10-13-2019, 11:04 AM | #1 |
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Bavsound upgrade
Looks like bavsound can out with their stage 1 upgrade for the G20. No amp or subwoofer upgrade yet. I’m going to peruse their install video to see how cumbersome it would be, but I think I’m going to bite. Anyone else tempted? I have the HiFi system, by the way.
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10-13-2019, 06:15 PM | #2 | |
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10-15-2019, 03:43 AM | #3 | |
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I also have the HiFi system, and although I am not unhappy with the sound (It actually got a lot better after the first month. I guess the speakers breaked-in). There's still space for improvement. I play FLAC or 320kbps AAC files there, and I have the feeling that the amp in the HiFi system is good enough, and the speakers are the weakest link in the chain. Sound is okay. Precise, and without distorsions, but it lacks richness and sounds a bit "un-natural". You got me really tempted now. I'm gonna take a look at the install video and if it's an easy swap I'm gonna be even more tempted |
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10-16-2019, 05:38 PM | #4 |
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Well I think I’m going to go for it. Will use some sound deadening material surrounding the speakers and on the plastic door card (wherever it seems liable to rattle). Will update when I do it. Likely not for a few weeks based on the time necessary and shipping, I would wager. If anyone has tips, please don’t hesitate!
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10-17-2019, 05:42 AM | #5 | |
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From the video, installation seems pretty straightforward. It boils down to removing door panels and plugging into existing wiring. It's an easy afternoon job. I have some experience with sound deadening and insulation and I would advise to not waste too much time or effort into using sound deadening for G20 doors. The thing is - deadening is only needed for lower frequencies as they are the one that cause vibrations. G20, as most modern BMWs, has mid-range speakers in the door panels and woofers are in the floor below the front seats. Since mid-range speakers do not produce the type of high-energy low-frequency vibrations that would cause rattling of door panels or degrade the sound, it's not necessary to use much sound deadening on the door panels (if any). So if you plan to use sound deadening for door panels, I would advise to use only a very small amount. Place it strategically only on the spots that "ding" most loudly when you knock on them with your knuckles. These are usually larger flat areas, and it's enough to put a small patch of sound deadening material to reduce the resonant frequency of the panel, which then minimizes or eliminates the vibrations and rattling. Smaller, curved surfaces do not vibrate as they are much sturdier and resistant to resonating vibrations. Another thing worth mentioning is that wrapping complete, larger surfaces with sound deadening material will not result in hearable improvements. It will only result in additional install-time, additional cost and the doors will become unnecessarily heavier. Last edited by Calamari; 10-18-2019 at 10:49 AM.. |
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10-17-2019, 10:02 AM | #6 | |
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10-18-2019, 10:48 AM | #7 | |
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Bavsound speaker are of much higher quality than OEM speakers, and their primary advantage should be better sound quality in terms of a more natural sound with better precision and less distorsions, especially when cranked up. These are the things that will be most hearable with natural instruments, and music like rock, blues, jazz, vocals, pop. Heavy hip-hop and electronic music will benefit a little less, and it would probably be required to go in the direction of more power and a standalone sub-woofer. |
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10-18-2019, 01:30 PM | #8 |
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Yeah I’m not really looking for more volume, per se. I mostly listen to a combination of house, hip hop, EDM, pop. Will upgrade woofers when possible. Bavsound mentioned that for this model they actually glued the housing to the woofers, so they are trying to figure out how to replace it without damaging everything. When that is figured out I’ll go for that. I’m just looking for clarity and minimizing distortion. My bass thumping days are over.
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10-24-2019, 10:08 AM | #9 |
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Subscribing for updates on this. I think I would look to do the same upgrade. Let me know how you like it!
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11-04-2019, 07:24 AM | #10 |
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After a lot of investigation, I decided to go with Eton BMW replacement speakers instead of Bavsound.
I initially considered Bavsound, but decided to skip on it due to several reasons: - shipping of Bavsound to EU is a bit complicated and expensive - Bavsound stage 1 includes all 5 mid/high speakers and I only need 4 (front/rear). (I already disconnected the useless central speaker. It just messes up left/right channel separation, and distorts the sound.) - Eton speakers are easier to buy and deliver in EU. (buy on Amazon.de) - 2 pairs of Eton B 100 W are cheaper than Bavsound stage 1 (300€ vs 600$) - they are also 100% plug and play - they have great user reviews I also ordered some STP damping material. I won't go overboard with it. Just a couple of pieces on crucial places of inner door surface. First pair of speakers is already delivered. I'm waiting for damping material and the other pair. I plan to replace oem HiFi speakers in the following week or two. For rear speakers, I will only hook-up mids (the same as OEM setup). HiFi system is designed to work only with mids in the rear, and I don't want the highs to come from the rear. I'll play around with it, and If I find that there is benefit from adding highs in the back, I'll purchase Harman Kardon door handle frames with tweeter holders and install Eton tweeters in them. I'll share my thoughts when I complete the upgrade. If anyone is interested in ETON and general audio upgrade for BMWs, here is an awesome thread on 2addicts forum: https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1236238 |
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11-04-2019, 09:01 AM | #11 |
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I have the HK system in mine, but I want to add an external subwoofer because I like bass music.
Is it possible to add one to the HK system? I was thinking of getting it custom molded into the trunk. |
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11-11-2019, 03:52 PM | #12 |
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So I installed my Bavsound Stage 1 system on the HiFi system, and here are my thoughts:
Pros Very well put together package. All materials are of high quality. They include literally everything you need, including some extra door clips if they break off. The video installation guide is very well done, although I have a tip or two (see below). As far as the sound, the clarity is fantastic. It is not noticeable at low volumes, but at higher volumes the clarity is great, there is no distortion. Not a big impact in bass, although I didn't expect that. Additionally, they still need to break in, so sound may change. Support is fantastic, and Coby would email me back and forth whenever I had questions. Cons Not cheap, but I think the quality of the product is high and I was fine spending a bit extra for their support. Install tips 1. Doors: the doors were quite easy, but the only difficult part is hiding the wiring (and the crossover needed for the tweeter) in a way that you can still put the door panel back on. The crossover isn't small, so I had to tuck it a certain way to get the door panel back on. this was most problematic on the drivers side front door, but after some trial and error it was fine. 2. Sound deadening: I put a small amount of sound deadening on each door panel where the midrange was installed. I doubt it's doing much, but it made me feel better to put it there. 3. Center channel: Unlike their video, I recommend not taking the center panel off. It is glued in very securely. No matter how much I pulled, I couldn't get the panel that the midrange and tweeter are attached to off. Instead I just took the midrange out, and then popped the tweeter out and installed it there. The tweeter that was included (not in the box with 2 tweeters, intended just for the center channel) had a crossover already in line, just so everyone is aware. Also, the right angle torx bit holder they provided in their kit would slip the bit off, so I lost a torx bit into one of the vents (noob moment for me). Now I have a torx bit floating in the ether somewhere..) Recommend putting a rag into the vents on either side of the speaker before you start working on it. Overall I think this was a valuable purchase. The speakers are of high quality, the install was easy, and it really wasn't that expensive. Can't compare it to the HK system since I didn't have a lot of time listening to it at the dealership, but I think this was a worthwhile purchase. If they can figure out how to do the ghost subs, i'll definitely get that. If anyone has questions, let me know. |
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11-24-2019, 09:45 AM | #13 |
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I just completed my instalation of Eton speakers. I replaced fsctory speakers in all doors and center speaker in the dashboard.
I didn't touch under-seat woofers becuase factory ones are glued to their plastic enclosings and there are no plug-n-play replacements available yet. I chose Eton B100 W component speakers for front doors(mid+tweet) and rear doors (only mids). Center speaker is coaxial speaker Eton B100XCN from which I disconnected the integrated tweeter, and connected external tweeter that was left from two rear Etons (as I needed only mids). I did this to achieve better direction od high tones from center. I also put some damping material (STP gold black) PROS: - Plug and play, so it's easy to install and revert to factory speakers - much much better sound - clearer and more natural mid and high tones - stronger and very precise mid bass. Drums and base guitar is very nice now. - clarity preserved even at very high volume - price is very fair: 380€ + shipping CONS: I don't see any significant flaws with this upgrade. One thing worth mentioning - this upgrade is not for you if you want to improve sound of sub 100Hz bass. That requires stronger amplifier and better under-seat woofers. Overall, this is a noticable improvement over the factory HiFi system. It doesn't move earth but it has a nicely felt punch from mid-bass which is all I expected. Factory speaker - front doors Eton speaker + light damping of inner door surface: Front door trim with a small patch of sound deadening material: Rear doors with Factory speakers Eton speaker + light damping of inner door surface: Rear door trim with a small patch of sound deadening material: Last edited by Calamari; 11-28-2019 at 11:41 AM.. |
12-02-2019, 01:20 PM | #14 | |
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Im a little out of my element with this and wanted to ask some questions and do some research before I decide to move forward. If it's going to be pretty complicated/not worth it, I may consider just selling it. Thanks for any input and sorry if it's a stupid question!
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12-02-2019, 06:24 PM | #15 | |
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12-02-2019, 09:10 PM | #16 | ||
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I too will probably get some tint and PPF done before I pursue this but thanks again for the response!
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12-15-2019, 03:58 PM | #17 |
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Just curious... has anyone tried disconnecting the underseat "subs" and just connecting an 8" or 10" sealed woofer to that same cable?? I realize it won't be the same as adding an amp, etc... but wondering if it would work??
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12-15-2019, 04:29 PM | #18 |
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You would probably have a pretty big loss in mid bass. The stock under seat woofer isn’t just a subwoofer so it’s is responsible for some higher frequencies as well. Will likely buy the bavsound ghost subs in January or February (just released for G20 this month).
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12-16-2019, 03:00 AM | #19 |
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I wouldn't recommend doing that. The whole system is designed in a way that under-seat woofers are primarily responsible for playback of normal bass frequencies, not lower-end subwoofer frequencies. Replacing them with a subwoofer would result in less clarity and distorted sound of regular bass and kick-bass frequencies.
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01-06-2020, 09:01 PM | #20 |
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So I decided to upgrade the underseat woofers as well using the Bavsound Ghost Subwoofers. It is definitely too early to review the sound since they need to break in, but will update in a couple weeks once that is the case. Here are a few tips/findings from the install.
1. The video showing how to get to the subwoofers from Bavsound is great. 2. The carpet is definitely thick and well padded, but that also makes it a little annoying getting the woofers out. 3. The hardest part of the whole process is melting the adhesive that keeps the OEM woofers in the plastic mounting apparatus. I used a little goo gone on the back side of the woofer (around the rim where it attaches to the mount) and used a hair dryer (no heat gun) on both sides alternating in a circular pattern and front and back for about 10 minutes on each side. I then pried using a small flat head screwdriver to get the woofer to separate from the plastic, and once I was able to get a grip on it the woofer pulled out with only a little bit of force. 4. Once I had the stock woofers and the bavsound woofers side by side, it was clear how high quality the bavsound ones are by comparison. 5. I put a small patch of dynamat under where the subwoofer enclosure is placed in the car against the bare metal. Looking forward to seeing what this sounds like in a few weeks! |
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