[nobelium27]

Hello,

I'm newly acquiring a 2014 F22 228i with HIFI speakers in a week. I have a giftcard to crutchfield for $1k and I wanted to switch out the speakers first thing when I get the car. I've looked around the forum and made a list:

AMP: JL Audio XD600/6v2 $560
Door: Focal Integration ISC 100 $150
Back: JL Audio C2-400X $140

This totals up to $850 so far. What speaker should I get for the center? Do you have any recommendation on other than these?

I'm planning on installing these myself and found a good thread here and a video in bavsound website. Would I need any additional items to have these set up in my car?

Thanks in advance

[BEM-S4]

No center. Read the Dr Strangelove thread. Then read it again.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

No center. Read the Dr Strangelove thread. Then read it again.

Ha I actually just finished reading the thread. Fantastic thread indeed. I might ditch amp as a whole and just go with speaker upgrade and dynamat xtreme. Too bad eton B100W isn't available at crutchfield. Wonder if I'll need adapter or connector for Focal ISC100.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

Ha I actually just finished reading the thread. Fantastic thread indeed. I might ditch amp as a whole and just go with speaker upgrade and dynamat xtreme. Too bad eton B100W isn't available at crutchfield. Wonder if I'll need adapter or connector for Focal ISC100.

You have a gift card there or something and have to buy from them?

If you have a convertible I'd recommend looking into Bavsound. Rear is much more challenging for speakers and I'd skip the amp entirely as access is a bitch.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

You have a gift card there or something and have to buy from them?

If you have a convertible I'd recommend looking into Bavsound. Rear is much more challenging for speakers and I'd skip the amp entirely as access is a bitch.

Yeah, gift card from them. I got a coupe and it looks super simple. I'd do Bavsound if it wasn't for gift card lol. Yeah, reading DrStrangeLove's thread, I'm skipping amp. Just wanted some input on speakers and any other recommendation before I order those.

[TMatt]

Make sure to buy the ebay bmw speaker wire adapters mentioned in that thread if you dont want to splice.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by TMatt

Make sure to buy the ebay bmw speaker wire adapters mentioned in that thread if you dont want to splice.

Oh, I overlooked that part. Thanks I need 4 of these, right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-OEM-Spea...5UEnPc&vxp=mtr

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

Yeah, gift card from them. I got a coupe and it looks super simple. I'd do Bavsound if it wasn't for gift card lol. Yeah, reading DrStrangeLove's thread, I'm skipping amp. Just wanted some input on speakers and any other recommendation before I order those.

Too bad I didn't see this yesterday I just gave them a big pile of money for new 4K stuff would have just bought the gift card from you to help you out.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Too bad I didn't see this yesterday I just gave them a big pile of money for new 4K stuff would have just bought the gift card from you to help you out.

Too bad I posted this today. No worries though, Focal seems to get good rep and I'm just gonna buy me a 4k TV with the left over

[robman23]

I went with the Focal 100s. I had a professional install them (my schedule was tight) and I believe spacers are required in the doors. I detached the center speaker, definitely worth it. I used Bavsound for the subs. They are expensive but I like them.
Good luck!

[marcthedark]

You might want to change the under the seat "subs" too

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

Too bad I posted this today. No worries though, Focal seems to get good rep and I'm just gonna buy me a 4k TV with the left over

Sony 930E is what you need to be doing

[TMatt]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

Oh, I overlooked that part. Thanks I need 4 of these, right?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-OEM-Spea...5UEnPc&vxp=mtr

Yes, one per speaker but I'm not sure how many come in each order. Some of the guys were saying it was 2 per order. I actually ordered them last week to do my rear speakers and they are coming this afternoon so I will let you know.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by robman23

I went with the Focal 100s. I had a professional install them (my schedule was tight) and I believe spacers are required in the doors. I detached the center speaker, definitely worth it. I used Bavsound for the subs. They are expensive but I like them.
Good luck!

hmm I didn't think they'd be necessary, I'll look into that. Thanks!

Yes, it says "one pair" I'll order a couple and see if that'll be enough!

Is underseat sub upgrade worth it? I saw some posts that said speaker upgrade is enough. I'll read more through but I'm planning on no subs as of now.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

hmm I didn't think they'd be necessary, I'll look into that. Thanks!

Yes, it says "one pair" I'll order a couple and see if that'll be enough!

Is underseat sub upgrade worth it? I saw some posts that said speaker upgrade is enough. I'll read more through but I'm planning on no subs as of now.

It helps take some of the heavy lifting off the mids cleans up the whole system, especially if you're going coax and no separate tweeters

[Viffermike]

OP, those JL Audio speakers will not be a good match for the Focals. They have very, very different strengths and sonic signatures, the most prominent of which is that the Focals use a metal inverted dome tweeter, while the JL Audios use a soft dome fabric tweeter.

My advice would be to put a second pair of ISC 100s in the rear. Trust me on this.

That will leave you with about $120 left. Use that toward an amp install kit (Just for an amp; you don't need one with speaker wire, etc.) and sound deadening (Dynamat or equivalent). You did remember those, didn't you?

Finally, budget $70 or so for the ASD Delete harness from TechnicPnP. That 600/6 won't work well at all unless you kill the ASD module.

See how that sounds, then decide whether or not the underseat drivers need upgrading to you. They are by far the best speaker in the Hi-Fi setup.

(And yes: DISCONNECT THAT CENTER CHANNEL!)

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by Viffermike

OP, those JL Audio speakers will not be a good match for the Focals. They have very, very different strengths and sonic signatures, the most prominent of which is that the Focals use a metal inverted dome tweeter, while the JL Audios use a soft dome fabric tweeter.

My advice would be to put a second pair of ISC 100s in the rear. Trust me on this.

That will leave you with about $120 left. Use that toward an amp install kit (Just for an amp; you don't need one with speaker wire, etc.) and sound deadening (Dynamat or equivalent). You did remember those, didn't you?

Finally, budget $70 or so for the ASD Delete harness from TechnicPnP. That 600/6 won't work well at all unless you kill the ASD module.

See how that sounds, then decide whether or not the underseat drivers need upgrading to you. They are by far the best speaker in the Hi-Fi setup.

(And yes: DISCONNECT THAT CENTER CHANNEL!)

I see, I'm not an expert on audio so I'd be okay with getting 2 pairs of focals. Do you recommend getting an amp? I was planning on just speaker upgrades and sound deadening, then the ASD delete. Can you tell me what 600/6 is?

With 2 pairs of focals ($300) and dynamat ($99), I have about $600 left on the card, do you recommend anything with the left overs from crutchfield?

[nobelium27]

Alternately, do you think Focal ISC 100 in the front and Focal PC 100 in the back would work? I saw your post that explains why PC won't work in the front, but I'm not sure if that applies to the back. What do you think Viffermike ?

[BEM-S4]

Remove your ash tray and order the plastic insert then mount this there, should fit. Can easily snake cables to armrest for clean install.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_939PON....html?tp=69055

You can get Sony for $200 or FiiO same but this looks best for a car install. Crutchfield doesn't carry FiiO or I'd say mirror my X1 setup it's pretty slick.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Remove your ash tray and order the plastic insert then mount this there, should fit. Can easily snake cables to armrest for clean install.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_939PON....html?tp=69055

You can get Sony for $200 or FiiO same but this looks best for a car install. Crutchfield doesn't carry FiiO or I'd say mirror my X1 setup it's pretty slick.

Your setup is pretty sick, I might do that. I'll just make a budget to get the things I needed from somewhere else. Thanks for your help

Question about the setup: My car has enhanced bluetooth, is aux much better than EBT? I know it's generally better but worth spending extra $$$?

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by nobelium27

Your setup is pretty sick, I might do that. I'll just make a budget to get the things I needed from somewhere else. Thanks for your help

Question about the setup: My car has enhanced bluetooth, is aux much better than EBT? I know it's generally better but worth spending extra $$$?

It's the old crap in crap out paradigm. To vastly oversimplify, Viffermike can give you more details as he explained all this to me and I'm giving you my dumbed down understanding, start with lossless files which are digital. You want the digital to analog conversion done before it gets into the car system bc aftermarket converters are much better quality than what's in your car. If it goes into the car analog the car is just doing dumb work not actually messing up the quality at all.

And yes aux in is much better than BT since BT unless AptX which car does not support cannot handle lossless. It's like a lowest common denominator thing.

[nobelium27]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

It's the old crap in crap out paradigm. To vastly oversimplify, Viffermike can give you more details as he explained all this to me and I'm giving you my dumbed down understanding, start with lossless files which are digital. You want the digital to analog conversion done before it gets into the car system bc aftermarket converters are much better quality than what's in your car. If it goes into the car analog the car is just doing dumb work not actually messing up the quality at all.

And yes aux in is much better than BT since BT unless AptX which car does not support cannot handle lossless. It's like a lowest common denominator thing.

I see. Gonna have to go through all my old stuff to dig out my old cowon lol or I guess I'll just buy one for "cheap." Do you have any recommendation on the setup? I'll do my research, but it'd be nice to have an expert input

What do you think of Fiio X3 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DT7BXZ6...ing=UTF8&psc=1

Also, Focal IFBMW-S is sold for ~$500 at crutchfield. It comes as plug and play and has tweeter (which I don't know if I can use it on HiFi?). I saw this review - http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1102486 - but I wonder if it's really worth $350 more.