Anyone have the OEM Alpine Hifi System upgrade?

[heeblet]

Thoughts on it vs HK? Looks sweet and comes with new moldings and everything.

[ucsbshawn]

I have it, love it! Compared to my buddy's 335 HK it's pretty close. No reference to 1 series HK though.

[heeblet]

Damn. I used the search thread tool here didnt' find anything but google search did. Here's a result pretty good writeup. Not much on vs the HK system though.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=505654

[Horigan]

It's certainly way better than the base system. You do need to get the radio re-programmed, so consider that in your total cost. Can't comment on a comparison to the HK system.

[Mr Marcus]

I had it fitted by the dealer. Massive improvement on the OEM system, it's rich and crisp and no longer plays at plum level.

My only criticism is that the two rear speakers are effectively rendered useless as the D-series amp only feeds the front, sub and installed tweeters so there is no enveloping sound from behind.

If you find a way to make the rear speakers involved without replacing the amp let me know.

[Cozy]

I stuck some HK tweeters in the rear and it lifted the sound back there quite nicely.

[Harlequin]

I upgraded my 135i from base to Alpine and I have the HK in my 1M. The Alpine is an awesome upgrade but the HK is a different level...

[vertebra]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

I upgraded my 135i from base to Alpine and I have the HK in my 1M. The Alpine is an awesome upgrade but the HK is a different level...

I just had a 2014 535i GT as a loaner. It had the HK stereo. I wasn't impressed. I don't know why BMW doesn't think it's important to put a good stereo in their vehicles.

[davis449]

Originally Posted by vertebra

I just had a 2014 535i GT as a loaner. It had the HK stereo. I wasn't impressed. I don't know why BMW doesn't think it's important to put a good stereo in their vehicles.

Did you tune the EQ at all while you had this loaner? The reason I ask is most people don't look at this when judging a given sound system in a situation like this. They may or may not have their own car's system tuned to their liking, but in either case, they're used to one thing and so they get in some random car, turn up the volume, and say "Well, this thing sucks" when there's a very good possibility someone has jacked with it and made it sound terrible or it's set to flat EQ and that sounds terrible to you because you have certain, at minimum, bass and treble settings (just basic stuff) set in your own vehicle. I was "ok" with HK in my 135 when I started to drive it 2.5 hrs. home after buying it, but I found all the EQ adjustments I could make to it during the journey home with my friend and after playing around a short while, I grew to like it more.

I am not, by any means, stating here that the HK is superior to the Alpine or anything else on the market in terms of OEM "premium stereo systems" and playing fanboi here (not that I don't have options on them, though), just stating what I know from observing people IRL making judgements in similar situations like I've outlined above. I'm no professional at tuning sound systems, but I know what I like in terms of sound and how to manipulate various sound systems' EQ bands (if and when those adjustments are available) to manipulate the sound to my liking. I make these adjustments to everything I am calling out a judgement upon.

[vertebra]

Originally Posted by davis449

Did you tune the EQ at all while you had this loaner? The reason I ask is most people don't look at this when judging a given sound system in a situation like this. They may or may not have their own car's system tuned to their liking, but in either case, they're used to one thing and so they get in some random car, turn up the volume, and say "Well, this thing sucks" when there's a very good possibility someone has jacked with it and made it sound terrible or it's set to flat EQ and that sounds terrible to you because you have certain, at minimum, bass and treble settings (just basic stuff) set in your own vehicle. I was "ok" with HK in my 135 when I started to drive it 2.5 hrs. home after buying it, but I found all the EQ adjustments I could make to it during the journey home with my friend and after playing around a short while, I grew to like it more.

I am not, by any means, stating here that the HK is superior to the Alpine or anything else on the market in terms of OEM "premium stereo systems" and playing fanboi here (not that I don't have options on them, though), just stating what I know from observing people IRL making judgements in similar situations like I've outlined above. I'm no professional at tuning sound systems, but I know what I like in terms of sound and how to manipulate various sound systems' EQ bands (if and when those adjustments are available) to manipulate the sound to my liking. I make these adjustments to everything I am calling out a judgement upon.

I played around with the treble and bass but did not take the time to tune it. I was expecting something better sounding in a $75,000 car. I might have been a little negative driving the car on the whole because the ride height was very high, the steering sucked, I could not feel anything. Plus, it was way to big for my liking. I am grateful I got it as a loaner but it was something I definitely would not buy.

[C135i]

I personally think the best option is to just purchase a harness from Technic and replace the OEM amp with a JL Audio XD600/6. That alone will bring your system to a completely different level. The factory hi-fi speakers surprisingly sound pretty good once you get more power and they are properly crossed over.

I went that route and also dropped in a Rockford Fosgate T500 power series amp pushing a couple 10 inch Fosgate P2's.

Totally blown away on it! Sounds amazing!

[C135i]

If you wanted to upgrade your speakers these look to be an excellent choice. I was going to drop these in but I'm perfectly happy with the stock speakers being pushed by the JL.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/t3-bmw1

[davis449]

Originally Posted by vertebra

I played around with the treble and bass but did not take the time to tune it. I was expecting something better sounding in a $75,000 car. I might have been a little negative driving the car on the whole because the ride height was very high, the steering sucked, I could not feel anything. Plus, it was way to big for my liking. I am grateful I got it as a loaner but it was something I definitely would not buy.

I understand. You'll find that if you tune the actual EQ Band in conjunction with the Treble and Bass on the HK, the sound can get significantly better. I felt the same as you when I first got the car and only played with the Treble and Bass. It was good, but I wasn't blown away either considering what I know it costs as an added option (I bought used CPO, so no money really lost on my part in that respect). Then I discovered the actual EQ adjustments and I liked it even more. Still doesn't blow me away, though. I will say it's better than 99% of the Bose systems I've heard in various makes. For me, the HK option was a must...only for the reason that I know they sound "good enough" for me and I was just plain tired of doing audio upgrades to cars I own (not that there isn't this little gremlin in my head considering an integrated sub in the trunk.)

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by davis449

Did you tune the EQ at all while you had this loaner?

This. It sounds terrible if you don't tune it...