[Montaver]

I have owned G20's with both the stock Hi-Fi and the Harmon Kardon - neither are impressive. The Hi-Fi is very thin sounding and lacks any energy, the HK similarly sounds more energetic but it's quite muffled and has a dull and unmusical tone that's not especially engaging particularly at higher volumes. The HK can be slightly improved through EQ but it doesn't change the fact the speaker hardware itself is low end. Once removed from the car it's very apparent they are budget speakers. For some the tweaked EQ is probably enough, and that's fine. It wasn't for me though, if you feel the same then read on.

Hardware -

Morel IP-BMW42 in Front + Rear Doors (they also sell a significantly more expensive Morel IR-BMW42)
Morel IP-BMW4C in the rear deck
Bavsound V3 Ghost Subs

Note on hardware - I also tried the Focal IS BMW 100L. They have a very punchy mid-range (slightly weightier than the Morels) but even with the crossover at -3db the tweeters sounded a touch sharp for me. The Focals have a very neutral, almost reference like tone. The Morels are slightly warmer with much softer tweeters. I also think the crossover on the Morels is a slightly lower frequency (2700) so the tweeters are doing a bit more of the work. In an ideal world I would take the mid-range and crossover from the Focals, with the tweeter from the Morel. Ultimately you cant go wrong with either. The Morel comes exceptionally well presented in a box with tools, install manuals, different mounts etc. The Focal is more bare bones.

Sound stage - Unplug the center speaker on the dash. This costs nothing and takes 5 minutes- it transforms the way the sound sound is presented. The center speaker effectively ruins the imaging of the door speakers and makes everything sound like a big incoherent wall of sound. The only downside is you are not positioned in the center of the L/R channels, but frankly even offset it sounds better to my ear. You can plug and unplug while listening and you will see what I mean. Before you do anything, try this. If you prefer it plugged in, you will want to purchase a center speaker as well.

Stage 1 - Replacing the front door mids and tweeters. This is absolutely transformational for the overall sound. The midrange is punchy and full of life, the top end is smooth and musical. The music will actually make you smile, it travels across the cabin coherently and clearly. If you don't want to spend much money, add these and unplug the center speaker and you will have a very listenable system.

Stage 2 - Bavsound Ghost Subs V3 - After stage 1 you will notice the low end is still fuzzy and can't quite match the energy of the mids. Installing these subs brings the lower frequency up to the same level. They sound tight, well timed, and fill in that bottom 20% of the range the Focals are not covering effectively. Match, Focal and Morel also do drop in replacements, but I suspect they are all pretty similar. The Focal would run $800 compared to $500 for the Bavsound. In my 2023 m340i the subs unscrewed and dropped right in, not heat gun or drill required.

Stage 3 - Replacing the rear door speakers and the rear deck. This allows you to move the balance slightly rearward without picking up the harshness of the stock speakers. The difference is less pronounced than the fronts, but you can hear it both tonally and in overall energy. If you want to save money, you can skip this step. Personally, I don't think the rear deck speakers do much of anything at all.

Stage 'bonus' -$50-- Add some sound skins deadening to the panel where the mid speakers are mounted. I went back and did this afterwards; it tightens things up marginally but I wouldn't say it's a prerequisite as the doors are pretty well damped already.

Install notes - Install is fairly straightforward, the G20 door panel design and clips are much easier than previous generations. I remember installing Bavsound on my M2C and completely botching it and having to send it to shop to fix. There are two videos which you should watch first, the Bavsound G20 install video and the Kies Motorsports Bimmertech install video. I purchased some small replacement clips for $15 incase I broke a few, I ended up only needing 4 or 5 of them. I am not particularly handy with a wrench but actually enjoyed the whole install process.

Amplifier - The much-maligned stock amp. The stock HK amp is barely 460W, but with the right speakers it actually does an Ok-ish job. I'm still mulling doing the bimmertech amp. If you have Hi-Fi, you will need to put some resources into this part of the system as well to get full benefit.

Conclusion - You can transform the HK system significantly with just Focal IS100L or Morel IP-BMW42 in the front doors. For $400 and a few hours (max) this really is a no brainer in my opinion. For $1500 you can have a very complete system that can compete with much higher end setups not available in the 3 series.

[AM340iMiami]

Thanks for the write up. Enjoyed that. I’ve been mulling over doing some minor upgrades to my HK sound. Might go this route. Thanks.

[Montaver]

For those curious this is the Focal midrange compared to the stock from the doors, the Morel is similar possibly a slightly larger magnet.

[I800C0LLECT]

Bigger motors don’t denote better performance. But they are an indication for the need of more power due to lower sensitivity

Edit: But most midrange doesn’t require a lot of power until they get below 200Hz. Power requirements are logarithmic. They go up the lower the frequency. I think stock amp would work fine. My guess is it’s a larger magnet because it’s a cheaper material. Midrange sensitivity won’t usually fluctuate that much

[AM340iMiami]

I was going to ask for some pics. Why did you go with Bavsound subs and not the Morel IP-BMWSUB82?

[phc77]

First of all, thank you for sharing.

It's important to measure what we hear and define what we want, so will know exactly where to build our system.

WinIsd is a good starting point for those who haven't yet changed their speakers. It allows you to make simple observations like this one:
Example of a 4" speaker:
Scanspeak 10F4424G00 is a quarter of the budget of the Helix Ci7 M100FM-S3.
At this stage, we obviously have no information on timbre and how they are a fast, nimble speaker, having a good jump factor and respond quickly to slight changes in rhythm, but we know what to expect in terms of TS parameters,
The curves for these 2 mid-range speakers are the same: Scanspeak in black, Helix in red, Focal in blue.



We need a real-time analyzer to adjust delays (this is an absolute necessity and the one that will solve the center channel problem), we need to measure frequency and impulse responses, distortion and reverberation times.
Then we need to ensure that the responses are in phase and that there is no harmonic distortion.

Finally, parametric equalizers allow us to adjust settings and responses according to the target curve (what our ears want).
A DSP (and therefore a suitable amplifier), REW, HOLMImpulse for phase response and harmonic distortion, are our best friends.

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by AM340iMiami

I was going to ask for some pics. Why did you go with Bavsound subs and not the Morel IP-BMWSUB82?

Originally I had ordered everything Bavsound as I was familiar with their speakers from when I did my M2C, but the speakers never showed up and the subs did. In the interim I had been reading more and the Focals seemed to be getting good feedback, so I ordered them. Then once the Focals were in I couldn’t quite gel with the tweeters and wanted something warmer, so I found the Morels. The Morels are much newer to the market and I could find basically zero reviews. After auditioning them head to head I chose to go with the Morels. I’d actually really like to hear the reference version of the Morels, so I may order some for the front and put them in although I should probably stop at this point . 😬

There is also the bimmertech amp at $1700, I’d really want to hear it first.

This is front door panel removed with a Focal speaker in place.

[AM340iMiami]

Good stuff. Appreciate you.

[WernerM340IX]

Can you simply connect the Morel IP-BMWSUB82 to the OEM HK?
The Morel has 2 OHM and the HK 8 OHM. That's not plug and play, is it?

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by WernerM340IX

Can you simply connect the Morel IP-BMWSUB82 to the OEM HK?
The Morel has 2 OHM and the HK 8 OHM. That's not plug and play, is it?

I used Bavsound subs, I would assume the Morel are also P&P but you may want to check with them.

[m440i804]

What speakers did you fo in back doors and rear deck?

[Montaver]

Originally Posted by m440i804

What speakers did you fo in back doors and rear deck?

Morel IP-BMW42 in Front + Rear Doors (they also sell a significantly more expensive Morel IR-BMW42)
Morel IP-BMW 42-CTR (Center)
Morel IP-BMW4C in the rear deck
Bavsound V3 Ghost Subs

I prefer no center channel for music, but I take a lot of calls in the car and its not as audible without the center channel so I added it. Over time the speakers have broken in (especially the subs) and got better and better.