[TacosRule!]

(WARNING, WALL OF TEXT INCOMING)

INTRODUCTION

We all know that the HK system is underwhelming in stock form so I decided to upgrade.

DECISION CRITERIA: LABOR COSTS

I needed to save as much as possible on labor because the custom, laser-measured enclosure would be pricey. Space is almost non-existent and the enclosure HAD to have a minimum internal volume if we were going to meet the desired SQ levels.

My installer works extensively with a very stiff but light material, a black PVC-like plastic. It’s lighter and easier to work with and far less labor-intensive and tool-intensive than MDF. Using this material saved time, which in turn saved money. They also use 3D printing where necessary.

I did most of this installation including all the speakers (not shown) and NVX tri-layer deadening but left the hard/custom items to the dealer to handle.

DECISION CRITERIA: EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE, COSTS AND SPACE

My dealer/installer has all the Focal lines including the preposterously-expensive Utopia M, Focal Inside (including the BMW kits), Mosconi, Audison (including the BMW kits), , JL, all of the Audiotec Fischer lines (top-end Brax, Helix and Match), Dynaudio and Morel and a few others.

I listened to Brax and Helix but Match was the winner. I got about 85% of the performance of the other lines for 50% less money. The Match is also significantly smaller so this would help maximize space in the cargo area.

Speakers were all Focal (not shown in this thread).

DECISION MADE

Using
jinetix
https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1919576

rdougherty85
https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1896294

(and others) as source of inspiration and after many exchanges with them, and with abundant feedback from r33_RGSport , decided on:

- Match 10, 11 channel DSP amp: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...fiers/up-10dsp

- MATCH PP-BMW 1.9RAM-HK PnP harness: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m...-bmw-1-9ram-hk

- URC.3 universal cable remote control: https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/b...essories/urc.3

- MATCH MEC ANALOG IN extension card (see compromises, below): https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/en/m.../mec-analog-in

- JL 10TW3-D4 pulled from Lexus GS-F before I traded for the X3M: https://www.jlaudio.com/products/10t...bwoofers-92184

- RF Prime R500X1D mono amp for the sub (also pulled from the GS-F): https://rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r500x1d/

- Lots and lots and LOTS of install stuff (connectors, tessa tape, heatshrink tubing, zip ties, polyfill, etc), amp kits, interconnects (including TOSLINK), etc.

COMPROMISES

The MATCH MEC ANALOG IN extension card lets you connect the sub amp via low-level signal and DSP it that way. The Match 10 DSP already has a TOSLINK connector, so there was no need to consider the OPTICAL IN extension card.

There was no need to consider the MATCH HD-AUDIO USB-INTERFACE card. The stock system can decode FLAC via the USB ports, so adding this card would be redundant and unnecessary. I can playback DSD rips from SACD, so the stock system is great in that regard.

Similarly, the MATCH MEC BT HD is not useful. The stock system can decode Bluetooth 5.2 (according to the BMW NA “genius” I spoke with ad nauseam) which lets me stream lossless FLAC audio from Tidal HD or Deezer HD. Most modern phones have Qualcomm AptX HD, which works wonders.

Lastly, the Match Amp/DSP only has one available slot, so the Analog MEC won at the end of the day.

Keeping the spare was the only item I didn’t compromise on, exacerbating the lack of space. I ended up removing the two storage baskets/bins, and the right breather cover (shown later) underneath it. This helps dissipate heat from the RF amp.

INSTALLATION, PART 1: TEARDOWN

Took a little over two months working weekends and holidays. Since people are familiar with the teardown, I’ll post just a few pictures:





INSTALLATION, PART 2: AMPS AND DEADENING

I ended up re-arranging the wire paths a few times, as the amp locations simply did not cooperate. I installed the Match amp on the inside of the factory amp rack, facing the street. We relocated the RAM module from the very bottom of the amp rack to the front up high with a custom bracket.











In the last picture, you can see the air breather cover that was removed in order to accommodate the RF sub amp, highlighted with green arrows.



INSTALLATION, PART 3: Match amp install, RAM module

Pictures of the outside of the OE amp panel (facing towards the cabin) with the new gear installed and relocated





You can see that there was just enough clearance to reroute all the connectors from the Match 1.9 harness without interfering with the FARKA connectors or the central locking connectors in the RAM module, or going to the HK amp and the Match amp. Since all harnesses are simple copper wires (no MOST or Ethernet), relocating OE harnesses was easy.









The last picture shows the RAM module installed on its new mount.



This is the Match amp mounted on the inside of the OE amp panel













There was plenty of space between the amps (OE and Match) and the factory sound carpeting facing the inside of the fender. It’s not pretty, its functional. Rarely do both work together.



INSTALLATION, PART 4: SUB ENCLOSURE AND GRILL

Here are pictures of the sub enclosure during its various stages of construction and installation. This was the only part built out of MDF.













Here’s the sub installed. The metal bracket at the bottom screws to a panel of that PVC-like material that pushes it against the OE amp rack. The top of the enclosure screws to the OE amp panel via an internal screw. You can see the hole on the previous pictures. The cabinet is then filled with polyfil.



Here is the OE panel being modified to cover the sub. The hard metal grate is surrounded by automotive-grade vinyl. It did a great job of looking like leather (“pleather”). Is has four layers of Rustoleum Automotive black flat paint.







INSTALLATION PART 5: FINAL TOUCHES

Here are some final pictures of everything buttoned up.









This is the microphone array we used to calibrate the system in real time. We took two measurements in two positions, driver and center/rear between the front seats right behind the center console.





You can download the software from the Auditec Fischer site and play with it in demo mode. Its simple and easy to use but powerful enough to let you select the crossover type, slopes, etc. It also has the ability to use a virtual channel, or true 1-to-1 routing. It’s a very powerful little box.

Hope this soliloquy helps if you want additional ideas on how to upgrade your audio system. I can post more pictures if you need them/want them/planning on doing something similar.

[Rottweiler]

Bravo for your tenaciousness 👏 👏👏

[Steadyhand]

If your pro install shop would make another copy of that Sub enclosure, I would gladly purchase one for my HK/X3M (with spare tire option)...it's impossible to find a pre-made enclosure anywhere near like the one you have.

How do you like the way your mids/highs sound now with the Match amp? Do they have noticeably more power? How's the fake exhaust sound (ASD) with the Match amp?

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler

Bravo for your tenaciousness 👏 👏👏

appreciate it

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by Steadyhand

If your pro install shop would make another copy of that Sub enclosure, I would gladly purchase one for my HK/X3M (with spare tire option)...it's impossible to find a pre-made enclosure anywhere near like the one you have.

Glad to help, I'll PM you with the details. They did save the pattern on their plotters so it should be easy to replicate. I should have added that this was v3 and final revision of the box. We got it to 0.41 in^3 of space. Sub definitely likes it.

If you want the grill work to match mine, they can definitely do it, you'd have to ship me your grill for the modification.

Originally Posted by Steadyhand

How do you like the way your mids/highs sound now with the Match amp? Do they have noticeably more power? How's the fake exhaust sound (ASD) with the Match amp?

The front three (door+dash) were upgraded to Focal K2 ES100K components. They are simply divine, super crips highs, and nice mid response for a 4" mid driver. The underseat woofers were tuned to act more like mid woofers for the doors.

The ASD was disabled prior to final calibration of the system. Just to test the hypothesis, I re-enabled ASD once the calibration was finalized and there is a minor improvement with it off. There's less "filler" sound.

[m3wag0n]

Would you be ok sharing the total cost?

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by m3wag0n

Would you be ok sharing the total cost?

650 for the sub enclosure. I originally did not want it carpeted because it was going to be hidden, but changed my mind and I carpeted it myself. That was 30 dlls in materials at Joann Fabrics.

The grill ran 350 with my original part. 150 in shop fees and tax at 8.25%. They did three revisions of the box as we were trying to squeeze as much volume as possible from the limited amount of space. The mount for the RAM module was 75. The mount for the RF amp was another 75.

Labor is kind of hard to calculate since I did all the install myself. If I were to calculate what the shop charges, I would say about a grand in labor. Parts like amp kits, interconnects were around 250 dlls.

[thephenomgg]

You need to stop by so I can hear it. My car goes in for the 13TW5-3 in place of the spare in a couple of weeks.

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by thephenomgg

You need to stop by so I can hear it. My car goes in for the 13TW5-3 in place of the spare in a couple of weeks.

Anytime. I'm doing a final tuning session next weekend and finish it up.

[TacosRule!]

Gotten a few DMs asking for more info. Here are pics of some of the stuff the shop has.

[2SG5]

my local shop quoted me nearly $9k , Focal speakers , 2 12" JL Audio Subs W6 subs, tuning etc.....

I was expecting to be in the $4k range max. Boy was I wrong.

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by 2SG5

my local shop quoted me nearly $9k , Focal speakers , 2 12" JL Audio Subs W6 subs, tuning etc.....

I was expecting to be in the $4k range max. Boy was I wrong.

I wouldnt do audison, its hard to work with and tune, it is not user friendly and requires a lot of extra integration to make it work.
This is the reason I went with Audiotec, its all plug and play and far, far easier to setup.

I cant tell what some of their codes mean, but the prices look to be retail, at least for the audison 8 channel amp. What amp are they quoting for the two 12s?

I would look for a different installer.

[spta97]

Wow great job. It's too bad I am unware of any installers in NY who are this professional and have such good workmanship.

Most here will just cut harnesses and "make it work"; basically hack their way into it.

I did a sub and amp install on mine. Totally happy with the way it sounds, but I basically lose most of my trunk space. Thread here.

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by spta97

Wow great job. It's too bad I am unware of any installers in NY who are this professional and have such good workmanship.

Most here will just cut harnesses and "make it work"; basically hack their way into it.

I did a sub and amp install on mine. Totally happy with the way it sounds, but I basically lose most of my trunk space. Thread here.

thanks, appreciate it. I used your thread as an install and planning resource. I realized I had a couple sheets of NVX tri-layer, and your post showed me where to install it.


So thanks for the inspiration.

[spta97]

Originally Posted by saabster2010

thanks, appreciate it. I used your thread as an install and planning resource. I realized I had a couple sheets of NVX tri-layer, and your post showed me where to install it.


So thanks for the inspiration.

Awesome! Glad it is still helping people!

[TacosRule!]

I've gotten several PMs asking how we went about tuning.

We used JL's MAX and TUN software to do RTA, phase adjustments, timing corrections and delays, etc. The Amp/DSP was then configured using the Audiotec Fischer PC Tool app software.

Here are some pics of the process. We did two 2-hour long sessions to get the most out of the system. The factory EQ and all logic7 features were disabled and set to flat.

The first session was to calibrate everything with driver seat as position one, then a second calibration in the center of the car for "general seating position".

The 10TW3 was cross-over'd from 20 to 95 Hz, it reached its physical limits at around 38db.

The underseat mid woofers hit from 55 to 120 Hz, they were cross-over'd at 95 Hz.

The focal mids (4") were then cross-over'd from 120 Hz to 2K Hz, and the tweeters took it from there up to 10K Hz.

Using parametric EQ, we filtered out frequencies at 4500 Hz and 10,000 Hz, as we saw standing waves that were starting to cancel each outer, almost as if they were out of phase. We then rolled off frequencies at 6K and 8K to where you only get highlights at the very high frequencies, avoiding a "metallic" or "ringing" effect from the tweeters.

We overlapped the crossover points and frequencies by 10% on the center channel speaker with the intention of having a more defined center stage and "blend" it further, instead of having a defined sound stage where you can pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Diffuse instead of targeted sound. There was no longer a need to use artificial imaging i.e. Logic7.

Everything was cross-over'd using Linkwitz crossovers as opposed to Butterworth, Bessel, etc. We set the slopes at 24 db so the cutoff gave us a smoother curve overall with better roll-off.

You can see the effect of the different crossover types and curves in the PC tools software.

[lucysparabola]

Originally Posted by 2SG5

my local shop quoted me nearly $9k , Focal speakers , 2 12" JL Audio Subs W6 subs, tuning etc.....

I was expecting to be in the $4k range max. Boy was I wrong.

I had to chime on this.

those prices are absolutely theft. $659 for ONE Focal ES100K driver? Are they fucking joking? You can buy them for $80/each from 12-volt-shop in Riga. OP and I both have successfully bought from them and he's (12v) an authorized Focal dealer.

name and shame that shop. jesus christ.

saabster2010 what did you put under the seats? I see you're selling the Focals that were there. I skimmed, sorry if I missed this?

amazing install. if you come down to SA again please hit me up. Would love to grab some food and hear this amazing setup.

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by lucysparabola

I had to chime on this.

those prices are absolutely theft. $659 for ONE Focal ES100K driver? Are they fucking joking? You can buy them for $80/each from 12-volt-shop in Riga. OP and I both have successfully bought from them and he's (12v) an authorized Focal dealer.

name and shame that shop. jesus christ.

LOL no you cant, sure you're not gonna pay retail with European dealers but you're still gonna pay several hundreds. The cheapest you can find them are running about 500 for the pair, plus shipping and import fees.

And I think the previous poster was saying retail 659 for the pair. Plus no focal dealer worth their salt will sell em retail (unless they're cheap a$$holes). I got my Sopra 3s for 35% off retail, in a custom color and drop-shipped WITH no tax.

You just gotta find the right dealer...

EDIT: Keep in mind that when buying speakers from EU or a warranty center like Riga, all components are sold separately. I priced them and they're 450 Euro with the 20% off VAT, plus taxes which is odd 'cus they charge US sales tax. Plus whatever DHL/FedEx/UPS charges in import duties.

I'm gonna ask the guys that did my install what they charge for the K2 pair, im curious now.

[lucysparabola]

Originally Posted by saabster2010

LOL no you cant, sure you're not gonna pay retail with European dealers but you're still gonna pay several hundreds. The cheapest you can find them are running about 500 for the pair, plus shipping and import fees.

And I think the previous poster was saying retail 659 for the pair. Plus no focal dealer worth their salt will sell em retail (unless they're cheap a$$holes). I got my Sopra 3s for 35% off retail, in a custom color and drop-shipped WITH no tax.


You just gotta find the right dealer...

the right dealer indeed!

[lucysparabola]

sure, if that's for the entire setup with tweeters/crossovers then the price is fine. I just saw ES100K and assumed it was just the mid, stupidly, lol. my mistake.

[TacosRule!]

Originally Posted by lucysparabola

sure, if that's for the entire setup with tweeters/crossovers then the price is fine. I just saw ES100K and assumed it was just the mid, stupidly, lol. my mistake.

However, you do have a good point. There are some really shit dealers that will pull all sorts of shenanigans. I went to a very large dealer in Houston, they're kinda famous (or infamous?) for pulling stunts. Feigned ignorance and started asking questions about their Utopia Ms.

He goes on a diatribe on how focal is king of the world (ok, so far so good, LOL), and how Utopia M are sold separately because you can customize it, which is true.

I then start asking about their "lower" lines, and he then says that Focal are all like that, you buy the components separately because you can mix and match. He priced a pair of the same ES100K K2s at 850 a pair. Just said thanks and left.

So buyer beware, get yourself a good dealer...

[lucysparabola]

LOL 850 a pair. I've seen this type of thing before, that's why I'll be curious to know the other poster's details. nothing like a good 12x markup!