[Atsnow]

Hi,
As some of you may know I have done the SWS-8 upgrade since last year to my Logic7 system , I have been somewhat happy but I have always found the sound lacking a bit the two main reasons for this are the inherent muddiness of the Logic7 system and the fact that the amplifier I used for the upgrade was a sub amp with frequency response from 10hz to 100hz

So with that in mind and having heard Rainbow speakers like the one they used in the E46 I had been waiting a long time for the BSW upgrade , unfortunately I have read other members experience with it and while it does what it advertise to do it is not for me ( especially at the price they sell it).

With that option out of the way I have been reading and searching for a while on the forum at what others have been doing to get some ideas 3 things stood out for me
1. The OEM midranges we have in the cars are actually very good ( Ask Technic)
2. Replacing the tweeters with higher efficiency units will dramatically reduce the muddiness
3. While replacing the underseat subs will increase bass response , they’re no replacing a good sub in the trunk in a proper box


Well boys and girls I have some good news for the budgetary challenged, the cheap or those like me simply not willing to pay $2000 for incremental improvement , I did upgrade my system to substantial improvement for less then $500 , here’s what I have used

2 Earthquake SWS-8---------------------------$150
2 Soundtream Tweeters------------------------$40
1 Kenwood KFC-W2512 Sub--------------------$60
1 TMA T500.1 Amplifier-------------------------$170
1 Subwoofer Box-------------------------------$30
Total------------------------------------------$450

The result WOW, I’m very surprised at the difference the tweeters made, its not perfect, the system is equalized by the OEM amp after all, but it’s much better sounding and quite less muddy then before, mid bass is tight with no distortion and I am very surprised by the sub, I went with the Kenwood thinking I will not spend much and give it a shot and upgrade to a higher quality sub later, but frankly it sound very good and very musical, I will give it some tike to break in properly and report back

For the sub box I used BSW’s idea and made one for the trunk compartment , now since I’m not good at wood working ( I can’t cut straight) I brought my measurement to home depot and had them cut the MDF and did the assembly for total cost with hardware of $25

A few things I would do different or that I might upgrade
1. Get a better amp , for the same price you can get a much better amplifier
2. Get a better sub , for $100 you will get a CDT EF-100 DVC or equivalent
3. Get better Tweeters , while the Soudstream are much better then OEM I would have like a softer set of tweeters


Hope this help someone

PS. I will post pic later of the box

[flukey]

Great info! I'm looking get a sound system upgrade on a budget....

Did you do the install yourself?

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by flukey

Great info! I'm looking get a sound system upgrade on a budget....

Did you do the install yourself?

Yes and I know what I'm doing as this is not my first install
If I calculate the time it took to do the SWS-8 I would estimate total time at +/- 6hrs

[Atsnow]

Here's a couple of picture of the box
it's made of 5/8 MDF and has an internal volume of 0.448 cf

[VP Electricity]

You got TWO Earthquake 8" for $150? Going rate seems to be around $260.

What your story demonstrates is that the drivers used in the Logic 7 aren't so good... I'm curious, have you heard an E9x with a comprehensive sonic upgrade, for comparison?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

You got TWO Earthquake 8" for $150? Going rate seems to be around $260.

What your story demonstrates is that the drivers used in the Logic 7 aren't so good... I'm curious, have you heard an E9x with a comprehensive sonic upgrade, for comparison?

I think that something else could be in play here, like a change/reduction of tweeter impedance combined with the OEM inline filter and the OEM mid in parallel.

That could make the tweeter sonic improvement more a matter of making the OEM amp work harder -thus more power output, thus the impression of better definition- than an actual better tweeter swap.

[VP Electricity]

But the OEM inline filter (i.e., capacitor) comes out when the tweeter comes out...?

I concur that "definition" being better but sound being "harder" is a tricky description to navigate.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

But the OEM inline filter (i.e., capacitor) comes out when the tweeter comes out...?

I concur that "definition" being better but sound being "harder" is a tricky description to navigate.

That's the Logic7 tweeter in that illustration; the bulge in the wiring is the cap.

Unless it was replaced with another cap or the new tweeter comes with it own filter, the sucker has to stay after the mid somewhere...

[kaigoss69]

Anyone know what the "perfect" specs would be for a direct tweeter replacement??? I am now interested in this option.

OP, are you running the SWS off the factory amp?

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

You got TWO Earthquake 8" for $150? Going rate seems to be around $260.

I got them in May 08 from Fleebay, I did not realized they've gotten so much more I guess it's the extra X they now have in the name

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

I'm curious, have you heard an E9x with a comprehensive sonic upgrade, for comparison?

Actually that is beside the point , this post is about what can be done on a low budget that will improve the overall SQ of the logic7 in our car, there is no way you can compare this with a full Comprehensive upgrade , (You get what you pay for )

and yes I have heard one and I had done one in my old E46 (CDT ES components, Old school Xtant amps and Focal subs)

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by Technic

I think that something else could be in play here, like a change/reduction of tweeter impedance combined with the OEM inline filter and the OEM mid in parallel.

That could make the tweeter sonic improvement more a matter of making the OEM amp work harder -thus more power output, thus the impression of better definition- than an actual better tweeter swap.

The Tweeters are 4Ohms and I used the OEM caps

Originally Posted by VP Electricity

I concur that "definition" being better but sound being "harder" is a tricky description to navigate.

Not sure what you're talking about , I never said that they sounded harder just more defined, Unless you're referring to my comment about Mid-Bass but that come from the SWS-8s not the 4"

Originally Posted by Technic

Unless it was replaced with another cap

It was not

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

OP, are you running the SWS off the factory amp?

I am but would not recommend it, I'm doing it because they are installed ,if I was doing this from scratch I would get a 4 channel amp and run the SWS from 2 of the channel and the sub bridged on the other 2 ( I still may do it as I'm not happy with my amp)

[AWM3]

Originally Posted by jackb

I am but would not recommend it, I'm doing it because they are installed ,if I was doing this from scratch I would get a 4 channel amp and run the SWS from 2 of the channel and the sub bridged on the other 2 ( I still may do it as I'm not happy with my amp)

Disconnecting the SWS from the factory amp and giving them their own amplifier seems to allow the other mid/high speakers in my car to sound better. I am thinking that the power supply in the factory amp is weak and removing the load of powering the woofers from the power supply is allowing it to do a better job on the other four channels. Mine is a non L7. Still, after a few minutes of playing at high volume the amp goes into a protection mode and starts to cut the volume down all by itself. The factory amp has to go.

[Atsnow]

Hey guys I thought I would do an update on this thread since I have had this install now for 2 month and I have driven over 3000km with it.

First of I have to say while I did like how the sub sounded I was disappointed on how much power I was putting to it with the amp, I had the feeling something was wrong and I was right as I found out that one of the channel of the LOC was blown, I was not worried as I had a brand new LC6i to replace it , but before doing so I started thinking that it might be and idea to add some equalization ,

Shopping for an in the trunk eq I got very lucky as a member on e46 fanatics was selling his EQS for a very good price because he never used it ( and since it was Technic’s old unit I was not worried that it would not be in good condition) I also had a Soundstream LilWonder LW4.620 that I had purchased for another project in my MX.5 and decided to use it to give some power to the fronts,

So the plan went as follows;

-Tap into the signal from the front speakers and under seat subs
-Send the signal to the front and rear input of the EQS from AudioControl
-Front and rear outputs of the EQS to the LW4.620 powering the front speakers and SWS-8s ,
-high pas the fronts at 150hz and low pass the SWS at around 200Hz
-Sub output of the EQS to the T500.1 to the Kenwood sub low passed at 50Hz

So I did the install 2 days ago and boy what a difference , I’m very happy with the install (much happier then what I had) I still need to make some EQ adjustment but with minor one the sound has come so much more alive

The total cost of the system is still reasonable I bought some used equipment but if somebody would want to replicate here what they should expect


2 Earthquake SWS-8---------------------------$250
2 Soundtream Tweeters------------------------$40
1 Kenwood KFC-W2512 Sub--------------------$60
1 TMA T500.1 Amplifier-------------------------$170
1 AudioControl EQS EQ---------------------------$200
1 Soundtream LW4.620------------------------$200
1 Subwoofer Box-------------------------------$30
1 Wires and Accessories--------------------$100

Total------------------------------------------$1050

Here are some picture ,(sorry about the mess I was making sure everything worked before cleaning up the wires)

What you see when the trunk is open



Without cover


T-500.1 and LW4.620




EQ and Sub


Sirius Connect

[Atsnow]

Here's an RTA I took right after install
As you can see It needed some work the good news is this is with almost no adjustment to the EQS and the Logic7 EQ flat
After playing with the EQS it the response got much flatter and sounded much better , unfortunately I forgot to save the graph
I will do some more adjustment later and take some more graph to see

[skifreak107]

Enjoying this thread

How does that sub work boxed and under the cover like that? Mine are currently in a box behind the seats, blocking them and eliminating about 30% of the trunk. I thought about doing something like yours but wasn't sure how well it would work there.

[kaigoss69]

Originally Posted by skifreak107

Enjoying this thread

How does that sub work boxed and under the cover like that? Mine are currently in a box behind the seats, blocking them and eliminating about 30% of the trunk. I thought about doing something like yours but wasn't sure how well it would work there.

The best position - from an SPL standpoint - is to have the speaker baffle parallel to the back seat and facing the back of the trunk.

[skifreak107]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

The best position - from an SPL standpoint - is to have the speaker baffle parallel to the back seat and facing the back of the trunk.

This is how mine are now, but I'll need to move them to use my ski bag

[Atsnow]

Depends on what you're looking for and what amp sub combo you go with,

For me even with the very ordinary Kenwood sub its more then loud enough I have the bass setting at -5 and the 80hz setting on the logic7 EQ at -4) and I can hear the sub well even with the ski pass closed ( I took out the plastic case that has the ski bag)

I feel that if I had a better sub it would even be better

one thing I will absolutely need to do is put some sound dampening material in the tub where the sub is as you can hear it rattle from outside

Originally Posted by skifreak107

Enjoying this thread

How does that sub work boxed and under the cover like that? Mine are currently in a box behind the seats, blocking them and eliminating about 30% of the trunk. I thought about doing something like yours but wasn't sure how well it would work there.

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

The best position - from an SPL standpoint - is to have the speaker baffle parallel to the back seat and facing the back of the trunk.

Humm,, I would not say that this is always correct, in general you are right it is the loudest but I remember playing around with 2 12" in the trunk of my E46 discovering to my surprise that the loudest position was to have the box at the back of the trunk (near the Bumper) firing up, other members tried it with the same result, we believed it was a result of the acoustic characteristic of the car's trunk , I would not be surprised that the E90 is the same


the only problem with this location is that it's totally impractical

[oneflyryd]

How are you using the Sirius Connect with the stock head unit? I do not have logic 7 or I-Drive but want to do the same thing how did you get this to work?

[Atsnow]

Originally Posted by oneflyryd

How are you using the Sirius Connect with the stock head unit? I do not have logic 7 or I-Drive but want to do the same thing how did you get this to work?

This is a Sirius Starbase system, It has its own controller and I connect into the AUX input of the Head Unit

here's a picture of the controller , I changed the ashtray for the sunglass holder and installed it there