BAVSound Stage 1 Speaker Upgrade

[IndyJer]

After several months patiently waiting, the BAVSound Stage 1 kit arrived last week and I spent this past weekend installing. I have the H/K from the factory and although I wasn't disappointed with its performance, the BAVSound Ghost subs impressed me enough to give the stage 1 a shot.

Install was not difficult if you follow the video instructions provided by BAVSound. However, it would have been helpful if their video was more comprehensive in some ways. For example, the tweeters in the rear B pillar pods do not "just pup out"". They are glued in with a white silicone type adhesive that I carefully cut to free the tweeter. I also had some difficulty removing the front tweeters, but perseverance won out eventually. The driver door panel also has a different location for one of the Torx screws and a very different wiring plug to disconnect. A YouTube search for "2016 F15 door panel removal" gave me the info I needed.

Since I knew I would be removing all the door panels, I took the opportunity to cover as much of the panels and the door frame as possible with Dynamat. BAVSound sends you some of this sound deadening with the speaker kit to place behind the mids, but they don't send enough to do the entire door. This I would HIGHLY recommend doing. It has eliminated 99% of the vibrations/rattles I had before and also improved the sound. There is no longer a hollow/tinny sound to the system. It was a PITA to install, but well worth the effort. I expect 3/4 of my install time was applying the Dynamat.

I've had about 1.5 hours behind the wheel since install and I have to say I am very happy with the results. While not as dramatic of a difference as swapping in the ghost subs, there is significantly more depth to the sound now. Much better midrange, very tight and clean sound, and more volume. The speakers are all very clearly matched to one another perfectly. The system really kicks in and shines at about 40% volume and up.

I still find the tweeters a bit harsh, but that could be partly due to my audio source (iPhone on USB and XM Radio). I have the EQ flat right now (as recommended by BAVSound) with the treble at -3, 5khz -2, 10khz -3, and L7 off. I will continue to tweek as I listen more, but pretty happy with these settings right now.

Overall, I would say this is a good upgrade if you are in any way not thrilled with H/K as is and don't mind dropping another $1,000 on your system. Dynamat treatment is a MUST even if you don't swap out speakers; I will do this on all my vehicles from now on.

As BAVSound says, rock on...

PS: Anyone interested in slightly used H/K drivers? Got a full set to unload...