Magician

Hi there -- long story short I have E46 with CarPC. Head-unit removed. CarPC currently has external Audigy NX and driving 4 channels via analog lines.

Problems are: Low volume, interference, low quality sound. All because there is SVEN4 and pre-amp in between NX and HK. Want to fix these problems and simplify the setup.

Extra motivation: I recently got rear left speaker cable get loose on me and I don't want to chase a loose connection all over the place where I can directly hook the NX in the trunk to a new amp that could replace the HK, by-passing all the mess.

I don't want to rewire entire car but I can afford to get rid of HK amp.

Can anyone recommend an amp that can:
- Accept fiber connection from the NX
- Be wired to existing E46 HK speakers without changing or rewiring the speakers.

Thanks in advance.

MP3Car.com

 

hithere

You rang?

If you are satisfied with the output power and noise present on the amp when not inputting anything, you might want to look into offboard processing that can take a digital input, instead of replacing the amp. Either that, or you could invest in a good USB DAC, and do your processing (EQ, Time alignment) on the computer, with good quality analog outputs.

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Magician

Thanks -- can you further elaborate on the USB DAC setup? Would I then drive speakers directly from the DAC unit? I looked these things up a bit on the net, however I'm not versed enough to assess if the stock speakers on E46 (I think they are balanced / 3-wire) would be compatible with such setup. By compatible I mean all factors like power/interface etc.

Appreciate a little bit more clarification.

hithere

Not really...I don't own a usb dac, I own an NX and use the optical out to feed my processor. You would use the dac to drive your amps, for which there may be a converter of some kind for your balanced inputs. The DAC would provide, hopefully, a lot better analog feed than your NX is. But there are plenty here and at headfi.org that do use them, and info on them is only a search away.

A DAC's only job, really, is to take a digital feed from your USB port, and turn it into analog output for your amps, kinda like your audigy does (only better and cleaner). It would depend on processing prior to the dac what sorts of things you do to the sound you send it.

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Magician

Ok -- so after some more research I *think* JL Audio 300/4 will fit the bill for me. I let go the optical interface idea mainly because of potential loss of volume control on the Audigy (and the price of amps as well). I'm planning on going out of Audigy NX directly into JL.

On the output side, I'm not planning to use more than 4 speakers total.

Can anyone confirm whether JL/Audigy compatibility will be an issue?

JAC

Hi Magician, did you ever get the JL audio and if so is it working ok?

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