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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum iDrive, Audio, Bluetooth, Phone, Cameras, Electronics + Coding Harmon Kardon vs Standard speakers

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      06-10-2018, 05:50 AM   #45
tabs313
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Hi,

I've got the HK sytem in my 530e, really happy with it regarding standard speakers.
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      06-12-2018, 03:10 PM   #46
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I got standard hifi and I find it very good. In the end it depends on the quality of the recording. The system is very sensitive to the bitrate, not sure now it relates but damn, i was playing some relatively old mp3 (160kbps) and it was sounding terrible! Got the same remastered albums in FLAC format and the difference was huge. At home with a good sound system I can't tell the difference. A colleague of mine has a G10 with HK or BW, can't remember, but the outcome was roughly the same. Go figure..
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      06-13-2018, 03:04 AM   #47
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i have the hi-fi, then i upgraded it with bavsound stage 1 + ghost subs. (DIY installed)

i have to say its the best money ive ever spent.. the improvements are VERY impressive.
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      06-18-2018, 08:20 PM   #48
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Match

I upgraded front door speakers and tweeters and subs below seats to Match BMW speakers. Sounds amazing. Match don't make parcel shelf so I installed Eton B100XN with tweeters for the rear set. The sound now is much better than stock, unbelievable clarity. I may disable the center speaker as they had a lot of mids and I prefer deeper sounds.

Anyone have a Match or Eton setup in their G30s?
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      06-18-2018, 11:16 PM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sanjuvarma View Post
I upgraded front door speakers and tweeters and subs below seats to Match BMW speakers. Sounds amazing. Match don't make parcel shelf so I installed Eton B100XN with tweeters for the rear set. The sound now is much better than stock, unbelievable clarity. I may disable the center speaker as they had a lot of mids and I prefer deeper sounds.

Anyone have a Match or Eton setup in their G30s?


speaking of Match, ive been hearing good things of match's amplifier model: UP7BMW. it is designed for the bmw Hi-Fi setup (plug and play) since i think it has a 10 Channel output at 4ohm on the mids and 2ohm for the subs.
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      01-16-2019, 07:28 AM   #50
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I have the basic setup on my 530e (G30) and thinking of upgrading the subs under the seats with sound deadining insulation.

I am also looking to change the midrange and add the dreaded tweeters. I would like recommendations from you for 3rd party setups, aside from the obvious HK / B&W / Bavarian as they are ridiculously priced and I am not a footballer nor Lord Sugar.
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      01-16-2019, 01:02 PM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Farravi View Post
I have the basic setup on my 530e (G30) and thinking of upgrading the subs under the seats with sound deadining insulation.

I am also looking to change the midrange and add the dreaded tweeters. I would like recommendations from you for 3rd party setups, aside from the obvious HK / B&W / Bavarian as they are ridiculously priced and I am not a footballer nor Lord Sugar.
I've been using and selling BavSound.
I am happy with the setup, even my customers, locally and internationally.
It is easy plug and play setup.
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      01-17-2019, 01:58 AM   #52
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When you mention "standard speakers", that must be the Hifi System (midrange and tweeters front and rear, underseat subs).

In Denmark, due to our outragious taxes, this is what comes as standard:
4 midrange speakers and two subs. That´s it. (the black coned ones on the photo, the silver coned ones are HK). It sounds worse than the sound system in an Aygo.

I sourced some OEM HK speakers from eBay and bought new covers for the front tweeters at a BMW dealership; so now I´m running HK midrange and tweeters front and rear. The underseat subs are still stock. It sounds much better now, and did not cost a fortune.
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      01-21-2019, 09:10 AM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaSelle View Post
When you mention "standard speakers", that must be the Hifi System (midrange and tweeters front and rear, underseat subs). It’s actually the equivalent of a business setup, 2 mids on the front door, 2 on the shelf, 2 subs under the seats and that’s it i believe (no tweeters)

I sourced some OEM HK speakers from eBay and bought new covers for the front tweeters at a BMW dealership; so now I´m running HK midrange and tweeters front and rear. The underseat subs are still stock. It sounds much better now, and did not cost a fortune. May I ask how much that set you back in €?
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      01-21-2019, 02:07 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Farravi View Post
In DK, what you refer to as "Business" is standard.

A midrange in each front door, two in the shelf and two subs under the front seats.

There are three options for upgrading:

Hifi System:
Midrange AND tweeter in each front door, same in the shelf - still two subs, and an amplifier.

The other two are HK and B&W.

My car had the Business setup; it was bloody awfull.
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      11-24-2019, 10:12 AM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brianiannone View Post
The HK is a massive improvement over the standard speakers. Oddly enough though, the G30's HK system doesn't sound quite as good as the F30's HK system, in my opinion
Correct, I thought I was crazy. I’m coming out of a 2019 F36 w/HK into a 2020 G30 w/HK and there’s a noticeable difference. After some digging, I found the wattage is 600 in Fxx and 464 in Gxx cars.
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      11-24-2019, 01:44 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Clabber View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by brianiannone View Post
The HK is a massive improvement over the standard speakers. Oddly enough though, the G30's HK system doesn't sound quite as good as the F30's HK system, in my opinion
Correct, I thought I was crazy. I'm coming out of a 2019 F36 w/HK into a 2020 G30 w/HK and there's a noticeable difference. After some digging, I found the wattage is 600 in Fxx and 464 in Gxx cars.
Wattage alone doesn't tell the story. How is it measured? Is BMW using same measurement method for F10 vs G30? Are amplifiers same technology (class AB, class D, hopefully not class B). Is G30 headunit preamp stage improved, which I believe it is? Then there's speaker impedance, driver efficiency, etc...

I agree that when I first got my G30 I felt the HK system didn't sound as good as the F10. After the speakers had a chance to break in, I'm happier. I can longer say it's noticeably a downgrade from the F10.
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      11-24-2019, 10:50 PM   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claykin View Post
Wattage alone doesn't tell the story. How is it measured? Is BMW using same measurement method for F10 vs G30? Are amplifiers same technology (class AB, class D, hopefully not class B). Is G30 headunit preamp stage improved, which I believe it is? Then there's speaker impedance, driver efficiency, etc...

I agree that when I first got my G30 I felt the HK system didn't sound as good as the F10. After the speakers had a chance to break in, I'm happier. I can longer say it's noticeably a downgrade from the F10.
I have no idea about the specifics. I just found a "Facts Sheet" when I was digging through dealerspeed and BMW Product Knowledge on Demand.
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      12-28-2019, 12:13 AM   #58
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I am a newbie here.
Just got my 530e G30 almost a month ago to replace my 5 - year old F30.

I got my std speakers replaced with Focal ES100 but on front pairs only for approx $1100 (price at where I live)

I heard some improvement in clarity and tonal but still way to go for better sound. Need to pause a bit till I get ready
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      12-28-2019, 05:04 AM   #59
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I replaced standard speakers for focals in the front in a previous f10. I do prefer the sound of the focals compared to the hk setup in the g30. But that's just me.
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