[spitfire6000]

Ok heres the story....

I had an 03' X5 3.0 before and im a huge rap/techno listener. Not only that i love to listen to it loud and with a large amount of bass. On the X5, i ended up blowing out some of the speakers and possibly the subwoofer due to increasing the bass level in the audio menu screen and using the elevated level for a long period of time.

On my 325i ive got the 10 speaker system (not logic 7). I usually use +3/+4 bass and 0 treb on this setup.

What do you guys think is a safe bass level to use in order to not risk blowing out any speakers or subs? What levels do you use for personal preference?

[visor]

From your listening preferences, it looks like you should invest into an aftermarket add-on 12" sub and amp.

[longtran]

Originally Posted by spitfire6000

Ok heres the story....

I had an 03' X5 3.0 before and im a huge rap/techno listener. Not only that i love to listen to it loud and with a large amount of bass. On the X5, i ended up blowing out some of the speakers and possibly the subwoofer due to increasing the bass level in the audio menu screen and using the elevated level for a long period of time.

On my 325i ive got the 10 speaker system (not logic 7). I usually use +3/+4 bass and 0 treb on this setup.

What do you guys think is a safe bass level to use in order to not risk blowing out any speakers or subs? What levels do you use for personal preference?

bass +3/4 and no treble?? wouldnt your sound be all exstorded?? my settings are 0 bass and max treble. for crisp clear sound.

[yu]

I have mine on the highest level with treble at 0. It sounds fine, but I don't listen to my music extremely loud very often.

[krndanic307]

Hmmm 0 bass or 0 treble sounds really annoying... In all my cars I always have the bass in the 2nd to last ans treble on the 3rd to last... In al my cars its been done like that... And it sounds goood. I have an 03 fx35, acura tsx, and the e90.

[BellasBmw]

I have a question about the bass/treble. Everytime i start my car my settings go back to zero. I have to manually adjust the bass/treble over and over. Is there anyway for my car to remember that my bass is set at 4, and treble at 6 or something.

[longtran]

Originally Posted by BellasBmw

I have a question about the bass/treble. Everytime i start my car my settings go back to zero. I have to manually adjust the bass/treble over and over. Is there anyway for my car to remember that my bass is set at 4, and treble at 6 or something.

then something is wrong. does your preset radio staion reset too??? if it is then your wire is not wire properly.

[BellasBmw]

Originally Posted by longtran

then something is wrong. does your preset radio staion reset too??? if it is then your wire is not wire properly.

No my presets stay the same, but lets say i have 93.3 in #1, sometimes if i press #5, 93.3 is on that one too, then i have to press #4, then #5 and its back to 94.1.

[wheeler]

I was surprised to learn that it is not high volume or too much bass that blows speakers-- it is too little power going to the speaker. In other words, too much volume with too few amps = blown speaker.

That is counterintuitive to me, but sure proved true in my Honda Pilot. I always thought too much power (watts) caused speakers to blow. I took it to a pro who suggested leaving everything stock (Head Unit, door speakers) except the subwoofer, but adding a 600watt amp.

He ran 100 watts to each of 4 door speakers and 200 watts to a 10" Bazooka sub. Those stock door speakers are handling 3x the power and way more volume than before with no distortion. The 200 watt sub rocks!

So stock system + more amps = no distortion or blown speakers.

One note though, if your car already has an amplifier in the system (often an amp to the stock subwoofers, or an amp built right in to the stock sub) then you would have to deactivate the stock amp and wire in the aftermarket one or just add in an aftermarket sub.

By the way, it only cost me $ 675.00 for a high quality amp and sub. I got a much better system for less money than a factory system upgrade would have cost.

My 330i is still on order. I am hoping I will not have to upgrade teh system, but that system in my Honda really has me spoiled-- now the Harmon Karden in my E46 sounds like crap in comparison.

Keep us posted about what you do as a solution and how it worked out!

[spitfire6000]

Originally Posted by visor

From your listening preferences, it looks like you should invest into an aftermarket add-on 12" sub and amp.

see i wanted to do that....but my real concern with this is that i know how high levels of bass in your car can cause rattles and other similar problems down the road.

In my infiniti m45, i used to have my bass on the highest level at trebel at normal level. After about 2 months, some of the screws in my trunk began to unwind due to the vibration, and it was causing rattling sounds whenever the bass would kick in.

[MonacoBlueNJ]

Originally Posted by wheeler

I was surprised to learn that it is not high volume or too much bass that blows speakers-- it is too little power going to the speaker. In other words, too much volume with too few amps = blown speaker.

That is counterintuitive to me, but sure proved true in my Honda Pilot. I always thought too much power (watts) caused speakers to blow. I took it to a pro who suggested leaving everything stock (Head Unit, door speakers) except the subwoofer, but adding a 600watt amp.

He ran 100 watts to each of 4 door speakers and 200 watts to a 10" Bazooka sub. Those stock door speakers are handling 3x the power and way more volume than before with no distortion. The 200 watt sub rocks!

So stock system + more amps = no distortion or blown speakers.

One note though, if your car already has an amplifier in the system (often an amp to the stock subwoofers, or an amp built right in to the stock sub) then you would have to deactivate the stock amp and wire in the aftermarket one or just add in an aftermarket sub.

By the way, it only cost me $ 675.00 for a high quality amp and sub. I got a much better system for less money than a factory system upgrade would have cost.

My 330i is still on order. I am hoping I will not have to upgrade teh system, but that system in my Honda really has me spoiled-- now the Harmon Karden in my E46 sounds like crap in comparison.

Keep us posted about what you do as a solution and how it worked out!

Completely false. Sending distorted or clipped signals could potentially harm speakers, but your analysis is way off.

"Bass" is simply a frequency range. If a speaker can play a frequency, it will play it regardless of how good it sounds; usually larger speakers play lower frequencies and vice versa.

It is usually heat buildup or too much dynamic wattage that blows speakers. There is no such thing as too little power to a speaker-it will harm neither the amp or speaker. Do your speakers blow when you drive with the music at a low volume?

Your speakers sound better in your Honda because they are getting more wattage and have more headroom to turn up volume without distortion. Your amp is probably 100 watts/channel maximum output and the gains are probably set very conservatively. They can handle a little extra wattage, but beleive me put a true 100 watts on them and they will be toast.

[visor]

Originally Posted by spitfire6000

see i wanted to do that....but my real concern with this is that i know how high levels of bass in your car can cause rattles and other similar problems down the road.

In my infiniti m45, i used to have my bass on the highest level at trebel at normal level. After about 2 months, some of the screws in my trunk began to unwind due to the vibration, and it was causing rattling sounds whenever the bass would kick in.

Yeah, I hear you... had the same problem with my trunk and licence plate etc. vibrating from a sealed 10" in my previous E46 trunk. Solution: some double sided foam tape at strategic spots and all was good again.

[One-Way]

I put my bass all the way up and left the trebble in the middle. Does anyone think that'll blow my speakers out within 3 years if I keep it that same way?

[StevenT]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueNJ

Completely false. Sending distorted or clipped signals could potentially harm speakers, but your analysis is way off.

"Bass" is simply a frequency range. If a speaker can play a frequency, it will play it regardless of how good it sounds; usually larger speakers play lower frequencies and vice versa.

It is usually heat buildup or too much dynamic wattage that blows speakers. There is no such thing as too little power to a speaker-it will harm neither the amp or speaker. Do your speakers blow when you drive with the music at a low volume?

Your speakers sound better in your Honda because they are getting more wattage and have more headroom to turn up volume without distortion. Your amp is probably 100 watts/channel maximum output and the gains are probably set very conservatively. They can handle a little extra wattage, but beleive me put a true 100 watts on them and they will be toast.

Speaker clipping occurs when an amplifier is requested (by pre amp signal) to produce more output voltage than it has the capability to do so. Thus, you get distortion when you crank up your stereo system because it needs X amount of volts to generate the sound wave but only has X-Y volts to actually do its job.

The actual process of clipping a signal does not harm the speaker.
However, clipping is an indication that you are driving your system too hard. An amplifier that is capable of putting out, i.e., 100W rms is capable of putting out 200W max (representing a fully clipped signal). In this situation, if the speakers are typically rated to handle 100W rms, they won't survive 200W continuously, and will overheat and be destroyed. Thus, clipping is an indication that you are driving your system too hard, and thus potentially destroying your speakers.

[younghov85]

here is a quick question for anyone. WHere are all ten speakers? I only see eight, six up front including under the seats and two in the back

[visor]

Originally Posted by younghov85

here is a quick question for anyone. WHere are all ten speakers? I only see eight, six up front including under the seats and two in the back

On the back shelf, there are actually one tweeter and one mid driver on each side.

[poldim]

I know my bass setting is turned up 4 or 5 clicks, but I think its pretty crappy design for the BMW to sound like a civic with a 12" in the back when I get out of it. If you have music playing at a decently loud level, turn off the car, walk out and close the door, it rattles like all hell.

Would've expected a better design from BMW.

[jadeddjay]

i dont think it is helpful to talk about settings... thats just up to the listener. as long as the speakers are not distorting then you are ok. once they are distorting, then its bad for your equipment...and your ears. it doesnt matter where the settings are or what you prefer.

as for personal preference.. i will turn up a frequency until i hear it over everything else, then turn it down till its audibly lacking... then i turn it until it disappears. balance to my ears is preferable. in stock x5.. i think i have bass at zero or one, treble at like two?