Bavsound Review

[Casa de Mesa]

Edit: It's worth noting that I also have the Avin 4 head unit which also makes a significant difference over factory HK sound. As such, my perceived differences with the new subs might be somewhat enhanced when compared to the factory head unit. For whatever that is worth...

I'd love to hear your setup next time we stretch these cars' legs. Perhaps we can A/B a track.

[Casa de Mesa]

I dropped them from the shelf to make sure they were working - yes, but very faint.

I think this comes back to the original speakers being 2-ohm and the Fosgate ones being 4-ohm.

I dropped the news one back in - and straight away better bass/kick.

What did you actually do? I'm confused by "I dropped the new ones back in and they sounded better". Did you cut the tweeter wires or?


On a side note... I think I'm the outlier in that I feel the Bavsound speakers sound equally terrible to the H/Ks. I didn't replace any amps (perhaps that's my downfall), but find the Bavsound speakers were perhaps marginally better than the H/Ks. For the money, I would have expected a lot more.

I'm drawn to warmer, rich sounding speakers and don't like speakers that are overtly bright or clinical. For reference, I have a pair of Vienna Acoustics floor standers at home (2 channel setup) and love the way their laid back Scan-Speak silk dome tweeters sound. To my ear, the Bavsound speakers are on the bright side, tinny sounding and lack definition/clarity. They are so bad that I put the fade to the rear to tone down their in-you-face shrill...

These were legitimately one of the most, if the the most disappointing "upgrades" I've ever done to the car.

I have thought about providing them proper juice via new amps, but not sure if it's diminishing returns.

[bytor]

I have an E46 M3 (2002) with Harmon Kardon.


1. I bought the Bavsound setup here in OZ and fitted it about 3 years ago. It's a major improvement over the HK setup.
2. Reading this thread I went out and bought the Fosgate 6x9 speakers (R169X2) exactly as described. I need to add that the HK speakers worked fine - I just thought why not freshen them up with new speakers.
3. Fitted them - very easy. Thanks for all the guidance. Worth notning that I did NOT cut wires to tweeter - left exactly as they came from the supplier.

Went to test them....really dissapointing!!

Worse than the originals. I set the fader to rear of the car and turned up the bass - the speakers did put out some bass - but very little. Set the fader to middle (front/rear) and the sound just lacked any bass. Played familiar tracks - just no bass "kick". I'm a bit of an audiophile - so know my way around decent setup - but these just lacked any bass.

I dropped them from the shelf to make sure they were working - yes, but very faint.

I think this comes back to the original speakers being 2-ohm and the Fosgate ones being 4-ohm.

I dropped the news one back in - and straight away better bass/kick.

It's not the end of the world as they are cheap ($100 AUD) and I'm sure I can punt them on to someone else.

In terms of 6x9 with 2Ohm - I found these:

Kicker 40PS692 6"x 9" 2-way speakers (2-ohm) for use in motorcycles, boats, and ATVs at Crutchfield

Quite a bit more money - but these are 2-ohm.

So that's my experience - dissapointing, but gave it a go!

Cheers

[maw1124]

^^^ This. I've looked at CDT for other car audio applications as well. Their main benefit seems to be impedance matching for cars that use 2 ohm loads. That gain is more easily and better achieved with highly efficient speakers (+90dB). If more established players have highly efficient 6x9 applications that fit, I'd just roll with them.

maw

[Tbonem3]

CDTs are great, but shallow will move less air. I want to say they do have "subwoofer" 6x9s, maybe called extended bass or something like that.

For discounted CDT speakers, check https://www.cdtaudio.com/shop/ Says refurb, but most stuff is b-stock, open box, nos.

If you're not willing to put a true sub in the back, then I would go for 6x9s that have lower fs, greater power handling to reproduce the low frequencies as best you can (without a true subwoofer).

You'll also want speakers with the same nominal impedance as the HK *if using factory amp (it might be 4 like those CDT 6x9 are, I just don't know. Could be 2 ohm or both 4 ohm wired in parallel to present 2ohm to amp, I'm not sure).

Here's an example, if you're ok with bigger magnets hanging down (if the speakers fit, I don't know):

https://www.cdtaudio.com/shop/viewit...?productid=136

More than twice the power handling of the shallow ones, lower response.

That was 4 ohm version, here's 2ohm:

https://www.cdtaudio.com/shop/viewitem.php?productid=172

[jdamore44]

This is great information. Someone on another post talked about these speakers.. I'm pretty green to Audio, but these look like they have nice shallow magnets.. Might fit even better than the RF's. Thoughts?

https://www.cdtaudio.com/sep_components/subwoofers/hd690cfs.php

[Mayan-Viking]

Please report back once you complete this. I'm interested in possibly doing this and would like more feedback.

WOLFN8TR , thanks for the info and pics!

Job completed over the weekend. Very easy DIY, which is a nice change for me.

My impressions: every measurable aspect of the quality of sound is improved with the addition of these subs. Sound stage, presence, depth, bass response, musicality - it's all improved. The stereo system now also hits harder if that's what you are after. The Rockford Fosgates made as much of a difference to the overall sound quality as adding the BAV Sound speakers to begin with IMHO. They just really completes the package. For the price/easiness of this mod this should me a must for anyone who even remotely cares about the sound quality in their cars. Even if you don't upgrade to the BAV Sound speakers.

When I started the project I intended to drill out the frames like WOLFN8TR did. But once I saw how gnarly those self tapping screws were I didn't bother. It all worked out and everything is tight.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
t

Edit: It's worth noting that I also have the Avin 4 head unit which also makes a significant difference over factory HK sound. As such, my perceived differences with the new subs might be somewhat enhanced when compared to the factory head unit. For whatever that is worth...

[jrgatfh]

Mine slipped on no problems

Awesome, thanks for the response.

[Mr.wReckless]

WOLFN8TR

Are any special wire connectors needed to connect the factory speaker wires to the new subs?

I just ordered the subs and wanted to make sure I have everything needed to perform the install.

Let me know, thanks.

Mine slipped on no problems

[jrgatfh]

WOLFN8TR

Are any special wire connectors needed to connect the factory speaker wires to the new subs?

I just ordered the subs and wanted to make sure I have everything needed to perform the install.

Let me know, thanks.

[WOLFN8TR]

With the Bavsound upgrade it got a lift and having a quick listen now after the Rockford install I feel it does sound representable of a very good OEM high end stereo option. I think for the price and performance, as well as the ease of fit and OEM integration the Bavsound + Rockford Fosgate is a very nice upgrade if you care about car audio but don't want a full aftermarket installation.

Glad to hear. 😎

The Bavsound speakers are a noticeable difference unfortunately they do not offer the 6x9 subs. Everywhere you search shows nothing will fit the E46 M3 6x9 sub location without modification. The Rockford Fosgate 6x9’s complete the BAV system.

[Mr.wReckless]

What are your initial impressions of the sound?

Embarrassingly enough I haven't tested this thoroughly yet. I'm in the middle of swapping to 280/272 cams, which takes it's time as when I dig deeper into the engine bay and find worn out parts and break other stuff I'm constantly having to order new parts. That's the long story, the short of it is that the car is in pieces, including the battery being disconnected. And with the car being off the road for winter storage I can't give you a proper before/after comparison, but just from quickly connecting the battery and having a listen I can't say it's night and day, but pushing the amp button on the center console seems to make a bigger difference to me compared to before from memory, with the caveat that I haven't driven the car since mid October..

The rest of the system is also Bavsound upgraded, and I will say that my previous car was a 2009 Audi A5 with the big B & O stereo upgrade, which IMO sounded absolutely fantastic. The stock HK system in the M3 was lacking, and that is putting it mildly. That the HK system was the "upgrade" over stock must have been an embarrassment to BMW, even back in 2001, and if it wasn't it bloody well should have!

With the Bavsound upgrade it got a lift and having a quick listen now after the Rockford install I feel it does sound representable of a very good OEM high end stereo option. I think for the price and performance, as well as the ease of fit and OEM integration the Bavsound + Rockford Fosgate is a very nice upgrade if you care about car audio but don't want a full aftermarket installation.

Regards

[WestBankM4]

Just picked up a set of these off of eBay, I'll be doing this as well and add the results to this thread.

I haven't pulled the trigger on the BavSound speakers yet, when I swap my interior to black I'll tackle all of that. Curious how much better these RF's are though.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Will]

Just fitted my Rockford Fosgates and it was an easy job, albeit slightly time consuming and tedious to dremel away the corners. IMO you don't HAVE to enlarge the holes for the screws, they sort of line up as is and the OEM screws are sharp enough to engage and thread into the soft plastic regardless. But if you're fussy then you need to enlarge some of the screw holes in the speakers yes.

Regards

What are your initial impressions of the sound?

[Mr.wReckless]

Just fitted my Rockford Fosgates and it was an easy job, albeit slightly time consuming and tedious to dremel away the corners. IMO you don't HAVE to enlarge the holes for the screws, they sort of line up as is and the OEM screws are sharp enough to engage and thread into the soft plastic regardless. But if you're fussy then you need to enlarge some of the screw holes in the speakers yes.

Regards