factory amp bypass (my way - lots of pics)

[bad_manners_god]

Cost wasn't the issue here. It was pretty simple too, easier than tearing the car apart to run new wires, although I did have to send new speaker negatives from the trunk to the head which took me a long time. I understand what you are saying but the factory speakers are easily as good as many store bought component assemblies. How did you manage to get your door tweeters to function if you wired it that way anyway?

I didn't reuse the door tweeters. The JBL P552 are 2 way component speakers with enough sound to not need the door tweeter's.

ladiesman217: When I did this I already had the interior apart and removed ALL the original speaker wiring, amp wiring. And ran new 16ga speaker wire, not the 18ga stock. As I said above, tweeter's were not reused!

[BMWDriver]

Tim, you could make a custom PCB. There are some where you just put your components on and use wire to link them per your design, others where you literraly trace the circuit either with a chemical acid and black lights, or with felt pen and chemical acid. It's complicated, I know, but I'd like to do that myself someday. The crossover project is really appealing.

DIY PCBs:
Wikipeidia entry on PCB (printed circuit board): links to DIY guides.

I worry that the plastic could melt, although I don't know how hot a crossover gets. I may be worried about nothing. Also, my amp gets doused with oil (or whatever it is they use) when I get the car treated for rust. Or you could just box your current plate with wood and another plate of plastic on top.

[tim eh?]

Tim, you could make a custom PCB. There are some where you just put your components on and use wire to link them per your design, others where you literraly trace the circuit either with a chemical acid and black lights, or with felt pen and chemical acid. It's complicated, I know, but I'd like to do that myself someday. The crossover project is really appealing.

DIY PCBs:
Wikipeidia entry on PCB (printed circuit board): links to DIY guides.

I worry that the plastic could melt, although I don't know how hot a crossover gets. I may be worried about nothing. Also, my amp gets doused with oil (or whatever it is they use) when I get the car treated for rust. Or you could just box your current plate with wood and another plate of plastic on top.

I dunno man, I think it's fine like it is. It's not going to get any hotter than it got when I was soldering it and it is glued on pretty well. There is no pressure on any of the solder points, I know it looks messy but it is just speaker wire. Actually I taped a patch of the rear panel with 1/8" thick electrical tape to make kind of a mat just in case anything wanted to jump and I moved the remaining power and ground wires well away out of there.

Yeah I had some of that stuff all over the amp! I am never letting them put that rust treatment stuff in my car again! Every time I do something now first thing that happens I'm looking at my hand going "ewww what is this crap?" From now on it is underside only!

I dunno man, have fun with the PCB but don't expect me to wait up .

I didn't reuse the door tweeters.

I think you are missing out. The placement of the stock speakers is ideal. I don't know what the setup is in a touring but in a sedan there are 2way speakers in the rear with the same amp and they don't sound anywhere near as good as the fronts. Part of the difference is that they are only 2way speakers but the main difference is the placement of the individual speakers. The placement of the factory speakers is ideal... the footwells are perfect for bass but bad for tweeters and vice versa. I don't care what amp you are driving those jbls with but my 40W jvc head + factory speakers will kick its ass no matter what you do.

...with enough sound to not need ....

in my opinion you are addressing the wrong issue - sound waves adhere to some pretty harsh laws of physics... beyond a certain point (in a car at least) "enough sound" is irrelevant and the more common problems are efficiency and even distribution.

[repenttokyo]

BMG: that is totally bollux... if you had kept the car longer, you would have blown the tweeters. And it sounds like ass. and it is redundant as hell since all the wiring is already laid in in nice twisted pair.

why would he have blown the tweeters? You have no way of knowing what caps and crossovers he was running with his wiring.

[bad_manners_god]

I think you are missing out. The placement of the stock speakers is ideal. I don't know what the setup is in a touring but in a sedan there are 2way speakers in the rear with the same amp and they don't sound anywhere near as good as the fronts. Part of the difference is that they are only 2way speakers but the main difference is the placement of the individual speakers. The placement of the factory speakers is ideal... the footwells are perfect for bass but bad for tweeters and vice versa. I don't care what amp you are driving those jbls with but my 40W jvc head + factory speakers will kick its ass no matter what you do.

Front of the Touring and Sedan is the same for speaker placement, only difference is the rear where they put the speakers in the headliner.

My speakers werent driven by an amp, they were driven by the panasonic dvd in dash 50Wx4 and there's no way you can compare stock speakers to these. Espically at 250 a pair, you DO get what you pay for. Crisp sound, with the crossover box to an adjustible tweeter.

[Derek A.]

I don't get it..

Why go through all the hassle of ripping the factory amp apart. It takes all of 15 minutes to remove the amp side and solder in wires.

I ran the headunit output - through an electronic crossover to soften the bottom end, then fed it to two a/d/s amps - which in turn run through the factory crossover - to the factory speakers. I also added a 10" sealed sub, which is fed by another amp .

The system is super clean, super loud and was a very cost effective upgrade. I am thoroughly amazed at how much power the factory speakers can handle.

[tim eh?]

I don't get it..

Why go through all the hassle of ripping the factory amp apart. It takes all of 15 minutes to remove the amp side and solder in wires.

I ran the headunit output - through an electronic crossover to soften the bottom end, then fed it to two a/d/s amps - which in turn run through the factory crossover - to the factory speakers. I also added a 10" sealed sub, which is fed by another amp .

The system is super clean, super loud and was a very cost effective upgrade. I am thoroughly amazed at how much power the factory speakers can handle.

Nice setup. So the 10" is plenty? I'm thinking of trying an 8" woofer I have on the back shelf. I know that is really small but it is such a nice speaker. Yes the factories blow me away.

I still can't figure out why it didn't work through the amp, but I did it from scratch 3 times. And then I took it to a 'pro' who screwed it up more so I had to try something else.

BMG your $250 got you decent 55W 2-way component speakers. Put them in the dash you lose your bass. Put them in the footwell and you lose your highs. The amp that is driving them is in the panasonic. They would be a good choice to replace the rears with.

[ladiesman217]

why would he have blown the tweeters? You have no way of knowing what caps and crossovers he was running with his wiring.

He himself said "none"

that is the meaning of DIRECT.



BMG: those panasonics are anything but clean, and you had a grand total of 15 clean watts to them. they are bright though!!!

I'm going to push the hell out of the Nokias with an active setup, then I'll start swapping drivers for home theater stuff (peerless 2" domes are looking very nice right now) when they eventually blow. so far they have not... passive with 80w rms (or 200wx4 in headunit makebelieve ratings)

[repenttokyo]

He said "none"

that is the meaning of DIRECT.

i guess we were both making ASSumptions.

[ladiesman217]

Dang MainE