This afternoon my uncle and I was able to install the Earthquake SWS 8” subs to replace the stock subs for my car. You can say we took like 7 hours or so to complete everything but we took our time, took breaks when we needed to, ate, read a few stuff before going ahead, etc, etc. No need to rush since we got the whole day right? I chose the SWS because they say that it’s a “direct fit” to our sub enclosure. So was it a Direct Fit? Yes and No: Yes because the holes are directly aligned so screwing it down was no problem BUT the SWS are a little bit taller for the enclosure so u have to find a way to make some sort of bracket so it doesn’t touch the bottom part. I placed dynamat all around and placed spacers around each holes as my way.
Here are my Sub and Amp specs:
Earthquake SWS-8 Shallow Mount Subwoofer
8" Shallow Subwoofer
1.8" Excursion 2-1/8" Mounting depth
Power Handling 150 RMS/ 300 Peak
1.5" Aluminum Voice Coil Single 4 Ohm Voice Coil
MTX Thunder 300XD
RMS Power Range : 200-300 Watts
Number Of Channels: 1
Maximum Power: 600 Watts
Low Frequency response: 20 Hz
High Frequency Response: 200 Hz
Built In Crossovers: Yes
Power (watts RMS into 4 ohms x channels): 200 x 1
Power (watts RMS into 2 ohms x channels): 300 x 1
Bridged power x channels (4 ohms): 200 x 1
Peak power x channels (watts): 300 x 1
Signal to noise ratio (dB): >75 db
Bass boost (0-12 dB at 40 Hz)
THE INSTALL: (
My uncle was in charge of all the wire connections)
We actually didn’t even take out the front seats so we didn’t even need to disconnect anything. We just loosened the 4 torx under each seat (using T50 torx), tilted the seats back and took it from there.
Unscrew the grille over the sub:
Unscrew the sub and disconnect it:
How the new sub will look like in the enclosure
The comparison between the SWS and the stock sub
Same size BUT the SWS a little taller
Using dynamat for the enclosure
Made sure the ring has enough dynamat so nothing gets leaked
Placing the new sub in the enclosure, now its tight n snug with the dynamat!
Placing the new sub back in
Rawr!!! This amp ROCKS
Connecting the Amp to the battery
Testing the system to see if the amp starts to smoke or the sub blows up LOL
My uncle and I had a dilemma on how to hide all the wires, since its coming from under the 2 front seats. I was thinking we can just let it go around each side and to the bottom floor and meet and trunk but my uncle had a better idea…
Just go straight to the middle and go thru the center console! So we somehow were able to combine the wires to the middle through the inside of the handbrake and made sure all the wires were tucked in nicely following the center console to the back.
Then we had to take out one of the rear seats so we can hide all the wires
Make those wires "disappear." Tuck them in the center console!!
In the trunk, we also made sure all the wires n cables we all tidy too so lined them up with the other wires there. As for the Amp, I decided to mount the amp at the back of the rear seat.
After fixing all the wires, testing the sub, adjusting the sound settings to my liking, the INSTALL was complete!!!
SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN CLEAN!!!
The SWS upgrade was a MAJOR upgrade for me. I dunno if it’s the subs or the amp but DAMN!
Bass can hit pretty hard now!! You can actually here the lows. The settings on the Amp are all on minimum because the Subs are too loud already! The bass settings on my Logic7 are now placed somewhat in the middle (before it was a few notches just below max) and my treble setting is all the way to the max. As for the equalizer settings, I also had to make the high freq (treble) higher than before so I can hear the voices more clearly. Overall, I’m very impressed on these SWS subs and this MTX amp. It makes listening to music 10x better for me!!
Cheers!
