E30 - Standard speakers replacement.

[Silver Wagon]

The other issue is this: if you have 5.25" speakers, there are 2 assumptions in the industry. Either A) you don't give a shit how it sounds or B) you already have a subwoofer. 5.25" speakers, especially as you go up the price scale, have LESS bass and sound "thinner"...because they assume you are category B.

this has to be the dumbest thing i have ever heard.
i have a set of diamond audio 5.25" components in my 540 wagon that sound amazing.
the larger the cone of a speaker the more bass it can reproduce. so a 6.5 will have slightly better bass than a 5.25. now if you only have room for a 5.25 try to "seal" it so it creates an enclosure. this will give you better bass response and making it equal to the 6.5

no company assumes you do or don't have a woofer. the only thing they assume is that you have money to spend on their product.

FYI i joined just to reply to this post as there is so much fail in it.

[Silver Wagon]

i have 5.25 aftermarket speakers. i bought them because my car didn't have a system but when you turn it up they sound shitty, i only do this on the freeway when i have the windows down. i have no sub or amp do you think if i do bigger speakers like 6.5 it would sound better?
any opinions?

you need to figure out why they sound shitty. are they distorting from to much bass at higher volumes? are they under powered? are they blown?

getting bigger speakers won't help you in most cases.

lets start from the beginning. what radio do you have? stock, aftermarket? fairly new or 5 years old? the thing about speakers is that they can only put out what they are given. if you have bad signal going to them they will sound bad no matter what you do. start with a good headunit. spend as much as you can afford here. it will make a huge difference. modern headunits have crossovers built in that are adjustable. this will allow you to cut out bass that is only causing your speakers to distort cause they physically can't reproduce them. i am very fond of Pioneer decks. they are reasonably priced and feature rich. give them a look. i would push them to every customer that didn't want a specific radio. that's how confident i am with them.

are you running any amps? do you plan to? factor that into a head unit purchase.

i can go on and on but this is a good start for now.

[StereoInstaller1]

this has to be the dumbest thing i have ever heard.
i have a set of diamond audio 5.25" components in my 540 wagon that sound amazing.
the larger the cone of a speaker the more bass it can reproduce. so a 6.5 will have slightly better bass than a 5.25. now if you only have room for a 5.25 try to "seal" it so it creates an enclosure. this will give you better bass response and making it equal to the 6.5

no company assumes you do or don't have a woofer. the only thing they assume is that you have money to spend on their product.

FYI i joined just to reply to this post as there is so much fail in it.

riiiight....sorry, you got nothing. There are plenty of 15" speakers that won't play below 50Hz and plenty of 5" woofers that will play to 25Hz easily. Cone size does not directly relate to the ability to play lower, perhaps you should study a little before you show your lack of experience.

[Rmlr]

^Yes. As mentioned above, the HU will crap out long before the speaker does. Even with the crappy speakers, you may be able to get better sound quality with an amp If you are still unhappy with it, then look into speaker options. Luke aka Stereoinstaller has some suggestions in the 5-1/4 speakers. Look into it..
GL

[Silver Wagon]

riiiight....sorry, you got nothing. There are plenty of 15" speakers that won't play below 50Hz and plenty of 5" woofers that will play to 25Hz easily. Cone size does not directly relate to the ability to play lower, perhaps you should study a little before you show your lack of experience.

ya, cause you can get mad bass out of a tweeter.

it has to do with how fast the cone can move in and out. why do you thing there are so many different size speakers? there isn't a single speaker on earth that can reproduce the full spectrum of sound.

i'd like to see a 5" woofer that can play to 25hz. post a link.

edit:
just to clarify the higher the frequency the faster the cone needs to move to reproduce that frequency and vice versa for lower frequencies. a 15" woofer simply cannot move fast enough to reproduce high frequencies. a tweeter doesn't have enough extrusion to produce the large wavelength of low frequencies. so in conclusion, cone size indirectly affects frequency response.

[DRTSRFR]

:popcorn:

I knew this Luke guy didn't know what he was talking about...

[15Michaeljoseph]

I think the stock premium setup is pretty great... what's stopping anybody from cutting a bigger hole in the rear deck and tossing in a 6.5 on each side?


--Mike

[efficient]

you need to figure out why they sound shitty. are they distorting from to much bass at higher volumes? are they under powered? are they blown?

getting bigger speakers won't help you in most cases.

lets start from the beginning. what radio do you have? stock, aftermarket? fairly new or 5 years old? the thing about speakers is that they can only put out what they are given. if you have bad signal going to them they will sound bad no matter what you do. start with a good headunit. spend as much as you can afford here. it will make a huge difference. modern headunits have crossovers built in that are adjustable. this will allow you to cut out bass that is only causing your speakers to distort cause they physically can't reproduce them. i am very fond of Pioneer decks. they are reasonably priced and feature rich. give them a look. i would push them to every customer that didn't want a specific radio. that's how confident i am with them.

are you running any amps? do you plan to? factor that into a head unit purchase.

i can go on and on but this is a good start for now.

i have a pioneer head unit less than a year old also my speakers are new. it plays fine when they are at 40 volume anything over that it just sounds shitty. i only go up past the 40 volume when i am on the freeway but i still can't hear sh*t when the volume is up because it sounds like the speaker is going to pop.

i do not have an amp and don't plan on it unless thats the only away to get rid of my problem.

[Silver Wagon]

what pioneer unit is it? check and see if it has a high pass filter (HPF). this will allow you to cut out the lower frequencies and help reduce distortion. it will be in the settings with your bass, treble and fader options.
if not you can add, whats called "bass blockers". they are cheap and very easy to install. these will do the same thing.

it does sound as you are just at the limits of the speakers. getting better speakers may be the way you might need to go. do you know what kind of speakers they are and how old?

[efficient]

what pioneer unit is it? check and see if it has a high pass filter (HPF). this will allow you to cut out the lower frequencies and help reduce distortion. it will be in the settings with your bass, treble and fader options.
if not you can add, whats called "bass blockers". they are cheap and very easy to install. these will do the same thing.

it does sound as you are just at the limits of the speakers. getting better speakers may be the way you might need to go. do you know what kind of speakers they are and how old?

i have no idea what that is lol but i have this radio

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pioneer-Deh-x5600hd-CD-Receiver-with-MIXTRAX-HD-Radio-Android-Media-Access-2-Sets-RCAs/34696291

i also have this speaker in the back seats

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-XS-R1345-5-1-4-4-Way-Car-Speaker/23653632#Product+Reviews

these speakers are in the fronts.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-5-1-4-2-way-car-speakers-with-polypropylene-cones-pair/3438883.p?id=1218402127361&skuId=3438883&st=catego ryid$abcat0302005&cp=1&lp=1
no amp or sub.

any recommendations on speakers?
thanks

[Silver Wagon]

from what you posted, your radio has a HPF. here is how to turn it on.



start with 100hz and a slope of 24hz. play with the settings a bit. keep the slope at 24hz. just play with the cutoff frequency to find your happy medium.

your set up is decent. by removing some low bass from the system you will be able to turn it up a bit more. also have you "tuned" your set up yet? as in adjusted loudness, bass, treble settings?

[efficient]

from what you posted, your radio has a HPF. here is how to turn it on.



start with 100hz and a slope of 24hz. play with the settings a bit. keep the slope at 24hz. just play with the cutoff frequency to find your happy medium.

your set up is decent. by removing some low bass from the system you will be able to turn it up a bit more. also have you "tuned" your set up yet? as in adjusted loudness, bass, treble settings?

Thanks dude, no I havent messed with the settings. Ill give it a try and report back. Thanks for the help

[StereoInstaller1]

Yes, because taking the last little shred of bass from your audio system is the goal....right?

Look, here is the reality: you have 12 watts per channel of actual RMS power (don't believe the 50WX4 BS printed on the deck, it really is about 12w X4) and shitty speakers that will not make bass in the location they are mounted in. No amount of bullshit is going to fix your issue...and turning the HPF on will sound like absolute shit.

Go ahead and try it, its only a few seconds to change.

Oh, BTW, most likely that "popping" sound is the speaker hitting the grille. Pioneers cones protrude past the edge of the frame, and BMW speakers are recessed. If you don't space the grille away from the frame, you may have "popping" noises, even at low volume.

The simple fix is yank those shitty Pioneers (Kenwoods, Alpine, whatever) and drop in a set of Premiums. You will get about triple the bottom end and radically better power handling, all for the price of a set of junkyard speakers...if you get lucky.

However, clearly you need better performance in the audio department. You aren't going to be happy until you do something better than a "deck and 4".

You need some kind of subwoofer, ideally one that does not suck. You also need some decent power and speakers that will actually work in a BMW. Those Pioneers will not do unless you have a subwoofer, and then you can use that HPF as it should be used, to allow the mids and highs to play cleaner and clearer, while the subwoofer handles the bass. That does not mean you need to be some baggy pants thug, nor do you need to be "boomin tha hood, yo", as a proper subwoofer will simply play nice clean, clear bottom end without annoying your neighbors or attracting the cops...or thieves...assuming you control yourself.

Anything else is just wasting your time.

Good luck.

Luke

[Ether-D]

this has to be the dumbest thing i have ever heard.
i have a set of diamond audio 5.25" components in my 540 wagon that sound amazing.
the larger the cone of a speaker the more bass it can reproduce. so a 6.5 will have slightly better bass than a 5.25. now if you only have room for a 5.25 try to "seal" it so it creates an enclosure. this will give you better bass response and making it equal to the 6.5

no company assumes you do or don't have a woofer. the only thing they assume is that you have money to spend on their product.

FYI i joined just to reply to this post as there is so much fail in it.

If that was the dumbest thing you've ever heard, you have lived an incredibly sheltered existence.

[efficient]

from what you posted, your radio has a HPF. here is how to turn it on.



start with 100hz and a slope of 24hz. play with the settings a bit. keep the slope at 24hz. just play with the cutoff frequency to find your happy medium.

your set up is decent. by removing some low bass from the system you will be able to turn it up a bit more. also have you "tuned" your set up yet? as in adjusted loudness, bass, treble settings?

btw thanks again turned on the hpf and sounds better adjusted it to 125 -12, i may mess with it a little more. i turned it up almost 3/4 of the way up and it didn't pop like before.i then turned off the hpf and man it sounded like poop.

Yes, because taking the last little shred of bass from your audio system is the goal....right?

Look, here is the reality: you have 12 watts per channel of actual RMS power (don't believe the 50WX4 BS printed on the deck, it really is about 12w X4) and shitty speakers that will not make bass in the location they are mounted in. No amount of bullshit is going to fix your issue...and turning the HPF on will sound like absolute shit.

Go ahead and try it, its only a few seconds to change.

Oh, BTW, most likely that "popping" sound is the speaker hitting the grille. Pioneers cones protrude past the edge of the frame, and BMW speakers are recessed. If you don't space the grille away from the frame, you may have "popping" noises, even at low volume.

The simple fix is yank those shitty Pioneers (Kenwoods, Alpine, whatever) and drop in a set of Premiums. You will get about triple the bottom end and radically better power handling, all for the price of a set of junkyard speakers...if you get lucky.

However, clearly you need better performance in the audio department. You aren't going to be happy until you do something better than a "deck and 4".

You need some kind of subwoofer, ideally one that does not suck. You also need some decent power and speakers that will actually work in a BMW. Those Pioneers will not do unless you have a subwoofer, and then you can use that HPF as it should be used, to allow the mids and highs to play cleaner and clearer, while the subwoofer handles the bass. That does not mean you need to be some baggy pants thug, nor do you need to be "boomin tha hood, yo", as a proper subwoofer will simply play nice clean, clear bottom end without annoying your neighbors or attracting the cops...or thieves...assuming you control yourself.

Anything else is just wasting your time.

Good luck.

Luke

i don't plan on booming my neighborhood away, i just wanted it louder because on the freeway i can't hear anything just the speakers making a a lot of popping noise. any recommendations on a sub and amp?