[sweet coffee]

Hello,

Technic has been very thorough in explaining there are two ways to go about replacing the oem amp for those with option 688 Harman Kardon L7.
option 1-Using Mobridge dac preamp
option 2- Recode to stereo or hifi and then use a dsp or amp with dsp

Many installers in europe work with Gladaen. They install the mosconi 120.4, which has hi and low levels, but do not remove the oem amp and do not recode to hifi???

Is it possible to get good results by leaving the original amp and without recoding to hifi? My understanding was that the coding was used to de-equalize the L7 present in the oem amp? I want to maximize having a clean signal and no interference noise.

On the other hand, Gladen being German, I am sure they have quite a bit of experience with BMW's and other german cars... Gladen is so popular in Belgium and Holland, all the installers offer only the Gladen upgrade for BMW's...

Thank you for your input.

[Gabrola]

Re-coding to hifi is not to de-equalize anything. It's make the headunit output audio on the balanced analog lines instead of the MOST cable.

If you code to Hifi then you will have to run new wiring from the headunit to the amp, and will definitely be more affected by noise than a MOST connection which is digital so it suffers no noise.

Stick to using a Mobridge and if you want to also keep your L7 amp, you can use a MOST expansion cable to it can go into both your L7 amp and the Mobridge pre-amp.

[bri1042]

I second sticking to the Mobridge. It gives you options and will cause you less warranty headaches than coding to analog will. Taking the HK amp out, running through the Mobridge to an amp or amps with enough channels for the car is the right way to do it (and you should be able to swap the HK amp back in if your dealer refuses to do software updates with it missing...which mine is refusing to do). The HK amp is pretty powerful for a stock amp, I wouldn't want to run it's output into the High input on another amp...I don't think you'd get very clean sound out of it.

[bri1042]

To be more specific, "Many installers in europe work with Gladaen. They install the mosconi 120.4, which has hi and low levels, but do not remove the oem amp and do not recode to hifi???" sounds like what you get from installers that shouldn't get your money.

Leaving the amp in place with Hifi could work, but with the MOST link on the HK it's certainly the cheap way out.

[PabloK]

Hit up Musicar, Ken is the man. I'm sure he could give you some good advice.

I have 4 Mosconi with my level x system.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by PabloK

Hit up Musicar, Ken is the man. I'm sure he could give you some good advice.

I have 4 Mosconi with my level x system.

Ken is the man, along with the rest of the magnificent folk who work for him, and I'm pretty sure they send PnP kits overseas. Note: I'm still jealous of PabloK's amps. Mine are not as impressive. :-)

[sweet coffee]

Thank you for your advice. I did send Ken a msg a couple weeks back but never got a response.

I found out the reason why all car audio shops work with Gladen in Belgium. Gladen is the only company, in Belium, that has the harness + amp + speakers that allow you to upgrade and keep everything oem and pnp. The installers are afraid to splice or code as apparently you loose the warranty on the car.

That means there is good business opportunity for Ken over here...

[PabloK]

Originally Posted by sweet coffee

Thank you for your advice. I did send Ken a msg a couple weeks back but never got a response.

I found out the reason why all car audio shops work with Gladen in Belgium. Gladen is the only company, in Belium, that has the harness + amp + speakers that allow you to upgrade and keep everything oem and pnp. The installers are afraid to splice or code as apparently you loose the warranty on the car.

That means there is good business opportunity for Ken over here...

I think they are pretty busy, just be consistent. They are really nice to work with, I can't speak how helpful they have been. Good guys with a real passion for BMW sound. A++++

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by sweet coffee

Thank you for your advice. I did send Ken a msg a couple weeks back but never got a response.

I found out the reason why all car audio shops work with Gladen in Belgium. Gladen is the only company, in Belium, that has the harness + amp + speakers that allow you to upgrade and keep everything oem and pnp. The installers are afraid to splice or code as apparently you loose the warranty on the car.

That means there is good business opportunity for Ken over here...

Splicing and coding are mostly unnecessary, so the installers and the owners should be wary of it. The only coding I know of that gets done is for cars (e90's from 2010 and 11 in the US) that come with the six-speaker base Stereo system to change the analog output to the Hifi settings, and that can be avoided with a Cleansweep. The setups in my car and PabloK's are plug and play with custom molex connector harnesses. I had my equipment in my last F30 (most of it), which was a lease and it was entirely back to stock when I turned it in with no evidence that the equipment had been there.

Ken's shop is small, they don't have a lot of folk so every once in a while an email gets missed. Send another mail and be clear about what you want out of your car audio.