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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

2003 - 2009, roadster, coupe, facelift
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Magicarcher
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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

Post by Magicarcher » Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:34 pm

Ferglar wrote: Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:36 pm What are 6" drivers or what do I look for on Google? Are they 6" subs?
I went for Reckhorn D-165 which are 6.5" sub woofer drivers that work well in small enclosure. On paper in a 6L sealed enclosure the -6dB frequency is 50hz with a correctly designed port they can go down to around 35hz. They are around £30 a piece, I haven't installed them yet, but from a construction perspective it looks like very well engineered German engineering.

In lots of ways I had the same dilemma as you I wanted to improve the sound of the Z4 without it costing the earth (the law of diminishing returns applies on a Z4 IMHO). A key decision is what you want from the cubby box speaker. I decided that I did not want a full range speaker for two reasons: I don't like audio coming from behind my ears i like ideally two point sources in front; any mid to high range frequencies from the cubby box behind the drivers seat are unlikely to reach your ears, the seat will block them, but you will hear the one behind the passengers seat. I don't like such a soundstage.

So my requirements were simple i only wanted a sub woofer in the cubby box. Like yourself I was also interested in fitting a 6x9 speaker (I also looked at 7x5 and 10x7) but when I did the maths on the speaker parameters I could not find one that would give sufficient bass (thats not to say they don't exist, I just couldn't find one). I found many 6-6.5" sub drivers with a good calculated bass for a 6L enclosure (I even found some 4" that worked well theoretically and considered doubling up). I settled on the Reckhorn because it comes from a manufacturer with a good reputation for quality audio and it was much cheaper than the competitors.

It is unlikely I will get them fitted soon because I need to do a lot of work on my garage, but hopefully by spring i will have them installed and can give some feedback.
Z4 3.0L 2005. Titan Silver. Audio Upgrade Second Stereo Pioneer X8700DAB, Sony Xplode 4 x 70W Amp, 6.5" Reckhorn Subs in rear cubby, Focal AS165-3 in fronts.

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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

Post by Ferglar » Sat Oct 21, 2017 3:00 pm

Magicarcher wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:34 pm
Ferglar wrote: Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:36 pm What are 6" drivers or what do I look for on Google? Are they 6" subs?
I went for Reckhorn D-165 which are 6.5" sub woofer drivers that work well in small enclosure. On paper in a 6L sealed enclosure the -6dB frequency is 50hz with a correctly designed port they can go down to around 35hz. They are around £30 a piece, I haven't installed them yet, but from a construction perspective it looks like very well engineered German engineering.

In lots of ways I had the same dilemma as you I wanted to improve the sound of the Z4 without it costing the earth (the law of diminishing returns applies on a Z4 IMHO). A key decision is what you want from the cubby box speaker. I decided that I did not want a full range speaker for two reasons: I don't like audio coming from behind my ears i like ideally two point sources in front; any mid to high range frequencies from the cubby box behind the drivers seat are unlikely to reach your ears, the seat will block them, but you will hear the one behind the passengers seat. I don't like such a soundstage.

So my requirements were simple i only wanted a sub woofer in the cubby box. Like yourself I was also interested in fitting a 6x9 speaker (I also looked at 7x5 and 10x7) but when I did the maths on the speaker parameters I could not find one that would give sufficient bass (thats not to say they don't exist, I just couldn't find one). I found many 6-6.5" sub drivers with a good calculated bass for a 6L enclosure (I even found some 4" that worked well theoretically and considered doubling up). I settled on the Reckhorn because it comes from a manufacturer with a good reputation for quality audio and it was much cheaper than the competitors.

It is unlikely I will get them fitted soon because I need to do a lot of work on my garage, but hopefully by spring i will have them installed and can give some feedback.
Thanks for the advice!

I've just received my pioneer GM D1004 amp and it's certainly compact! And even better it runs completely off the stereo wiring! Power and speakers. It even tucks under the stereo mount.

Just got to order a quad lock to iso adapter and I'll be able to test!

Ended up ordering some focal 6x9's but still not sure how they'll sound!

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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

Post by Ferglar » Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:25 pm

ph001 wrote: Wed Oct 18, 2017 2:22 pm You're welcome :thumbsup:
Little update!

I've received the little pioneer amp today (gm d1004) and it turns out it runs completely off the head unit. It gets its power and supplies all the speakers in the car. No power/ground cables needed at all! Can't install to check just yet as I need to get a quad lock adaptor but looks promising!

It even fits in the dash just below the stereo so if it delivers some sound wise it could be perfect!

This leads to my problem though. I was going to follow your advice and just run the new rear 6x9's but now I'm powering the whole lot.

The amp has a few settings and I wanted to know what you'd recommend. I have separate switches for front and rear (lpf and hpf or off) and I'm assuming it'll be set to 4 channel as apposed to 2?

Any help would be great!

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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

Post by Magicarcher » Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:17 pm

Ferglar wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:25 pm The amp has a few settings and I wanted to know what you'd recommend. I have separate switches for front and rear (lpf and hpf or off) and I'm assuming it'll be set to 4 channel as apposed to 2?
If you wish to drive 4 channels you will use 4 channel, if you just want to drive 2 channels for example for the rear subs only, you will select two channels. this will normally bridge two amplifiers to give twice the power output into each channel.

the LPF and HPF refer to low pass filter and high pass filter. Generally these are used if you are choosing to drive a dedicated subwoofer. If LPF mode is selected it will only pass frequencies below its designed threshold (usually in the range 80hz to 120hz) everything above the threshold will be filtered out. for a HPF everything above the same threshold will be passed and everything below will be filtered out. These switches are only really applicable if you are driving a sub woofer and are designed so that if you have additional speakers in the car with a low frequency response (say 50hz) they don't cause an undesireable peak in bass response due to frequency overlap with the sub woofer.

If you are driving full range speakers you should set these to off.
Z4 3.0L 2005. Titan Silver. Audio Upgrade Second Stereo Pioneer X8700DAB, Sony Xplode 4 x 70W Amp, 6.5" Reckhorn Subs in rear cubby, Focal AS165-3 in fronts.

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Adding compact Amp to Base Stereo set up HELP

Post by Ferglar » Wed Nov 01, 2017 2:01 pm

Magicarcher wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:17 pm
Ferglar wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:25 pm The amp has a few settings and I wanted to know what you'd recommend. I have separate switches for front and rear (lpf and hpf or off) and I'm assuming it'll be set to 4 channel as apposed to 2?
If you wish to drive 4 channels you will use 4 channel, if you just want to drive 2 channels for example for the rear subs only, you will select two channels. this will normally bridge two amplifiers to give twice the power output into each channel.

the LPF and HPF refer to low pass filter and high pass filter. Generally these are used if you are choosing to drive a dedicated subwoofer. If LPF mode is selected it will only pass frequencies below its designed threshold (usually in the range 80hz to 120hz) everything above the threshold will be filtered out. for a HPF everything above the same threshold will be passed and everything below will be filtered out. These switches are only really applicable if you are driving a sub woofer and are designed so that if you have additional speakers in the car with a low frequency response (say 50hz) they don't cause an undesireable peak in bass response due to frequency overlap with the sub woofer.

If you are driving full range speakers you should set these to off.
Thanks for that!

After trying to get the pioneer amp to work and finding that it just freaks the bmw head unit out (disabled)! I've had to go for the aftermarket route!

Installed a pioneer stereo and managed to get my kenwood underseat subwoofer under the passenger seat (less first aid kit).

That combined with the new door speakers and focal 6x9's in the cubby holes has created a great system! Really pleased with the end result!

Thanks again for those who've helped along the way!!

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