[ctuna]

You are running mulitple speakers in parallel ?
whats your speaker set and configuration?
Also thanks for the answers.

[kmarei]

Originally Posted by ctuna

You are running mulitple speakers in parallel ?
whats your speaker set and configuration?
Also thanks for the answers.

Yep
The 2 sws-8s I have are 2 ohm
Running them in parallel to get more power out of my amp


Using BSW mids for front, center, rear side panels
Infinity emit tweeters for front and center
BSW tweeters for rear side panels
Jl audio powered 10" sun mounted right behind ski hatch for below 50hz

I'm using 3 amps
Soundstream 405s for center, rears, and sws-8
Soundstream Class A50II for fronts
And JL jx250.1 for the trunk sub
All run by the JBL MS-8

Started out with HIFI

[glider4]

Took about 3 hours total time. Thanks to Technic for some help when I had a problem with a bad wire to the amp. By far the hardest part of the install was routing the power from the battery to the amp. I ended up going over the top of the trunk, using some 3/4" flex conduit for added abrasion protection, instead of across the floor as I originally planned. You need 9 feet of 4AWG for that and I didn't order long enough and had to buy a longer section of cable. Getting the trunk liner back in place is a bit of a struggle but not too bad. Other than that and the 20 minutes it took me to trace down the bad wire (bad crimp on connector?) to the amp and replace it, a very straightforward process.

My initial observations with the new SWS-8XI and the JL Audio XD600/6 amp are as follows:

1. Lots more base with the amp and SWS-8XIs
2. Slightly better FM radio clarity
3. HUGE improvement playing off Ipod or thumb drive. Wow, all the static and low quality sound I had with the stock set-up is GONE!
4. VP Electricity is right, I can now hear that the stock front speakers aren't so hot. It was hard for me to hear that before. The amp magnifies the flaws.

So, when I can sell the stock subwoofers and the HiFi amp on eBay I have a set of Rainbow 210.25NG SLC's in my future.

Thanks again to Technic for a great harness that made the amp install so much easier.

[VP Electricity]

Originally Posted by glider4

4. VP Electricity is right, I can now hear that the stock front speakers aren't so hot.

Incrementalism Doesn't WorkTM

So did you want those speakers with steel adapter rings and plug-in wiring harnesses?

[glider4]

My budget for my 328i audio upgrade was $700. So far I’ve spent a net total of $606 on the equipment and parts listed below. By net, it’s after taking into account what I received from selling my original subwoofers and the stock amp on eBay

• Harness, fused power/ground leads, RCA connectors & 4 AWG wire – mostly from Technic (net cost $89.75)
• JL Audio XD600/6 (90W RMS X 6 @ 2 Ohms) - from Amazon (net cost after stock HiFi amp sale $245.18)
• Earthquake SWS-8XI (100W RMS @ 2 Ohms) - from Woofers-etc (net cost after selling oem subs $226.27)
• Spacers for SWS-8XI - from jtsherri ($45)

Thanks again to Technic and jtsherri for their great products and excellent support. I could not have done this upgrade without them!

I'm very satisfied with the improvement in audio quality for the upgrades I have completed to date. The install is neat and hidden and you couldn’t tell it from stock unless you started removing carpet which is what I wanted.

What’s next? I have $94 left in my original $700 budget that I want to use for upgrading the front door speakers. I plan the sell the stock 4” speakers and tweeters I remove during the replacement. Looks like stock HiFi front door 4” and tweeter combined sets are selling for about $80 on ebay and I’ll be happy if I can net $60 from them. That would give me a total of $154 to spend on their replacements.

Can I figure out a way to buy a set of Rainbow 210.25NG SLC’s and install them for $154? I’ll keep you posted!

[VP Electricity]

Who would have thought that such a system design would have worked out so well?

[glider4]

Ken,

I appreciate your advice on getting this project completed as well. I did not intentionally start off to copy the components you use in your Level One upgrade but as I spent literally hours researching this project, the SWS-8XI, XD600/6 and Rainbow 210.25NG SLC looked like the best components to use and still have a chance at keeping within my very limited budget.

You have the expertise to custom tune your component set and accessories to make the install process very easy. By taking the cheap route, I'm having to do substantial amounts of design and fabrication work to end up with a similar functioning set-up.

If I can get a set of the Rainbow 210.25NG, that set comes with 25mm tweeters. Your component set uses the 20mm SLC tweeter and I know I'm going to "innovate" once again to get the 25mm tweeters to fit correctly. I'm also going to need to fabricate some adapter rings for the 100mm mid-ranges. I just purchased some 1/4" thick UHMW polyethylene sheet for the adapters assuming I'm going to get the Rainbows one way or another.....

We need experts like you on the forum to come to the rescue when us noobs ask remedial questions or just screw up! Thanks again for your advice and for sharing your expertise with the rest of us!

[kmarei]

Well the sws-8 with the jtsherri spacers and the xd600/6 have been a common upgrade path before they were labeled as the "level one" upgrade
It's the default upgrade path

[GaryS]

LOL I used Earthquake SWS-8XI plus spacers from jtsherri because afaik it's the only drop-in option that even exists. I have never seen anything about someone's "level 1" upgrade. Maybe this level 1 got named after I did my research in November.

[loweredram]

Originally Posted by GaryS

LOL I used Earthquake SWS-8XI plus spacers from jtsherri because afaik it's the only drop-in option that even exists. I have never seen anything about someone's "level 1" upgrade. Maybe this level 1 got named after I did my research in November.

+1 !!!

[glider4]

Well, I finally finished my audio system upgrade. The Rainbow SLC 210 NGs were the final step after replacing the stock amp and sub-woofers earlier.

The sound is a major improvement from where I started. Each of the three major steps (replace sub-woofers, then new amp and then door speakers) in my upgrade process added an incremental improvement but in total it's just great!

Did I keep to my targeted budget of $700 for the pair of Earthquake SWS subwoofers, a JL Audio XD600/6 amp and the Rainbows? Nope - I went $81 over.

Does it look like a $1,750 professional install? Well, probably not. But everything is secure, the amp is completely hidden and nothing rattles. From the exterior you can't tell it's not a factory set up. I'm happy. And I saved almost $1,000 over what a professional install would have run for the equipment I put in.

Total time spent on the upgrade was just over 13 hours. I could do it all again in 8-10 hours now that I understand the processes. My two biggest hassles were routing the power cable over the roof of the trunk from the battery to the amp and fabricating adapters to get the 4" Rainbows to fit the three door studs. I would have gladly paid $50 for a set of Rainbow adapters to save me the 4 hours it took to make new ones up from scratch. But no one sells Rainbow adapters separately!

Thanks again to Technic for a really great amp harness and to JTSHERRI for the SWS adapters. Good stuff that really helped in the install process.

[Technic]

Very glad that your upgrade is of your complete satisfaction...

[starbai]

Originally Posted by glider4

Took about 3 hours total time. Thanks to Technic for some help when I had a problem with a bad wire to the amp. By far the hardest part of the install was routing the power from the battery to the amp. I ended up going over the top of the trunk, using some 3/4" flex conduit for added abrasion protection, instead of across the floor as I originally planned. You need 9 feet of 4AWG for that and I didn't order long enough and had to buy a longer section of cable. Getting the trunk liner back in place is a bit of a struggle but not too bad. Other than that and the 20 minutes it took me to trace down the bad wire (bad crimp on connector?) to the amp and replace it, a very straightforward process.

My initial observations with the new SWS-8XI and the JL Audio XD600/6 amp are as follows:

1. Lots more base with the amp and SWS-8XIs
2. Slightly better FM radio clarity
3. HUGE improvement playing off Ipod or thumb drive. Wow, all the static and low quality sound I had with the stock set-up is GONE!
4. VP Electricity is right, I can now hear that the stock front speakers aren't so hot. It was hard for me to hear that before. The amp magnifies the flaws.

So, when I can sell the stock subwoofers and the HiFi amp on eBay I have a set of Rainbow 210.25NG SLC's in my future.

Thanks again to Technic for a great harness that made the amp install so much easier.

So you ended up going with the 2ohm 8Xi's on the JL Audio XD 600/6... that is the same setup that i'd like to do, but I've been reading mixed reviews on whether or not the 100watts/channel @ 2ohms the XD600/6 puts out may not be enough power to run the subs efficiently.

With a decent amount time passed since you have done this swap, what do you think of it? Much nicer/richer bass? Has the speakers held up to this amp's power well over time?