Sound System Recommendations

[pony]

I want to get a new or second hand sound system retro fitted to my Sport.
I am after a sound system that produces very good quality sound ie better quality than Harmon Kardon in E46 M3.
I know Kenwood have a great rep as Gordon Murray chose them for the McLaren F1.
I would like also to be able to play music from Apple iPod or Apple iPhone.
Like I say very good quality at reasonable price.
I am not too concerned about having Original Dealer Fit ICE.
Btw do BOSE do anything SH for E30s ?
Thanks very much
Pony

[miniblob]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Kenwood!!! Don't go by what deals manufacturers have had!!!

Have a look round on the talkaudio forum - classified section on there always has some bargains too!!!

Personally I love the sound of DLS components!!!
And the nakamichi head unit I have stashed away sounds awesome and looks great in an E30 too!!!

If you're looking for the best of the best, the Alpine F1 stuff is generally highly rated!!!
I'm sure the talkaudio guys can help you spend your hard earned - thats why I'm not on there much at the mo!!!

Your budget could have a big effect on this - and fitting it well can make a massive difference to the sound quality too!!!

[pony]

For Alpine F1 setup on E30
How much is parts ....
Brand New ????
SH ????

[miniblob]

Alpine F1? A lot!!! If you ever find one for sale!!!

But tbh, how much are you going to notice the accuracy or use the processing power, when listening in your E30???
These boys spend a lot of time and money sound proofing, building enclosures/mounts, etc, before putting equipment anywhere near the car!!!

You really need to start with a budget and work from there!!!
Balance it out with a bit of soundproofing behind the front speakers to help them out, then decent front speakers and head unit.

Depending how you do it, you can always upgrade as and when cash flow allows - amps, sub, rear speakers.... how serious do you wanna get??? EQ's, processors, line boosters...

How good are your ears??? Go round some shops and listen to demo cars at different levels, with different brands in them!!!
What music/sound you like can make a difference!!!

People like Becker h/u's (never tried them myself)...
£2500!!!! Clicky...
£500 Clicky...

Tbh, most people would be happy with some decent front speakers, a mid range h/u and a little sub.
It's a sensible starting point, you can amp the front speakers later, add some rears, upgrade things at will!!!

[Kos]

You need to give us an idea of a budget first

Secondly, you'll more than likely need a sub and amp in the boot.

Do you want the sub and amp hidden

What sort of music do you listen too

Have you got the tweeter pods or the premium speaker pods in the back ?

[harry_p]

Yep, it's all going to depend on budget and how far you want to go.

a decent headunit (£200 - £250, or less secondhand ) decent set of front componants (£200 ) a 10in sub in a sealed box ( £150 ) and a resonable amp to run it all ( £200 ) nicely setup and installed will blow away something like a factory fitted harmon kardon or bose setup, which tend to be setup to sound impressive rather than actually be great quality.

I bought all my kit for my e36 secondhand, keeping an eye out for bargains so has been very reasonable, but still sounds fantastic.

alpine ida-x100 digital media player, + separate digital sound processor for adjustable crossover and time alignment, genesis sm100 amp for a set of Rainbow slx deluxe componants, and 12in genesis sub in a sealed box powered by a genesis profile mono sub amp. setup would work equally well in an e30 and be invisible from the outside.

If you want a headunit which looks totally oe then you'll struggle. Becker units look ok, and sound great, but are a lot of money. most of the retro options have limited functionality and connectivity. Something like an e36 bmw business rds cd player looks ok, but theyre a lot of money for what they are and a £100 alpine form halfords sounds miles better.

I wouldnt be too concerned by retro looks as long as it doesnt look hideous and can do amber illumination. whenever you leave it parked up you'll be removing the front anyway so noone other than you or your passengers will see it.

[harry_p]

gordan murray didnt chose kenwood, he put out a design brief for compact lightweight speakers which sounded good, and kenwood did the best job so got the gig. I cant remember the name of them, but those kenwood speakers had absolutely tiny magnets and weighed less than half as much as an equivalent normal speaker. However, they were never musically amazing, they were just excellent at what they were designed for.

[pony]

Yep, it's all going to depend on budget and how far you want to go.

a decent headunit (£200 - £250, or less secondhand ) decent set of front componants (£200 ) a 10in sub in a sealed box ( £150 ) and a resonable amp to run it all ( £200 ) nicely setup and installed will blow away something like a factory fitted harmon kardon or bose setup, which tend to be setup to sound impressive rather than actually be great quality.

I bought all my kit for my e36 secondhand, keeping an eye out for bargains so has been very reasonable, but still sounds fantastic.

My budget is £500 for all the parts.
This option you mentioned above sounds quite good and hopefully second hand could get within budget.
I am not too fussed whether looks too OEM or too modern just a really good sound system.
Would this all be straight forward to fit ?
Does this budget work ?
Any recommendations of various setup combos that produce better sound than BOSE or Harmon Kardon but within budget ?
Thanks
Pony

[pony]

You need to give us an idea of a budget first

Secondly, you'll more than likely need a sub and amp in the boot.

Do you want the sub and amp hidden

What sort of music do you listen too

Have you got the tweeter pods or the premium speaker pods in the back ?

Music
Old school classics such as Phil Collins, Sade, SOS Band, Shalamar, Janet Jackson all the way to Notorius BIG
Anything and everything but no garage or any of that rude boy stuff

Hidden sub and amp would be nice but is not the be all and end all

As for what I have in there at the moment looks like a cheap head unit and cheap speaker. Basically very poor quality even this was listed when BMW Cooper Banstead did Approved Used Car check on the E30 mentioning sound quality was rubbish as well as a tonne of other faults.

[bab-91]

I'm in the middle of a Bose fetish... so anything with Bose on it.

[Rav335uk]

You need to give us an idea of a budget first

Secondly, you'll more than likely need a sub and amp in the boot.

Do you want the sub and amp hidden

What sort of music do you listen too

Have you got the tweeter pods or the premium speaker pods in the back ?

Music
Old school classics such as Phil Collins, Sade, SOS Band, Shalamar, Janet Jackson all the way to Notorius BIG
Anything and everything but no garage or any of that rude boy stuff

Hidden sub and amp would be nice but is not the be all and end all

As for what I have in there at the moment looks like a cheap head unit and cheap speaker. Basically very poor quality even this was listed when BMW Cooper Banstead did Approved Used Car check on the E30 mentioning sound quality was rubbish as well as a tonne of other faults.

Don't forget George Benson

[Kos]

I think you may need to up your budget to double what have said and this should also include the amp wiring kit and installation

Harry's prices are in the ball park, but don't expect anything out standing. I would also be careful with used items.

[Kos]

Amp

http://caraudiosecurity.com/kac-x5d-5-channel-amplifier

Head unit

http://caraudiosecurity.com/kdc-bt92sd- ... -bluetooth

Front speakers , shallow fit as there isn't much space in an e30 for a large magnate

http://caraudiosecurity.com/focal-iss-1 ... t-kit-slim

Rear speakers for a bit of rear fill and to also be run if the amp

http://caraudiosecurity.com/130ca1-13cm-speakers

12" sub & box combination

Another £75 on wiring plus £250 installation takes you to £1000

[pony]

Amp

http://caraudiosecurity.com/kac-x5d-5-channel-amplifier

Head unit

http://caraudiosecurity.com/kdc-bt92sd- ... -bluetooth

Front speakers , shallow fit as there isn't much space in an e30 for a large magnate

http://caraudiosecurity.com/focal-iss-1 ... t-kit-slim

Rear speakers for a bit of rear fill and to also be run if the amp

http://caraudiosecurity.com/130ca1-13cm-speakers

12" sub & box combination

Another £75 on wiring plus £250 installation takes you to £1000

Cheers Kos
Would a setup like this sound better than a BOSE or E46 M3 Harmon Kardon setup ?

[E30_Aza]

I have 2 alpine v12 amps and an alpine type r sub for sale if your interested? Pm me if your interested

[beemerbird]

there isn't much space in an e30 for a large magnate

[E30_Aza]

[Rav335uk]

My set up is this.

2 x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/reference-5 ... components

2x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/reference-1 ... -subwoofer

2x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/kac-7405-4- ... -amplifier

1x DAP600 Panasonic Amp

H/U
http://caraudiosecurity.com/kdc-bt53u-c ... -bluetooth


I bought these all last year.

[Rav335uk]

My set up is this.

2 x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/reference-5 ... components

2x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/reference-1 ... -subwoofer

2x
http://caraudiosecurity.com/kac-7405-4- ... -amplifier

1x DAP600 Panasonic Amp

H/U
http://caraudiosecurity.com/kdc-bt53u-c ... -bluetooth


I bought these all last year and had them installed in the Transit

Ha ha .
It's all still boxed up apart from the DAP600.

No other angle to try Diable??

[Kos]

there isn't much space in an e30 for a large magnate

FML & predictive text

[miniblob]

I take it you won't be installing it yourself then mate??? Can save quite a bit if you have the time for it and nothings too awkward to fit in these cars really!!!

Nice amp for a ton - will do your fronts and sub....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DLS-CA31-Car- ... 4616062dfc

10" or 12" Genesis SQ subs here for a ton each - would do your bottom end nicely...
http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/ipb/index.ph ... ld-6-left/

This head unit looks alright for a new one and good value at £150 - well reviewed and scored 8 out of 10 for SQ....well specced too with ipod/bluetooth/etc!!!
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/car-cd-pl ... atures#tab

Decent CDT components for £160 - got some myself (though a higher model - and I've never used them yet!!!)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CDT-AUDIO-CL- ... 3386c6445c

Takes you just over your £500 budget!!!
My budgets never include cables, sound deadening materials, fitting, etc!!!!

Biggest problem, (apart from budget) is the amount of choice and lack of chances to hear this stuff in action!!!

Good thing is, you could, if you had to, start without the amp and sub, (just do a good job of fitting/mounting the fronts and deadening around them!!!) - basically just a head unit and front components - and then add to it or upgrade bits as and when funds allow!!!


One major downside to all this, is I'm now browsing and considering buying more stuff and playing with sound systems again!!!!! My watch list is filling up fast!!!
I'm even tempted by that Sony h/u above!!!

[pony]

No mate will be getting someone to fit it all in for me.
Just got to be sure which set up I want and get all done at a good price.

[miniblob]

As long as you don't go near 'sound offs' (or whatever they call themselves now) in coulsdon, you'll be ok!!!

[Kos]

Speak to Ian Pinder he sometimes pop's down to the Ace he recommended me a set of speakers, they sound good.

The ice man ?

[Kos]

A very loud and crystal clear e30 instal

[harry_p]

Harry's prices are in the ball park, but don't expect anything out standing. I would also be careful with used items.

I was only intending to give an indication of what a reasonable, system with decent quality componants might cost. No point going out and spending insane amounts unless you're really into it.

I've bought all my system s/h, other than wiring and cables, with some carefull eBay watching and its worked out well.

Front speakers were boxed, never used and grabbed for £100 less than a brand new set, headunit was a pure digital one so no moving parts to break or wear out.

Things like un-chopped looms, boxes, manuals etc area good sign.

I love genesis amps, I think they look lovely, and are such pure simple amps, no bells or whistles, just good solid understated engineering. An original factory test certificate is a good sign too. You can still get them rebuilt by the original builder too for reasonable money.

Maybe I've been lucky, but not managed to buy a dud yet.

[Kos]

My bad, I worded that badly

What I meant was don't expect anything outstanding if he spent £500 on new stuff

In the set up have in my e24, the 2 subs (JL 10w6's) and one amp (JL 300/4) we're bought as used items for well under half the cheapest retail price but they were purchased as proven tested items

[miniblob]

This head unit looks alright for a new one and good value at £150 - well reviewed and scored 8 out of 10 for SQ....well specced too with ipod/bluetooth/etc!!!
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/car-cd-pl ... atures#tab

Just for info - this unit is reduced to £99 at the halfords in East Grinstead!!!
Makes it a bit of a bargain!!!

[pony]

Thanks for everyone's recommendations. I have decided to up my budget to £1000 parts wise then I have labour on top.

I have been advised that stereo fitting shops are butchers is that correct ?

I want the best sound system I can possibly get for the E30.
Ie no shortcuts no compromise while retaining original speaker dimensions
I am not that interested in having a retro sound system because the newer ones are supposed to be much better.
Would have to have iPhone/iPod and Bluetooth connectivity
Was thinking of getting brand new Alpine setup all round.

Could anyone advise me which are the best Alpine components which are currently available new from them ?
http://www.alpine-europe.com/index.php?id=1339&L=2

I was looking into component speakers and I think the ones I want for the front speakers are Alpine Type R 13cm which are 300W peak power. That should make sure everyone hears my Phil Collins nice and loud.
http://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product ... -27163.htm
Are these the best Alpine speakers I can get ?
Are these the best speakers I can get ?

[Kos]

Most installers are butchers however there are some who I can recommend

[miniblob]

Installer wise - go on recommendation... where in london are you???
Whatever you do, don't use the little shop in coulsdon
Talkaudio forum will always be able to advise of good installers!!!

Alpine wise - their 'best' speakers are extreme - way above your budget!!!!!!!!!!

Best option is to find a shop/dealer that sells Alpine and they should be happy to demo their gear to you!!!
No point having a £500 speaker if a £100 speaker sounds ok to your ears!!!

Take some of your favourite cd's/tracks along that you know well and listening to a couple of sets will show you the differences pretty quick!!!