ZPOST - View Single Post - My audio build

pcube · 09-26-2018, 12:55 PM

*Warning – very long read*

Today I finally completed the upgrade of my entire audio system. It's been a long journey with many hurdles I had to overcome to get it where it is now. I didn't take any pictures of the install, but just thought I would document the whole process here in case someone else decides to go down this same route and needs information.

My E86M originally came with the Top Hifi option aka 10 speaker with Carver subs, but no nav. Final outcome after upgrade is full active front 3-way, rear stage with paired coaxials, and an active sub all controlled via a DSP amp with a 9 inch screen that is capable of music and nav through Android Auto.

Phase 1. Purchased the Alpine Halo9 headunit together with an Audiotec-Fischer Match UP 7BMW amp. The shop that did the install said that this specific amp was necessary to make everything work but at this point I doubt it. It’s probably true if I had retained the stock Business CD stereo, but since I had an aftermarket HU any amp would have worked. The only benefit of this Match unit was that the harness was made to fit the X10266 connector and therefore makes the install very simple. By default, the Match amp will drive the tweeters, kick panel woofers, rear mids and front left mid (total 7 channels). The shop set it up without driving the front left mid which of course made sense. I left the shop pretty happy since I had all the functions I wanted, except I had lost my steering wheel controls… more on this later. The sound quality was improved but nothing fantastic.

Phase 2. Felt I needed more bass, so purchased the Kenwood KSC-SW11 active subwoofer. Install was quite straightforward – power and ground leads can be tapped straight from the battery area, audio signal directly via the amp as it has an aux output. Left the unit in the boot for simplicity. Not ideal, as these small active subs are really designed to fit under the seat.

Phase 3. Aftermarket speakers and this is where things got tricky especially since I wanted my front 3-way system back.
Audio Systems X100 BMW PLUS EVO which is a passive tweeter and 8cm midrange system. The passive crossovers that came with it were not used, connected the original tweeter and midrange signal wires directly to the speakers. To make the front mids work, I relocated 4 pins on the X10266 harness to take the signals that were being sent from the amp to the rear mids. The 8cm mids also came with adapters that fit nicely in the stock locations, however for the tweeters I had to do some cutting with a Dremel.
Rainbow SL-W6 woofers replaced the kickpanel speakers. For these I needed to custom-make 15mm MDF spacers, otherwise install was quite straightforward.
Rainbow DL-X6 coaxials to create a rear soundstage. These were installed where the Carver subs used to be with self-tapping screws to drill into the metal mounting plate. The wires for the rear midrange speakers (not the Carver ones which were just there) were then hooked up. At the X10266 harness, tied the L/R rear mids wires together which were previously removed and then hooked it up directly to the last channel on the amp harness. On hindsight, I only needed one of these coaxials since the rear sound stage isn't really that important.
Relocated the active sub to directly behind the driver’s seat.
Installed Connects2 CTSBM007.2 for steering wheel controls. I bought this model because the website stated that this was for BMWs with a factory amp, but it initially wouldn’t work. I had to remove that extra module it came with and then everything was good. I suspect the CTSBM004.2 would have worked just fine and is much cheaper.
New phone mount setup – Brodit Proclip paired with Scosche MagicMount Pro.

Phase 4. With all the hardware in, I moved on to tuning the speakers. Purchased the MiniDSP UMIK-1 calibrated mic and installed Room EQ wizard and Audiotec-Fischer DSP PC tool. I have to say the AF software is incredibly powerful and loaded with functions. EQ was tuned using a JBL house curve as baseline. I’ve got a whole range of house curves in .txt format so if you need them just drop me a message and I’ll email them to you.

I’m very happy with the end result. Contrary to popular belief, a good sound system can actually overcome exhaust/engine/road noise even without any soundproofing done.

Hope this was helpful, if you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading

Links to all parts:
Alpine Halo9 www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/SingleView/iLX-F903D
Match UP 7BMW http://www.audiotec-fischer.de/match...aerker/up-7bmw
Scosche fascia plate www.scosche.com/2003-up-bmw-z4-iso-kit
Kenwood KSC-SW11 www.kenwood.com/usa/car/speakers/ksc-sw11/
Audio Systems X100 BMW PLUS EVO http://www.audio-system.de/index.php...tfitsystem/bmw
Rainbow SL-W6 www.rainbow-audio.de/en/speaker/sound-line/
Rainbow DL-X6 http://www.rainbow-audio.de/en/speak...axial-speaker/
Connects2 CTSBM007.2 www.connects2.com/Product/ProductItem/CTSBM004.2
Brodit Proclip www.brodit.com/product.html?id=630530
Scosche MagicMount www.scosche.com/magicmount-pro-dash
MiniDSP UMIK-1 http://www.minidsp.com/products/acou...urement/umik-1

Useful links:
http://www.billswebspace.com/MZ4Subw...stallation.htm
www.billswebspace.com/A18%20Amplifier.htm
http://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e9...10266/HRRTpvpC

09-26-2018, 12:55 PM	#1
pcube Private First Class 58 Rep 199 Posts Drives: Z4MC, G20 320i Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Singapore iTrader: (0)	My audio build - upgraded from Top Hifi system Warning – very long read Today I finally completed the upgrade of my entire audio system. It's been a long journey with many hurdles I had to overcome to get it where it is now. I didn't take any pictures of the install, but just thought I would document the whole process here in case someone else decides to go down this same route and needs information. My E86M originally came with the Top Hifi option aka 10 speaker with Carver subs, but no nav. Final outcome after upgrade is full active front 3-way, rear stage with paired coaxials, and an active sub all controlled via a DSP amp with a 9 inch screen that is capable of music and nav through Android Auto. Phase 1. Purchased the Alpine Halo9 headunit together with an Audiotec-Fischer Match UP 7BMW amp. The shop that did the install said that this specific amp was necessary to make everything work but at this point I doubt it. It’s probably true if I had retained the stock Business CD stereo, but since I had an aftermarket HU any amp would have worked. The only benefit of this Match unit was that the harness was made to fit the X10266 connector and therefore makes the install very simple. By default, the Match amp will drive the tweeters, kick panel woofers, rear mids and front left mid (total 7 channels). The shop set it up without driving the front left mid which of course made sense. I left the shop pretty happy since I had all the functions I wanted, except I had lost my steering wheel controls… more on this later. The sound quality was improved but nothing fantastic. Phase 2. Felt I needed more bass, so purchased the Kenwood KSC-SW11 active subwoofer. Install was quite straightforward – power and ground leads can be tapped straight from the battery area, audio signal directly via the amp as it has an aux output. Left the unit in the boot for simplicity. Not ideal, as these small active subs are really designed to fit under the seat. Phase 3. Aftermarket speakers and this is where things got tricky especially since I wanted my front 3-way system back. Audio Systems X100 BMW PLUS EVO which is a passive tweeter and 8cm midrange system. The passive crossovers that came with it were not used, connected the original tweeter and midrange signal wires directly to the speakers. To make the front mids work, I relocated 4 pins on the X10266 harness to take the signals that were being sent from the amp to the rear mids. The 8cm mids also came with adapters that fit nicely in the stock locations, however for the tweeters I had to do some cutting with a Dremel. Rainbow SL-W6 woofers replaced the kickpanel speakers. For these I needed to custom-make 15mm MDF spacers, otherwise install was quite straightforward. Rainbow DL-X6 coaxials to create a rear soundstage. These were installed where the Carver subs used to be with self-tapping screws to drill into the metal mounting plate. The wires for the rear midrange speakers (not the Carver ones which were just there) were then hooked up. At the X10266 harness, tied the L/R rear mids wires together which were previously removed and then hooked it up directly to the last channel on the amp harness. On hindsight, I only needed one of these coaxials since the rear sound stage isn't really that important. Relocated the active sub to directly behind the driver’s seat. Installed Connects2 CTSBM007.2 for steering wheel controls. I bought this model because the website stated that this was for BMWs with a factory amp, but it initially wouldn’t work. I had to remove that extra module it came with and then everything was good. I suspect the CTSBM004.2 would have worked just fine and is much cheaper. New phone mount setup – Brodit Proclip paired with Scosche MagicMount Pro. Phase 4. With all the hardware in, I moved on to tuning the speakers. Purchased the MiniDSP UMIK-1 calibrated mic and installed Room EQ wizard and Audiotec-Fischer DSP PC tool. I have to say the AF software is incredibly powerful and loaded with functions. EQ was tuned using a JBL house curve as baseline. I’ve got a whole range of house curves in .txt format so if you need them just drop me a message and I’ll email them to you. I’m very happy with the end result. Contrary to popular belief, a good sound system can actually overcome exhaust/engine/road noise even without any soundproofing done. Hope this was helpful, if you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading Links to all parts: Alpine Halo9 www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/SingleView/iLX-F903D Match UP 7BMW http://www.audiotec-fischer.de/match...aerker/up-7bmw Scosche fascia plate www.scosche.com/2003-up-bmw-z4-iso-kit Kenwood KSC-SW11 www.kenwood.com/usa/car/speakers/ksc-sw11/ Audio Systems X100 BMW PLUS EVO http://www.audio-system.de/index.php...tfitsystem/bmw Rainbow SL-W6 www.rainbow-audio.de/en/speaker/sound-line/ Rainbow DL-X6 http://www.rainbow-audio.de/en/speak...axial-speaker/ Connects2 CTSBM007.2 www.connects2.com/Product/ProductItem/CTSBM004.2 Brodit Proclip www.brodit.com/product.html?id=630530 Scosche MagicMount www.scosche.com/magicmount-pro-dash MiniDSP UMIK-1 http://www.minidsp.com/products/acou...urement/umik-1 Useful links: http://www.billswebspace.com/MZ4Subw...stallation.htm www.billswebspace.com/A18%20Amplifier.htm http://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e9...10266/HRRTpvpC Attached Images Last edited by pcube; 10-06-2018 at 11:41 PM..
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