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      08-07-2019, 03:35 PM   #1
SEAT TIME RULES
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Harmon Kardon Out, Eton & JL Audio in!

Car forums such as this one are awesome tools to mod cars the right way.

After researching 4 or 5 threads on both Speaker & Amp mods I decided to go the speaker route. The Match 7 amp looks great but for just over $400 I was able to purchase the Eton B100W's for the doors, the Eton B100 XCN center speaker and the JL Audio C2-400x's for the rear.

The Eton's are all drop in speakers (PNP). The JL's just need a washer to secure the 3rd screw.

I did the doors first and it took about 3 hrs taking my time. I added some Dynamat behind the midranges.

I ran out of time and will report on the center and rear speaker installs later this week.

The sound is drastically better. ~100hz to midrange is now much deeper with depth, and has great clarity. The tweeters also have much sharper sound. It now takes less volume to drive the speakers as well.

I can't believe how much this simple mod has transformed the sound in the cockpit. Looking forward to finishing up..

Best,
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      08-07-2019, 10:25 PM   #2
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Did the same thing without the center speaker... just disconnect that.
Huge difference....
Best $400 I spent
100% agree with your results

Cheers

What is your next step?
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      08-08-2019, 01:28 PM   #3
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No offense but the HK amp is tuned for the HK speakers so just putting in speakers will not give you much improvement in dynamic range. Spend the $750 on the amp and you will understand. With the amp you can up the bass with the sws 2ohm subs.
Just saying...
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      08-20-2019, 11:43 AM   #4
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Are the HK amps in the LCI M2 different than in the M2 Competition?
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      08-20-2019, 12:57 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregoryK View Post
No offense but the HK amp is tuned for the HK speakers so just putting in speakers will not give you much improvement in dynamic range. Spend the $750 on the amp and you will understand. With the amp you can up the bass with the sws 2ohm subs.
Just saying...
The HK speakers suck. I was a sound system junkie back in the 70's and 80's and the speakers are avg at best. The magnets on them are puny and the tweeters arent silk domes.

Although the amp certainly helps as per many posters on the board, I can always add the Match 7 Amp in later.

IMHO the speakers brought in a huge change in bass in the unassisted sub range (100+ hz). The high end was also much truer.

An Amp alone is still driving those HK speakers. Kind alike putting lipstick on a pig...
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      08-21-2019, 10:24 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregoryK View Post
No offense but the HK amp is tuned for the HK speakers so just putting in speakers will not give you much improvement in dynamic range. Spend the $750 on the amp and you will understand. With the amp you can up the bass with the sws 2ohm subs.
Just saying...
The HK speakers suck. I was a sound system junkie back in the 70's and 80's and the speakers are avg at best. The magnets on them are puny and the tweeters arent silk domes.

Although the amp certainly helps as per many posters on the board, I can always add the Match 7 Amp in later.

IMHO the speakers brought in a huge change in bass in the unassisted sub range (100+ hz). The high end was also much truer.

An Amp alone is still driving those HK speakers. Kind alike putting lipstick on a pig...
Quote:
Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregoryK View Post
No offense but the HK amp is tuned for the HK speakers so just putting in speakers will not give you much improvement in dynamic range. Spend the $750 on the amp and you will understand. With the amp you can up the bass with the sws 2ohm subs.
Just saying...
The HK speakers suck. I was a sound system junkie back in the 70's and 80's and the speakers are avg at best. The magnets on them are puny and the tweeters arent silk domes.

Although the amp certainly helps as per many posters on the board, I can always add the Match 7 Amp in later.

IMHO the speakers brought in a huge change in bass in the unassisted sub range (100+ hz). The high end was also much truer.

An Amp alone is still driving those HK speakers. Kind alike putting lipstick on a pig...
Noob question: does the Eton 100W front speakers come with tweeters too? They dont offer a rear set for M2C?
I too noticed theres a big drop off on the sound quality comparing to my E90 335i with the Logic 7 surround sound. Kinda disappointed so looking for options to upgrade, i'm by no means an audiophile.
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      08-21-2019, 11:59 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nis270r View Post
Noob question: does the Eton 100W front speakers come with tweeters too? They dont offer a rear set for M2C?
I too noticed theres a big drop off on the sound quality comparing to my E90 335i with the Logic 7 surround sound. Kinda disappointed so looking for options to upgrade, i'm by no means an audiophile.
ETON makes drop ins for all the OEM locations.

The door speakers do come with tweeters for the "sails".

I decided to save a little cash when I bought the rears. I paid $105 for the JL's vs what a pair of ETON's would have run me.

After reading all the posts I realized the rears are not where you need to spend your money. Just the front ETON's make a huge difference. You can either disconnect the center OEM speaker or add the ETON unit like I did.

Its $ well spent IMO
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      08-21-2019, 10:00 PM   #8
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Can you guys post links of the speakers being referred here?
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      08-22-2019, 07:53 AM   #9
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ETON Compatibility chart:

https://www.eton-gmbh.com/fileadmin/...st_bmw_web.pdf

JL Audio c2-400's:

https://www.jlaudio.com/c2-400x-car-...-systems-99612

If you don't mind spending a couple hundred more I'd do the ETON's in the rear also.

If you read all the posts on upgrading the 2 series you will find the rears are not that important. The Match Up 7 Amp combined with the front's a outstanding system. The Match Up 7 is a PNP solution and others have just swapped out the amp.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MATCH-UP-7B...cAAOSwlxddIjcb

HTH,
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Last edited by SEAT TIME RULES; 08-22-2019 at 08:18 AM..
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      08-24-2019, 07:17 AM   #10
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Agree loved the eton and jl upgrades as well.

Any thoughts on doing the underseat subs too?
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      08-24-2019, 04:21 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NyC fireman View Post
Did the same thing without the center speaker... just disconnect that.
Huge difference....
Best $400 I spent
100% agree with your results

Cheers

What is your next step?
I did the same, just removing the center speaker. Although I went for the Eton coaxial speakers in the rear. I found them for less than anywhere selling the JLs at the time.

Front:
https://www.extremeaudio.de/eton-b10...n-b-100-w.html

Rear:
https://www.extremeaudio.de/eton-etu-b100xn.html

They're actually going for less now than when I bought them last year.
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      08-25-2019, 09:42 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Long_Wang View Post
Agree loved the eton and jl upgrades as well.

Any thoughts on doing the underseat subs too?
From what I read on the 2Addicts board along with the M2 posts I don't think swapping out the underseat subs will make a bigger difference than going with the Match Up 7 amp and or adding a trunk sub.

For me the amp is the next step, primarily to be able to play with the sound stage and set it up properly.
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      08-31-2019, 08:45 AM   #13
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Sorry but I'm confused. You guys are swapping to Eaton's and/JLs but doing nothing with the subwoofers?

What about ASD?
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      08-31-2019, 01:23 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by switlikbob View Post
Sorry but I'm confused. You guys are swapping to Eaton's and/JLs but doing nothing with the subwoofers?

What about ASD?
Yes

Subs are "decent" it's the mid range/high that lacks.

I coded out my ASD
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      09-05-2019, 02:00 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Long_Wang View Post
Yes

Subs are "decent" it's the mid range/high that lacks.

I coded out my ASD
Thank you! I see Eton makes what appears to me a beefy replacment sub as well. I think I might go ahead and try out their whole replacement system and amp. But I need to save up some money, cuz this stuff is NOT cheap.
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      10-15-2019, 01:22 PM   #16
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where did you order the Eton's in the states?
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      10-28-2019, 12:50 PM   #17
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From this CO...

https://www.ebay.com/usr/acr-hof?ul_noapp=true
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