Quote:
Originally Posted by suj999
Next up it was the rear door speakers. Similar to the front...
Part numbers (same)
HiFi Mid:65139210451
Top HiFi Mid:65139364956
HiFi Tweeter:65139248716
Top HiFi Tweeter:65139226357
So the rear door on the HiFi spec doesn't come with tweeters.
Two top HiFi tweeters obtained,
Attachment 3080512
Opening the door cards there are no screws but only clips in the back and the same stronger two metal clips in the middle.
I didn't think BMW would make different door cards for HiFi and Top HiFi variants, and I was right. Kind of..
The tweeter fitting space is there, with all the correct moulds and the cards are the same, but the space is is blanked out with a thin plastic card.
Here, I have compared the two in a picture..
Attachment 3080521
Used a tool knife and pliers to cut it out. If done carefully, it was easy enough to do. The tweeters clip in to place easy enough, there is space for the attached capacitor too.
Then changed the mids
from this
Attachment 3080531
To this,
Attachment 3080532
Once done clip the door card back. (Do change any plastic clips that may have gotten damaged when removing, see above for clips)
All done and card clipped back. (Ignore the light reflections)
Attachment 3080533
So after all was done, checked the set up over an extended period.
The sound quality had improved immensely to my ears and the Top HiFi speakers are also louder than the HiFi speakers.
One aspect I had encountered was the effect of the extra tweeter in the centre speaker.
I am aware that we humans can't really place low frequency (and mids up to a point) but higher frequency (esp frequencies above 2000 Hz)is what really enables us to locate where the sound is coming from. So having this extra tweeter in the centre made the stereo separation harder to hear and for the ears to locate the lefts and rights clearly.
So back to the centre and removed the Top HiFi tweeter and left the Top HiFi mids in.
It turns out, that this was a complaint in number of other BMWs inc H/K as mentioned lots in the 2series forum and many had disconnected the centre speakers. |
Nice. I have the Top-HiFi system and when I bought my 650i I didn't realise until later that it only had 3 working speakers..
When I say speakers, I consider the woofer and tweeter as one. So my rear shelf speakers were working, but no sound from both rear doors, nor the front passenger door and neither the centre dash speaker. I mean I'm not sure how the hell the previous owner managed to pull that off.
Anyway, replaced them all with the Harmon Kardon variants (which are pretty much the same as Top-HiFi just unbranded), and what a freaking night and day difference. Actually, it sounded pretty good even with just the 3 speakers working so you can imagine when I had them all working again!
Are you going to upgrade your amp? I know the Top-HiFi amp is 600W (and its a beast), I'm guessing yours is somewhere around 300-400W?
Also, not sure how this would sound on yours, but I coded in the Bang & Olufson software into the head unit and along with some equilizer settings (that I got from another user who did a whole professional tuning for the 6 series acoustics) has completely changed the sound. In Studio mode, it's unbelievably clear and lifelike with tight thumping base. I could listen to music all day in my car.