11-27-2015, 09:16 AM | #1 |
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Bavsound ghost subwoofer. Any reviews?
I have the Harman/Kardon (HK) sound system and I (like many of you here) wish it had more bass.
Anyone heard of the bavsound ghost subwoofer (underseat) paired with the HK system for the m235i? What do you guys think? I am merely looking for a boost in bass and not for sonic perfection. Are there any other brands which has a similar underseat subwoofer replacement? This ghost subwoofer seems to tick a lot of my boxes : retain trunk space, relative ease of installation without needing to install an extra amp, plug and play. Any comments appreciated. Thanks! |
11-28-2015, 05:24 PM | #2 |
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I preordered a couple months ago. They should be shipping out soon. I'll let you know what I think. I've also done just got the bimmer tech amp as well.
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11-29-2015, 09:24 PM | #3 |
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12-06-2015, 07:22 AM | #4 |
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Got word it should be shipping around Dec 11th, hopefully it should fill the void for some much needed bass. The best part about the Bavsound subs is it's plug & play whilst being a discrete setup.
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12-06-2015, 12:57 PM | #5 | |
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12-19-2015, 11:21 AM | #6 | |
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I've got them coming as well. If you're looking for a BIG upgrade, then these aren't likely to make an enormous improvement. The location, size and chamber of these under-seats will prevent even the best replacement speakers from sounding world class. That said, the sheer quality upgrades of the components (stiffer frames, stronger cones, bigger magnets, etc.) should provide a noticeable improvement. Plus it's a straight retrofit without requiring chopping or loss of existing storage. If you're looking for that big thump though...that's going to require a bigger sub and likely additional amp power that can throw down those low notes. I had a wicked system in my last car that included a 5 channel, Alpine amp and a boxed 10" sub in the trunk. High quality cabling, quality separates, etc. It was clean, tight and punchy. The thing that's most missing in the M235i is the low midrange. Not the rumble area of the bass guitar, but more the middle of it...the area where voice and other core instruments reside as well. These simply aren't going to be produced well by 4 inch door speakers. I'm anxious to receive/install my Ghost subs as well. Will then investigate whether the BimmerTech amp upgrade can be retrofitted to work in the 2 series. I'm also waiting to see if the BavSound folks are going to get the Series 1 upgrades for the door speakers. If not, may swap them out for Focals. I figure these upgrades should provide a good listening upgrade without a deep dive of cutting and messing with the integration aspects that the stock systems have. |
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12-23-2015, 07:27 AM | #9 |
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Looking for an opinion; I'd like to pick-up both the Amp & Subs, however given how the CAD $ has been performing, both of these would set me back just under $2kCAD, maybe a bit more with duty & shipping.
Bottom line, I can only swing 1 of these upgrades for the time being and wondering if I would get a reasonable upgrade with just the subs (being the least expensive of the 2). Thx for reading Dave
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12-24-2015, 11:59 PM | #10 | |
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12-29-2015, 01:01 PM | #11 |
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I'd like to order the subs, but apparently the Bavsound site says they're not (yet) available for my model. Has to do with the HK version of my audio system. Does anyone have these subs installed in their vehicle with the HK version of their audio system?
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12-29-2015, 10:30 PM | #12 | |
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Current: 2014 F22 M235i Mineral Grey
Previous: 2011 E82 DCT 135i Space Grey Build thread: http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1149793 |
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12-30-2015, 05:36 AM | #13 |
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12-30-2015, 06:47 AM | #14 |
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Thanks for that. I've emailed Bavsound as suggested, along with my VIN to be sure. Turns out they're closed this week for the holidays, so expect to hear back from them at some point next week.
D
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01-25-2016, 06:29 PM | #15 |
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I installed the Bavsound Ghost subs this past week. I have the standard HIFI system. The Bavsound is a much better product than OEM. Easy to install with great written and video instruction. I recommend them.
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01-31-2016, 12:32 PM | #16 |
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Finally installed my Bavsound Ghost subs about 2 weeks ago into my HK M235i. Everything about the HK system is bone-stock. I'll likely be swapping out the doors and amp in the future, but jumped on the ghost subs because they were on sale and I know I wanted to hear their impact. I wanted to give them some break-in time before commenting.
Installation -Speakers are clearly of higher quality than the stock components. Beefier frames, cones, etc. -As others have said, they goofed and originally forgot to include gaskets. I was sent the self-stick weather-stripping they recommended from Amazon a few days later. Kudos to the Bavsound folks for also including their toolkit, which came in handy. The weather-stripping is a bit of a bear at times, as it tries to coil itself around the speaker mounting screws as you turn them. Take care here. -I used the youtube video on my iPad to walk me through things. All went well. Took me about 45 min to slowly do one side than about 15 min to do the second. -Build, fit, procedure were all excellent. ************************************************** Sound My background is that I'm a former recording engineer/record producer. Worked on hundreds of records in some of the finest studios in the world. Many folks reviewing audio stuff here say, "I'm no audiophile..." or "My ears can't tell the difference..." That's not me. My fundamental issues with the HK system that came with my car are: 1) Low quality speakers. They're just not very clean. Not talking "bright/trebley" but rather clarity/THD. This is true of most factory speakers in new cars. I can't imagine how poor the lower-end audio system sounds. 2) Low power. The system just can't drive very high volumes. And when you're cranking any amp pretty high, you're working it harder and generally introducing more distortion into the chain. 3) Deficient lower midrange. There's a sore lack of low midrange in the system (200-400hz). This isn't the area of boom for a kick drum or the rumble of a low bass note, but actually felt in areas of the vocal range, guitars, pianos, etc. This is likely due to the core speakers being only 4" drivers, which are physically hard-pressed to reproduce these lower ranges. 4) Minimal bottom end. This is where a typical sub range exists (50-200Hz). Where the punch of kick drum is really felt, etc. In short, adding the Ghost Subwoofer addition to my car: -Improved the quality of the sound (#1) a bit -Significantly improved the low-mids (#3) -Actually reduced the very bottom end (#4) So now music sounds more "glued-together" from the low-mid to the higher frequencies. There's not that big hole that was there before. Vocals sound warmer and more natural, guitars and the upper end of the bass guitar are warmer. However, the bump in the bottom end seems diminished over the stock subs. Less "thump" in the bottom end than before, at least in my car. I've also played with the tone settings and found that my bass level is up about half-way over flat to get the most natural sound with the new subs. Perhaps this will shift more as my speakers wear in over time. I have no doubt that replacing my door units with higher quality Focals or similar would help even more. I also believe that replacing the amp with a cleaner, higher-powered one could add some punch to the ghost subs and better clarity overall. However, if you really want a full sound stage, there's no question in my mind that a boxed 10-12" sub in the trunk, with proper amplification will also be needed. The small 8" speakers and tiny chambers of the under-seats simply aren't large/strong enough to generate those larger waveforms. IMO the best staged approach to improving the system in the order of best bang for the buck: 1) Replace the door speakers with high-quality replacements (disconnect the center channel which just adds smear to the stereo field) 2) Swap out the under-seats with ghost or other replacement "sub" 3) Replace the amp with the BimmerTech or similar aftermarket improvement 4) Add a boxed subwoofer to the trunk with additional amplification 5) Replace all speaker cabling with high-quality aftermarket cabling 6) Apply Dynamat or similar deadening material to the doors 7) Swap out the head unit with a higher quality unit. (In reality I just wouldn't do this with a car that has the audio so tightly integrated with the car controls like most BMW's) |
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01-31-2016, 08:27 PM | #17 |
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Thanks CloudIX and bladeomatic for your thorough review!
It's too bad the ghost subs are missing the low end thump. Anyone else has similar or different thoughts? I mainly listen to rock, pop, electronic/dance music. I plan to pull the trigger if the majority of you guys says it improves the bass. |
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02-02-2016, 05:32 PM | #18 |
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Unfortunately there never will be any magic drop in sub that can actually reproduce the low end in an enclosure that is barely larger than the speaker. Mid bass is the most that can be expected. Capping the underseat subs to 100-150hz and putting an actual sub somewhere else is the only real solution.
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02-03-2016, 10:38 AM | #19 |
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After replacing the subs with BavSound, I really notice how poor the rear and door speakers are. Anyone have a recommendation on great replacements for those? With a caveat, I'm not a fan of spacers showing on the doors.
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02-03-2016, 12:53 PM | #20 | |
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ex : Focal IFBMW-S or like me ETON B100W. For rear shelf : Use Google and search for "rear fill speakers" Not certain it's a good idea to spend much money for rear speakers. If you really want, you can use : -a kit with separate tweeters but you also need to replace the covers by hk because standards have no grill upon tweeters emplacements. -coaxial like Focal iSC100 or PC100. It's easier to get rid of two fixations on ISC100 but with a dremel you can remove the 4mm aluminium corners of PC100 speakers then keep standard covers. |
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10-25-2016, 07:11 AM | #21 |
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Dude, just get the BavSound Stage 1 speaker upgrade to pair with those Ghost Subs. I just got them and they are awesome
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10-25-2016, 10:45 AM | #22 | |
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robman23 : @Grave speaks truth. Components are a waste of money in the rear; coaxials will actually perform better for a few reasons: generally higher sensitivity/SPL and the tweeter on most is angled and can be rotated toward the front of the car, to name two. Also, do a search and read up on speaker matching, as well as on Bavsound's quality-control issues with the 2 Series Stage 1 kit. With Bavsound, you're paying almost exclusively for ease of installation and compatibility with other OEM equipment. This is important for the subs since the location, space, etc. is so constrained and specialized, so the Ghost products make sense. However, the same constraints and specializations do not apply to the regular speakers; their mounting and operation is fairly universal. If you are at all tempted by upgrading the amp, disconnecting/bypassing ASD, etc., the Bavsound kits are not worth it.
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