CAR AUDIO UPGRADE OPTIONS: UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF CAR AUDIO (ICE) UPGRADE OPTIONS

Car Audio enhances one’s driving experience. Most Factory fit speakers fail to significantly enhance the driving experience as their output isn’t usually that great, and the materials used to build the speakers are of poor quality or mostly cheap paper cone speakers.

We at EVO CUSTOM CAR have many solutions, to enhance your car audio experience. Now, with upgraded after-market speakers and equipment, one can cover miles with a bright smile listening to their favorite playlist.

FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING, FIND THE THREE TYPE OF CONFIGURATION RANGES FROM BASIC TO MEDIUM & PREMIUM BELOW

1. BASIC AUDIO UPGRADE

A Basic Audio Upgrade is a Plug & Play Speaker Upgrade with your existing Factory fit Source/Head unit or Cars without Factory source or Head unit can be upgraded with an aftermarket head unit along with 4 speakers.

This is a Value for Money Upgrade (VFM) that elevates the listening experience a step ahead of the factory speakers. With the basic audio upgrade, the user can experience an improvement in sound quality and clarity. The tones and notes will sound clear and better due to the better quality speakers. 

In a Basic Upgrade, aftermarket speakers would not be able to perform at their best, as the stock factory source/head unit cannot produce the optimum clean power, which the speakers need. In technical terms, the stock head unit can not give out the right amount of RMS power that the speaker needs.

Basic Audio Upgrade Brands Available at EVO CUSTOM CAR are:

Infinity, MTX, Rockford Sgogate, Focal, JL Audio, Diamond Audio, Cerwin Vega, Blaupunkt, JBL, Sony, Pioneer, JVC, and many more…

Usual Range for a Basic Audio Upgrade Starts from ₹15000/-

2. MEDIUM OR MID LEVEL UPGRADE

A Medium or Mid-level upgrade is an upgrade that can be done in different variations and, most importantly, this is where the good stuff starts. This is a power-packed package that gives a new life to your car audio experience. The upgrade creates a better in-cabin listening experience as this is the new beginning for your car audio.

A Medium or Mid-level Upgrade will consist of,
4 Speakers (component speakers/coaxial speakers) + Line output converter & Amplifier
OR
4 Speakers +Line output converter + Amplifier & Subwoofer
OR
Aftermarket Source/Head unit + 4 Speakers + Amplifier & Subwoofer.

This upgrade gives an all-new life to your car’s audio experience. Now the speakers can be fed with the optimum power from a matching amplifier.. Moreover, the amplifier gives good leverage to tune the setup based on a users’ taste and listening preferences.

Medium/Mid level Upgrade Brands available at EVO CUSTOM CAR are:

JL Audio, Diamond Audio, Audible Physics, MTX, Focal, Cerwin Vega, Kicker, Rockford Fosgate, Polk Audio, Brazo, Infinity, and many more…..

Usual Range for a Medium/Mid level Audio Upgrade Starts from ₹30,000/-

3. PREMIUM LEVEL UPGRADE

The Premium Level upgrade takes your car’s audio to an all-new level. This is the upgrade that is capable enough to make your car sound better than a Premium car. Every single beat, note, and tone will be heard with the utmost clarity. With the Premium Level Upgrade, your car can now be a moving theater only for you…

A Premium Level car audio Upgrade is a true audiophile-grade upgrade. Premium Level car audio upgrade can be done in different variations such as,
4-10 Speakers + DSP based Source/Head unit + Amplifiers & Subwoofer
OR
4-8 Speakers + Dedicated Stand Alone 8/10 Channel DSP with Stock Head Unit + 8/10 channels of Amplification & Subwoofer
OR
4-8 Speakers + DSP based Source/Head unit + Dedicated Stand Alone 8/10 Channel DSP + 8/10 channels of Amplification & Subwoofer.

If you are a person who does not like to compromise your audio experience, then Premium-level car audio is the one to go for. Depending upon the equipment, the setup can sound better than most premium cars. The Digital Signal Processor (DSP) plays a vital role in this setup as it gives an experienced car audio tuner the leverage to tune each speaker separately according to the users’ listening preferences. It also helps in Real-Time alignment and many more options to tune the car audio to perfection. 

Premium Level Upgrade Brands Available at EVO CUSTOM CAR are:

Audible Physics, ARC Audio, Scanspeak, Acustika, Dayton Audio, Focal, Helix, Diamond Audio, JL Audio, Rockford Fosgate, and many more….

The Usual Range of Premium Car Audio upgrade starts at ₹1,00,000/-

EVO PRO BMW 3 Series 320d 328i F30 F31 F34 premium in car entertainment options

The below Blog will inform about the best practices for upgrading the audio on the BMW 3 Series
(2014 – Present) Models F30, F31, F34

BMW 3 Series (F30, F31, F34) (2014-Present)

Main Entertainment Touchscreen Upgrade:

Aftermarket entertainment upgrades for the BMW 3 Series are available from many brands and manufacturers today, a relaible and premium option among them is EVO FIT. EVO FIT entertainment touchscreen upgrade fits in straight / bolt on to the car’s screen slot and integrates seamlessly with the car’s eletcronics via a bolt on harness and connectors.


This upgrade includes featurtes like,
Capacitive Touchscreen interface,
BMW iDrive controller fully integrated with menu functions,
Dual USB slots,
Bluetooth handsfree and music streaming,
WiFi connectivity for internet and screen mirroring,
inbuilt GPS navigation like Google Maps, Sygic etc,
HD video playback in motion,
Front and Reverse Camera integration,
Google play store to install new apps,
Lossless Music playback with latest formats support,
Optional Apple Carplay and Android Auto support through USB,
Optional aftermarket Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS),
ODB Car diagnostics through Bluetooth or WiFi dongle.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT EVO RETROFITS STORE TO VIEW THE PRODUCT

Core Audio Upgrade Synopsis:

The BMW 3 series is a good compact sedan for a premium audio upgrade. The car has a total of between 8 to 14 speaker slots which are evenly distributed in the car, majority of them being in front, to give the driver and co-passenger a rich and clear music experience. Due to this configuration, even the basic built speakers in the non-HK premium variant do sound pretty good to passive listeners or beginners. BMW have designed the front stage (front speaker setup) in such a way that brings good lows (bass) right up front without causing any long-term rattling on the door pads. This is achieved by placement of down firing mid bass drivers (speakers) under the seat, and mid-range drivers (speakers) in the doors along with tweeters and a center channel speaker in the dash board on the HK Premium / Highline variant. The base variant does not come with the door tweeters and center channel dash mount speakers.

Standard Speaker slots / locations of equipment:

6-8 speakers in 4 doors, 2 speakers under the driver and co-passenger seats, 2 speakers and 2 tweeters on the real parcel shelf (on HK premium variant) and a center channel speaker up front in the dash board (on HK premium variant). The HK premium variants come with an amplifier which powers the speakers in the car and is located on the left side in the car’s boot.

Pros:

Due to the compact build and overall cabin volume, the 3 Series does not need very powerful speakers in order to produce a clear and balanced music experience. Due to the intelligent positioning of the mid bass speakers / subwoofers, under the seats the listener experiences good bass (lows), without causing any rattling on the doors like most other cars. Due to a stock 3-way speaker configuration in front, the driver and co-passenger experience good separation in sound.

Cons:

Almost all BMW cars have very limited additional space beyond their stock drivers (original equipment speakers). This makes it tricky to choose good products as most higher end speakers usually have deeper magnets and bigger build. This also limits the number of choices we have to do upgrades on BMW cars.

Solutions:

Full Upgrade on Non Harman Kardon Variants:

The cleanest method of upgrading the audio on any premium car is to follow the least evasive wiring method. The right way of upgrading the audio on the non-hk variants is to start with configuring an aftermarket sound processor / signal processor connected to the player acting as the master controller for the rest of the equipment to be added. The next step is to select set of speakers and matching amplifier(s) staying well within the provided space within the car, which in case of a 3 Series is very limited. The final configuration is a Front 3Way only setup (Tweeter and Mid-range speakers in doors, Mid-bass speakers under front seats) Or a Front 3Way and Rear 2Way (Tweeter and Mid-range speakers in doors) speaker setup. “ A Digital Signal Processor sums up the signals from the BMW OEM stereo and flatten the input signal to provide a clean and controlled output signal to the amplifier(s). “

Full Upgrade on Harman Kardon, Harman Kardon premium, HK Logic7 HiFi Variants:

The cleanest method of upgrading the audio on any premium car with an existing premium audio solution is to understand the workings of the car, dependent on the OE entertainment system and to follow the least evasive wiring methods. The right way of upgrading the audio on the hk and hk premium variants is to start with configuring a pre-amp unit and an aftermarket sound processor / signal processor. This gets connected to the factory OE entertainment system (digital or analog). The Pre amp and DSP acts as the master controller for the rest of the equipment to be added and the primary point of integration with the factory systems. The next step is to select set of speakers and matching amplifier(s) staying well within the provided space within the car, which in case of a 3 Series is very limited. The final configuration is a Front 3Way (Tweeter and Mid-range speakers in doors, Mid-bass speakers under front seats) and Rear 2Way (Tweeter and Mid-range speakers in doors) speaker setup.

Numbers on the Images are as follows:

  1. OE Factory Player
  2. Front Door Speakers
  3. Under Seat Speakers
  4. Rear Door Speakers
  5. Front Tweeters
  6. Rear Tweeters
  7. Factory Amplifier
  8. OE Entertainment System Screen
  9. Front Center Channel Speaker
  10. Rear Parcel Shelf Speakers

Get in touch with us for an initial consultation, so we can understand your needs better.
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