[Jrunr]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

Almost any aftermarket speaker will improve the sound with the OEM HK amp -- even a pair of $30 Kenwoods. The OEM speakers are that poor.

But I think you're asking timbre-related questions about specific speaker makers that are best answered in a general car audio forum and by researching in other threads here on 2Addicts. I've personally explained the general timbre differences in detail between Focal, Eton, JL Audio, Hertz, Morel, BavSound and others in several threads. Please find those first.

Will the Focal K2’s sound good with the HK amp? Or will they be vastly underpowered? I only ask because they are the same relative cost as the IFBMW-S and/or BavSound...

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-Elite-...item210e6d0693

Or maybe these...??

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-K2Powe...gAAOSw1Zpa5zd2

[Jrunr]

Actually, they are cheaper than the IFBMW-S and around the same price as the BavSound.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Jrunr

Will the Focal K2’s sound good with the HK amp? Or will they be vastly underpowered? I only ask because they are the same relative cost as the IFBMW-S and/or BavSound...

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-Elite-...item210e6d0693

Or maybe these...??

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-K2Powe...gAAOSw1Zpa5zd2

The first one is the latest K2 model; the second one is the older version.

I would not run either without an aftermarket amplifier.

That said, the K2s are debatably best suited to the 2 Series' interior because of the tweeter, which is an aramid fiber (read: fabric) design instead of the metal inverted dome used on most other Focal tweeters. The inverted metal dome is known for being very revealing -- harsh to some ears. I'm personally not a fan of them.

Beyond that, I'm holding back my opinion. What sounds good to me very likely won't sound good to many others. Please research, because short of forming your own opinion about how specific speakers sound by actually listening to them yourself, you will need to gather as much information as possible about that same thing from as many sources as possible. That means digging all that up.

Good luck.

[Jrunr]

Yeah... I feel like my biggest constraint is that I don’t want to just add an LC7i and add an additional amplifier. From what I am seeing, it looks like that really adds a level of complexity that could actually take away from some of the basic BMW functions (chimes, alarms, etc...)

I don’t mind adding an amp for an additional sub as I don’t think that will take away from anything.

I really would like to figure out what I can change, speaker wise, that will give me sweeter kids, and a more tame top end than the HK system currently has; especially when played loud.

I have learned that the Focal K2’s will fit in factory locations, as well as the IFBMW-S, BavSound, and Eton speakers. Ideally I would like more power for those, but have to work with what I’ve got for now until/if BimmerTech comes out with a plug and play amp to better the HK setup.

The problem is, there is no place for me to listen to any of these brands here...

Also, with all of the threads I have read, 95% of them are people who have upgraded the basic audio systems and not the HK, so that makes it even harder to analyze the pros and cons.

Please feel free to respond here or send me a PM and maybe we can discuss this further. I really
Do appreciate the help.

[Jrunr]

So I have decided to buy the Eton speakers for my front sound stage and see how they sound with the HK amp. I am hoping that there is an improvement, but it is not a huge financial loss if they don't.

Keeping with the Stock HK amp, I am also trying to decide if upgrading the underseat subs would make much of a difference at all as I already have plans to add a JL sub in the back...

[Jmm_22]

Is the recommendation still roughly the same as in the first page? JL Audio/eton?

I know there's eton, focal, bavsound, etc. Looking for the best option without installing additional amplifiers that can cause issues. Price doesn't really matter, I just read that there can be issues with installing an additional amp.

[Cristian135]

Originally Posted by Jrunr

Will the Focal K2’s sound good with the HK amp? Or will they be vastly underpowered? I only ask because they are the same relative cost as the IFBMW-S and/or BavSound...

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-Elite-...item210e6d0693

Or maybe these...??

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Focal-K2Powe...gAAOSw1Zpa5zd2

yes! The focals work very well with the amplifier Harman Kardon have very good sensitivity 90db and that helps! Now I'm going to replace the center channel with coaxial eton, I like the central fill but not the harman tweeter sound.
I'm very happy with the focus on the front, the sound is very detailed and the medium bass has improved!

[Audioholics]

Guys;

This was long overdue but here is my Youtube video on the System Revamp of my 18 BMW M240i:

Next month I will be posting another video of my visit to JL Audio to get the system professionally tuned.

I've also been A/Bing the stock Harman system in a BMW M230i with my modded system and the results were well worth the effort. More to come...

[selmeralto]

Very informative. Thanks. So: $2,269 for parts. And about how much for installation and tuning?

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by selmeralto

Very informative. Thanks. So: $2,269 for parts. And about how much for installation and tuning?

You can get some of this stuff at discount. I would go with the newer JL Audio Amp that combines amp+DSP if I were doing this today. It would save a little money and simplify the installation a bit too.

Installation price I guess depends on what you can workout with an installer. I'm guessing between $600-800 in this case.

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by Audioholics

Guys;

This was long overdue but here is my Youtube video on the System Revamp of my 18 BMW M240i:

Next month I will be posting another video of my visit to JL Audio to get the system professionally tuned.

I've also been A/Bing the stock Harman system in a BMW M230i with my modded system and the results were well worth the effort. More to come...

The reason why the underseat woofers sound better with the polarity reversed is because the factory woofers are inverted.

[Cristian135]

I have replaced the front speakers with focal es100k, the center speaker by eton b100xcn and the front has much improved and the treble do not disturb as before, on the back and put a morel coaxial 4 "speakers have a sensitivity of 85db, sound less than the original harman kardon but they sound much softer and less annoying, they are a good filling in the back part.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini

The reason why the underseat woofers sound better with the polarity reversed is because the factory woofers are inverted.

I've never thought about this... is this accurate?? Jehnerts are not inverted.

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by RocketBoots

I've never thought about this... is this accurate?? Jehnerts are not inverted.

They could be designed specifically for the car. So, the manufacturer could have swapped the polarization labels. Just a guess.

[Long_Wang]

Are people still sourcing the Eton b100w's

Only place I can find them is eBay and from all over Europe with 2-5 week shipping times.

[alig2]

Ordered a set from the place in Germany on a Sunday, had them on Thursday.

[Long_Wang]

Originally Posted by alig2

Ordered a set from the place in Germany on a Sunday, had them on Thursday.

Cool yeah found ones that were shipping fairly quickly too from Germany.

[Long_Wang]

Have people been putting in the crossovers for these B100W's? I am a little taken aback that if they're needed why they aren't included with the set.

Should I splice in the HK blockers?

[MarcoZandrini]

....doesn't have crossovers. It has blocking capacitors on the tweeters. The larger speaker in the door is a full range speaker.

[Long_Wang]

Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini

....doesn't have crossovers. It has blocking capacitors on the tweeters. The larger speaker in the door is a full range speaker.

I was referring to the b100w tweeters. Doesn't look like they have any blockers on them. The HKs do though. Was curious if I should splice them in or not.

[AlexM240i]

SAD POST:

6 months ago i ordered the full Eton audio upgrade from ACR-HOF Germany for my M240i (front coaxials, rear coaxials, underseat whoofers, SDA 100.4 amp and Bak cable kit).

It was professionally installed and tuned in a car audio shop but last week the amp ceased working...

I took the car to the shop and they checked for shortcuts but all the speakers seemed to be fine. They installed another amp and it all worked good.

So, 6 months later and 350USD for the amp, i thought i would get better quality...

Wrote to ACR-HOF and they say i have to send (on my side) the amp back to Germany, they will also send it to Eton for repair and they would send it back to the US (that's like 2 months without sound...)

Very dissapointed with Eton...

[Jmm_22]

i just installed the eton b100xn in my F87 rear deck. For the connectors, what side does the yellow (right rear) or white (left rear) connector go on and what side does the black go on?

I think I switched them on one speaker.