[Dgrohl]

My $0.02...

the standard speakers/woofers suck. The bass response is flabby and unappealing.

[tojo_m]

Originally Posted by ScarecrowBoat

The HiFi is okay for most people, but it is not a very powerful system. The Bass get's distorted at relatively low volumes.

The key word is "relative". If a person is into some real loud subsonic bass music, then I doubt even the HK system's shallow mount subs would cut it either. After market would be the way to go in that case.

[ScarecrowBoat]

Originally Posted by tojo_m

The key word is "relative". If a person is into some real loud subsonic bass music, then I doubt even the HK system's shallow mount subs would cut it either. After market would be the way to go in that case.

Yeah but it is a bit more objective than people are insinuating. I don't listen to hip hop or rap and I get bass distortion at what I would consider not "loud" levels. I've heard the HK and it is much much better.

[tojo_m]

Originally Posted by ScarecrowBoat

Yeah but it is a bit more objective than people are insinuating. I don't listen to hip hop or rap and I get bass distortion at what I would consider not "loud" levels. I've heard the HK and it is much much better.

Well there are a few people (including myself) who have had the Hi-Fi system and have have not had this problem. And I do push the system pretty loud once in a while with "very bass heavy" songs, so I'm a bit surprised with what you are describing. You might want to once get the system checked under warranty if you are hearing distortion at levels that are not loud.

[ScarecrowBoat]

Originally Posted by tojo_m

Well there are a few people (including myself) who have had the Hi-Fi system and have have not had this problem. And I do push the system pretty loud once in a while with "very bass heavy" songs, so I'm a bit surprised with what you are describing. You might want to once get the system checked under warranty if you are hearing distortion at levels that are not loud.

There is nothing wrong with my system. What song are you saying is a "very bass heavy" song? Are we talking Alanis Morissette or Dubstep?

Also, I don't know how old you are, but that may be the discrepancy. What I consider not terribly loud would be "ear-bleed inducing" for my mother, so........

[tojo_m]

Originally Posted by ScarecrowBoat

There is nothing wrong with my system. What song are you saying is a "very bass heavy" song? Are we talking Alanis Morissette or Dubstep?

Also, I don't know how old you are, but that may be the discrepancy. What I consider not terribly loud would be "ear-bleed inducing" for my mother, so........

We are talking about Andre Nickatina, Beastie boys, E-40, Caspa, Ludacris, Project Pat and a few others. Was just listening to a compilation of some of their songs in the car sometime back and at loud volumes there a very decent punch (that you would actually "feel") and no distracting distortion. Of course the 17Hz response is no where as close to my dual SVS monsters that I have at home but then again that is an unfair comparison. If I were ever to upgrade my Hi-Fi system, the only real jump would be after-market gear (the HK system would be seriously be a toy compared to what you could build after-market if you really want to hear some serious Dubstep at ear-bleeding volumes - meanwhile the HiFi system will suffice)

[RPM90]

The HK is really only fair to not bad once you start listening at louder levels, not ear bleed level, just CLEAN and loud. Distortion at even modest volume will kill your ears and drivers. Clean and loud is very listenable.
I was not impressed with the standard audio system once the volume gets turned up, and the HK is not $900 better.

If I were keeping my 335i longer than 3yrs I'd get the standard system and then get a REAL audio system to install, or get installed if you don't want or can't do it yourself.

I'm really disappointed in the HK at very high volume.
The sound is not distorted but it goes flat, which indicates to me there is internal compression to save the drivers from the high distortion level once the volume gets really high.

The HK is rated at something like 625 watts, and I think it's RMS, and the distortion level must be approaching something like 10% before you hit that.
The last system I installed was in my E46 325i. It was a modest system but very enjoyable for clean and loud listening. I used a Rockford Power series rated at 125 watts RMS x 4. I ran 125 x 2 to the front mids and silk dome tweets, and bridged the rear 2 channels at 400/425 watts RMS into a
12" Infinity Reference series sub at 4ohms.
That was an extremely CLEAN sounding system much much cleaner than my HK. And the bass extension and clarity shames the HK even though the power between the systems was similar.

BMW and HK put too many drivers in this system as they spent more time fiddling with Logic7, which is wasted time and money imo.
L7 does nothing to improve the overall sound quality just some fancy software to try and create a better sound field for every seating position while not achieving a great sound field for the driver and passenger.

That brittle high end you are hearing are the titanium dome tweeters, which have a high frequency extension, but the sound is brittle and fatiguing at higher volumes.

BMW's deserve much better standard audio system and then a much better optional upgrade.
10 drivers is plenty
Mids and tweets up front, same for rear, and 2 x 10" subs.
Use better drivers, especially silk dome tweets, then drive them all with clean power.

[CLittle]

Couldn't agree with you more on the review of the HK system. It was worth the 900 dollar upgrade to me for the HK though since I'm unsure of how easy it will be to upgrade 4 inch door speakers with shallow mounts. Plus the base Hi fi speakers didn't sound good to me when I auditioned it.

But yeah, my last car had 6-1/2 inch type x alpine components with 1 inch ring radiator tweeters. The mids and highs were so smooth and balanced. No harshness or fatigue from either poor speakers or underpowered amp. All I had were the front speakers and one 10 inch sub all powered by one 100x4 watt amp and it sounded awesome and now I'm spoiled. Why spend this effort on L7 trickery and seven speaker locations...I will never know.

How about passing regulation forcing car manufacturers to provide two things if they can't get stock audio correct.

1) standard size door speakers with standard mounting holes for easy replacement
2) RCA preouts for stock head unit for easy amp upgrades

[narlus]

Originally Posted by ScarecrowBoat

The HiFi is okay for most people, but it is not a very powerful system. The Bass get's distorted at relatively low volumes.

agreed.

the sound is ok, but i had a pretty decent set up in my old car (alpine head unit and amp, kicker sub and BA door speakers) that sounded a lot better.

[hanizh]

I'm about to upgrade my standard system with the following components:
- Replace 2 front speakers with Morel Hybrid Integra 4 inch.
- Add Morel 10 inch. subwoofer
- Rockford R-400 digital Amp.

Will let you know if the result worth it next week

[RedmumbaSeattle]

A little late to the party, but I have the HK 7.1 surround in my car, and let me tell you--the bass is ridiculous. Honestly, I've been to electronic clubs with less bass.

One caveat is that there's not a lot of technology that takes very good advantage of the system. FOr example, I was really disappointed in the satellite radio--the quality of the sound is certainly better than "regular" FM, but I found that the HD FM that a lot of the local channels offer provides a much richer sound.

That being said, if you have Spotify mobile on your phone or plan on storing some high quality music on the car itself, you'll love it. It's worth noting that it syncs with my Android and my friend's iPhone 5 for audio streaming without issue.