upgrade stereo for 96 1.9 under 1500 (long) (archive)

Russ,
I replaced all of the speakers and the amp in my 1998 2.8. For $1500 you could buy Boston Acoustic 6.5 Pro Series separates. The 6 inch mid bass will fit in the footwells and the separate tweeters can go in the doors or anywhere else you choose. Theese speakers come with many mounting options for the tweeters. You will need an amp in the trunk to power these speakers. I am driving my BAs with 120 W per channel. The speakers come with cross overs that I also have mounted in the trunk.
The footwell speakers fit in the factory location and it looks 100% stock. The trim pieces in the footwell will need to be trimmed on the inside, but this is childs play for the installer.

I do not know what BMW radio you have. I have the BMW business radio with cassette and the weather band. This radio is made by Alpine, and although it does not have the red and white RCA output connectors, this radio's output is directly compatable with any amp. I soldered/spliced RCA connectors on the output of the radio, plugged them into the amp, and adjusted the input gain on the amp, and wonderful sound came out of the speakers. If you are going to get a new aftermarket radio, they will have standard RCA connectors. If you are going to buy an amp, your new radio does not necessarily need to have built in amplification, and it may be cheaper. Spend your budget on good speakers and a quality amp. It is unlikely you can buy a radio that has enough built in amplification to drive speakers with the BA quality in a convertible at highway speeds, top down.

EMail me with more specifics or questions.

Rob

I believe these are the sizes of the speakers
for my 96 1.9:

5 1/4" x 2 (kick panel)
2" x 2
7/8" x 2

I am looking for an aftermarket upgrade
but none of the 3 way system seems to fit the
sizes for the factory spec...
The sales suggest me drop the 2" speakers and go
with a 2 way system. I donno if it is gonna make
a big difference. Anyone has any suggestion for
an stereo upgrade? my budget is around 1500 USD.
any suggestion will be appreciated

Russ

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