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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 F10 Technical Topics Navigation, iDrive, Audio, Video, Bluetooth, Phone, Coding Speaker upgrade dilemma..
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      05-05-2015, 11:01 PM   #1
Bmwsaz
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Speaker upgrade dilemma..

hi friends ,
I am not going to get into the details of sound quality of my stock "hi-fi" speakers . All I can say is that I have decided to upgrade them with bav sound speakers . I am however not comfortable doing the doors and was wondering if just replacing the center and rear speakers will have a substantial/negligible improvement in the sound quality . Even if I experience 40-50 percent improvement compared to if I replace the door speakers as we'll , I think I will be ok . Has any one done that or knows what the experience will be like if I just change center and back speakers ?

Thanks in advance !
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      05-06-2015, 05:54 AM   #2
fung0001
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Go to tech shop & let expert to do it for u
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      05-06-2015, 07:10 AM   #3
Bmwsaz
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Well yes that's always an option but one that I want to avoid .
All I need to know if just changing center and back is worth it or waster of time /money
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      05-06-2015, 10:00 AM   #4
FenixMike
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmwsaz View Post
Well yes that's always an option but one that I want to avoid .
All I need to know if just changing center and back is worth it or waster of time /money
About the same as doing a oil change and just replacing half of the oil... Sure it will help, but why waste the time doing it if you're not going to do it right. The newer speakers are likely less efficient than the factory speakers (better speakers typically use higher quality components therefore require more power to drive) so you wont have equal sound in the vehicle, certain songs will sound better from the rear or underpowered in areas of the vehicle (at the same volume certain areas of the car will be louder than others) and also the new speakers will respond differently to treble and bass input meaning you probably wont ever be able to dial in the car perfectly. You really need to have all the speakers matching and either pay to properly have them installed, or find some write-ups on how to correctly do it yourself. If you had a honda civic id say do whatever you want, but with a BMW, why half ass it to save a few bucks especially after spending thousands on new speakers?
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      05-06-2015, 08:16 PM   #5
MEby
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Bmwsaz,
What is the source? I was amazed at how much better the sound was even with the crap OE Hi-Fi speakers when I imported my collection from a flash drive to the internal HD or even play them directly from a flash drive.

Bluetooth streaming and Sirius is total shit when compared high quality CD rips. I think the old saying about putting lipstick on a pig really applies here.

Next upgraded I do will be BavSound. Not the best by a long shot but the plug the play installation to me looks pretty sweet. Add to that you get a pretty hefty discount when you buy the whole upgrade package from them, I can't see any reason to cut corners.

I watched the video and the door panel removal does look to be the most difficult part of the job, I think if you take your time it would be well worth it.

Mike
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      05-06-2015, 10:25 PM   #6
Bmwsaz
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Mike,
It's 90% pandora played from Bluetooth or by connecting to usb and then playing as Bmw app. I think I will burn some HQ MP3 to test your theory ..but yeah in the long run I want speakers that can play streaming music without making u feel high n dry ..burning CDs /flash is just too much to ask these days when u have so much content wirelessly ...
Having said that speaker upgrade is a must , but I still think if just upgrading center and rear gives substantial improvement, I will settle for that . I am no audiophile but just want somewhat better sound without having to open the doors ..that's why I asked this question to know if someone felt the same way as me and tried it and what the results were ..
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      05-07-2015, 11:26 AM   #7
lsturbointeg
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What's the point if u don't replace the door speakers? Pay the extra and get the doors done. I thinner you'll here a big difference

Last edited by lsturbointeg; 05-07-2015 at 12:25 PM..
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      05-07-2015, 02:58 PM   #8
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Check out MusicarNW level 1. I just upgrade with their level 1, all plug and play amplifier with built in DSP processor/parametric equalizer and it made a huge difference.
After speaking with Ken, I think it make more sense to upgrade the amplifier than the speaker. To sum it up, Hifi using cheap speaker, so they eq-ed the stock hifi amplifier to get more out of the stock speaker. If you just upgrade the speaker, then you will use eq-ed signal on your speaker. Think of it having a 5 year old kid randomly adjust the eq for your system, since the new speaker will have different frequency repose than stock speaker.
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      05-07-2015, 10:25 PM   #9
Bmwsaz
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson_gau View Post
Check out MusicarNW level 1. I just upgrade with their level 1, all plug and play amplifier with built in DSP processor/parametric equalizer and it made a huge difference.
After speaking with Ken, I think it make more sense to upgrade the amplifier than the speaker. To sum it up, Hifi using cheap speaker, so they eq-ed the stock hifi amplifier to get more out of the stock speaker. If you just upgrade the speaker, then you will use eq-ed signal on your speaker. Think of it having a 5 year old kid randomly adjust the eq for your system, since the new speaker will have different frequency repose than stock speaker.
Looks like store is in Cali and they don't have any branches ..
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      05-08-2015, 12:37 PM   #10
lsturbointeg
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wilson_gau View Post
Check out MusicarNW level 1. I just upgrade with their level 1, all plug and play amplifier with built in DSP processor/parametric equalizer and it made a huge difference.
After speaking with Ken, I think it make more sense to upgrade the amplifier than the speaker. To sum it up, Hifi using cheap speaker, so they eq-ed the stock hifi amplifier to get more out of the stock speaker. If you just upgrade the speaker, then you will use eq-ed signal on your speaker. Think of it having a 5 year old kid randomly adjust the eq for your system, since the new speaker will have different frequency repose than stock speaker.
I'll check this out....THANKS!
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      05-10-2015, 05:11 AM   #11
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You need to replace center, front doors to get better sound. Look into Match pp82dsp if u want to replace an amp.
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      05-12-2015, 07:07 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paul223 View Post
You need to replace center, front doors to get better sound. Look into Match pp82dsp if u want to replace an amp.
Will check out ..
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      05-12-2015, 11:25 AM   #13
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I did the Bavsound stage 1. Installed it myself easily. You just have to be careful and follow the instructions for the doors. It's a fantastic upgrade. My car had the HK system and sounds way better now. I don't think it needs a sub upgrade, but if Bav offers one, I will likely get it too as I am impressed by the quality of their products.
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      05-18-2015, 02:59 PM   #14
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So did u end up getting the doors done and what's ur input?
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      05-18-2015, 03:00 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tree View Post
I did the Bavsound stage 1. Installed it myself easily. You just have to be careful and follow the instructions for the doors. It's a fantastic upgrade. My car had the HK system and sounds way better now. I don't think it needs a sub upgrade, but if Bav offers one, I will likely get it too as I am impressed by the quality of their products.
Awesome! YouTube videos are pretty self explanatory. Any word if they got the Subs released?
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