Awesome write-up...

 

Wow - very nice.

Very ambitious project.

 

very impressed

 

i agree -- super job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You did a great job

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate it!

If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

epic!!!

 

oh quick question.. is LOC same as something like clean sweep and can you still control high and low through i drive??

Also is your sub box really secured or does it move around???

i was thinking about changing it to alpine type x component but cant find the front door size which is 4"

 

Focal makes an excellent component set in 4". Great upgrade for front soundstage. Also, the LOC is a "line output converter" It is just a way to convert speaker wires to RCA outputs. The clean sweep erases the factory equalizer programmed by BMW and sets everything to flat.

To OP: Why didn't you replace the front door speakers?

IMHO, I think an upgrade of front stage to a proven 4" set like BSW or Focal and a SWS upgrade bi-amped would complete the front soundstage nicely. I would have left the rear deck speakers alone, running off OEM amp power as they are just for rear fill. Then add subs in the trunk.

 

I didn't replace the front speakers because to ROI on the work involved just wasn't there for me. Focals are outside of the budget I set and making a special bracket for the Infinity's, pulling off the door, and most importantly - the work involved in running the wires back to the trunk - for the incremental sound improvement just wasn't worth it for me (not to mention having to address the NAV guidance voice issue if you go this way). And just changing them out to change them out (leaving them connected to the head unit) wasn't something that made sense for me. The front soundstage is competent enough for the compressed (and therefore sonically incomplete) MP3 music files I listen to and the loudness is fine. Unless you strictly listen to CD's, IMO, anything else overkill.

The LOC I am using does a bit more than you describe. It has internal summing. This feature combines the various input signals into one signal. If you input all of the available signals for you system (i.e. highpass, low pass outputs) you can then turn them into one complete flat signal. It's pretty cool device for the price. See the specs here for more info --> Line Output Converter - LC6i