[beanbaguk]

Originally Posted by 83883

Good packaging but nothing there but the driver. No paperwork of any kind.

That was an easy installation. Took an hour and 10 minutes going slow and took time to vacuum under the seats and take pictures. In the coupe there is tons of room to work... there was no need at all to ever get in the car. No need to unplug the seat wire harness. You could even swap the woofers without removing the enclosures if you were careful, but I wouldn't do that. Had to really tighten the woofer screws down to get rid of a rattle on the passenger side. Some silicone or a thick gasket would be helpful. The OEM woofers had a thick bead of adhesive on them to help them seal up tight.

I'll give them time to loosen up before critiquing them too much. Without seeing the specs my ears would say they are a hair less efficient than the OEM's. Low end extension is better (eq set flat) and there is a more solid floor at 80-100hz. I'm not hearing a big difference down in the sub-50hz area in my limited test so far. More controlled bass in all areas including midbass but it's not dramatic - just better. The transition from woofer to midrange is still awful (HK's fault, not Bavsound) and hopefully that will improve when I install the Stage 1 drivers.

As others have said, there is only so much you can do with a 8" shallow driver in a tiny enclosure on a stock amp. I'll run them for a couple of weeks and see if they improve. Overall I like them but I'm realistic and know they are never going to hit like a JL sub in a proper box.

Thank you for this! I'm still holding tight until I get more reviews. Ideally with the same set-up as my own. (Base stereo with a BSW S1 upgrade).

As soon as I start hearing positive reviews, I'll place my order but I'm very happy with the S1 right now. Made a huge difference to the junk that came standard.

[83883]

Originally Posted by beanbaguk

Thank you for this! I'm still holding tight until I get more reviews. Ideally with the same set-up as my own. (Base stereo with a BSW S1 upgrade).

As soon as I start hearing positive reviews, I'll place my order but I'm very happy with the S1 right now. Made a huge difference to the junk that came standard.

These Ghost "subs" seem better already. Better down low and tighter and much less muddy midbass. They have about 5 hours on them now.
I want to see some reviews comparing them with the other drop-in replacement options.

[83883]

A few install pics from an F32.

[shivaswrath]

Can we do a GB on this guys??

[ronanz]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

Can we do a GB on this guys??

unlikely...per BavSound, they stated they'd "never" discount again...

.

[83883]

EDIT: Update at bottom
-----------------------------

12/18 Initial review (before gaskets)

Summary: Noticeably better when cranked up, kind of 'meh' otherwise. Would be happy at a lower price point... but not at $500.

I assume it is because of the lower efficiency of the Ghost's, but I have to really crank the volume to hear the benefit (they were run for hours before pushing them). Anything below 75% volume there just isn't enough there to differentiate much from stock. However, when really cranked up, the difference from stock is immediately obvious as they will get louder than stock, go a little deeper, and maybe more musical (<- subjective). Midbass is much better. Fortunately for me, I listen at higher volumes so they will be in the sweet spot a lot. Still wish there was more oomph down low though. I may eventually add a Musicar enclosure and filter out the sub freq's from the Ghost's.

For the very high price of these drivers I expect more. Physics are a bitch though and only so much can be done as an easy DIY in that little space and on OEM amp power. I suppose they could still open up a bit more more but they were supposedly pre-broken in, at least partially. I will update if they improve more during the audition/return period.

-------------------------------------

12/19 after installing the missing gaskets

Mine must have not been airtight before, because there is noticeably more bottom end and output is increased with doing nothing other than adding the gasket material. Those were my only two gripes before adding the gasket. I guess the airspace is a tiny fraction of a cubic inch more now too. The Ghosts will shake the car with authority, and cleanly, surprising for a shallow 8" driver in a tiny enclosure. My next door neighbor heard the ruckus and came over to see what I had installed, and I was in my garage with the garage door shut. Gotta love that.

Very happy camper now.

-----------------------
12/22 A few more enjoyable hours on them now. They are much more controlled than the stock woofers... and the boominess and nasty peaks are gone.

-----------------------
1/5 Installed full Stage 1 kit and added some Dynamat around the drivers in the doors and side panels. Finally it sounds like it should. Greater detail, noticeably better highs, better vocals, better low-mids and much better integration with Ghost woofers, obviously. The Ghosts sound better now too after a few weeks. I don't know why I waited so long to do the upgrade... the stage 1 system will really crank on the OEM HK amp and stays clean at high volume. Very happy with the Ghosts and Stage 1 set.

[SilverZeus]

Sounds like it need more power to drive the subs

[ahero4eternity]

You guys just saved me $500 lol

[snj49er]

Originally Posted by 83883

Had to really tighten the woofer screws down to get rid of a rattle on the passenger side. Some silicone or a thick gasket would be helpful. The OEM woofers had a thick bead of adhesive on them to help them seal up tight.

I received an email which said, "However, as sometimes happens with new products, we made a mistake creating the parts list during manufacturing, and a gasket required for installation wasn't correctly pre-installed on the woofers. Without this gasket, your new woofers won't seal properly in their enclosures, resulting in poor performance."

They're sending some generic weather strip material via Amazon Prime. Or, it's a basic Home Depot item if you don't want to wait for that to arrive...

http://www.amazon.com/Frost-King-V25...5%3A2470955011

[83883]

Originally Posted by snj49er

I received an email which said, "However, as sometimes happens with new products, we made a mistake creating the parts list during manufacturing, and a gasket required for installation wasn't correctly pre-installed on the woofers. Without this gasket, your new woofers won't seal properly in their enclosures, resulting in poor performance."

They're sending some generic weather strip material via Amazon Prime. Or, it's a basic Home Depot item if you don't want to wait for that to arrive...

http://www.amazon.com/Frost-King-V25...5%3A2470955011

Just saw that email. It also says to allow up to 20 hours for the woofers to be fully broken in and to reach peak output. I had heard 10 hours before this email.

Sounds like with the gasket and more hours we can expect them to improve in overall output, which is exactly what they needed.

[Micah D. Cranman]

Micah with Bavsound here. So glad you're starting to enjoy them -- give them a little more time to break in and I think you'll really start to love them.

Also, as we noted in the e-mail, tuning in vehicles with Harman Kardon is relatively important to let your new woofers shine (if you have Standard Hi-Fi this isn't really relevant). Here are those instructions again:

Finally, we also want to provide some important information regarding the design, tuning, and performance of your new woofers. When we engineered the woofers for your BMW, as with everything we do, our focus was on maximizing sound quality and usable performance first, and total bass output second.

What does this mean? Without any additional equalization, our woofers (relative to the factory speakers and Stage One) will be slightly quieter than the factory woofers in some, but not all, applications. However, with some small EQ adjustments, their usable output (meaning how loud they can be played without distortion) is significantly higher, and their dynamics and low end extension are, in a word, exceptional.

Long story short, if after installing your new woofers you'd like more bass output, some small adjustments to your EQ will absolutely blow you away!

Here are the recommended changes if your goal is maximum bass output:

(NOTE: these are not "absolute" recommendations, but how much you should adjust from your "normal" settings to optimize bass response)

1. Reduce your Treble setting by 2-4 "notches" and leave "Bass" where it is.
2. Adjust your EQ as follows:

100Hz +1 click
200Hz -2 clicks
500Hz (none)
1KHz -1 click
2 KHz -4 clicks
5 KHz -4 clicks
10 KHz -1-3 clicks

[ronanz]

Originally Posted by Micah D. Cranman

Micah with Bavsound here. So glad you're starting to enjoy them -- give them a little more time to break in and I think you'll really start to love them.

....

Anything to add concerning quote below?

Originally Posted by snj49er

I received an email which said, "However, as sometimes happens with new products, we made a mistake creating the parts list during manufacturing, and a gasket required for installation wasn't correctly pre-installed on the woofers. Without this gasket, your new woofers won't seal properly in their enclosures, resulting in poor performance."

They're sending some generic weather strip material via Amazon Prime. Or, it's a basic Home Depot item if you don't want to wait for that to arrive...

.

[squidlyboy]

Originally Posted by 83883

Summary: Noticeably better when cranked up, kind of 'meh' otherwise. Would be happy at a lower price point... but not at $500.
...
For the very high price of these drivers I expect more. Physics are a bitch though and only so much can be done as an easy DIY in that little space and on OEM amp power. I suppose they could still open up a bit more more but they were supposedly pre-broken in, at least partially. I will update if they improve more during the audition/return period.

Thanks for the first review... and a brutally honest one at that.

Your last paragraph was what i was suspecting ... that it was going to be an Ok upgrade, but not a $500 worth-it upgrade. The number one reason people jumped all over this was that it was an easy install - a direct drop-in replacement DIY for the OEM underseats, and most people who are leasing don't want to mess with the car - or mess with it as little as possible.

If you look at that tiny hole under the seat, there just doesn't seem like there is enough volume of air space to properly locate a real kick-ass woofer there. My $500 is going towards a dual sub trunk set up for sure now.

[83883]

Originally Posted by squidlyboy

Thanks for the first review... and a brutally honest one at that.
....

Thank you. I am certainly not trying to push anybody away but just giving an honest initial opinion. I think Bavsound makes very well engineered, quality products. They do sound much better than stock, especially as you bring up the power, and based on the email and video that early adopters received from Bavsound last night I expect them to only get better.

[kyle william]

First of all, thanks to everyone on this thread and others; the forum's been a huge help in upgrading the sound in my new (to me) 328d.

I just installed the ghost subwoofers and already love them. They're not broken in yet but they're already a substantial improvement over OEM. I have Stage Ones and the Bimmertech amp upgrade with some tuning using their software, and I added the weatherstripping to the drivers as per the email others mentioned. They're not going to hit as hard as trunk units but I guess that's the trade off for an easy plug and play install and OEM look. My sense so far is a balanced sound with depth and clarity.

We'll see as they break in but I'm very optimistic about these.

[jtskariah]

I ordered the bavsound underseat as well and they are arriving today. However I did not recieve a email talking about a weatherstrip or a video about it.

[83883]

Originally Posted by kyle william

I just installed the ghost subwoofers and already love them. They're not broken in yet but they're already a substantial improvement over OEM. I have Stage Ones and the Bimmertech amp upgrade with some tuning using their software, and I added the weatherstripping to the drivers as per the email others mentioned.

Let us know how it goes with some more hours on the Ghosts.

Originally Posted by jtskariah

I ordered the bavsound underseat as well and they are arriving today. However I did not recieve a email talking about a weatherstrip or a video about it.

PM me your email addy if you want, and I'll shoot them over to you.

[Micah D. Cranman]

Originally Posted by jtskariah

I ordered the bavsound underseat as well and they are arriving today. However I did not recieve a email talking about a weatherstrip or a video about it.

Not every vehicle / audio system combination requires the weatherstripping -- if you didn't get an e-mail about it, you don't need it.

[rubber_ducky]

Originally Posted by ronanz

Anything to add concerning quote below?.

What exactly are you hoping that he expands on? Seems reasonably straight forward to me.

[ThereGoesForNothing]

Originally Posted by Micah D. Cranman

Not every vehicle / audio system combination requires the weatherstripping -- if you didn't get an e-mail about it, you don't need it.

I have F10 and I have installed the subwoofers and played for 20+ hours. I did not get any email about this weather stripping and I looked at my factory woofers and they surely have the weather stripping.

How do you decide which one needs and which one dont?

[Micah D. Cranman]

Originally Posted by 83883

Thank you. I am certainly not trying to push anybody away but just giving an honest initial opinion. I think Bavsound makes very well engineered, quality products. They do sound much better than stock, especially as you bring up the power, and based on the email and video that early adopters received from Bavsound last night I expect them to only get better.

Thanks for your real and honest review -- it's all we can ask for. Ultimately, there is a limit to what can be done with the factory amplifier while still staying within what we felt were safe operating specs.

For example, we did testing on our F80 M3 with HK with 4 Ohm woofers (instead of the 8 Ohm version we shipped to HK customers) and the output was, frankly, absurd -- but we don't know the long-term ramifications to the factory amplifier in such a setup, and our goal is always reliability first and foremost, both of our components and the factory amp, etc. (which is why we elected to go the safer route).

That said, as we said in our initial e-mail about our products, and on our site description, if you want to go further and your goal is the kind of output you'd expect from a very powerful trunk sub configuration, an amplifier upgrade with our subs is really all you need.

In our internal testing, we frankly couldn't believe what we were hearing with our Ghost Subs + around 100W per channel on a quality Class G/H or A/B amplifier. (Don't use a Class D amp, at least with HK systems, as you're likely to have noise issues). We'd put it on par with nearly any well designed, high end 10" sub system -- but with much more impactful midbass.

[Micah D. Cranman]

Originally Posted by ThereGoesForNothing

I have F10 and I have installed the subwoofers and played for 20+ hours. I did not get any email about this weather stripping and I looked at my factory woofers and they surely have the weather stripping.

How do you decide which one needs and which one dont?

Most (but not all) new generation BMWs with Harman Kardon need it, those with Standard Hi-Fi don't. Frankly, our engineer is better equipped to answer that on a vehicle by vehicle basis than me and it's the weekend, he's had a hell of a week (he's a perfectionist and was very unhappy when we discovered the gasket issue), and he'll probably kill me if I call him to find out.

But here's what you need to know: if you didn't get an e-mail, you don't need a gasket.