Those with stock HiFi stereo/amp with add-on sub...

Intotheblue · 04-04-2015, 08:32 PM

I just installed a sub and amp to my stock HiFi system using Technic's wiring harness and have a question about what bass setting to set on the EQ.

I feel like the bass setting set at 0 the underseat subs are a bit too loud and bottom out. I keep alternating between having the bass set at -3 to -5 so I'm not overworking the drivers or risk eventually blowing them with constant loud volume.

What does everyone else have their EQ set at?

bmw325i · 04-04-2015, 08:55 PM

How did you add a trunk sub using Technics hifi harness and you are still using the stock amp? It sounds like you have logic 7 and not hifi. If you are still using the stock amp they should be fine with bass at 0. You didn't change the amp for the underseats right?

Intotheblue · 04-04-2015, 08:57 PM

I definitely have the hifi system. His harness has RCA outs and remote wire which I hooked up to an JL amp for the sub. Everything else is stock.

bmw325i · 04-04-2015, 09:02 PM

His hifi harness replaces the stock amp altogether. The logic 7 harness allows you to add a sub and keep the stock amp.

Intotheblue · 04-04-2015, 09:07 PM

My VIN decode lists a hifi system and I bought the hifi harness from Technic last week...I'm using a JL amp to power a 12" sub, everything else including the stock amp in the trunk and underseat subs are all stock.

He even calls his hifi harness the "add-a-sub" harness.

I'm really just interested in hearing what EQ settings people are using that add a sub in addition to their stock systems. Even without an additional sub, 0 bass EQ seems to cause a bit of bottoming out.

ctuna · 04-04-2015, 09:39 PM

Stock amp sucks there is no way to keep up with a sub(and sub amp)
You will just overwhelm the stock stereo with big bass.

Intotheblue · 04-04-2015, 09:43 PM

I know I'm not the only one on here with a stock stereo with a subwoofer added to it, as long as I have my gain adjusted properly I won't be overwhelming my stock stereo, I'll just be able to play lower frequencies.

Technic · 04-05-2015, 01:40 AM

I think that you are confusing yourself and others by mixing a HiFi system with an "EQ" setting.

There is no "EQ" in the HiFi system. It is either Bass or Treble adjustments.

If you feel that the OEM woofers are "too loud" at Bass "0" then there must be something going on with the particular music that you are playing. Because no HiFi that I know of have "too loud" OEM woofers powered by the OEM amp at Bass level "0". None.

I would be out of business if that would be true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intotheblue

I just installed a sub and amp to my stock HiFi system using Technic's wiring harness and have a question about what bass setting to set on the EQ.

I feel like the bass setting set at 0 the underseat subs are a bit too loud and bottom out. I keep alternating between having the bass set at -3 to -5 so I'm not overworking the drivers or risk eventually blowing them with constant loud volume.

What does everyone else have their EQ set at?

Intotheblue · 04-05-2015, 01:51 AM

Ok yes bass/treble adjustment. And for the type of music that I listen to, electronic dance music on CDs burned from FLAC files, bass at 0 definitely sounds like the stock woofers are bottoming out, not saying its a good or deep bass by any means which is why I bought your harness and a sub obviously. When everything was stock, bass at -3 sounded best at louder volumes without me thinking I was going to blow something.

Technic · 04-05-2015, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intotheblue

Ok yes bass/treble adjustment. And for the type of music that I listen to, electronic dance music on CDs burned from FLAC files, bass at 0 definitely sounds like the stock woofers are bottoming out, not saying its a good or deep bass by any means which is why I bought your harness and a sub obviously. When everything was stock, bass at -3 sounded best at louder volumes without me thinking I was going to blow something.

How the OEM woofers sound when you listen to just the radio at the same Bass level?

Intotheblue · 04-05-2015, 02:22 AM

decent, little bit weak, but of course the frequency spectrum of radio is truncated to hell so I don't ever judge anything by it.

Technic · 04-05-2015, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intotheblue

decent, little bit weak, but of course the frequency spectrum of radio is truncated to hell so I don't ever judge anything by it.

I do not think that there is anything wrong with your OEM system, but with the way that you are burning your FLAC files. I think that whatever you are using to burn FLAC files into your CDs is clipping the music.

I had a customer complaining about the opposite of yours -lack of bass in a HK system. I mean, there was really no bass at all in his MP3 songs regardless of the settings in his iDrive. Maxing out the Bass and the 100Hz EQ band produced nothing.

Then I removed his memory stick and plugged my reference iPod. I had to set his iDrive Bass and EQ back to the center because the bass was too much. The software that he was using to burn his Lossless files was set to filter out bass from the conversion somehow.

He ended up buying a new Sony Walkman and using its software to play its music via the USB in the iDrive. Problem solved.

Check your burning software settings.

taibanl · 04-07-2015, 10:46 AM

+1. I suspect a problem with source material

ajaye · 04-08-2015, 03:51 PM

Dance music in general is pushed hard when mastered. Its sole purpose it to be played loud by a bunch of jerk offs who think overdriving at every gain stage, smashing it through a hard limiter and bottoming out a bunch of haggard ass club PA speakers sounds "good." Seriously though, they don't produce club music to be anything but loud, 95% of the digital files I got when I was still DJing regardless of the source type contained overs from the jump; lossless included...transcode them to mp3 and with quantization error it gets even worse. Its just the nature of the beast, the lower midbass especially is heavily compressed and the underseats cover too broad a pass band to handle this type of material. In your burning/transcoding software, if you have a subsonic filter option make sure you use it, it may help a little, but otherwise your only real options are to not listen as loud or upgrade your system. Just adding a sub doesn't really help because you still have no way to narrow the pass band of the underseats to relieve them some where the sub can fill in the gap.

04-04-2015, 08:32 PM	#1
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	Those with stock HiFi stereo/amp with add-on sub... I just installed a sub and amp to my stock HiFi system using Technic's wiring harness and have a question about what bass setting to set on the EQ. I feel like the bass setting set at 0 the underseat subs are a bit too loud and bottom out. I keep alternating between having the bass set at -3 to -5 so I'm not overworking the drivers or risk eventually blowing them with constant loud volume. What does everyone else have their EQ set at?
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04-04-2015, 08:55 PM	#2
bmw325i Major General 223 Rep 5,120 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: United States iTrader: (8)	How did you add a trunk sub using Technics hifi harness and you are still using the stock amp? It sounds like you have logic 7 and not hifi. If you are still using the stock amp they should be fine with bass at 0. You didn't change the amp for the underseats right?
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04-04-2015, 08:57 PM	#3
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	I definitely have the hifi system. His harness has RCA outs and remote wire which I hooked up to an JL amp for the sub. Everything else is stock.
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04-04-2015, 09:02 PM	#4
bmw325i Major General 223 Rep 5,120 Posts Drives: 2006 BMW 325i Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: United States iTrader: (8)	His hifi harness replaces the stock amp altogether. The logic 7 harness allows you to add a sub and keep the stock amp.
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04-04-2015, 09:07 PM	#5
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	My VIN decode lists a hifi system and I bought the hifi harness from Technic last week...I'm using a JL amp to power a 12" sub, everything else including the stock amp in the trunk and underseat subs are all stock. He even calls his hifi harness the "add-a-sub" harness. I'm really just interested in hearing what EQ settings people are using that add a sub in addition to their stock systems. Even without an additional sub, 0 bass EQ seems to cause a bit of bottoming out.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

04-04-2015, 09:39 PM	#6
ctuna Lieutenant General 1917 Rep 13,114 Posts Drives: 325xi 06 wagon MT Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Santa Cruz, Ca iTrader: (0)	Stock amp sucks there is no way to keep up with a sub Stock amp sucks there is no way to keep up with a sub(and sub amp) You will just overwhelm the stock stereo with big bass.
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04-04-2015, 09:43 PM	#7
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	I know I'm not the only one on here with a stock stereo with a subwoofer added to it, as long as I have my gain adjusted properly I won't be overwhelming my stock stereo, I'll just be able to play lower frequencies.
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04-05-2015, 01:51 AM	#9
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	Ok yes bass/treble adjustment. And for the type of music that I listen to, electronic dance music on CDs burned from FLAC files, bass at 0 definitely sounds like the stock woofers are bottoming out, not saying its a good or deep bass by any means which is why I bought your harness and a sub obviously. When everything was stock, bass at -3 sounded best at louder volumes without me thinking I was going to blow something.
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04-05-2015, 02:22 AM	#11
Intotheblue Private First Class 17 Rep 149 Posts Drives: 2014 650i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Baltimore, MD iTrader: (0)	decent, little bit weak, but of course the frequency spectrum of radio is truncated to hell so I don't ever judge anything by it.
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04-07-2015, 10:46 AM	#13
taibanl Brigadier General 281 Rep 4,121 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: NA iTrader: (4)	+1. I suspect a problem with source material
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04-08-2015, 03:51 PM	#14
ajaye Second Lieutenant 31 Rep 228 Posts Drives: 07 328xi SGM Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Pittsburgh iTrader: (0)	Dance music in general is pushed hard when mastered. Its sole purpose it to be played loud by a bunch of jerk offs who think overdriving at every gain stage, smashing it through a hard limiter and bottoming out a bunch of haggard ass club PA speakers sounds "good." Seriously though, they don't produce club music to be anything but loud, 95% of the digital files I got when I was still DJing regardless of the source type contained overs from the jump; lossless included...transcode them to mp3 and with quantization error it gets even worse. Its just the nature of the beast, the lower midbass especially is heavily compressed and the underseats cover too broad a pass band to handle this type of material. In your burning/transcoding software, if you have a subsonic filter option make sure you use it, it may help a little, but otherwise your only real options are to not listen as loud or upgrade your system. Just adding a sub doesn't really help because you still have no way to narrow the pass band of the underseats to relieve them some where the sub can fill in the gap.
	Appreciate 0 Quote