Premium sound speaker upgrades?

[admranger]

Impressive work. Nice components. Officially drooling!

[drod]

great work!! looks really nice..

it's definitely something to think about...

does anyone know what the specs are on the upgraded premium sound system? size and type of door speakers and subs?

what would a nice speaker replacement be? audiophile?

[AZX54.4]

I am considering an audio upgrade in my 05 x5. I was thinking of starting with the BSW stage 1 kit that replaces all 10 speakers. I imagine this would be a HUGE improvement. Has anyone else done this upgrade and how big of an improvement was it??

[m5james]

Originally Posted by shashankmittal

If you are a true audiophile, you'll hate the premium system too. I did not get the premium system with my X, but instead upgraded the system with audiophile quality speakers, amplifier, subs and a sound processor. (Get custom boxes fabricated for your subs and hide them behind the carpeted wall in the trunk and you'll not need boom boxes. You might need to put a grille in front of the sub for the free air movement)

As far as number of speakers are concerned, in a 'small' cabin like that of X5, whether you have 10 or 16 speakers, it really doesn't matter. A nice 10 speaker system can sound hundred times better than a stock 16 speaker system if the speakers and amplifier are of good quality and have been tuned really well. Tuning makes hell lot of difference!

Trust me, my system can blow away any 'stock premium system' by leaps and bounds! A friend of mine has Bowers & Wilkins premium system in his Jaguar XF and he feels my system sounds better! I did end up spending lot more than a premium system, but at least I had the flexibility to choose the components and tune the system to my taste.

I have custom MB setup in all 14 locations in the 740iL, then using a simple tweet/mid/woofer pre-packaged combo in the M5. How do you feel about MB's vs Focal? I can't say if I've ever heard Focal's in person, but I know they're supposed to be a good brand. I'm trying to find something for next summer on ebay and I'm hoping to find a good (hopefully pre-matched) set of replacements for the stock speakers in the X.

[m5james]

Originally Posted by AZX54.4

I am considering an audio upgrade in my 05 x5. I was thinking of starting with the BSW stage 1 kit that replaces all 10 speakers. I imagine this would be a HUGE improvement. Has anyone else done this upgrade and how big of an improvement was it??

Save your money...read posts 11-16 http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-question.html

[shashankmittal]

Originally Posted by drod

great work!! looks really nice..
it's definitely something to think about...
does anyone know what the specs are on the upgraded premium sound system? size and type of door speakers and subs?
what would a nice speaker replacement be? audiophile?

The standard sound system has a combination of 4" speakers+tweeters in the doors and dash. The woofers under the seats are open air 8". All of these are made by Philips. Can't say for sure if the premium sound system has the same.
For replacement, you don't have many options, since there aren't many companies out there that make 4" speakers. I know for sure that Hertz and Focal have 4" speakers. For subs, there are hundreds of brands out there.

Originally Posted by m5james

I have custom MB setup in all 14 locations in the 740iL, then using a simple tweet/mid/woofer pre-packaged combo in the M5. How do you feel about MB's vs Focal? I can't say if I've ever heard Focal's in person, but I know they're supposed to be a good brand. I'm trying to find something for next summer on ebay and I'm hoping to find a good (hopefully pre-matched) set of replacements for the stock speakers in the X.

Haven't auditioned MB Quart before, but I have heard good things about them. Focals Polyglass and Utopia definitely belong to the high end car audio segment. I guess it all depends upon how much you want to spend.

[AZX54.4]

Originally Posted by m5james

Save your money...read posts 11-16 http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-question.html

I agree, the prices on their speaker package to seem inflated. However, they are plug and play and require no splicing and soldering of wires. This is nice. I know the price is a little high but what im curious about is the sound quality of the upgrade. They are using Rainbow speakers and I have never heard these speakers in person. When you did the MB Quartz upgrade on your 7 did you do the installation? Did you cut and solder the wires?

[bmwman3241]

I heard the Individual sound package is supposed to be amazing, better then the Premium Logic 7, Bose, and Bang & Olufsen.

Might be worth looking into if you want an OEM BMW setup with the best quality.

[drod]

so it seems like a reasonable yet effective solution could be opting for the premium sound pkg which gives you more speakers and a 600 watt 9 channel amp.. then upgrading those 4 inch speakers in all locations (front/rear/doors)

maybe the subs too...if you can get to them under the seats...

this way you don't have to bother with rewiring or cutting out larger holes into the doors and other locations and messing around with third-party amps or buidling custom boxes to house the bigger systems.

swapping out the philips to MB Quartz or Focals and using the same amp should have a significant improvement wouldn't you think? (as long s your using the upgrade sound system)

sounds like a pretty good idea...

[shashankmittal]

Originally Posted by drod

this way you don't have to bother with rewiring or cutting out larger holes into the doors and other locations and messing around with third-party amps or buidling custom boxes to house the bigger systems.

As long as you choose to install 4" speakers, you wont have to cut out larger holes. Installing an aftermarket amplifier requires some rewiring, but its not too much. All stock free/open air subs are useless. Custom boxes for subs, is totally a personal choice. If you want to add more bass, then you'll need to add an enclosed sub to your system.

Originally Posted by drod

swapping out the philips to MB Quartz or Focals and using the same amp should have a significant improvement wouldn't you think? (as long s your using the upgrade sound system)

sounds like a pretty good idea...

I used Focal speakers with my stock amplifier for about a month. The sound was definitely better than stock speakers, but it missed the fidelity I was looking for. I then upgraded the amplifier and the sound quality changed from good to awesome.
What I mean to say is that you need to pair good quality speakers with a good quality amp, the stock amp will do no good! Moreover, if you are spending $2000 extra on premium system, its better to upgrade the normal stock system using the same $2000 to a much better aftermarket sound system.