good sound system without cutting holes

[billgatese30]

does any one have any idea of any good products that will produce a good, clean crisp sound with a little depth without having to cut big holes everywhere and fit a sub in the boot. basically good speakers and amp that will fit in the original places and will match a kenwood kdcw4527g mp3 cd head unit

a la

any ideas will be welcome and i DON'T want to cut holes anywhere(it's a challenge i know) and i still dont know my budget yet so any options are welcome

cheers in advance.

[BadDave]

Try and get your hands on a pr of factory tweeter pods(remove origanals and glue in aftermarket ones)
Get yourself some decent 2 way components(13cm mid and tweeter)
the mid can go in the footwelland the tweeter can go in the tweeter pod
that should sort the front out
Choose whatever speakers SOUNDS" good to you(everyone has different views on this)

[billgatese30]

ok, will check it out this week, any ideas on what sort of amp to run it off?

[BadDave]

You can run them off the amp that's built into the head unit.
Run them off the head unit for now .You can always add an amp at a later date
If you JUST HAVE TO buy an amp,don't get one that will seriousley overpower your speakers(It's not good for them).

There's 2 sets of tweeter pods on ebay just now (listed under car parts by brand-go to bmw)you'll find them there

HTH

[ScottMc]

have you thought about subwoofers etc yet?? You can get special 'stealth' sub boxes that match the carpet colour etc of the boot and are custom made to fit into the spaces in the boot so you can keep space too. I've been thinking about getting one for ages but no cash sadly! At the mo i have a 12" alpine box but i ended up taking it out of the car since it does look a bit boy racer-ish.

[Simon]

Chris there's some decent speakers in the front foot wells already, (that's assuming you're talking about the sport!) JBL's IIRC, if you decide to bin em send them back my way!!

[Dom]

You still won't get much bass from 5.25" speakers, but that's personal taste. It might be just as much as you're looking for

[placey]

bill

speaker sound is very personal - so listen before you choose and choose what you like, not what the salesman says is right.

to stand any chance of a decent sound you need to go components - so the advice you've had is good. more importantly however is how you prepare your mounting areas. remove the plastic trays under the front kick panel mount points, dynamat everywhere around the speaker area and mount the speakers via an mdf ring, the difference this little bit of work makes is unreal.

a 4 channel amp will run everything you need and will save your head unit doing the work (hence improving the sound). look on ebay for an alpine v12 4 channel job - it's a name you can trust without having to research loads and it won't cost you a fortune. you have a choice of many locations to mount your amp.

paul

paul

[billgatese30]

simon, sorry dude, i thought they were just standard joe blogs heap of , ok then just the back one's that i noeed to find out about then(possibly still an amp as i don't know how good the one in the head unit is)

scott, i want to try and keep the sport as original as possible so even the stealthiest of subs is still going to be too much(i had already thought stealth before this thread), cheers any way though.

dom, i know that 5.25 are'nt gonna give me much kick but i don't want too much as with rock music it can spoil the guitar solos a bit(i'm not into dance, rave, drum&bass etc) so they will probably be fine

cheers guys i will continue to look into the subject and see what i can come up with.

[billgatese30]

ok guys, starting to get in way above my head here, little help needed

first off abbreviations and explanations, any good site recommened.
cheap websites/e-stores that i can look at without having my eyes ripped out
and what will fit in the original rear shelf mounts without needing to modify(5.25" isn't it????)

puls any recommendations of tweeter mounting positions and good tweeters and pods?

cheers guys

[Andy335Touring]

This is a good web shop.

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/

As previously mentioned you want the BMW tweater pods for that original look.Try having a look on ebay or if your feeling flush try the dealers,think some one said they are about 80 quid new ?

It might be worth getting the tweeter pods first so that you can make sure the tweeters your going to buy will fit ?

[Simon13]

Paul how thick is this mdf? and i can't remember where you said to get that dynamat from?

BillyGates in my sport i have 4 standard size speakers running off an amp this worked well( front ones have little tweeters mounted next to them), but i have a sub too, to add a bit more bass. Well this is the plan when i finish this section of the car ( need another amp for the sub, so the first one can run the speakers)

[placey]

simon - mdf comes in various thicknesses from 6mm to 18mm commonly, but i have seen thinner now and then. realistically you'll only get one 6mm layer under the kick panel trims in the front without cutting them. personally i'd cut the trims and mont the speakers cabin side of it on the basis that replacement trims are easily found and so the car is put back to standard in minutes. you'll then avoid hitting the trim with the cones at full excursion. dynamat is available from any decent car audio shop - you'll only need one roll for the fronts.

billgates - there's nowhere standard to mount tweeters in the rear, to go the component route you'll have to be a little inventive. your alternative is to fit a pair of 5 1/4 coax speakers - so make sure you find some that are really very good. i'll try to dig out some reviews to give you an idea of what to listen to.

an amp will make all the difference - imagine the size of even the smallest amp and then imagine how much room there is to fit an amp inside your head unit after all it's functionality has been put in there. head unit amps are really only for making a noise to get you going.

paul

[billgatese30]

what would you reccommend paying for tweeter pods off ebay, theres two pairs there

http://search.ebay.co.uk/tweeters_BMW_W ... otrvalueZ1

[Simon]

what would you reccommend paying for tweeter pods off ebay, theres two pairs there

http://search.ebay.co.uk/tweeters_BMW_W ... otrvalueZ1

They 'normally' go for about Ԛ£40+ on fleabay, and theyre about Ԛ£55 from the dealers.

[BadDave]

Re Tweeter pods

They 'normally' go for about Ԛ£40+ on fleabay, and theyre about Ԛ£55 from the dealers.

I Heard that they were no longer available from the dealers.
Could be wrong tho

[BadDave]

Re Tweeter pods

They 'normally' go for about Ԛ£40+ on fleabay, and theyre about Ԛ£55 from the dealers.

I Heard that they were no longer available from the dealers.
Could be wrong tho

[BadDave]

what would you reccommend paying for tweeter pods off ebay, theres two pairs there

http://search.ebay.co.uk/tweeters_BMW_W ... otrvalueZ1

They 'normally' go for about Ԛ£40+ on fleabay, and theyre about Ԛ£55 from the dealers.

I heard,they were no longer available from the dealers

Could be wrong tho

[Simon]

Are you sure??

[BadDave]

Are you sure??

No I'm not sure
Someone posted on the old forum that they tried to get them from there locaal dealer and were informed that they were no longer available

Could be true-maybe not

[placey]

making tweeter mounts is so easy with a bit of glass fibre, p38 and some sanding. i'd never ever pay Ԛ£40 for tweeter mounts that's nuts! and besides the tweeters may not sound best in the door mirror positions, they are often way too far away from their mids there. You could modify a pair of standard plastic triangles from a scrappy to fit tweeters and get change from a fiver.

paul

[Simon]

Are you sure??

No I'm not sure
Someone posted on the old forum that they tried to get them from there locaal dealer and were informed that they were no longer available

Could be true-maybe not

I was taking the mickey, you must be sure you posted it 3 times!

[BadDave]

I was taking the mickey, you must be sure you posted it 3 times!

Had a little computer glitch
That's why it got posted 3 times.

[SCOTT325SE]

Gents, you can fit 16cm round speakers in the rear without needing to cut ANYTHING! I know coz the speakers in my SE are 16s in the back. No cutting required...but check mounting depth!!!

[Simon]

Gents, you can fit 16cm round speakers in the rear without needing to cut ANYTHING! I know coz the speakers in my SE are 16s in the back. No cutting required...but check mounting depth!!!

I think Chris means the parcel shelf!

[Simon]

Gents, you can fit 16cm round speakers in the rear without needing to cut ANYTHING! I know coz the speakers in my SE are 16s in the back. No cutting required...but check mounting depth!!!

I think Chris means the parcel shelf!

[billgatese30]

correct simon, parcel shelf. no cutting, just to fit where the standard crappy speakers were e when it left the factory.

[Simon]

I liked the pioneers that were in there, all adds to the standard original look...

[billgatese30]

true, standard looks are good(hence not wanting to cut anything under any circumstances) but i like to listen to my music loud occasionaly but still like to hear it clearly. hence not some grand and a half super system but something that is perfectly useable every day, reasonably loud and clear when i want, not too obvious and so it can be all put back to standard if need be. that way everybody is happy.

[SCOTT325SE]

im on about the parcel shelf! you can fit 16s in the parcel shelf with absolutely no problems AT ALL! i have a set of GTO636e in the back of my SE at the mo, and i just slid em straight in! no cutting AT ALL!

[billgatese30]

cool, did you need to use spacers(hieght) or not? as like i said, simons ex is too beautiful to go modifying and i intend to keep her as her previous owner did.

(can't wait till i get the 19" chrome spinners, the rieger body kit and the neon green iradesant paint)

[SCOTT325SE]

no mate!!! no spacers, no rings/packers/modifications! just screwwed em straight in!!! only thing u have to do is rotate the speaker about 20degrees to advoid screwwing into the metal sheft below!

[Simon]

It seems there must be different sizes of 16cm speakers around then, as I tried 3 different types and none would fit without cutting the shelf!

[Dom]

Mr. Gates, check out the ICE FAQ just added to the site

Very good!

[SCOTT325SE]

It seems there must be different sizes of 16cm speakers around then, as I tried 3 different types and none would fit without cutting the shelf!

The set i have in there are JBL ones mate. the magnet is normally the biggest problem, but mine just went straight in.