[davidstalnaker]

I've been loving my "new" car except for one thing - there's no bass. Not like I need to break windows or anything, but there's so little bass that it makes me think something's wrong. My friend's old Corolla sounds better.

If I turn the stereo up and stick my head under the seat, I can *barely* hear sound coming from the woofer down there. I had to take one out and check to make myself believe it is actually getting a signal and the cone is moving (it is). Is this really how these cars came stock, or is something broken?

Details:
2006 325XIT
HIFI system, stock

[ctuna]

Fading to the front will help a little.
The amp is to underpowered to produce much bass.

A Jl xd600/6 will clean up the top and give you some bass but
you really should replace the underseats and fronts with some nice
speakers if you want it to really sing.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641323

[davidstalnaker]

Ok, so it looks like replacing the amp is the way to go, at least for starters.

I've read through all of the guides / posts I could get my hands on but one thing is still confusing me. Everyone says that the outputs from the head unit are balanced differential outputs. But to me (coming from a musician's background) that means there has to be three wires (main signal, inverted signal, ground), which there are not. Are they just speaker-level outputs, or actually line-level balanced?

Thanks.

[ctuna]

Its a twisted pair with no third ground wire. This is a common way
to suppress noise in the digital electronics area. I guess is works for audio to.

Technic had a configuration in which he just added the xd and some tweeters in the center for his Sister . He seems confident that the amp won't burn the speakers.

You should get his harness use 04 power wires.
I ran my system with just the xd for a little while before I put in better speakers it cleans up highs and you will get significant bass
compared to the stock amp.

If you want to get a complete system one stop shopping
MusicarNW is the way to go.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=730390

[QUiKSR20]

Sounds like somethings wrong to be honest, The OEM HiFi system is nothing special but. It still sounded way better than any OEM car system I have had and had decent bass...

Technic Harness + 6 Channel amp and youll get 1000% increase in sound.

[ctuna]

If t means touring.

Look in the the Hi Fi section of this thread

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=641323

ctuna,s musicarnw install

http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...3&d=1329017429

[davidstalnaker]

Ok, XD600/6 and a Technic harness it is. Thanks for that tutorial, it's extremely helpful. And yes, by "T" I meant Touring.

[ctuna]

You are running 100 watts rms on all the channels .
You can't turn the gain up at all on the door channels .

If you order a kit from MusicarNw you get everything you need including
the Technic Harness, speaker adaptors for the doors . Additionally the amp is already adjusted and the speakers are on factory connectors . Plus you get and amp mounting board. It does cost a little more but you get everything you need in a no hassle package. No crimping no soldering.

[davidstalnaker]

Honestly that's a bit more than I'd like to spend on this. I'm a DIY kind of person so things like making a mounting board don't faze me. Plus, I still have some hope that just replacing the amp will keep me happy.

One last question though. With that amp, you can set channels 5/6 to be the sum of 1/2 and 3/4. Should I do that (with the under-seats on 5/6) or would it be better to get a splitter and run them from just the front signal?

[ctuna]

Yes you can set channels 5 and 6 as slaves.

You can download the instruction/ installation manual at the
JL audio site.

You can get cheaper speakers that will sound better and
support the power but you will have to fab speaker adaptors.
And if you want to make it nice get some OEM speaker connectors.
I think Technic sells those to.
Technic is the guy best at cobbling together budjet systems.
He has many example commonly using DLS speakers for the doors
and SWS-8's for the under floors.

[davidstalnaker]

I had found the manual - what I was asking is whether setting 5/6 up as slaves would be better or worse than splitting the fronts and just using that for the under-seats. IE is it fine for them to be using the sum of front + rear? My guess is that it doesn't really matter, but I figured I'd ask.

[ctuna]

They are designed for it.
And that is the way most people on here use it.

[QUiKSR20]

Shop around thats the best thing I will say! It will save you tons of money and you will still get the quality goods. I have a thread where Im working on DLS mounting adaptors :
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=733702

The beauty of Musicar's setups are the Plug n Play ness and not needing to config anything.
If your comfortable not relying on there expertise ( and they make the best plug in play setup )
you can do the same setup for way less money. Again not knocking them at all you pay for the ease of install they provide.

Still waiting to order my subwoofer box from VP.

Just to give you a sample of the pricing I got shopping around online.

$170 - Front Components - DLS R4 ( 4" Components )
$250 - AMP ( JL 500/3 ) New ( underseats + sub )
$150 - Technic Harness
$100 - figure $100 for amp wiring / misc connectors etc ( http://www.knukonceptz.com/ ) good prices.
Total - $670 give or take

Just an example but you get the drift, Only recommended if your good with DIY.