E46 Fanatics Forum banner

2004 M3 Audio upgrade...

18K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  Technic 
#1 ·
In my personal opinion, only two threads are required read for anybody looking to upgrade their E46 sound system without major surgery, both in the car and in the pocket:

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e46m3/forum.php?postid=2786337&page=10

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=121826

Everything to know about the audio internals of the E46 is on those two threads. Without further delay, this is it...

Components:

A pillars: CDT Audio UpStage system UP-519XT .75" Titanium tweeters

Front doors: CDT CL-6 6.5" mid-woofers/CDT TW24 1" Silk tweeters/BSW 2.5"Midrange/CDT HD30 Three Way crossover

Rear: CDT CL-69 6"X9" woofers/CDT TW24 1" Silk tweeters/JL Stealthboxes with 8" Kicker 05C8-4 subwoofers

Equalizer: AudioControl EQS

Amp: JBL GTO755.6ii 6 Ch 560 Watts

Battery: Optima YellowTop Deep cycle

Planning and preparation:

MDF plank as trunk platform for the amp, EQ and crossovers/modules...


Bought used HK amplifier, removed the main connector and created custom harness...


Created custom MDF adapter rings for the front doors and HK subwoofer enclosure...

 
See less See more
4
#3 ·
Speaker comparisons:

OEM HK subwoofer vs. CDT CL-69...


HK 6" vs CL-6 6.5"...


HK mid and tweeter vs. BSW midrange and CDT tweeter...



Mounting:

Mid and tweeter in MDF bracket...


Rear door tweeter (using Dynamat as mounting "bracket")...




Front Doors...


A pillar Upstage system...


6" X 9"'s...



Amp/EQ rack...


Yellow Top Battery with custom MDF bracket...
 
#4 ·
Finished:

For now, this panel have to be refined...


Review:

The obvious... this set up is several times better than the HK even while running the stock navigation Business tuner (the Professional tuner audio quality is much, much better). Sound quality, loudness, clarity. Whatever the HK was lacking this set up fixed it. However, two components really took this upgrade to another level, the CDT Upstage system and the EQS.

First, the Upstage system... it really does what it is supposed to do and then some. The staging is moved to the windshield, the highs are now clearer than before. I tought that this was a gimmick at first until I disconnected this system while playing Herbie Hancock's A Song for You and Stitched up...

Damn... Christina Aguilera really loses some kick when these suckers are not working. It is just that a chunk of the highs are better positioned way up front that balances the subs at the rear, creating this sound stage up front that simply honors the name of this system. This effect can be adjusted some 50+ ways depending the position of 4 -2 to 3- positions switches and three levels of power.

Then there is the EQS. Separate front, rear and subwoofer equalization bands and level input and outputs. I can move the soundstage front to back and viceversa. Hard, tight or deep bass, or a combination of the three. For the last two weeks I've been tweeking this EQS to get it to that magic point that all types of music will sound perfect... and I will be insane by next week. Between the EQS bands and internal jumpers, the Upstage switches, the crossovers' switches (one for the tweeters and one for the front midranges) and even the JBL crossovers switches, I had reduced to none the hiss and any trace of alternator whine while at the same time improved the audio quality many times over the OEM system... and almost passed out in my garage in this Florida 100 degrees heat wave of the last week.

This system allows the complete personalization of the audio to my taste. Clean, tight bass at more volume than before, really bright hights, much better defined vocals. Sheesh... even the telephone conversations sound better than before because I moved the vocals more towards the upper midrange in the door and not at my feet as before.

For those undecided to upgrade the audio from stock, just do it... you will be very happy to do so. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
bigjae1976 said:
Is this your setup? Looks great. I've heard a lot of great things about the upstage tweets although I really don't like having the tweets that visible.
Thanks! Actually, the grey shade of the pillar tweeters make a nice contrast with the anthracite gray of the headliner, so they don't look too aftermarket or out of place. They are adjustable in angle and sound great too... :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
He should be good. The upstage tweet provides an ambient effect from what I've read about it. I guess in certain situations, the upstage can cause some phasing, cancellation and timing issues since there are 4 drivers playing the same range of sound.

BTW, the install looks awesome. Only one suggestion...carpet the piece of MDF under the hold down.
 
#9 ·
He should be good. The upstage tweet provides an ambient effect from what I've read about it. I guess in certain situations, the upstage can cause some phasing, cancellation and timing issues since there are 4 drivers playing the same range of sound.
According to CDT, the module driving this system is designed to avoid conflicts with the other tweeters. In fact, the module controls the crossover of the front Three way.

BTW, the install looks awesome. Only one suggestion...carpet the piece of MDF under the hold down.
Damn. Ok... :rofl:
 
#14 ·
Some notes for those interested:

- the EQS, as any AudioControl EQ, accepts differential/balanced inputs straight from the OEM tuner (be Nav tuner or dash tuner). Just solder the tuner wire outputs to RCA plugs and that's it.

- if you have noise issues with the EQS, make sure that the jumpers inside the unit are in the proper position. There are jumpers for the input (balanced, unbalanced) and for the output (ground, 200 ohms, isolated). Do not trust the factory default settings stated in the User's manual. My unit came with the input jumpers all messed up, some balanced and some unbalanced. This will sound great for maybe a day or so... after that you will think that your EQS is a piece of crap. Hiss, alternator noise, some audio summing between the rear and the sub inputs. By placing the jumpers in their correct position (Balanced inputs, Ground output if the amp does not accept balanced inputs, otherwise Isolated) all the strange noises were completely removed. The excessive hiss can be removed completely but then the input gain has to be reduced too much to my personal liking, so there is a trade off in my settings. Only when there is silence in the audio is where the hiss can be heard.

- follow the EQS advice: the gain in your amp should be set at the minimum. Don't mess with it, the EQS will take care of all the level matching if adjusted by the book.
 
#15 ·
- the EQS, as any AudioControl EQ, accepts differential/balanced inputs straight from the OEM tuner (be Nav tuner or dash tuner). Just solder the tuner wire outputs to RCA plugs and that's it.
All audiocontrol equipment accepts balanced inputs. The EQS is an especially great piece of equipment. Since it has 6 in/outputs you can use the head unit's subwoofer level control if you decide to change out the OEM head unit. The dedicated EQ bands are also a big plus!

I didn't say it yet but great write up also.
 
#19 ·
Thanks! :hi:

Actually the two 6 X 9s are the mid bass now, not subwoofers anymore. So I EQ/crossover them to provide increased mid bass and vocals (200Hz - 900Hz)and not sub.

They sound pretty good combined with the fronts although they are firing inside the trunk. A passenger in the rear seat can enjoy the music much better than before at least.
 
#26 ·
Excellent writeup !

Do you think splitting the OEM outputs may cause trouble over the long term ? I mean, one is basically halving the impedance on the output by splitting it... or am I wrong ? I'm knowledgable when it comes to (car) audio but not really at home with balanced/differential technology. I'm pretty old skool, so please fill me in on this. :)
 
#28 ·
The splitting the rear OEM outputs are into a line driver, thus what the OEM HU "sees" is the impedance of the driver, which is very high. In other words, the OEM HU is driving basically nothing, the line driver is driving the audio system. And according to AudioControl that Matrix can theorically drive some 42 amplifiers...
 
#29 ·
OK, great ! :thumbsup:
 
#30 ·
Couple of Questions

Sorry to join the party so late here. I just bought my E46 two weeks ago.

Nice looking system Technic. I think you're right on track with getting the midrange signal as high as you can in the doors, and out of the footwells.

For the front passive HD30 crossovers, what settings did you settle on for the woofer<->mid and the mid<->tweet crossover points?

Did you have to fiddle much with the EQS to match the levels between the 3 different drivers, or did those settings end up mostly in the center?
 
#32 ·
Sorry to join the party so late here. I just bought my E46 two weeks ago.

Nice looking system Technic. I think you're right on track with getting the midrange signal as high as you can in the doors, and out of the footwells.

For the front passive HD30 crossovers, what settings did you settle on for the woofer<->mid and the mid<->tweet crossover points?

Did you have to fiddle much with the EQS to match the levels between the 3 different drivers, or did those settings end up mostly in the center?
Thanks

The crossover points are fixed by the crossovers, the tweeter and mid level is individually adjustable. I used the 0 db level on each because I was using an EQ, so I needed to have an output as flat as possible before applying any EQ adjustments for better control and sound quality.

I adjusted the EQS by ear so it was a lot of adjustment until I liked what I heard, if that's what you are asking.

I'm no longer have that system as I sold my M3. :hi:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top