakers locations, if you want to jump up to 6.25" there are quite a few more options. As for coaxials there's tons of great sets available for good prices.

[poopin04]

Those Rockford Fosgate components are great stuff and sound damn good.

I have these in the back: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...RIME-R152.html

These up front: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...ME-R152-S.html

This in the trunk for my two 12inch crap subs: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...TS-1500.1.html

And this to help the speakers out: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...e-KTP-445.html

And some Alpine deck I scooped up for $100. Overall a great system, but I'd like a better 4 channel for the speakers and different sub so I can claim my trunk space back. In my opinion definitely get components up front it makes a huge difference since the front speakers are so far down on the floor.

[grahamsy2k]

Well I think the guy hooked up just the back two speakers up to the amp, So would it be a lot of work to hook the front two also.

And I found out the amp was 110w x 2

[grahamsy2k]

Also, I believe the front spearks were stock. So how many watts are they? And would these

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_18836_Rockford-Fosgate-PRIME-R152.html

Be okay to use without an amp for the front?

As you can tell, Im learning as we are going.

[Threehz]

Well that will definitely be enough to power any speakers you want. It probably wouldn't be too much trouble to hook it up to power all four but that is personally up to you.

Are you saying you only want to replace the back speakers though?

[StereoInstaller1]

especially since Sonic gives you the wiring harness all the adapters for free.

There is no such thing as a harness for an E30.

None of the speakers listed have as much bass as the stock Premium sound speakers. All "better" quality speakers are intended to be used with a subwoofer, so no one makes a 5.25" with any bass at all.

Have you read my "$500 stereo" thread? If you do that system, with or without the same deck, you will be shocked how good it sounds.

You could also just use the amp you have and add a 4 channel amp to the mix, that will sound even better than that $500 stereo...but believe me, it kicks ass. It is crystal clear, loud and clean.

I prefer 5 channel amps just so there is less mess in wiring.

Luke

[Threehz]

Well your link is broken but I think you're talking about the Rockford Fosgate Prime 152 coaxial speakers?

I'm sure those will work great, looked around and these were all in that price range and looked good and got good reviews.

Clarion 5.25's

FLI 5.25's

Kenwood 5.25's

The kenwoods don't have any tweeter however if I'm correct, but one thing to keep in mind with the front speakers on our E30's is the stock kick guard that covers the speakers doesn't leak much room for the tweeters sticking out of coaxials so you don't want ones that have tweeters sticking wayyyy out.

Personally I've had great experience with Lanzar speakers and subwoofers, never had a pair short of amazing and the price is usually way lower then most brand name speakers. So I'm going to add these to the list because I bet they'll sound great being powered just by the head unit.

Lanzar 5.25's

Can't beat em for 23$, and the tweeters don't extrude very far at all.

Anyways hope this all helps :DD

[Threehz]

@Luke, well I can't argue with you as I haven't installed a head unit on an E30 yet, but they give you this wiring harness, and this antenna adapter. Are either of these necessary?

Also what Luke says is the truth. For best SQ you're going to want a woofer. Honestly for under 600$ you can build a beautiful system, subwoofer included.

Assuming your amp is bridgeable you can use that to power a nice 12" woofer in a nice prefab box.

Great head unit is 100$ or less
Great 12" woofer is 50$ or less
Great prefab box is 50$ or less
Great 4-channel amp is 80$ or less
Great component set for the front is 80$ to 100$
Great Coaxials for the back are 50$ or less
Great amp wiring kit is less then 20$

So there is everything you need for an incredible sounding system, for 450$ at the most. Give yourself a good day for install and there you go. You could even get fancy and lose your current amp, buy a nice 5-channel as Luke said and still be under budget, with a nice amp leftover to sell or use for something else.

Shazaaam

[grahamsy2k]

No Im looking to replace all four. The old headunit on was an Alpine so It already has a wiring harness.
And I also want a sub at some point in time, but Im worried about having the bass be completely over bearing. And sounding like some ghetto shit.

Thanks a lot.

[grahamsy2k]

But wouldn't I want component for the back sense the tweeters are sperate?
And coaxials for the front sense its all in one, and there is only room for the one speaker?