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      10-07-2008, 08:35 AM   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Technic View Post
I don't think that you need to discard that quickly the THA555, just ask Blaupunkt about the topology of inputs (balanced/differential, un-balanced) that it support. I think that it will, but I'm just not sure 100%.

The Alpine PDX-5, the JL Audio G6600 and the Zapco DC650.6 are options, but they are quite expensive.

That Planet Audio amp doesn't specify what topology of inputs it support, neither.
Okay, I will check with my local blaupunkt dealer on the 555. The reason why I initially considered the Blaupunkt was that I hoped I was able to use the plugin harness to connect it in the luggage compartment to the connector that is now hooked to the factory amplifier. That had been ideal, but unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. So if I have to cut cables either way, I might as well consider other amplifiers as well. I'll check about the Blaupunkt as well as other possible options, and update this thread with my findings.
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      10-07-2008, 08:37 AM   #46
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hybris View Post
Okay, I will check with my local blaupunkt dealer on the 555. The reason why I initially considered the Blaupunkt was that I hoped I was able to use the plugin harness to connect it in the luggage compartment to the connector that is now hooked to the factory amplifier. That had been ideal, but unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. So if I have to cut cables either way, I might as well consider other amplifiers as well. I'll check about the Blaupunkt as well as other possible options, and update this thread with my findings.
Re-read my last answer for more options... you will be cutting wires anyway unless you are planning to rewire your whole sound system.
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      10-08-2008, 06:30 AM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Technic View Post
I think that you can "fix" that 4" weakness with the EQS.
Yep - more tweaking

An audio frequency analyzer would really come in handy about now.
A decent mic + laptop + software would do the trick - I wonder if sw exists ...

I upped the gain on the lower frequencies for the front and rear a few db's and it helped to warm the sound. I also had to reduce the upper freq's on the sub channel because it was clipping the under seat subs. I've rolled off the high-mid's almost completely and brought up the highest freq on the EQS. The tweeters are not getting swamped now but I still consider them to be lacking.

At this point I have shaping control and I am compensating for the factory speakers. I will consider the bsw stage 1 speaker upgrade for the next step.
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      10-09-2008, 03:23 PM   #48
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Originally Posted by Technic View Post
Re-read my last answer for more options... you will be cutting wires anyway unless you are planning to rewire your whole sound system.
I've now ordered the Kicker ZX700.5.

It has 5 channels including a Class D amplified subwoofer channel, differential inputs and also a preout if I need an additional amplifier for a separate subwoofer later on

Hopefully this combined with the SWS-8 woofers I've ordered will scare some life into the sound system

Also on a sidenote: I peeked under my seats today, and my sub enclosure appear to be ported towards the rear / back seat, not toward the side, so hopefully I won't get the sideskirt rattle problem (My car is german / european spec).
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      10-10-2008, 06:57 AM   #49
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Originally Posted by hybris View Post
Hopefully this combined with the SWS-8 woofers I've ordered will scare some life into the sound system
It should - please post the results. I will be ordering sws woofers also.
I think I cooked one of my factory subs by driving them with lower frequencies from the EQS.
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      10-13-2008, 04:34 PM   #50
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Update -

I haven't replaced the seat "subs" yet but lowered all freqs 60hz and below and I am just using them to augment the 4" drivers for bass. At least the seat subs are not making protest noises. (one is weaker than the other). I still plan to replace them. After hitting them with a puny 45 watts and lower frequencies they stand out as the weak link.

I decided to install my Infinity Basslink in the trunk (left over from my e36) and it helps. The crossover on the basslink is at the default. No point in filling the trunk with 100+ hz bass I can't hear.

Current Setup:

From the [STOCK HU] :

Front Out --Y-> [EQS FRONT IN] - [EQS FRONT OUT] -> [Alpine 3527V chan1/2] -> Door Speakers
Front Out --Y-> [EQS SUB IN] - [EQS SUB OUT] -> [Alpine MRP T306 chan1/2] -> Seat Subs

Rear Out --Y-> [EQS REAR IN] - [EQS REAR OUT] -> [Alpine 3527V chan3/4] -> Deck Speakers
Rear Out --Y-> [BASSLINK IN]

Last edited by fdiprete; 10-13-2008 at 04:58 PM..
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      10-18-2008, 10:23 AM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fdiprete View Post
It should - please post the results. I will be ordering sws woofers also.
I think I cooked one of my factory subs by driving them with lower frequencies from the EQS.
Installed the Kicker amplifier now, haven't got the SWS8 speakers yet. But the amplifier alone certainly kicked some life into the speakers. Lots of bass, since I can now change the volume of the bass channel (the speakers under the seats) independently from the rest of the speakers.

It's so good that I'm a bit uncertain wether the SWS-8s will be installed at all, but only listened at stand-still so far, will take the car for a spin tomorrow (too hung over at the moment )

Only problem is that I have some background hiss/whine, and for some odd reason it seems to come from the speakers under the seat. I've changed both the cables and contacts (all cables are connected to the original wires for the bmw amplifier), but didn't help.

As long as the amplifier is on, the sound is present. It does not change with rpm, and the volume of the noise is the same regardless of gain settings..

The amplifier has RCA inputs even for the fifth (subwoofer) channel, but I don't use these (the amplifier sends output to this channel even though only input channel 1 through 4 is connected). So I'm wondering if this can have anything to do with it. I tried connecting terminated/dead end RCA plugs in the inputs for the subwoofer channel, but that didn't make any difference.
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      10-19-2008, 07:52 AM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hybris View Post
Only problem is that I have some background hiss/whine, and for some odd reason it seems to come from the speakers under the seat. I've changed both the cables and contacts (all cables are connected to the original wires for the bmw amplifier), but didn't help.

As long as the amplifier is on, the sound is present. It does not change with rpm, and the volume of the noise is the same regardless of gain settings..
I had a very similar problem running the hifi diff outputs into an EQS.
Slight hiss and whine that did not change with rpm.

I solved the problem by:
1) using rca Y cables to go from the front outs into the SUB input of the EQS
2) rolling down the input gain on the EQS
3) adjusting the output gain.

High input sensitivity caused noise problems for me.
(see text in my previous post)

Result is damn near silence.

I checked the manual on your kicker amp and it has rca inputs for the sub channel and adjustments for in/out gain. I'd try using a Y adapter to use the sub inputs and make adjustments. It should not make a difference but in my case it did. Having signal on that input was different than using the internal channel bonding.

- but -

If you are using channel 5 to drive both seat subs then they must be wired in parallel ? That would be bad. The stock subs are 2 ohms and wired in parallel they would have a total impedance of 1 ohm. yikes! They won't last long.
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      10-19-2008, 01:05 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fdiprete View Post
I had a very similar problem running the hifi diff outputs into an EQS.
Slight hiss and whine that did not change with rpm.

I solved the problem by:
1) using rca Y cables to go from the front outs into the SUB input of the EQS
2) rolling down the input gain on the EQS
3) adjusting the output gain.

High input sensitivity caused noise problems for me.
(see text in my previous post)

Result is damn near silence.

I checked the manual on your kicker amp and it has rca inputs for the sub channel and adjustments for in/out gain. I'd try using a Y adapter to use the sub inputs and make adjustments. It should not make a difference but in my case it did. Having signal on that input was different than using the internal channel bonding.

- but -

If you are using channel 5 to drive both seat subs then they must be wired in parallel ? That would be bad. The stock subs are 2 ohms and wired in parallel they would have a total impedance of 1 ohm. yikes! They won't last long.
Yep, I will give the Y adapter a try. After moving my amplifier I now also have the traditional whine that follow the RPM. I'll move it again as soon as I have time.

Yeah, I guess the original speakers are running at 1ohms now, probably not ideal for the speakers or the amplifier. Wonder if that could cause the sound somehow. But I'm not playing very loud - hopefully my pair of SWS-8 will arrive soon.
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      10-20-2008, 07:01 AM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hybris View Post
Yeah, I guess the original speakers are running at 1ohms now, probably not ideal for the speakers or the amplifier. Wonder if that could cause the sound somehow. But I'm not playing very loud - hopefully my pair of SWS-8 will arrive soon.
That amp is driving a 1 ohm impedance load which it is not designed to do.
If it's not exclusively causing the problem it is at least making it hard to isolate the cause.

A much lower load on an amplifier circuit changes the bias characteristics is a very big way. All bets are off

http://www.tpub.com/neets/book7/25c.htm

When you get that changed out, check your ground connection for the amp. I am using the grounding block above the wheel well. There is one on both sides of the trunk. It has a bunch of brown wires attached to it.
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      10-21-2008, 02:04 PM   #55
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Moved and fitted the amplifier properly, and it seems like the attentuator whine vanished. I'm using the grounding bracket on the left side.

Also I disconnected one of the speakers under the seats so the load is back to 2 ohms I guess that'll have to do until the SWS-8 pair arrives. Got some permanent whine/hiss (can only hear it when there's no music), I'll look more into that and will try to split the front signal so I can input it into the fifth input channel on the amplifier when the new speakers arrive.

Here is what it looks like so far



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      11-02-2008, 09:44 AM   #56
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install so far (show us yer trunk)

Trunk install done.
EQS, amps, wiring, and basslink.

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      11-06-2008, 07:11 AM   #57
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wiring diagram

How I wired it up:

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      11-06-2008, 07:13 AM   #58
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Excellent!
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      11-06-2008, 05:01 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Technic View Post
Excellent!
Thanks again for your help - big time.
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      11-16-2008, 03:12 PM   #60
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Talking SWS8 in place

Finally got around to mounting the speakers - very happy with the result.

After a bit of experimenting I ended up stuffing the enclosures almost ending up with a closed enclosure (or to be more specific, similar to putting a foam plug in a ported loudspeaker). This gave the best and cleanest bass, although sacrificed a little bit of the deepest frequencies.

The sound is now powerful and clean with plenty of bass, working extremely well on rock tunes, but also good for general pop/rnb/dance music.

Also wanted to note that I've actually turned down both treble and bass to negative settings to help the midrange appear. I think I'm running treble at -2 and bass at -3 (helps the main speakers focus on other things but bass, and I can control the basslevel freely from the external amplifier by adjusting gain on the subchannel). I find this works very well.

After these adjustments combined with the new amplifier and SWS-speakers the total sound experience is now far superior to the original hifi sound system.

Just thought I'd share it to give people some alternative ideas. A few pics of the enclosures:



(note that the hole for the original cable socket was stuffed extremely tight with foam after mounting the speaker to ensure that air don't go through there, but mainly escapes through the original port)


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      11-16-2008, 04:44 PM   #61
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Great job! Do you think it's better that foam inside the enclosure or Dynamat as many people has done?
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      11-17-2008, 08:37 AM   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scampos1984 View Post
Great job! Do you think it's better that foam inside the enclosure or Dynamat as many people has done?
Well, hard to say as I haven't tried dynamat.

The original enclosure with the quite large port doesn't look all that scientific to me (that port is probably not matched and tuned to the original speaker, and certainly not to the aftermarket SWS-8).

So my approach was that heavy damping and basically closing up the enclosure would give cleaner and less boomy sound - which appeared to work out well.
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      11-20-2008, 02:08 PM   #63
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Thanks !

Quote:
Originally Posted by hybris View Post
Well, hard to say as I haven't tried dynamat.

The original enclosure with the quite large port doesn't look all that scientific to me (that port is probably not matched and tuned to the original speaker, and certainly not to the aftermarket SWS-8).

So my approach was that heavy damping and basically closing up the enclosure would give cleaner and less boomy sound - which appeared to work out well.
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      11-24-2008, 10:49 AM   #64
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Hey guys, what do you think of the 2-ohm SWS 8" ?? I know most people run the 4ohm version because that was what was available but i have source the 2-ohm version that matched the 2-ohms on the factory amp. I'm just looking to get more and cleaner bass. will this be enough? i dont turn up my bass TOO loud, i like it smooth and stealty

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-EARTHQUAKE-S...QQcmdZViewItem

what do you think?
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      11-28-2008, 08:31 PM   #65
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I an also thinking of using the 2ohm version.
My 2 channel amp doesn't have the power to do the 4 ohm version justice.
It's also compatible with the factory amp at 2 ohms so easier to revert ...
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      04-20-2009, 07:00 PM   #66
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2009 335i  [0.00]
EQS

Hello everyone, I'm reviving this old thread. I have a 335i sedan with hi-fi non-logic system. Recently I did an upgrade to the stereo system. It consist of: HU-OEM ==> SVENR==>4-band EQ ==> alpine pdx-5. It move two components at the front doors (Focal 100KP), two coaxial at the rear (Focal cvx) and a subwoofer at the trunk (earthquake).

It is possible to connect the OEM HU outputs directly to the EQS speaker level inputs? See picture bellow. I want to remove the 4band EQ which help tweak the sound quality but it could be better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Technic View Post
I think that you can "fix" that 4" weakness with the EQS.

IMO, the basic configuration of the E9x OEM sound system is pretty good: two 8" woofers centrally located providing the bass and several satellite components all around the car providing the rest. My problem with this setup is the crossover points; the 4" drivers are asked to reproduce bass that simply is too much for the driver size.

I think that a dedicated -at least a 10"- subwoofer in the trunk has to be added to this configuration to fix this issue of the 4" trying to reproduce what physically is not that effective. The sub can take care of anything below 100Hz, the underseat woofers can be set from 50Hz to 300Hz, the 4" from 250Hz to 3KHz and the tweeters above 3KHz. This way the 4" will do what it is supposed to do, voices and the upper range, and the bulk of the sub/bass/midbass will be in bigger, more powerful drivers.

I have the same issue with the Individual Audio in my E90 M3; I had no other choice but to get it with the M3 that I wanted. To be an OEM system it is simply impressive, but that is like saying that it is a great looking tranvestite (sorry for the visual). The amount of DSP (time alignment, cancellation, EQ) that the OEM amp does with the audio is just too damn much, the bass is strong but the midbass and voices are muddy, artificial. The speaker are supposed to be aftermarket-grade, but the crossover points and that DSP are killing the underlying great setup here.

Thanks for the connector idea, I was ready to get a used OEM amp and get the connector from there.
It will be enough with the EQS and the pdx-5 to do this configuration?
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