What speakers for my E30?

[StereoInstaller1]

Been there and back in car audio components and have realized the gimmick that most products are.

So, lets talk physics for a second...we have, in this car, rear speakers that are basically hanging in mid-air. The mounting structure for the rears offers a roughly 40% "baffle seal", meaning the front wave and the back wave are not at all well isolated from each other.

That is why you cannot expect any usable signal from them below about 120Hz.

The fronts are nearly as bad, with a 80% or so "baffle seal", but there is only about 3 liters of airspace behind them. That menas they will provide useful output down to about 80Hz.

BTW, this data is why it does not matter what speaker you put in these locations. The location is why they sound like shit, so whatever speaker you put in there will sound like shit too...and it just so happens there has never been an aftermarket driver that plays as low as the stock BMW "premium" woofer.

So, a quick explanation of WHY this is the case: All speaker manufacturers expect that if you run a set of 5.25" speakers, you will run a subwoofer (or that you are just filling a hole and do not give a shit about performance) As you go up in "quality" (see gimmick statement above) that expectation becomes a demand. The speakers themselves are designed to give you a more vibrant midrange, and thus, even less bottom end.

We can go into design specs, get into why all of this is true, but basically, none of that changes the facts. There is no way to get "rich, warm sound" from an E30 that has no roof without a subwoofer. Even the sedans have very little bottom end. Remember kids, there are only 4 small speakers in these cars, even a Kia does better these days.

Luke

[agent]

Telling someone it's a good idea to run stock premium audio in a convertible it like telling someone it's ok to be sodomized because it makes it easier to shit.

You can quote me on this.

I lol'd.