[Saxatilis]

…i’m new to this forum and forgive me if this has been a question that has been asked many times before but searching for the answer is almost as muddied as my HK system
is there any downside of replacing only the door panel speakers w some high end speakers but leaving everything else as is (for now)? is the amp and system in general integrated in a way that replacing only the door panel speakers makes things worse?
ultimately i’m looking for just much better sound quality not necessarily power

any help would be most appreciated!

[MarcoZandrini]

Investing in high quality speakers gives you the biggest bang for the buck. Does your ca have the Harman Kardon sound system or the hifi system?

[Saxatilis]

thanks
it has the ‘premium’ HK system…pretty anemic sounding
just didn’t want to replace door panel speakers and find out i screwed up some factory integration or something
also, wondering if just doing that (and not doing an amp upgrade and adding a sub woofer) would make a big difference?

[marksandygill]

I have the bog standard sound system, replaced the door speakers with Focal ones and it sounds better than my wife’s HK system!! For the cost it’s a no brainer!👍😁

[Saxatilis]

cool, thanks…yeah this would be upgrading the HK speakers that are there…
in my mind this premium hk system is worse than the one in my 2010 e93

looking for much better sound without it having to be pimped out w amps and subwoofers

[carchrism5]

While the HK system doesn't sound excellent the speakers also are not terrible. The amplifier and sound processing is more of a limiting factor that the speakers. Changing the amplifier is going to yield better results than changing speakers.

I am in the process of doing my complete system and so far have disconnected center channel, changed door speakers to Audison components, rear Focal coax, and Earthquake underseat subwoofers. It does sound better, but marginally, and certainly not worth the cost if one were to stop there. I have an Audison amp/dsp and a 10" subwoofer for the trunk that have not yet been installed.

[Saxatilis]

thanks
yeah this is exactly what i’m wondering- doing a piecemeal upgrade would that make an improvement? seems like you’re saying one needs to do a whole system upgrade…
shop i was planning on using said it’s worth doing, even in phases

[MarcoZandrini]

Start with the speakers! I installed Focal FOCAL INSIDE POWERED 6.2 Impulse components for the front speakers. The sound is great. Now, I replaced the factory amp with an Audiotech-Fischer amp. Its' completely tunable via a usb cable and the company's free tuning software.

[cooolone2]

Agree that the Amp, DSP/Equalizer are the biggest issue. Adding a sub in the trunk and a dsp would yield the biggest results. The tight proprietary circuiting and the fact that only a few companies bother to offer secondary market items for the BMW artificially drive those prices to ridiculous proportions. I've done my auto audio systems in all my cars and could build a ridiculous system with more control for 1/3 the price of what they want just for speakers in these cars. Lol...

Here's a hack for ya'

I've found a way around DSP... Using Spotify via BT connection to the car allows for my Phone's (Dolby) processing to take over. The sound is MUCH better with absolutely zero change in physical components. It allows a 7 Band EQ as well as some other adjustments... HK with Bass/Treble adjustment only is absolutely ridiculous!

Try the BT/Phone route and enjoy!

Good Luck!

[Saxatilis]

thanks

although, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus…i was told by reputable shop that upgrading door panel speakers would def make a difference but more could be done (amp and sub) later…

[cooolone2]

I would question that so called reputable source!

Upgrading speakers does what exactly? Let alone if it's the same amp and same processed sound going to that speaker. The difference will be minimal, and barely perceptible.

Find another source absent any interest in selling you something.

Good Luck

[Aspen235]

I started with the hifi system. Focal component made it better. Then earthquake subs helped a little. The biggest improvement was a JLAudio amp. You can get a technic harness. You will then need to get rid of ASD.
Changes the rears last and add a sub if you need 20-30 hz.

If I were you, I would start with the amp and ASD delete.

[marksandygill]

Originally Posted by cooolone2

I would question that so called reputable source!

Upgrading speakers does what exactly? Let alone if it's the same amp and same processed sound going to that speaker. The difference will be minimal, and barely perceptible.

Find another source absent any interest in selling you something.

Good Luck

My upgraded door speakers sound much clearer than my wife’s HK speakers, I have no vested interest in selling him anything!😁

[carchrism5]

Originally Posted by Saxatilis

thanks
yeah this is exactly what i’m wondering- doing a piecemeal upgrade would that make an improvement? seems like you’re saying one needs to do a whole system upgrade…
shop i was planning on using said it’s worth doing, even in phases

I'm not saying whole system upgrade is required. I'm just saying speakers alone will be a marginal difference and if you're only going to do one upgrade an amplifier will yield much better results.

Or said another way I would not replace the speakers unless you also plan to change the amplifier/DSP also.

I would actually look for a Match 7UPBMW to pop up on here as they are plug and play, plus there's a lot of help and even tuning files on here from F22/F87s that you can use.

[Saxatilis]

thanks

bummer about ‘marginal difference’ / was hoping for a bigger impact w justbye speakers…then could do amp/dsp later

[freakystyly]

I'm happy enough with just the speaker swap (fronts and rears) and am unable to justify $1k+ for the Match up amp. Maybe if I knew what I was missing...

I'm also not the kind of person that needs to feel music in my internal organs to enjoy it.

[Saxatilis]

thanks
and you noticed a decent difference w just speaker ipgrade? i was thinking of putting in focal es100k which aren’t cheap…

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

I'm not saying whole system upgrade is required. I'm just saying speakers alone will be a marginal difference and if you're only going to do one upgrade an amplifier will yield much better results.

Or said another way I would not replace the speakers unless you also plan to change the amplifier/DSP also.

I would actually look for a Match 7UPBMW to pop up on here as they are plug and play, plus there's a lot of help and even tuning files on here from F22/F87s that you can use.

I disagree with the first para. I replaced the front HK speakers first. The HK speaker magnets were puny compared with the Focal magnets. The sound diff was YUGE!

I have the AT MATCH 7UPBMW amp. It's f...g amazing.

[zachdog]

I compromised and bought the following:
-- Alpine S2-S40 4" speakers for the doors and rear panel
-- Alpine SXE-1751S component speakers for the tweeters only

The 1751 tweeters can be easily modified. I used a hacksaw to mod the mounting cylinder of the speaker and hot glued it, replacing the original HK speaker. The 4" speakers fit in the doors, with a wiring harness I found on eBay. Total cost to replace six speakers was $150, including the wiring harnesses.

I'm sure it doesn't sound as good as Focals or some of the other options in the megathread. For me, it's a huge improvement at a reasonable cost.

Oh -- I used the 6.5" speakers from that component set in my E46 doors before I sold it. They sounded fine.

I can post more specifics if you're interested.

[freakystyly]

Had to do a little digging for this pic, it was a few years ago...

Slight difference between stock and the mega thread recommended JL rears... Can you guess which is which?

[Saxatilis]

thanks y’all…i think im gonna go forward w just swapping out speakers for some focal’s and will report back…and if only marginal improvement as some of you suggest i’ll have to suck it up and go w phase 2 (amp/dsp)…at some point…

appreciate your input!

[Jcoop901]

I swapped the stock HK speakers for Focal ES k2's and it made a massive difference in sound quality. I will tell you, you'll need a mounting ring to properly mount the tweeters in the sails. I believe the mids come with the proper ring for the door. You'll also have to find a place to hide away the crossovers. They are fairly substantial.