addin amp to stock HU

[karate70]

to all sifus out there... i m not into serious ice but would like to play my music loud. i hv a 2 channel amp sittin at home n would like to add into my ride without changin the HU (do i need anything to plug my amp). would appreciate if someone can advise me wat else i need to add (component speakers etc), where the best place to go as my normal accessories shop does not know much bout bmw hence hv no confidence in him.... and also estimated cost. thx in advance

 

[tkew]

ice ice baby, wah new ice coming install the amp at the back with 2 set of component speaker set, front & rear. ori speaker too small for amp power. Got budget can add in a sub, can start to disco in car....
want cheap component speaker look in lelong.com. some good bargain there for sale... installer look for KK Lau quite good workmanship, near mayang.

For me i prefer rockford or soundstream or kicker.......

 

[ylkhor]

karate bro, my car has a budget system ...component front, 2-way 6.5' mid-bass rear, running a 4 channel amp with stock HU.

I started with front, after one year change the rear to mid-bass speakers, slight improvement on bass ...then 2 weeks later boost them with an amp ...now the bass is there!! If wan more bass, as wat tkew said add a sub

I think i had two RCA converters to the HU also.

Cost:
1. front OZ 5' component rm550
2. rear Boschmann ALX662-Giga 2-way rm350
3. amp Caliber 80rmsx4ch rm750
4. plus some miscellaneous, cables, labor, etc ...all in should be under 2k.

Yes indeed you need installer that has experience with bimmer, as there's too many electronics in E46. I had a slight 'aeroplane' noise at first, the installer got rid of it after finding a grounding wire exposed.

I should be at this friday TT and you can check out my car.

k:

 

[karate70]

thx tkew n ylkhor... would love to c ur set up... all the speakers u mentioned did not need any cuttin to enlarge the holes to hold the speakers?

cheers

 

[ylkhor]

nope... no cutting, just extra drilling to screw on a wood panel ...minor stuff

 

[Ade]

Who's the installer? Can PM me place and number? Wanted to fit my Alpine 6.5" component set..guess if cannot fit..maybe can look for alternative with the installer...

 

[Vanquish]

Originally posted by tkew@Jul 4 2006, 03:16 PM

want cheap component speaker look in lelong.com. some good bargain there for sale...

Fellas,

A word of caution about buying stuff from Lelong ... especially those online stores promising unbelievable pricing on premium brands. I can safely tell you that almost all of them (sans one or two) there are selling fakes or smuggled stuff and there are people who bought them only to realise that they've been cheated. From DLS and MB Quart comps to JL Audio subs ... my only advise will be "Buyer Beware"! You get what you pay for so do think twice before parting with your cash.

If you're on a budget, you can look at some pre-owned stuff from reputable installers like KF, Klasse, Sound Quest or KK Lau etc and also the online ICE Forums. Better to get it from reputable sources than to regret later.

Ade, from what I've seen - most 6 inch mids will NOT fit into the stock door location due to its rather shallow construction. A few of neo-magnet 6 inch drivers with slim mounting depth might ( I can't say for sure ) but the rest will need some work or you need to look at 5 1/2 inch mids to maintain the stock look.

Cheers,

 

[ylkhor]

Ade, your 6.5" is for front or rear? If front, what vanquish said is true. The depth can't fit the front doors. Sorry i mis-lead, i just checked my OZ box, is a 5' not 6'. Editted my above post...

 

[wan520i]

I had a slight 'aeroplane' noise at first, the installer got rid of it after finding a grounding wire exposed.

Can I know which grounding wire were exposed? from Cd player? from amp? :dunno:

I have a invisible aeroplane in my car currently..

Thanks..

 

[ylkhor]

wire from the amp bro...

 

[tkew]

ylkhor just to reconfirm both the front and rear is on 6.5 right not 5.25.....right ??? coz i have old stuff to add also lah

 

[vinson]

Karate,

I just did up my ICE 2 days ago. If you have a 2 channel amp, you can use it to power up a woofer as our standard car does not have much bass. Well, I added the following:

3 amps (2 x 4 Channel, 1 x 2 Channel)
1 pair of American Sound tweeters
1 12 inch Kenwood sub at the boot
Changed all my original speakers to MB

So far so good. I just did this at OURs Auto Accessory. It is located in Taman Megah facing the LDP. Prices are reasonable and workmanship is good. :yahoo:

 

[ylkhor]

Originally posted by tkew@Jul 5 2006, 10:33 AM
ylkhor just to reconfirm both the front and rear is on 6.5 right not 5.25.....right ??? coz i have old stuff to add also lah

bro, my front was 5" and rear 6.5".

Front can't fit 6" unless u can find those slim magnets, but i think quite costly. Good luck

 

[ylkhor]

Originally posted by vinson@Jul 5 2006, 12:15 PM
Karate,

I just did up my ICE 2 days ago. If you have a 2 channel amp, you can use it to power up a woofer as our standard car does not have much bass. Well, I added the following:

3 amps (2 x 4 Channel, 1 x 2 Channel)
1 pair of American Sound tweeters
1 12 inch Kenwood sub at the boot
Changed all my original speakers to MB

So far so good. I just did this at OURs Auto Accessory. It is located in Taman Megah facing the LDP. Prices are reasonable and workmanship is good. :yahoo:

vinson, haha ...need to listen to your sub, not scare the boot clips longgar ah ...just joking...

u add 3 amps??
i guess your 2 channel amp is bridged to drive the sub.
and you got two 4ch amp ...total 8 channels, you put 8 pair of speakers ah? wah liu...

 

[tkew]

good man can have spl competition this friday hahaha...

vinson,
what size u put on your front and rear, sub got box or just free mounting... coz i got some old stuff thinking of putting also ..thanks

 

[vinson]

Dudes...dudes...

This was adviced by my accessory chap. Use the 2 channel to power the sub,4 Channel for all the mids, and 4 channels for all the tweeters. This allows me to get a good balance...thats what he says.

tkew,
My front and rear mids are still standard size. Just look for the slim speakers. I was a little bit afraid to drill any holes to fit bigger speakers..so, I got those slim speakers. My sub is in a box.

ylkhor,
I am not so much an ICE enthusiast. The person to check with is jas81. He was the one racunning me about ICE.

 

[Vanquish]

Vinson bro,

I'm a little curious .... hope you don't mind the question. You have a total of 10 channels of amplification there with 2 x 4 channel amps and 1 x 2 channel amp. The 2 channel is dedicated to the subbie in bridged mode so that's fine. That leaves us with 2 x 4 channel amps ....

But why on earth would the shop ask you to go with 8 channels of amplification for 4 mids + 4 tweets unless you're running em active ? Also, if you changed all your speakers to MB ( I'm assuming these are MB Quarts ) what is the American Sound tweeters doing there in the 1st place ? Doesn't the 2 pairs of MB come with supplied tweets (if they are comp. set) or built in ones (if they are co-axials)? Seems like a bit of an overkill to me .... you're running these off the stock HU, I assume ?

Thanks,

 

[yoke]

Yeap Van, was about to ask him the same question. Me thinking, he's on active... 4 inch three way?? Might want to shed some light on the full set-up.. i.e crossover etc

 

[vinson]

Vinson bro,

I'm a little curious .... hope you don't mind the question. You have a total of 10 channels of amplification there with 2 x 4 channel amps and 1 x 2 channel amp. The 2 channel is dedicated to the subbie in bridged mode so that's fine. That leaves us with 2 x 4 channel amps ....

But why on earth would the shop ask you to go with 8 channels of amplification for 4 mids + 4 tweets unless you're running em active ? Also, if you changed all your speakers to MB ( I'm assuming these are MB Quarts ) what is the American Sound tweeters doing there in the 1st place ? Doesn't the 2 pairs of MB come with supplied tweets (if they are comp. set) or built in ones (if they are co-axials)? Seems like a bit of an overkill to me .... you're running these off the stock HU, I assume ?

Thanks,

Well vanquish...you were right. I was trying to safe my old amps from going into the bin. Finally I bin the old amps as they were not powerful enough. The shop initially did ask me to bin my old 4 Channel Amp...but I was unwilling. Furthermore, I was unwilling to bin my old American Sound tweeters (which of course is now transfered to another car). Penny wise pound foolish. The latest set up as of today are as follows:

1 x 2 Channel 600W American Sound Amp (for woofer)
1 x 4 Channel 550W Kenwood Amp (for the rest of the speakers)
4 x MB Quart Speakers
2 x MB Quart Tweeters (the other set goes to the other car)
1 x 12" Kenwood sub

Hope that it makes more sense now. BTW they are a comp set MB Quarts.

The set up is still not completed yet. Still in progress.

Yoke,

The Kenwood amp comes with electronic crossovers. So I am using those. Not the best I know...but I am still trying it out.