Has anyone upgraded to HK Speakers WITHOUT an amp?

TeaAndBiscuits · 11-02-2018, 05:54 AM

Hey folks, my previous car was a F30 which came with base spec stereo system, and all I did was replace the front mid door speakers & add front door tweeters (and the grills) with the HK ones.
It made a good difference, it was much improved, and I left it at that.

I now have another F30, this time base spec stereo (again!) and was wondering, if anyone has ever not only just swapped out the fronts, but also added the rears, including rear HK tweeters, as well as swapping the OEM subs under the seat, for the HK ones as well, and added the rear shelf ones to be the HK ones also.

Is that a pointless exercise without having an amp? I am guessing the amp I have is the stereo powered one, rather than a dedicated one, as I see no option on my VIN build list?

It's either do that, or get a Focal set for the front with crossovers, or go with the Alpine hi-fi retrofit which includes an amp, any advice? Not really wanting to spend too much, just I have the option to get the full HK set (without amp or wiring) for quite cheap...

Billfitz · 11-02-2018, 08:07 AM

The H-K drivers may be better than the base drivers. They may not. It would be easy enough to know by looking at the driver Theile/Small specs and frequency response charts, but Catch-22 is that there are none. Logically one would expect the H-K to have higher power capacity, both electrical and mechanical, to accommodate the higher power of the H-K system amp, and that brings up the heart of the matter: without enough power pushing them higher power drivers can't work to their capabilities. This thread is useful as far as the amp goes.
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1475424

I would not make a driver change without installing the amp first, and if after installing the amp it sounds OK I wouldn't make a driver change at all. Claims of improvements with different drivers are very long on hype but woefully short on proof.

View Poll Results: Which upgrade?
Fit all the HK speakers, don't worry about the amp	0	0%
Fit the Focal set for the front, forget the rear	0	0%
Fit the Alpine HiFi Retrofit	0	0%
Voters: 0. You may not vote on this poll

11-02-2018, 05:54 AM	#1
TeaAndBiscuits Private First Class 17 Rep 135 Posts Drives: 325D F30 M SPORT Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Essex iTrader: (0)	Has anyone upgraded to HK Speakers WITHOUT an amp? Hey folks, my previous car was a F30 which came with base spec stereo system, and all I did was replace the front mid door speakers & add front door tweeters (and the grills) with the HK ones. It made a good difference, it was much improved, and I left it at that. I now have another F30, this time base spec stereo (again!) and was wondering, if anyone has ever not only just swapped out the fronts, but also added the rears, including rear HK tweeters, as well as swapping the OEM subs under the seat, for the HK ones as well, and added the rear shelf ones to be the HK ones also. Is that a pointless exercise without having an amp? I am guessing the amp I have is the stereo powered one, rather than a dedicated one, as I see no option on my VIN build list? It's either do that, or get a Focal set for the front with crossovers, or go with the Alpine hi-fi retrofit which includes an amp, any advice? Not really wanting to spend too much, just I have the option to get the full HK set (without amp or wiring) for quite cheap...
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11-02-2018, 08:07 AM	#2
Billfitz Lieutenant General 8245 Rep 16,083 Posts Drives: '15 328iX GT Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: New Hampshire iTrader: (0)	The H-K drivers may be better than the base drivers. They may not. It would be easy enough to know by looking at the driver Theile/Small specs and frequency response charts, but Catch-22 is that there are none. Logically one would expect the H-K to have higher power capacity, both electrical and mechanical, to accommodate the higher power of the H-K system amp, and that brings up the heart of the matter: without enough power pushing them higher power drivers can't work to their capabilities. This thread is useful as far as the amp goes. https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1475424 I would not make a driver change without installing the amp first, and if after installing the amp it sounds OK I wouldn't make a driver change at all. Claims of improvements with different drivers are very long on hype but woefully short on proof.
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