[M40i017]

I have acquired some HK speakers for my G01 m40i that has the hifi system. My question is, will I tell any difference in sound and bass production if I replace the hifi underseat sub with the HK one while still using stock hifi amp?

[drewfromthehou]

As someone with a 2020 with HK speakers, I can say the HK speakers are absolute garbage. I can't imagine them being much better than the HiFi speakers. I replaced my under-seat woofers and speakers with BavSound and tossed the HKs in the trash. It made a decent difference but still not great.

I guess it really depends on what you are ultimately trying to accomplish, but if I had the HiFi system I would replace the amp and woofers. My problem is I haven't found a plug and play option for iDrive 7 HK systems or my amp would have found itself in the trash with those horrible speakers.

[Admiral]

My view on HK speakers is they are not as good as they make out, I have them that were an option, here in the UK the cost was £820, and to honest I cannot tell the difference from my previous 3 or 4 BMW's that had the standard system

[clivem2]

The HK equaliser makes a lot of difference. Setting up the equaliser well totally transforms the sound vs the default flat settings. This results in a sound that is way better than my two F25s had with the standard system. The much quieter G01 helps a lot too (with acoustic glass). The HK drivers work fairly well but you have to look at the system as a whole. Just changing the drivers probably won't do that much.

If you're playing files from USB or HDD then make sure to use at least a high bitrate lossy format or lossless for the best quality. If you want mega bass for your dubstep tracks then you need to add a subwoofer which is large - if you want to move a lot of air then big cones win - small long-throw drivers can work but it's rather like trying to get M40i performance from a 1 litre engine.

[M40i017]

Would the stock amp be sufficient to drive the Hk under seat subs, or since my amp is lower watts, the difference would not be noticeable?

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by M40i017

Would the stock amp be sufficient to drive the Hk under seat subs, or since my amp is lower watts, the difference would not be noticeable?

Without knowing a lot more about how the standard and HK systems work it's impossible to say. A lot of car systems use DSP to tailor the performance of the speakers, this can be especially the case with bass where they may DSP the crossover point as well as provide bass boost at lower frequencies, this would likely be driver-specific so the HK driver could require different DSP settings to the standard driver. But....it might work.

[Torinalth]

if I am not mistaken the HK underseat woofers are 8ohm, and would actually get less power than your stock ones due to them being either 4 or 2 ohm... I can't recall offhand. the door speakers are the same ohm rating though so would be an easy change if they mounted the same. I don't see it as an upgrade though worth paying for.

[Alias1431]

Originally Posted by Torinalth

if I am not mistaken the HK underseat woofers are 8ohm, and would actually get less power than your stock ones due to them being either 4 or 2 ohm... I can't recall offhand. the door speakers are the same ohm rating though so would be an easy change if they mounted the same. I don't see it as an upgrade though worth paying for.

I also vaguely recall that. I'm pretty sure BavSound cuts the ohm rating in half, which helps drive them.

[DD694]

Originally Posted by Alias1431

I also vaguely recall that. I'm pretty sure BavSound cuts the ohm rating in half, which helps drive them.

I had Bavsound Stage One Speaker Upgrade and Ghost Subwoofers installed a few weeks ago. I have HK sound system. The Bavsound subwoofers are 8 ohm. The improvement in the sound clarity and intensity is noticeable, with setting up the EQ also a factor. I have 80 year old ears and wear hearing aids, but even for me the improvement is noticeable - especially the clarity.

Bavsound does have an amp upgrade for the HiFi system ONLY at this point.

[Torinalth]

Originally Posted by Alias1431

I also vaguely recall that. I'm pretty sure BavSound cuts the ohm rating in half, which helps drive them.

no, they don't change the rating, their gear just has a better build, beefier build, and higher sensitivity which is why you get more out of it. read below.

Originally Posted by DD694

I had Bavsound Stage One Speaker Upgrade and Ghost Subwoofers installed a few weeks ago. I have HK sound system. The Bavsound subwoofers are 8 ohm. The improvement in the sound clarity and intensity is noticeable, with setting up the EQ also a factor. I have 80 year old ears and wear hearing aids, but even for me the improvement is noticeable - especially the clarity.

Bavsound does have an amp upgrade for the HiFi system ONLY at this point.

you are correct on all points. I had a long talk with the BAV guys (they are great to deal with by the way) and agreed that if I wanted to go full tilt with their gear I'd have to get a MOST to TosLink conversion box, and that is done by both MoBridge and also a rebranded version from Audison. that's another 500 you gotta drop just to make an amp work. either way at that point you can use either the Audiotech Fischer amp, or the BAVsound rebranded version with its TosLink input.

The hangup was the underseat woofers. What it came down it is that if you wanted the upgrade it made the most sense to upgrade the speakers and either the amp at the same time as the woofers or, per their own words, get the ghost subs for the HK system first, and if its not enough return them within 30 days (free exchanges if you are not happy) and get the 2ohm ones and at that time get the amp. They highly doubt they will ever make an amp solution geared to the HK system, but they said that with the increase in use it might be worth looking more into... I'm doubtful.

anyhow, that's what i know.