Beaman528i

So I've had a few post in here about my current stereo install and how I haven't been totally saticfied with sound. Mainly being that all the bass is trapped in the trunk and it doesn't quite mix well with the acustics in the cabin. Well after finding out I had at least one sub under the seat that had power running to it, I've decided to simply get rid of the sub in the trunk and upgrade the subs under the seat. Against alot of peoples judgement and advice to simply go with the Earthquakes and call it a day, I've decided to go with a set of Rockford Fosgate P3SD2-8's. Should fit pretty well in the stock enclosure given the mounting depth only being 2 3/4. Already met up with the installer and addressed the mounting brackets. Said these should sound well. Dual voice coil 2 ohm subs @150RMS should give me the depth I'm looking for. I'll make sure to keep you guys updated. Feel free to chime in if you will with comments.

jimadams7

Why disregard the earthquake subs they seam to be good according to what I have read .
What I am missing in my car is midrange and have know idea what to do

Angelo6379

I completely agree, I would love to figure out how to correct this...

Cricketts

Automobiles are really tricky in regard to frequency response, body resonance and spacial sound. In a home environment, the frequency response is related as 20 to 20K or all frequencies being equal. A typical automobile would be set up on a linear slope with 20 cycles being 20db the highest volume to 20k being 0 db. The 20 cycles being equal to or greater than the resonance of the car.

Automobiles are quit different. First, they tend to have a resonant base noise of about 20 cycles that is 20 db higher in volume that the mid's and high's. The ear cannot hear a sound that is lower in volume greater than an approximate 3db or more. For instance, if the bass line is higher than the mid's, the mid's i.e voices are hard to hear or sound muffled.

In regard to bass speakers in a closed trunk and or isolated from the car interior. Simply stated there is a character difference between a kettle drum and a base drum but you will never know it.

So how does one go about correcting these things. Look for an audio dealer who is using SPL and frequency response equipment who can analyze the vehicles characteristics, and change the frequency response with electronic crossovers OR if you have 7 series system in the car, they can attempt to trim the system as much as possible using the system equalizer.

In 1987 I was fortunate to have won second place in the Alpine Regional car Audio contest in the 500w Pro division while managing a high end car audio business. the vehicle was a 1985 635 CSI with(4) tweets,(4) mids,(2) 6 in mid base and (2) 8 in subs. 4 separate amps and 1 Electronic adjustable equalizer. All speakers were in the vehicle interior and the system was capable of an SPL of 128 db


For What it's worth.

jimadams7

You lost me at automobiles are tricky

balbs

From what I've heard. Earthquake SWS-8 (the ones that fit in the floor) are actually 4-Ohm and you would need an aftermarket amp to drive it.

AchtungE60

i don't remember the spec of the Harmon Becker amp used (i think) but it should be enough to drive either sub setup...of course, you can't tailor it at all and it will definitely be under powered. You could have added a nice 10"JL or solo-baric in the truck with an after market amp bro.

But I am concerned about the setup above that you mentioned. you have two subs that are both 2 ohm DVC right? So are you going to use a 4 channel amp and run these as 4 ohm mono into each channel? Either way you go you're going to need an aftermarket amp period.

Beaman528i

I totally understand where you're coming from and all and why would I stray away from what seems to have worked for many. Well to be perfectly honest I don't have a solid enough reason other than just believing there's more options than the Earthquakes out there. I can't knock the Earthquakes because I've never heard them. However, I did look into them on several sites and all and just by looking at the build of them compared to the Fosgates I'm going to stick with, it didn't seem that hard of a decision. Earhquakes are 4 ohm SVC and the Fosgates are a 2 ohm DVC, and looking at the build quality and specs of each speaker I'm just assuming the Fosgates would give me more of what I'm looking for. Yes it's a gamble but I don't think I'll be off the mark for not going with the traditional Earthquakes. I just figured why not, especially being that no one else here has.

balbs

The ones having great results with the SWS-8 are most likely the ones with the aftermarket sub amps. The stock E60 amp is spec'd to drive 2-Ohm stock under seat speakers. If you swap it out with the 4-Ohm SWS-8, you will actually lose bass.

Beaman528i

I think I left out a big piece of what I'm attempting to do here. As I mentioned, I had an earlier post laying out what I currently have for a stereo upgrade. I'll relist it here. I went with a set of component Focals, the 12" W0 V3 sub with ported box, LC6 audio processor, and D class ARC Audio 5 channel 600watt amp. The Focals are nice, my problem is that I simply can't get the bass to mesh with the component speakers inside. As we all know, the trunk on the E60 is pretty sealed and hard for the bass to escape. Once I discovered I actually had a stock 8" under the seat I figured I'd just go with two 8" subs and scrap the sub in the trunk. The subs I'm going with are the same price as the Earthquakes so I figured why not, especially being that they seem to be a better speaker. My amp has more than enough to power two 8" 2ohm DVC subs. I'm not going too far out the box with this gents, just going with a different speaker I hadn't heard of anyone here going with. I'm sure it'll sound great. Hopefully once it's done, someone here in SoCal who has the Earthquakes can take a listen and we can compare.