Horns for 89' 325i

[Dozyproductions]

Im about buy a 89 325i and well i still need music at times so i was thinking about having a horn setup. I will probably use the ID CD1's with the mini horn. Before i get to excited and then all of a sudden give my hopes up at their highest, i must ask, "will this be able to fit with enough clearance from my legs?"

[Dozyproductions]

anyone? Alpine installer? How about i refine my question and ask, is there some horizontal space between the lowest part of the dash and the lowest of the steering components? A little crany perhaps.

[Dozyproductions]

Some of the feedback im getting from this thread is amazing. Almost as good as cake. Thanks for being a forum guys ;)

[Mr Deagle]

i dont think anybody knows what u are talking about

[PeaveyBassist]

Horns. Its like a tweeter... only not. It can play very high, and also down into the 600-1000Hz range depending on which model you get. They are kinda big so hard to fit in such small cars. Do some research. PM StereoInstaller1. His name is Luke. He should be able to give you a good opinion on it.

Will

[Mr Deagle]

I learned something new

[Dozyproductions]

Ive tried Pm'ing him a couple times with no avail. But yeah, i wouldnt mind trying to putting in a set of horns to provide some awesome image'd soundstage since the car is so thin :) Ill wait to really check out under the dash. Perhaps if i get it going ill post a work log.

[StereoInstaller1]

But yeah, i wouldnt mind trying to putting in a set of horns to provide some awesome image'd soundstage since the car is so thin :) Ill wait to really check out under the dash. Perhaps if i get it going ill post a work log.

After not having installed horns in about 10 years, I recently did a set. I did the "Mini" under the dash of an '89 Suburban.

I remember now why I hated them all these years!

Consider this: You will need to have an amp to run nothing but these. You will have the gain turned almost all the way down...and if there is ANY noise, it will show. S/N ratio of 95db is minimum, should be more like 110.

As fas as room under the dash, no way. It certainly could be done but damn man, what a PITA.

Keep in mind too the incredible lack of efficiency of normal midbass drivers means that the level matching between the horns and the midbass (which is tough in our cars anyway) is gonna suck.

Unlesss your favorite band is Tower of Power or Earth, Wind and Fire, they just aren't worth it. IMHO, of course. YMMV!

Ive tried Pm'ing him a couple times with no avail.

I think you may have had my SN wrong or something. I have no PM from you out of the 883 messages in my inbox.

Luke

[Dozyproductions]

After not having installed horns in about 10 years, I recently did a set. I did the "Mini" under the dash of an '89 Suburban.

I remember now why I hated them all these years!

Consider this: You will need to have an amp to run nothing but these. You will have the gain turned almost all the way down...and if there is ANY noise, it will show. S/N ratio of 95db is minimum, should be more like 110.

As fas as room under the dash, no way. It certainly could be done but damn man, what a PITA.

Keep in mind too the incredible lack of efficiency of normal midbass drivers means that the level matching between the horns and the midbass (which is tough in our cars anyway) is gonna suck.

Unlesss your favorite band is Tower of Power or Earth, Wind and Fire, they just aren't worth it. IMHO, of course. YMMV!

I think you may have had my SN wrong or something. I have no PM from you out of the 883 messages in my inbox.

Luke

Aight, well yeah i probably did have the wrong SN :razz:.

Yeah ive actually been told that the cd 1e's from image dynamics arent really true HLCD drivers and to avoid that really airy sound from them, to buy the cd 1pro which will cost me around $450 and well then to buy 2 more amps and then mids it probably isnt worth it.

Well, i still need to bring the fronstage around my ears and somewhat infront of me because right now the rear fill pulls it way back. It is very frustrating because the kicks seem way to narrow to allow some pods to be aimed up at me (I would like a certain driver in there but it has a 3.5" mounting depth!) . I might have to try to get some tweeter pods in the A pillars and the have pods in the doors and have them mildly aimed at the center ceiling.

Stereoinstaller1, just want to ask what has worked best for you?

thanks man,
adam

[808BMW]

Our cars are pretty small for kickpods (I thought after I stripped and redid my interior that I would MAKE room, I couldn't)

Some time spent sealing/deadening the kickpanel and an angled spacer (mainly for depth clearance, but some aiming can't hurt) is about the best I could do.

[Dozyproductions]

Our cars are pretty small for kickpods (I thought after I stripped and redid my interior that I would MAKE room, I couldn't)

Some time spent sealing/deadening the kickpanel and an angled spacer (mainly for depth clearance, but some aiming can't hurt) is about the best I could do.

this is what im fearing. Im guessing ill be experimenting a lot to see what we can fit in the ol' 325i and how much fabrication will be required.

Btw, Luke or anyone, know any suppliers for after market alternators that would preferably exceed 120A

[StereoInstaller1]

Hokay, so here is the basics of what I am doing to achieve midbass and staging.

I am building new underdash panels with a .6 cu.ft per side enclosure. Basically, a speaker cabinet hanging from the underside of the dash. I have a set of KEF 6 1/2" midbass drivers that also have a phase plug, are clean and flat to 6Khz. The enclosure is tapered to be smaller at the firewall, so they fit without losing foot room.

So far I have relocated the ABS brain and am re-routing basic wiring to make space for this on the drivers side. On the passenger side, I have plenty of room. I am planning on fiberglass, vinyl wrapped. Tweeters will be in seperate pods on top of the dash, about 20 degreeds off of flat. I am using Polk "Silver Series" home tweeters...since I have 6 or so of them new, circa 1990. I will be running a single 10" Lightning Audio S4.10.VC2 woofer, a small mono Exile amp, and 2) 2 channel exile amps for mids and tweets. I have a AudioControl 2XS and a EQx, plus a four.1 indash preamp.

Pretty damn extreme for 5 speakers, IMHO.

Btw, Luke or anyone, know any suppliers for after market alternators that would preferably exceed 120A

I am doing a GM 144 case alternator. According to specs, this should make over 80 amps at idle. I am attempting to design this so I can make a plug-and-play kit to do so.

I also am running a new 0 gauge cable to the rear, a red top Optima in front and rear, new battery terminals, 2 gauge charge wire, 0 gauge body ground both front and rear. Massive power for 400 watts on bass, should be pretty impressive...if I could ever get my help hired at the shop, so I can work on it.

My sons' car is going to get 6X9's in the rear side panels (below the rear side windows), a single 12", and a set of 4" and tweets. all speakers will be in full enclosures to keep the sound inside the car, plus play loud enough for bragging rights. That is gonna be the cheapest setup I can imagine that will do the job in an E30.

Luke

[808BMW]

Yeah, I've been waiting for your GM alt setup to come out.

My 220A irraggi alt died and I'm running on a stock alt atm.
2 runs of 0 gauge to the rear, going to 2 blue tops.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yeah, I've been waiting for your GM alt setup to come out.

Dude, at this rate, look for it in 2010.

Luke

[Dozyproductions]

Nice Luke. Its an experimenter's dream in the e30 :D Its going to be tough deciding what to do. I like your idea. I think im going to make a cast out of the original kickpanel with FB and build some Rings that are slightly angled towards the space thats just behind the sunroof, for the mids. Perhaps have tweeter pods slightly raised on the A pillars aiming to center windshield.

Would be pretty cool to build some FB rear dash enclosures for some Tang Bands 6.5" woofers. :)

Sucks to hear the iraggi alt dying on you. any warranty? I just got an email back from Excessive Amperage for about $325 shipped for a 180A alt and 80-100A at idle. Pricey.



GM case Alt?