Sound System Improvement Stage One

Interesting. I just wanted to see if my simple door speaker replacement project next is going to be affected by the caps. Seems as though it won't.

I have two sets of German Maestro CS4008 speakers on order for my doors. I'll post pictures and results as I work through the install over the next week or so. I was an MB Quart guy back in the day, so these seem to fit the bill for the sound I'm after. I may also amp them with a PPI PC250.

Anyone have experience they can share on where they ran RCA cables from the dash through to the "amp compartment?" I've managed to get them to the center console, but the carpet seems to not want to lift up between the front and rear seats to give me clearance in there. If anyone has a magic solution they can lend, I'd be grateful. I'll figure it out somehow someway tomorrow when I get back at it, but if I can be armed with some further knowledge, even better!

Based on the wiring diagram the amp uses a k bus cable not an RCA cable.

http://wds.spaghetticoder.org/en/svg...69.svg?m=e8385

Originally Posted by Bufalo

Anyone have experience they can share on where they ran RCA cables from the dash through to the "amp compartment?" I've managed to get them to the center console, but the carpet seems to not want to lift up between the front and rear seats to give me clearance in there. If anyone has a magic solution they can lend, I'd be grateful. I'll figure it out somehow someway tomorrow when I get back at it, but if I can be armed with some further knowledge, even better!

Difficult but not impossible. Remove the rear seat, remove the left hand side plastic trim that is between the seat and the door including the padded part. You will see a large wiring loom going round the front of the rear seat then turn along the tunnel to the front of the car. There is enough clearance to get a pull wire from the centre console through under the carpet to where this wiring loom is. By centre console I mean pull out the storage bin only. This is how I ran my reversing camera wiring.

I ran both pairs of RCA's down the left side of the car - next to the foot scuff panels.
Very easy to remove & plenty of room!
PSUEng - The German Maestro's are an almost identical sound to the MB's - with their bright sounding titanium tweeter. They sound great up loud...

Originally Posted by deafwish

I ran both pairs of RCA's down the left side of the car - next to the foot scuff panels.
Very easy to remove & plenty of room!

PSUEng - The German Maestro's are an almost identical sound to the MB's - with their bright sounding titanium tweeter. They sound great up loud...

Yep---the rears are in and sound amazing. My wife is riding around with full rear fade b/c the fronts sound so much worse. I hope to have the fronts in today. I may amp these in the future, but after this install, I'm a bit worn out from audio work. However, my E46 M3 speakers are only marginally better than the X3 (I have the "upgraded" HK audio) and I'd love to drop a set of EFS 5008's in the doors.

A little help from a 3-foot pry bar (less violent than it sounds!) lifted the carpet enough that I could fish the RCA's through from the console to under the rear seat cushion.

So my current setup consists of a new Pioneer DEH-P9400BT head, an old MTX 4244 four channel amp, new Polk dB401 front speakers, stock subwoofers, no rear speakers. The amp runs the fronts in stereo, and the subs are wired in series (to give a 4-ohm load) and then powered by the bridged 3/4 channels of the amp. Quite happy with the results. Certainly nothing extravagant, but sounds high quality. If I ever decide it's not enough, I have enough space left in that trunk cavity for a second amp to power up some of the Earthquake drop-in-replacement subs and then would have available amp channels on the MTX to add another set of Polks in the rear doors. I ran 6-channels of RCA from the head to the trunk to future proof myself. So far my total investment is about $250, $200 for the head and $50 for the speakers, as the amp and wiring was all reused from previous cars. It's been fun to get back into car audio since I picked up the X3 in January.

How are you finding the Polks?
Their paper spec's look good.

Detailed in the midrange, not too harsh at high end, not much useful response below 100hz or so - they are only 4" speakers - and they definitely prefer to have some power behind them. They have come alive on a different amplifier compared to the OEM amp. The soundstage is now up above the dashboard and spreads the whole way across the car, instead of being centered a little left of the steering wheel, with a some other sound coming from "over there on the passenger door," which is how it was with the stock amp.

I would recommend them as a great upgrade over stock.

Great thread! Finally I've read thought everything.

Since I have the attention of some great audio professionals I have a question.

How can I gain access to my amp? I need to use a test light to check my connections. 3 months since I got the car and still no audio.

crickets...

Originally Posted by NYC05X3

crickets...

Check out my German Maestro install thread. I posted up thinking tons of people would be interested in seeing the install, but no replies. So I didn't take any pictures of the front install. I finished the job this weekend and it sounds great.

Thanks I will take a look.

Weather dependent, I can do a photo tutorial on Sunday, it's quite simple once you figure out where to start. Had me stumped for a while, too.

An update to my Alpine PXE-650 equalizer adventures.

Before and after frequency spectrum after MultiEq equalization using the 650.



To summarize: EarthQuake SWS-8X 8 inch under the seats and Alpine SPS-410 4 inch in all doors with 400 Hz crossover between the two (set in the PXE not the amp). But rear doors effectively turned off using the HU fader. Door and under seat speakers driven by Pioneer GM-D9500F 4 channel amp. "A" channel running the door SPS-410 at default gain, "B" channel running the under seat earthquake at maximum gain.
Bass boost selected in the 650 then flat midrange and top end. Might be a bit over done in bass now.

Funny, I was sooo careful in speaker polarity in the re-wiring. The PXE detected out of phase speakers during the eq sequence - sure enough the 8 inch mid-subs were out of phase. Sheesh.

Chasing a brief power on screech (at low volume so bearable) with ignition turn on. Seems a common issue with the PXE though. Not defeated yet.

That is essentially the same set up I have but added a Boston Acoustics 10 low profile for extreme lows. fun playing with that Alpine EQ once you get the software working.

Originally Posted by Evlengr

Amps and an interface are actually easier than a H/U believe me. You may want to reconsider.

An in line processor basically intersects the speaker level output of your H/U. You then take its output to an amp and from the amp back to the speakers.

Never have to change the H/U so things look all the same and steering controls remain intact with no long cables.

i know this post was from last year, but I was wondering where could I find this so called "interface", where would be the best place to go looking for one, and if you had any recommendations.

Originally Posted by murderland

i know this post was from last year, but I was wondering where could I find this so called "interface", where would be the best place to go looking for one, and if you had any recommendations.

The first link is to Crutchfield Electronics. They do a great job of explaining things in laymens terms, but are usally overpriced.

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_318850/...s.html?tp=6870

The second is Sonic Electronix. They usally have competitive pricing and are good about returns on faulty equipment or warranty issues (I buy a lot from them)

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...s.html?from=20

Recommendations would be based on level of expertise, functionality desired, sound quality, and what your ultimate goal is.

If you need more guidance after reading through this thread send me a PM and I'll try to walk you through it. May take me a little longer to respond than usual as I am in the middle of selling one house and buying another.

Good Luck

PS Crutchfield contacted me for measurements and fitment with the X3 initially as I had more experience than they had. Not boasting (well yeah I am), but have a good background on what does and doesnt work with the X3. The others here have some great ideas and advice that I have used as well. This is the best thread on stereo stuff for X3's

How is everyone running amp/processor turn on wire when using the factory head unit? I have a PPI PC250 that I'd love to use to amp these German Maestro speakers at a two ohm load, using the factory head unit.

Originally Posted by PSUEng

How is everyone running amp/processor turn on wire when using the factory head unit? I have a PPI PC250 that I'd love to use to amp these German Maestro speakers at a two ohm load, using the factory head unit.

Nope. Using the PXE-650 auto turn on. Downside is that I must use speaker level inputs - cannot use aux level input.

....

Originally Posted by Evlengr

The first link is to Crutchfield Electronics. They do a great job of explaining things in laymens terms, but are usally overpriced.

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_318850/...s.html?tp=6870

The second is Sonic Electronix. They usally have competitive pricing and are good about returns on faulty equipment or warranty issues (I buy a lot from them)

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...s.html?from=20

Recommendations would be based on level of expertise, functionality desired, sound quality, and what your ultimate goal is.

If you need more guidance after reading through this thread send me a PM and I'll try to walk you through it. May take me a little longer to respond than usual as I am in the middle of selling one house and buying another.

Good Luck

PS Crutchfield contacted me for measurements and fitment with the X3 initially as I had more experience than they had. Not boasting (well yeah I am), but have a good background on what does and doesnt work with the X3. The others here have some great ideas and advice that I have used as well. This is the best thread on stereo stuff for X3's

I know you said the inline processing unit intersect between the h/u and the amp, but whats stopping me from using it after the amp?

Good thread. Stickied.

Originally Posted by x3oiler

If you have other head unit then you need to check here:

http://wds.spaghetticoder.org/en/e83.../Sound_output/

So I'm trying to solve one of the last mysteries in my renovation of my X3's audio system. It was originally equipped with the basic "8-speaker" setup. Looking at This from SpaghettiCoder which is the diagram for E83, left-hand drive, 8-speaker system diagram, here's my question:

Which wires coming from the head unit are which? I'm trying to isolate the rear door left and right so that I can tap into the powered output from my new head unit to run the rear speakers. The abbreviations aren't clicking with complete meaning to me. Has anyone deciphered the following and can add to the thread by translating these -

RADLV + & -
RADRV + & -
RADLH + & -
RADRH + & -

I'm pretty sure I can tell the + & -'s and the L & R's. Also pretty sure RAD is "from radio." Sooo... What do the V's and H's represent, which is front and which is rear? Am I missing a German translation somewhere that makes this a face-palm'er?

Originally Posted by Bufalo

So I'm trying to solve one of the last mysteries in my renovation of my X3's audio system. It was originally equipped with the basic "8-speaker" setup. Looking at This from SpaghettiCoder which is the diagram for E83, left-hand drive, 8-speaker system diagram, here's my question:

Which wires coming from the head unit are which? I'm trying to isolate the rear door left and right so that I can tap into the powered output from my new head unit to run the rear speakers. The abbreviations aren't clicking with complete meaning to me. Has anyone deciphered the following and can add to the thread by translating these -

RADLV + & -
RADRV + & -
RADLH + & -
RADRH + & -

I'm pretty sure I can tell the + & -'s and the L & R's. Also pretty sure RAD is "from radio." Sooo... What do the V's and H's represent, which is front and which is rear? Am I missing a German translation somewhere that makes this a face-palm'er?

Try find the cable colour from the back of the head unit's plug.