[PsychDoc]

A great test for bass is Also sprach Zarathustra.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by PsychDoc

A great test for bass is Also sprach Zarathustra.

I don’t have a recording of that, but did have a classical try out this evening - Decca recording of the Toccata from Widor’s 5th organ symphony played at Westminster Abbey (really good test down to 16Hz bass notes) and Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto on Deutsche Grammaphon. Both sounded fantastic, actually surprisingly good. The bass notes on the organ were really clear but I could feel them as well as hear them, then the dynamic range on the Beethoven was excellent - solid goose bumps experience. This was honestly some of the best audio I’ve had in a car so far (no I’ve not tried the 7 series)…I wonder how much is also the benefit of having no competing engine noise/vibration to overcome? Either way I’m becoming a bigger fan.

Will need to try some EDM and rock next.

[Scrapula]

Did a drive about yesterday just to test out different music. Logic 7 on and off. Adjusted the equalizer. The bass is okay. I didn’t feel it. Also, I cranked it to max and was disappointed it didn’t go louder. There was good separation between frequencies. It’s fine for casual listening, and driving with passengers playing in the background. I think the Meridian in my Jaguar was better overall. I wish there would have been an upgrade option.

[NonFormulaic]

I don’t get no goosebumps with the standard H & K….but it’s very satisfying. The Burmester in my Benz did that, along with rattling the driver’s door with certain frequencies. Thus, I was always using the equalizer to bypass those frequencies. Not fun.

[trivalent]

Originally Posted by trivalent

...Just now in my i5, I sampled the SOPHIE "BIPP (Autechre Mx) / UNISIL" tracks and Missy Elliott's "She's A Bitch". Each goes pretty low, but with a different center frequency range. The first tracks' bass went through my head; the last one through my chest. The bass in both cases was somewhat immersive. But in neither did the bass come up from the ground. I think that's what you are missing: the bass is all around, but only in the air...

In later trials I concluded something:

Did you ever hear audio of music played in a professional recording studio control room with big, in-wall monitors? I didn't think so.

Well if you did much, you would gain a sense of how such setups can present audio in a way that nearly nothing else can, and how that is most noticeable with full spectrum program (that is, whose frequency range and instrumental voices span all or most of the range of human hearing). The experience is akin to wearing an indeterminately large pair of headphones, or perhaps a pair of headphones the size of the room, whose spatial and spectral presentation is not limited by physical source or setting.

In other words, it is as if the sound is playing in your head: not in your skull, but in your mind. As it were, you can "see" the sounds, in place and in context, just inside or in front of your face (I dislike employing the language of the visual to describe the audible, but there it is).

As I tuned it, making only slight adjustments, the B&W stereo in my i5 presents audio in basically that way. The perception isn't as extreme, but it is similar. Even when spatialized (by fade and balance adjustments), the net result is of a big studio monitors-like presentation right in front of me. Undesirable artifacts aside (slight harshness, for example), it is an impressive presentation, including that of bass instruments per se and bass frequencies in general.

[dhruvgarg]

I listened to the Harman Kardon in 530i and i5 M60. On paper both the systems have the same specs ( 205 watts 12 speakers etc) , but the main difference is that i5 mounts the 2 eight inch HK woofers on the doors , and the 530i mounts them under the seat.
Short summary - the 530i has lot more punch in the bass. The i5 HK sounded too lean in the bass but had lot more clarity. For my listening taste ( richer/punchier sound) the 530i is the better system.

I’m really disappointed by the HK in M60 , I suspect the B&W will show the same difference in audio performance I.e. lean bass on i5.

The HK in 530i is definitely an upgrade over my M340i's HK - its fuller and punchier in the bass.

[darylp310]

Originally Posted by dhruvgarg

I listened to the Harman Kardon in 530i and i5 M60. On paper both the systems have the same specs ( 205 watts 12 speakers etc) , but the main difference is that i5 mounts the 2 eight inch HK woofers on the doors , and the 530i mounts them under the seat.
Short summary - the 530i has lot more punch in the bass. The i5 HK sounded too lean in the bass but had lot more clarity. For my listening taste ( richer/punchier sound) the 530i is the better system.

I’m really disappointed by the HK in M60 , I suspect the B&W will show the same difference in audio performance I.e. lean bass on i5.

The HK in 530i is definitely an upgrade over my M340i's HK - its fuller and punchier in the bass.

I'm renting an i7 from Turo this week and my daily driver is an iX50. I think you've hit the nail on the head with your comment above. Since the iX is a bespoke EV platform they have room to put subwoofers underneath the seats, but since the i7/7-series is a shared platform they put the smaller subs in the doors. It's a world of difference in terms of audio quality. I have the HK audio in my iX and it's best audio I've ever experienced in my life. (I'm a part-time music producer, so I'm extremely sensitive to small difference in audio playback). The i7 I'm renting has a B&W system, but it's objectively not as good as the HK in my iX. I'd give the iX a 10/10 and the i7 a 8/10 in terms of music reproduction. In layman's terms, the low end is lacking so I need to turn up the volume to hear the midranges, and then it hurts my ears when the midrange/high frequencies are too loud. I have not been able to EQ it match the quality of the iX.

i5/i7 B&W are still awesome compared to almost any other car, but I'm totally spoiled now with audio coming from driving the iX for the past year.

[dhruvgarg]

Originally Posted by darylp310

I'm renting an i7 from Turo this week and my daily driver is an iX50. I think you've hit the nail on the head with your comment above. Since the iX is a bespoke EV platform they have room to put subwoofers underneath the seats, but since the i7/7-series is a shared platform they put the smaller subs in the doors. It's a world of difference in terms of audio quality. I have the HK audio in my iX and it's best audio I've ever experienced in my life. (I'm a part-time music producer, so I'm extremely sensitive to small difference in audio playback). The i7 I'm renting has a B&W system, but it's objectively not as good as the HK in my iX. I'd give the iX a 10/10 and the i7 a 8/10 in terms of music reproduction. In layman's terms, the low end is lacking so I need to turn up the volume to hear the midranges, and then it hurts my ears when the midrange/high frequencies are too loud. I have not been able to EQ it match the quality of the iX.

i5/i7 B&W are still awesome compared to almost any other car, but I'm totally spoiled now with audio coming from driving the iX for the past year.

I'll be curious to learn how the i7 sounded. I have heard the HK in iX as well and i thought it was absolutely fantastic! Sounded rich and powerful and very musical! It easily was one of the best HK systems I've heard (M3, M5, M340, X7, X5,etc).I personally doubt that any other BMW model will compare favorably to the HK in iX. (I'm biased towards HK as i've never been a B&W fan)

Having a nice sounding stereo is important to me so I have ruled out i5M60 for myself.I feel so conflicted about the iX - great stereo but its an SUV. I have to decide between 540i and iX now 540i is great and no issues with it but i find electric torque addictive so considering the iX this time.

[darylp310]

Originally Posted by dhruvgarg

Having a nice sounding stereo is important to me so I have ruled out i5M60 for myself.I feel so conflicted about the iX - great stereo but its an SUV. I have to decide between 540i and iX now 540i is great and no issues with it but i find electric torque addictive so considering the iX this time.

You’re 100% the same as me. The i5/i7 are better handling than the iX. But a perfect stereo is too critical for me too. The EV torque and instantaneous speed is too addicting now to go back to ICE. 🤷🏾😱

[PsychDoc]

What I think everyone's kind of missing in this discussion is that an automobile is an absolutely horrific environment in which to recreate any truly quality audio reproduction. Between road noise, engine noise, the car's inherent acoustics, quality of the electrical supply and cabling, it's actually quite remarkable that we get anything even approximating decent sound.
My point is simply that our expectations should really be tempered by these realities as we evaluate cars' audio systems.

[darylp310]

Originally Posted by PsychDoc

What I think everyone's kind of missing in this discussion is that an automobile is an absolutely horrific environment in which to recreate any truly quality audio reproduction. Between road noise, engine noise, the car's inherent acoustics, quality of the electrical supply and cabling, it's actually quite remarkable that we get anything even approximating decent sound.
My point is simply that our expectations should really be tempered by these realities as we evaluate cars' audio systems.

Intuitively you are correct. But with an EV things are so quiet, it really enhances the listening environment because it’s so quiet and there’s extra room to place speakers. The Tesla Model S/X have fantastic stereos, and I’d argue that my iX is even a better environment than I have a home due to the quietness of the cab and thoughtful speaker placement.

I love everything else about the i5/i7 and would pull the trigger today on a second car to compliment my iX, but the audio system is pretty important to me. These new BMWs with iDrive 8.x have so many custom electronics, I’m not sure I could easily add more speakers and amps to augement the system either. So it’s a little frustrating.

[darylp310]

Maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and put aftermarket subwoofers in the trunk! I hate to lose the storage space but I’m too spoiled from the iX. Otherwise the i5 is the perfect car for me! I might be joining you guys soon if I find a lease deal I like!

[Juff]

Here is what I found surfing through:
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/bow...-5-series-2023

You get 18 speakers, although the i5 fully electric cars only have 17. This is because the car batteries leave no space for the two woofers under the front seats. In this model, they’re replaced by a single subwoofer in the boot. The system is driven by a 655 watt amplifier with surround processing provided by Harman's Logic 7 software.

For those wondering, as standard the new 5 Series comes fitted with a Harman Kardon system with 12 speakers and a 205 Watt amplifier.

The full speaker line-up is as follows…

7x 25mm aluminium tweeters
7x 10cm midrange speakers (x4 with B&W’s Continuum cone technology)
2x (50cm + 80cm) dual-balanced woofers arranged in opposition to each other
2x bass woofers under the front seats (for non i5 models)
1x 20cm dual voice coil subwoofer in the boot (for i5 only)