[ossanboy]

Halo All,

My new 335i is coming soon, I am searching for a better amp to use with the HK system.

I want to do an easy upgrade if possible. what is the best amp to use with the HK? I am very new with car audio, please give me some suggestion.

Some people mention JL Audio XD600 or JBL MS-8. What is the difference between them? I listen to a lot of Jazz and I prefer treble than bass. Which one has better SQ?

Thank you for your help.

[TheHitchhiker]

BMW's speaker system is a bit more complicated than other makers. There is an AMP in the trunk of the car which is not as easy to upgrade as you think. Also some speakers have weird impedance values so you may also need to replace the speakers. However, there are a lot of people upgrading their systems if you pay the buck. To have a plug and play upgrade, I recommend you to wait for Bavarian Soundwerks upgrade. They have speaker upgrades now but not an amp yet.

If you want to do it take it to a professional. Be aware there may be cutting required for the harnesses.

And if I am wrong please some other fellow f30 driver correct me. I haven't received my f30 yet, but as my experience all previous BMWs I drove/had have separate amps and weird impedance speakers.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by ossanboy

Halo All,

My new 335i is coming soon, I am searching for a better amp to use with the HK system.

I want to do an easy upgrade if possible. what is the best amp to use with the HK? I am very new with car audio, please give me some suggestion.

Some people mention JL Audio XD600 or JBL MS-8. What is the difference between them? I listen to a lot of Jazz and I prefer treble than bass. Which one has better SQ?

Thank you for your help.

You cannot just replace the HK OEM amp.

Please search for explanations, this has been discussed since 2002.

[ossanboy]

This is my 1st BMW so please bear with me.

I will hire a professional help to install but I want to know which amp I will use and why

Technic I did read some in the forum and you did suggest those 2 amp. Mind telling me why and how to do it? You said we can leave OEM speaker and just change the amp.


Thanks

[ossanboy]

Anyone? just tell me which amp to prepare.

Thanks

[Sirrus]

I would strongly suggest you listen to your HK system first and play with the EQ settings. To improve the SQ over that, you would need BOTH of the devices you mentioned plus several hundred dollars in additional equipment for the reason Technic mentioned.

I think you are confusing the HK system with the less upgraded BMW options. This one has fiber optic cable involved.

[Steve33]

I'm not going to lie, for the 38 miles I've driven my F30 until I dropped it off to get a clear bra, the HK is loud and clear. I don't think I'd replace it honestly

[JN1]

Originally Posted by Steve33

I'm not going to lie, for the 38 miles I've driven my F30 until I dropped it off to get a clear bra, the HK is loud and clear. I don't think I'd replace it honestly

Yeah I love my HK system and can't justify spending any money to change. If I had the HiFi it would be a different story. Regardless, I'd rather spend money on performance.

[Steve33]

Originally Posted by JNLBC

Yeah I love my HK system and can't justify spending any money to change. If I had the HiFi it would be a different story. Regardless, I'd rather spend money on performance.

Amen to that. If it's like the F10 hifi, I could justify upgrading it no problem (I think the HK upgrade was a few thousand with a F10 vs $800 for the F30). But the HK, it's plenty

[ossanboy]

I dont even have the car and in Indonesia I will need to find someone who can upgrade it

I will wait for the car.

Thanks

[SamS]

Originally Posted by Steve33

Amen to that. If it's like the F10 hifi, I could justify upgrading it no problem (I think the HK upgrade was a few thousand with a F10 vs $800 for the F30). But the HK, it's plenty

HK upgrade on the F10 is $875. You might be thinking of the B&O upgrade, which is $4K.

[Steve33]

Originally Posted by SamS

HK upgrade on the F10 is $875. You might be thinking of the B&O upgrade, which is $4K.

Yes, that's what I meant... the B&O for $4500 vs the premium (not HK, but just "premium") for $875. The F10 premium is inferior to the F30 HK (worse sub, more distortion even at lower volumes). The F30 HK is worth every penny.

[Kabrich]

Originally Posted by ossanboy

Halo All,

My new 335i is coming soon, I am searching for a better amp to use with the HK system.

I want to do an easy upgrade if possible. what is the best amp to use with the HK? I am very new with car audio, please give me some suggestion.

Some people mention JL Audio XD600 or JBL MS-8. What is the difference between them? I listen to a lot of Jazz and I prefer treble than bass. Which one has better SQ?

Thank you for your help.

I owned a $60k Speaker System (you read that right) 25 years ago (which makes it about over $100k in today's dollars). And it was made by Infinity, a HK Company.

I spent about $6k on the audio system in a Viper 20 years ago - just under 5k watts and 8 amp channels.

No, the HK does not rival that, but it is VERY GOOD - and I doubt that just switching the amp is going to be worth it $$$ wise. Besides, its a matched complete system, so just changing out an amp would probably cause undesirable effects.

[Micah D. Cranman]

Upgrading the amp, in our opinion, is more trouble than it's worth in these HK cars. We're biased, but we think addressing the speakers is a much better bang for the buck proposition, and fixes the biggest issue in HK cars (when properly chosen) : overly bright, harsh midrange.