Kev Bennett
Dedicated Member
Can anyone advise me on upgrading the sound system in my 1999 z3 including a new head unit and replacing all the speakers, as the original sound system is pretty rubbish
Many thanks
Many thanks
Upgrade sound system
- Thread starter Kev Bennett
- Start date
Upgrading the head unit is a great start, as the OEM units are pants. It's a simple enough procedure once you choose what head unit you want.
Like me you may find the improvement enough without changing the speakers.
Like me you may find the improvement enough without changing the speakers.
Kev Bennett
Dedicated Member
Thanks Gaz what head unit do you recommend ??
I bought a Sony MEX BT3800U, but that was a few years back. The display is a bit bright at night, even when in dimmed mode and very distracting. Quality is good though as you'd expect from Sony.
I'm a bit out of touch as to what are good these days, and I only bought mine as it was on special offer at Halfords.
Mine has Bluetooth so I mainly use that to stream music of my Android phone. Hands free mobile is useful, but only when the roof is up.
I'm affraid no matter what you do the sound system in a z3 will always sound rubbish..
I've upgraded the headunit with a Sony and replaced the speakers with decent components and while it's better than oem setup it still sounds
Awful.. No depth just very tinny.
I went to a car audio shop at one point and told them what car I had.. They laughed and said don't bother!
The problem is the speaker positions..
I've upgraded the headunit with a Sony and replaced the speakers with decent components and while it's better than oem setup it still sounds
Awful.. No depth just very tinny.
I went to a car audio shop at one point and told them what car I had.. They laughed and said don't bother!
The problem is the speaker positions..
The speaker gets its bass weight by being sealed, and adjusting the enclosure size that your driver sits in will increase or decrease the bass, or it actually changes where the peak frequency is.
Problem in the Z3 is the stock location is not sealed and no way to really seal it either.
Think of a speaker at home, little bookshelf speaker has a decent amount of bass, but take the driver out of the cabinet and all the bass disappears.
Same with a car.
Best bet is a sub behind your head in the storage tray area or even an active sub under/behind the seat.
I bought one of the custom made subs that go between the roll bars, but didn't realise it doesn't fit in a car without roll bars without a bit of modding and I can't be bothered.
So going to buy an underseat active sub from someone like Focal.
Problem in the Z3 is the stock location is not sealed and no way to really seal it either.
Think of a speaker at home, little bookshelf speaker has a decent amount of bass, but take the driver out of the cabinet and all the bass disappears.
Same with a car.
Best bet is a sub behind your head in the storage tray area or even an active sub under/behind the seat.
I bought one of the custom made subs that go between the roll bars, but didn't realise it doesn't fit in a car without roll bars without a bit of modding and I can't be bothered.
So going to buy an underseat active sub from someone like Focal.
DivideBYZero
Zorg Guru (I)
I replaced the stock unit with a Clarion FZ502E mechless unit, keeping the HK Amp and original speakers. While not up to the standard of the system in my M3, it's pretty good and has a fair thump with the top up, and enough to sound OK with it down.
Thread here:
http://zroadster.org/threads/clarion-fz502e-mechless-headunit-installed.4084/
Thread here:
http://zroadster.org/threads/clarion-fz502e-mechless-headunit-installed.4084/