Cheap Hifi Stereo Upgrade
 

I had the front door panels off, so I completed the first step in my stereo upgrade. Honestly kind of shocked by how well it worked as is.

I’m running Morel MDT-12 tweeters, with Dayton RS150p-4 mids.

With some EQ tweaks on the AVIN (bass boost, really, also front fade), it sounds way better than anything has a right to on the stock amp. I’ll still be swapping in an amplifier and a sub, but if you need an easy and simple upgrade, I highly recommend this. It also highlights how shockingly garbage the stock speakers are.

I tell people all the time. If you actually think the factory system sounds good...boy are you in a for a treat

Since it appears that I've been getting some stuff done on Swampy my plans of fitting the 8" peerless mid drivers into the door might actually happen sooner than later.

Did your system come with the tweeter, dash and door speakers?

Yes. I haven’t touched the dash speakers. They’ll be disconnected and abandoned in place.

I don’t know how anyone can say that the stock system sounds good. I’m just surprised that the factory amp apparently has a lot more performance than I expected.

It’s still not even in the vicinity of the setups in my E90 or E36, but it’ll be good enough. (Although I think that the Morel may be a significant tweeter upgrade.)

The HiFi setup is terrible. The DSP setup is passable but lacks power. The DSP setup with BSW speaker upgrades is better, but still lacks power and tunability limiting treble and bass output.

After installing Infinity Kappa 3 way components fully active it embarrasses all of the above. But I would expect it to given the door treatments and power I'm throwing at them. Still tuning it as the install isn't complete, but by far the best stereo I've heard in one of my vehicles.

https://www.caraudiojunkies.com/atta...5&d=1633454799

8"s in the doors!? Nice. You going to forego a sub? Even the 6" Kappas generate pretty respectable output down to 80hz. I can only imagine the 8"s.

The in-law's old X5 that I've been harvesting parts off of has DSP. It's marginally less awful, but only marginally.

I admit, I don't have experience with the standard DSP speakers. Only the BSWs. It sounded okay in stock form as a stop gap to changing the whole setup. In no way is it comparable to a good aftermarket setup. The setup I put in is almost embarrassing my wife's B&O system in the F15. Just needs a sub to carry <80hz to fill out the stage. But the 3 way setup currently, is pretty impressive by itself.

I am waiting to post a thread on the install until I finish it. It's a 3 year project so far... :rolleyes:

I have plans of subs as well. Just haven't decided if I'm going semi stealth so I have cargo space or just box in the back like I've been living most of my life :D

I'm curious what frequencies you all have your 3-way setups crossed at?

It's been so long since I've had a working 3 way setup that I don't even remember what I used for xover points