Stereo speaker recommendations?

[gmonsen]

I am swapping out my original BMW head unit for a Nakamichi CD400 and wanted to upgrade my speakers at the same time. (I'll be keeping the original equipment, of course.) Just not sure what I can/should put in the kick panels that fits and sounds natural. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Gordon

[gmonsen]

Perhaps I should ask for some people to be kind enough to tell me what speakers they have and like. Some 60 people have looked at the post, but no one has responded. I know many iof you are not using the OEM system. So, how about a couple of recommendations?

[peteb]

Im going to tacle this soon as well... have to see what fits, cant be too tall, not a lot of room...

[Dave @nz]

+1, I was thinking that Bose would be a good brand and well worth investigating if there are any the correct size that would fit, there are plenty of them on eBay for sale in various sizes.

[gmonsen]

I'll follow what you both do. I am thinking of getting a set of the older NOS MB Quart QSD 213's that are 5.25" and perhaps a decent subwoofer for the rear shelf. Most newer speakers are too large. Very few 5 inch speakers that seem any good.

[basketcase]

I just fitted a nakamichi cd400 to my e30 touring and replaced the stock rear 4 inch (I think) rear speakers with some $100 pair from the local audio place that they recommended. I could've spent more on the same brand speakers ($150) for better quality but the guy said these would be fine. I am totally happy with the sound. The cd400 has a very good internal amp so will make even average speakers sound good. I bias the fader mostly to the rear as my fronts are still stock, but I plan on upgrading them too. Then I would say the car will have great sound out of a simple setup. I will try and remember the brand of speaker but basically anything new and half decent will be a 100% better than the old factory speakers. Esp with the Nakamichi. Great head unit.

[basketcase]

http://m.visions.ca/#/home-productde...71&sku=DCX1003

These are them, brand is Hertz

[gmonsen]

I was looking at the Hertz speakers. They get good reviews. Do you know if it would be easy to put 5.25 inch speakers on the shelf without cutting anything or much? Did you leave the front kick panel speakers stock? The fronts look like 5 inches?

[basketcase]

I remember replacing my premium hi fi speakers in my m3 with aftermarket items but I don't remember with what size. If I were you, just pop the covers off the factory speakers and measure the diameter and then order some hertz to fit. I do think the fronts are 5.25 as mentioned. Mine are current stock but I want to replace those also. Note my rears on my touring are different to the M3 as they are actually mounted in the trunk under the side windows in dedicated speaker boxes.

[gmonsen]

I'm going toi put the MB Quart 5.25QSD's on the shelf and whatever Hertz fits in the kick panels.

[L James]

I'm pretty surprised Brandon has spoken up here. We had chatted about this very topic a couple of years ago. I believe he had mentioned Focal speakers. Didn't end up doing anything with the system, so I cannot say if they're any good or not. It maybe another option to look into....

[gmonsen]

Thanks. The reason so few people have responded is that the guys who are track addicts don't care and the guys crazy about maintaining originality don't care either. Its only the tweeners who would do anything, I suppose.

[Quest]

I have alpine type r's front and back, although I don't remember the sizes. They sound great but they are powered by an amp.

[gmonsen]

Quest... I'll check them out. I've used Alpine head units (think I have one sitting around somewhere) but never their speakers. I'll see if I can find some reviews on the R's. I'm trying to stay away from needing an amp.

Is anyone using JL or JBL speakers I wonder?

[RAD2LTR]

I have some Rainbow Audio speakers that sound fantastic, I have the boxes at home, I'll try and remember to see which ones I have. I was able to use the rear speaker housings and the stock tweeters that came in them, run through aftermarket crossovers. Up front I was able to adapt the stock tweeter housings to hold the Rainbow tweeters. They also sound fantastic.

Will