deuce42
Well-known member
Howdy
I have been through the mill with putting speakers in my car without much happiness. Am almost scarred to join an automotive audio website through fear of being told that unless I install "ABC123" speakers in my car for $10k everything else will sound rubbish. I figured you guys may have good insight.
Basically my problem is a volume issue it seems. If I turn up the volume they sound alright but at lower listening levels its awful.
So my sorry plight started with being frustrated with the stock sound system. I read on the web that alot of people hated the factory stock system of the same car model but found that the head unit was fine if the speakers were changed - and my own experience of audio usually dictates that speakers are the first point of call.
I purchased Rockford Fosgate Punch splits (6.5" mid bass drivers and 2" tweeters) for the two doors to replace the existing door splits. These speakers seemed like a good idea since the crossover was built into the driver and there wasnt much space in the doors to fit a separate crossover. The back speakers are tiny and I realised if I wanted proper bass I would need a subwoofer, but since the car is not large i figured I had no room to fit a sub and would simply have to do without a lot of bass. But how much I would do without I couldn't determine.
After about 10 hours installing the splits (yes really, those BMW doors are horrible!), I turned on the music. Zero bass whatsoever, but worse, -this very "distant" sound. Like the musicians are playing 100 feet away from your ears. The speakers are supposed to be really good and as I noted above, I had seen weblogs of people that used the same head unit in the same car but upgraded the speakers (albeit with a sub) and were thrilled with the results.
As I was driving the other night I had the windows open and turned the volume up really loud. The sound improved a lot and I have come to the realisation that the volume needs to be really loud to sound decent. It still doesn't sound great, but is much improved when cranked, almost like the speakers start moving and come alive.
Now I know that increased volume can sometimes fool people into thinking something sounds better (loundness wars in mastering etc), but i genuinely have a good set of ears and can hear that the speakers sound anemic or underpowerd when they are low.
Can anyone offer me any wisdom?
I have been through the mill with putting speakers in my car without much happiness. Am almost scarred to join an automotive audio website through fear of being told that unless I install "ABC123" speakers in my car for $10k everything else will sound rubbish. I figured you guys may have good insight.
Basically my problem is a volume issue it seems. If I turn up the volume they sound alright but at lower listening levels its awful.
So my sorry plight started with being frustrated with the stock sound system. I read on the web that alot of people hated the factory stock system of the same car model but found that the head unit was fine if the speakers were changed - and my own experience of audio usually dictates that speakers are the first point of call.
I purchased Rockford Fosgate Punch splits (6.5" mid bass drivers and 2" tweeters) for the two doors to replace the existing door splits. These speakers seemed like a good idea since the crossover was built into the driver and there wasnt much space in the doors to fit a separate crossover. The back speakers are tiny and I realised if I wanted proper bass I would need a subwoofer, but since the car is not large i figured I had no room to fit a sub and would simply have to do without a lot of bass. But how much I would do without I couldn't determine.
After about 10 hours installing the splits (yes really, those BMW doors are horrible!), I turned on the music. Zero bass whatsoever, but worse, -this very "distant" sound. Like the musicians are playing 100 feet away from your ears. The speakers are supposed to be really good and as I noted above, I had seen weblogs of people that used the same head unit in the same car but upgraded the speakers (albeit with a sub) and were thrilled with the results.
As I was driving the other night I had the windows open and turned the volume up really loud. The sound improved a lot and I have come to the realisation that the volume needs to be really loud to sound decent. It still doesn't sound great, but is much improved when cranked, almost like the speakers start moving and come alive.
Now I know that increased volume can sometimes fool people into thinking something sounds better (loundness wars in mastering etc), but i genuinely have a good set of ears and can hear that the speakers sound anemic or underpowerd when they are low.
Can anyone offer me any wisdom?