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      07-05-2018, 10:54 PM   #1
pcube
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Aftermarket HU: speaker and DSP bypass help

I'm currently figuring out my options to overhaul my stock sound system and need some help. I'm a noob when it comes to car audio but have been doing my best to research. Been reading through many threads and am a little confused now...

Background: car is a Z4M coupe with DSP but no nav (business cd).

Basic plan is to hook up a pair of comps (tweeter and mid) in the doors. I'm undecided on what to do with the remaining two channels on the HU. One option is to replace the carver subs with 16cm woofers, or to replace the speaker above that with 10cm coaxials. I feel like going with the woofers would be better to cover a larger range of sound?

With this current set up, can I completely remove the stock DSP amp? Or does the amp serve other functions besides providing signals to the speakers? I looked at the wiring diagram and there are pins for muting etc but shouldn't the new HU be able to handle this without the stock amp?

If the amp has to stay, then do I pull new wires out from the HU to connect the speakers, or do I join the correct wires from the input and output harnesses on the amp then use the original wires to hook up the speakers?

Lastly, if I eventually decide to add an amp+sub, am I supposed to splice wires from the DSP amp or do I hook the new set up directly to my HU?
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      07-19-2018, 09:08 AM   #2
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Hi, I'll jump in here since I see no replies. A Z4 with anything beyond the basic audio system is challenging. Reason being is that you have to keep the OEM amplifier. The head units in the systems send a line level signal to the OEM amp and then instructs the amp via a digital link to increase or decrease the volume level. Beautiful. Since you don't have navigation I would strongly recommend replacing the head unit and everything beyond. The sound quality and depth you'll get by inserting a new amplifier into the equation is well worth it. On the speaker front, don't overlook putting something in the kick panels. There is tons of room in there to put a deep driver in there that'll give you great mid-bass.
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      07-20-2018, 11:40 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elerner61 View Post
Hi, I'll jump in here since I see no replies. A Z4 with anything beyond the basic audio system is challenging. Reason being is that you have to keep the OEM amplifier. The head units in the systems send a line level signal to the OEM amp and then instructs the amp via a digital link to increase or decrease the volume level. Beautiful. Since you don't have navigation I would strongly recommend replacing the head unit and everything beyond. The sound quality and depth you'll get by inserting a new amplifier into the equation is well worth it. On the speaker front, don't overlook putting something in the kick panels. There is tons of room in there to put a deep driver in there that'll give you great mid-bass.
Thanks for the reply. My local shop had an audiotec-fisher amp that was a plug and play replacement for the stock DSP amp so I went with that instead. All stock wiring and speakers untouched, the only issue is that the 10cm door speakers no longer function since the new amp has only 8 channels. I suppose this can be easily solved by hooking up a passive crossover, but will wait till I upgrade the speakers. For now I'm pretty happy with the much improved sound quality.
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