E30 Audio Overhaul - My Project Details

[bmwman91]

Thanks for the writeup. Could have used it when I tackled my tweeter replacement.

I don't know if it changed over the years, or if it was the luck of the draw, but only one of my tweeter pods had that lip. The other had that lip attached to the tweeter, and had no retaining lip on the pod shell (top):

That is odd. I am glad I didn't get one of those!

[harv]

I just installed one of Luke's boxes and there is still a lot of room left in the trunk. For example, my carry on sized roller bag still fits long ways. I would guess there would be no problem getting 4 of them plus some smaller bags to fill the spaces in the trunk.

John

[bmwman91]

I just installed one of Luke's boxes and there is still a lot of room left in the trunk. For example, my carry on sized roller bag still fits long ways. I would guess there would be no problem getting 4 of them plus some smaller bags to fill the spaces in the trunk.

John

That is a lot of room to have left with a sub enclosure.

Alas, when I say I need room for climbing gear...it's a full trunk plus some of the interior on longer trips. I also like to get my bouldering pad in the trunk, and that is the real limiting factor. I can just get it in between the front bulkhead & the rear of the car now. Turning it 90 degrees works, but then I have no room for my 20-year-old-car-emergency-kit (oil, antifreeze, zip ties, duct tape, lots of electrical tools).

[StereoInstaller1]

What I like about that box is how it takes just nothing to make excellent sounding bass. Good lord, I did a small alpine 4 channel and a tiny little 35 WPC Pioneer amp with a $50 Infinity Reference and the bass is just excellent. Terrific extension, awesome detail, crisp, areticulate and deep. Nowhere near as deep as the 12" box, but such great sounding bass it just does not matter. Makes about 122ish db, does 25Hz gracefully. Bigger better stuff works well, too..but it sounds like the 10" depth at the bottom of the box would not fit your needs.

It is hard for me to talk about those boxes without sounding like I am trying to sell you on one, but if you have any questions, there has been TONS of discussion about them. I gotta tell ya, though...I have never seen anything quite so efficient in space sound so damn good.

I gotta admit though, I have been thinking about doing like some ScanSpeak or SEAS or whatever higher end 8" home audio driver in the 2 rear sides. Fiberglass is a pain in the butt to do, but it just might be worth it.

[bmwman91]

What I like about that box is how it takes just nothing to make excellent sounding bass. Good lord, I did a small alpine 4 channel and a tiny little 35 WPC Pioneer amp with a $50 Infinity Reference and the bass is just excellent. Terrific extension, awesome detail, crisp, areticulate and deep. Nowhere near as deep as the 12" box, but such great sounding bass it just does not matter. Makes about 122ish db, does 25Hz gracefully. Bigger better stuff works well, too..but it sounds like the 10" depth at the bottom of the box would not fit your needs.

It is hard for me to talk about those boxes without sounding like I am trying to sell you on one, but if you have any questions, there has been TONS of discussion about them. I gotta tell ya, though...I have never seen anything quite so efficient in space sound so damn good.

I gotta admit though, I have been thinking about doing like some ScanSpeak or SEAS or whatever higher end 8" home audio driver in the 2 rear sides. Fiberglass is a pain in the butt to do, but it just might be worth it.

That's pretty cool. It is always fun to get the most out of limited space & relatively inexpensive drivers. 25Hz from that driver is impressive.

If you want to play around with nice speakers for the rear sides, ake sure to check out SB Acoustics. I have recently been turned on to them and I am pretty impressed. The prices are right, and the performance / quality is easily on-par with Scanspeak. I have found that a lot of the SEAS drivers have crazy-shaped response curves...many look like a giant parabola with no really flat spot. I guess it is easy enough to check the datasheets though.

You are probably familiar with most of the good online audio resources. Just in case you haven't been here yet, www.zaphaudio.com is a great resource. The guy has tested tons of speakers and he has the response/CSD/distortion curves freely viewable. Between that and Madisound it is pretty easy to narrow down the selections.

[bmwman91]

Today's update:

- I decided to switch to 5 channel MB Quart amplifier. I want to save some space, and have less power wiring to deal with. I was looking at the PPI 5 channel one as well, I was sort of suspicious of it since I am having a really hard time finding documentation / information on their products. I suspect that they may be one of the many companies that is riding its name form back when it was reputable. MB Quart is probably just as guilty, and maybe I threw away an extra $170 on their amp, but there is a lot more technical info available that suggests that they are still at least somewhat reputable. Can anyone dish out some information on the reliability of their current electronics?

See the OP for updated plans / schematics.

- I have ordered all of the stuff that I cannot pick up locally. In a week or two I should have it all in my living room. As with many car projects, I will probably have a couple buddies over to slave away on the E30 in exchange for some beer & BBQ. One of them probably still hasn't forgiven me for when I had him help me install Damplifier lol.

Here's the 99% complete list of stuff I had to buy for this.
EDIT:
This list is sort of outdated. I added an LC6i level converter & improvised some mounting stuff. I also don't feel like updating it lol.

The various connectors I bought from Sherco are the crimp & solder type that also have adhesive-impregnated heat-shrink sheaths. I might not survive a nuclear war, but the wire connections will.

[StereoInstaller1]

500 watts on bass and 60X4?

Hell yes, this is gonna be great.

You ever look at http://www.made-in-china.com ? In the product directory, find amps or speakers or whatever. If you can buy 500 of them, you can get them cheap.

I so wish Titanium Power had a 5 channel. Exile will not likely ever do a 5 channel. I wish they would!

[bmwman91]

Haha well I will be using all 4 Ohm drivers, so 60Wx4 & 250Wx1. The sub is 5~6db less sensitive than the woofers/tweeters, so they will require ~4x the power (240W). Really I would have been fine with a 150W sub channel, but hey whatever lol.

Based upon things that were in stock, taxes & some questions about quality, I ended up with the MBQ amp over the PPI one. What has your experience been with MBQ's newer stuff, and current PPI Sedona series amps? I keep hearing that all the new car audio hardware is poop & that eBaying older stuff is "the way." Does the smoke get out of the new ones or something? Back in 2000 or so when I was into car audio (high school, big subs) MBQ was "high end" stuff, but I am not sure now.

[5Toes]

This is great! Can you post a link so I can read up on all this. I know the basics of a stereo but with this Im lost.

[StereoInstaller1]

Did you go look at made in china .com?

Some older stuff is better sounding, most isn't. Almost all of it is better built, but for the most part, the cost of performance has come down radically.

[bmwman91]

I looked at MIC.com. There were a number of amps on there, but I didn't look too closely since I already bought one. Have you found good stuff on there?

I will probably end up opening the amp at some point, and depending on what I find, I might go through & swap in some higher quality components. I would imagine that they all cheap-out on the capacitors in the PSU, and the output drivers (transistors or FETs). Maybe I will wait until after the warranty expires though!

[StereoInstaller1]

I looked at MIC.com. There were a number of amps on there, but I didn't look too closely since I already bought one. Have you found good stuff on there?

I will probably end up opening the amp at some point, and depending on what I find, I might go through & swap in some higher quality components. I would imagine that they all cheap-out on the capacitors in the PSU, and the output drivers (transistors or FETs). Maybe I will wait until after the warranty expires though!

Hot rod mods on cheap-o amps? Hell yeah! post it if you do, preferably with full analysis.

[StereoInstaller1]

oh yea, MIC is all about the 250 piece minimum order

[bmwman91]

Today's update:

I got in the trunk & took a bunch of measurements. The amplifier will take some work to mount...it won't fit on the rear bulkhead with the sub. I will probably mount it under the rear parcel shelf (in the trunk). Things should work out nicely back there.

I have also been messing around with ways to mount the CD43 in the HVAC panel. I picked up an extra at a local yard for $4 to hack up. This one is clean enough that I will probably just use it. JB Weld is the best stuff ever. Here is how it fits in. The flash, combined with the light behind it, really accents the gaps. Obviously it will look a lot better inside the nice dark dashboard. I am seeing if I can find a way to get some 1/8" foam in the gaps to prevent the dash backlighting from leaking through, and to prevent rattles.


It took some adjustment, but I got the edges to sit pretty flush.


If you haven't been told this yet, then listen carefully. Don't ever, EVER, set a box on the car's roof while you load stuff. You will forget and drive off with it up there. My punishment for being so stupid will be looking at this every time I am in the car. Luckily, in the car it won't be nearly as noticeable. Cameras & fluorescent light make things look a lot worse than they actually are. Still...STUPID!


How was it done? Yes, JB weld & some 20ga sheet steel. The one over by the OBC was easy. I just snipped the plastic & bent it over to the right position, and then reinforced it with some steel & JB Weld.


The other side was a bit of a pain. We'll see how long this lasts. I can crank pretty hard on it, to the point that the plastic deflects. It seems pretty strong. I want to try this route before I go messing with little fasteners up behind the unit like others have.


I spent the better part of the day doing some other maintenance though. The sunroof guide rails were shot so I replaced them. I also had some exhaust leaks, so I got out the steel hot glue gun (MIG welder) & took care of them.

Later this week I need to design the baffle that the sub will sit in behind the ski pass hole. I will also get into the front fenders & see how much depth a big mallet can buy me.

[bmwman91]

Well, it looks like Christmas came in May. I got home tonight & found that a delivery had been made.

Behold, a box of speakers.


The 6" mid, from the rear...


The 6" mid...from the front...


A pair of Seas tweeters.


The neat low-profile subwoofer.


This thing is nice. The frame castings are top-notch!


Looking more closely at the tweeters...


These are a bit deeper than I had anticipated. I will probably need to cut out the front diffuser to make them fit, but I will only do that as a last resort. It's there for a reason.


I also got a nifty tool. By now I have probably cut 20 holes using an MDF router base & drilling holes in it to pivot from. It is going to be sooo nice to not have to make a new jig every time I want to cut a hole!