Should I buy new speakers?

[P Arkus]

Hey R3v, looking to get a bit of insight from the community, and have a few questions as well. I have a 91 325is Mtech II (Eurospec from Japan) and i'm upgrading the stereo system in it. Currently it has a sony tape deck along with a 10 disc cd changer in the trunk. I dont believe this headunit is oem. Unfortunately, none of the speakers seem to be working (when I turn the headunit on, all I heard is screeching and crackling for about 2 seconds, then silence). Wondering if its something with the connection, or if the speakers are in fact blown.

Next I was wondering if my car has the premium sound package. My guess is no for the following reasons:

1) I do not have an external fader above the headunit
2) I do not have tweeters in my doors (just behind the side mirrors)
3) the rear speaker grills appear small, making me think there is only a 5 1/4 coaxial in there instead of the 5 1/4 speaker along with 1" tweeter)
4) I'm not exactly sure where the oem premium amp would be located since I havent pulled any trim on the trunk, but I dont think they would put an OEM amp for just coaxials.

So onto the good side of things, this is the setup I plan to install. I have a Pioneer DEH-X9500BHS Headunit, a Kicker L5 10" sub and a 500W Kicker Monoblock amp.

A little background knowledge about what I like in music. I prefer to go for overall sound quality than a high school "OOMPH" of bass. My other car (04 VW .:R32) has a quality system installed. Pioneer headunit, JL Audio C5 component speakers front and back powered by a JL Audio 300/4 4 channel amp, and 2 JL Audio 10W6 subs powered by a JL 1000/1 Monoblock amp. Everything is done clean and simple, with a final result of sounding amazing at any volume.

My main questions is, if my current speakers are not blown, should I hook everything up to those or should I just invest in better speakers immediately to keep sound quality at a maximum? Since i'm only running the one sub, I will probably turn the bass down so it doesnt drown out the treble because either way I am not planning on amplifying the speakers.

Any thought and opinions are greatly appreciated! If you feel any part of my plan is a waste of time/money or just plain wrong, please feel free to share why! Thanks in advance!

[agent]

I didn't see a Lukebox mentioned in your plans...?

[AndrewBird]

Pull the grills off and take a look at your speakers. If they are worn out, it will likely be apparent. Honestly though, your description sounds more like a wiring problem than blown speakers. Even blown speakers will play music (most of the time).

[P Arkus]

The Lukebox is a great box, however the Kicker L5 is a square subwoofer and I will be building a custom box and amp rack for everything so that I can still use most of my trunk while keeping top notch sound quality from the sub. I'll need to pull all the grills off and check the speakers out. I plan on just installing/wiring up the new deck this weekend just to test out the speakers. I'm hoping it will be simple, but with reading all the amp bypass threads on the E30's, i'm hoping it wont be too painful!

[Skunkworks]

That Car deserves a Nakamichi Head unit. the L5 wont out perform a 12" luke box period. save your money and do it right. I nice set of separates and a nice 5 channel and it will rock.

[StereoInstaller1]

If you care at all about SQ, don't use an L5.

210 grams of moving mass and a 34Hz Fs with a Qts of .566 mean only one thing: Pure "ghetto bass" woofer.

EDIT: allow me to clarify. "Spinner wheels" are not just shitty looking but they perform poorly. Why? Unsprung weight. Heavy ass wheels cannot respond quickly, so they make the car perform worse. Same exact thing as "MM" or "Moving Mass". It is, literally, the weight of the cone that actually moves. The 12" in my car is a 20 year old Fosgate and it is under 160 grams, as an example. Lighter cone, assuming same stiffness, will respond much more quickly. The high resonant frequency or "Fs" causes the woofer to be naturally louder in the typical "rap" bass frequencies and the "Total Q" of .566 guarantees that the bass will boom like mad, but also be muddy and poorly defined.

As a ghetto bass woofer, they are fine, but if you care about SQ, stay away.

If you do build, show some pics! I always like to see what others come up with, and if I can offer advice, hit me up.

Luke

[P Arkus]

Damn its too bad I already purchased the sub and amp long ago. I guess i'll have to make the best of it. I'll definitely throw up some pics after the build. I dont think it'll be anything too special. If it pisses me off enough, i'll just sell it all and invest in a lukebox haha

[StereoInstaller1]

If you need help on specs, I will do what I can for you.

[StereoInstaller1]

Wait...are you using the JL amps on this? 300/4 and a 1000/1?

Oh lordie, I might have a sub and box for you!

Get your wallet ready.

Luke

[P Arkus]

No, the JL amps are in my R32. I have a Kicker 500W monoblock amp for the Sub, still need to see how the stock speakers will sound before I decide to buy some components and a 4 channel amp.

[StereoInstaller1]

No, the JL amps are in my R32. I have a Kicker 500W monoblock amp for the Sub, still need to see how the stock speakers will sound before I decide to buy some components and a 4 channel amp.

Ah, gotcha. Since you are a knowledgeable guy, you should follow my "$500 stereo", it will blow your mind.

Assuming your stock speakers are Premium and you are using an amp to power them, and can use a 120Hz highpass filter...