[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by Wongway

no no no no no, many times no.


There's tons of people complaining about their Earthquakes' sound quality. 90% of them are traced back to the fact they were playing above 80hz.

Earthquakes are meant to actually be "sub" woofers, so they're designed to play best below 80hz- 30hz or so.

The morels, (if I recall correctly) are designed to play best from 250hz or so and on up (2khz?)

So anyone installing these speakers playing at their optimum frequencies start complaining because there's a wealth of music in the 250hz - 80hz range that's simply missing.


Basically, the majority end up complaining about the Earthquakes because either:
a) There's missing sound in the 250-80hz range or
b) The Earthquakes sound like crap because they're playing higher than 80hz, or
c) The Earthquakes don't provide enough low end punch for them.

You'd have been better off sticking to the stock OEM's or finding the 8" HiFi OEM speakers, or getting the Jehnerts 8" woofers.

Any of those would be much better off playing the range from 250hz on down to about 40hz or so. You'd be missing the low low bass, but honestly, most people (unless they're bass heads) aren't going to know they're missing those low low bass notes.

Shit making me wish i didn't go with the earthquakes now... I thought those were the go to replacements for the underseats... The jehnerts are way too much imo. I don't want to spend more than $250 on underseat subs

[csu87]

I've seen good reviews on them and I've heard them used as woofers (80-250ish hz) and they sound good. Have to make sure they are sealed properly in the underseat enclosures, and that they clear the grills. Also, don't try to over power them and they won't lose quality at higher frequencies.

I have a ton of experience with woofers and sub woofers. You can make almost any sub woofer play higher frequencies with proper tuning and enclosures.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by csu87

I've seen good reviews on them and I've heard them used as woofers (80-250ish hz) and they sound good. Have to make sure they are sealed properly in the underseat enclosures, and that they clear the grills. Also, don't try to over power them and they won't lose quality at higher frequencies.

I have a ton of experience with woofers and sub woofers. You can make almost any sub woofer play higher frequencies with proper tuning and enclosures.

Yea i'm gonna try and seal them well with some weather strip. So hopefully i can figure out the gain with a multimeter but what about filter freq? How do i figure out where to set that?

Edit: actually just read that link and for $75 might just let the shop do it if they use an oscilliscope

[bmw325i]

Originally Posted by psmitty95

Shit making me wish i didn't go with the earthquakes now... I thought those were the go to replacements for the underseats... The jehnerts are way too much imo. I don't want to spend more than $250 on underseat subs

You should probably read your thread title again.

Earthquakes won't sound very good above 80-100hz since they are not designed for midbass. Morels can play down to 150hz easily which is where mine are crossed at. Some people have them playing even lower than that (around 120hz). The crossover that come with the morels are only for the mid and tweeter crossover point. You need to set a high pass for the morels and a low pass for the underseats at whatever frequency you decide to cross them at. It is best to cross them as low as possible.

If you set the gain with the headunit at 75% the headunit should not be clipping. The stock headunit will clip at max volume. If the amp is clipping that means it is not powerful enough. I usually only set the gain on subwoofers with a multimeter and set the rest by ear with the headunit near max volume.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

You should probably read your thread title again.

Earthquakes won't sound very good above 80-100hz since they are not designed for midbass. Morels can play down to 150hz easily which is where mine are crossed at. Some people have them playing even lower than that (around 120hz). The crossover that come with the morels are only for the mid and tweeter crossover point. You need to set a high pass for the morels and a low pass for the underseats at whatever frequency you decide to cross them at. It is best to cross them as low as possible.

If you set the gain with the headunit at 75% the headunit should not be clipping. The stock headunit will clip at max volume. If the amp is clipping that means it is not powerful enough. I usually only set the gain on subwoofers with a multimeter and set the rest by ear with the headunit near max volume.

Hahha valid point. I'm going to try the earthquakes and if they're not up to par i'll probably upgrade to jehnerts. They're still a step up from my mb quart's i think which i thought sounded pretty good

[Wongway]

You're much better off going with what bmw325i said and just play the Morels as low as possible. 150hz or 120hz.

Earthquakes at 120hz and below.

Originally Posted by psmitty95

... The jehnerts are way too much imo. I don't want to spend more than $250 on underseat subs

You did get into this spot because you thought you were getting away with not spending as much with the MBQuarts right?

Do it right the first time and you don't have to buy and re-buy gear

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by Wongway

You're much better off going with what bmw325i said and just play the Morels as low as possible. 150hz or 120hz.

Earthquakes at 120hz and below.


You did get into this spot because you thought you were getting away with not spending as much with the MBQuarts right?

Do it right the first time and you don't have to buy and re-buy gear

So to make this simple for me when the time comes to setup what you're suggesting is having the subs set to LP around 120, & the Morels set to HP 150 or 120, right? What should the OEM rears be set too? I might replace the OEM rear tweeters with some extra SEA 1396's I have laying around but not sure if it will really be worth it.

For gain I guess I can try following the link that was posted by CSU

Edit: So i'm still a bit confused about gain setup... If I understand correct I am looking to get each channel to 14.1 volts when it's 3/4 volume (read somewhere else this is 38 clicks)? I read the xd600/6 manual and that's what it lists as target voltage for 2 ohms




Sorry for all the questions... This is the first car i've done aftermarket stereo on and this time around want it all setup right

[Wongway]

Well, you're leagues ahead of us in terms of your exterior and powertrain mods

Not knowing exactly what you installed or have for amp / cleansweep / dsp / etc...

What you said should be a good start.

Personally, I've been converted to the "don't bother upgrading rear speakers" crowd. Honestly, you'd never know the difference in daily listening and if you did hear them, then you're doing yourself a disservice since that's pulling audio focus instead from in front of you, to behind you.

You don't go to a concert to listen to the group behind you.

If you were going the more advanced route, you'd have a DSP and individually active speakers for the 4" and tweeters up front, so you could more precisely control how the sound hits you. This would potentially allow you to create a more centered effect akin to having the singer in front of you on the dash. Buuut, I'm thinking that's a bit beyond what your goals are.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by Wongway

Well, you're leagues ahead of us in terms of your exterior and powertrain mods

Not knowing exactly what you installed or have for amp / cleansweep / dsp / etc...

What you said should be a good start.

Personally, I've been converted to the "don't bother upgrading rear speakers" crowd. Honestly, you'd never know the difference in daily listening and if you did hear them, then you're doing yourself a disservice since that's pulling audio focus instead from in front of you, to behind you.

You don't go to a concert to listen to the group behind you.

If you were going the more advanced route, you'd have a DSP and individually active speakers for the 4" and tweeters up front, so you could more precisely control how the sound hits you. This would potentially allow you to create a more centered effect akin to having the singer in front of you on the dash. Buuut, I'm thinking that's a bit beyond what your goals are.

Hahahaha valid point on the other mods. Just simple JL Xd600/6 with technic harness is what i'm running. So with that when i'm doing the gain with the multimeter I just want them set to what it says in the manual (14.1 v), right?

[csu87]

Originally Posted by psmitty95

So to make this simple for me when the time comes to setup what you're suggesting is having the subs set to LP around 120, & the Morels set to HP 150 or 120, right? What should the OEM rears be set too? I might replace the OEM rear tweeters with some extra SEA 1396's I have laying around but not sure if it will really be worth it.

For gain I guess I can try following the link that was posted by CSU

Edit: So i'm still a bit confused about gain setup... If I understand correct I am looking to get each channel to 14.1 volts when it's 3/4 volume (read somewhere else this is 38 clicks)? I read the xd600/6 manual and that's what it lists as target voltage for 2 ohms




Sorry for all the questions... This is the first car i've done aftermarket stereo on and this time around want it all setup right

correct, 14.1v. As far as going 3/4 volume, I turn it up as loud as it goes (youll notice it isnt gettting any louder) then back it off some. Close enough to 3/4 is good enough.

But if they are going to use an o-scope to set up the amp for $75, thats the best way to do it. Thats how I use to set mine up, but O-Scopes are expensive.

Im still standing by that the earthquakes could play higher if you install and seal them up properly. One thing I havent heard you mention though is if you are going to have a dedicated sub. If you arent, then the earthquakes are going to have troubles playing 20hz up to 200hz as most speakers would. If you are, then high pass the earthquakes above where you crossover your sub and they shouldnt have issues. You can always try it out and see how it sounds.

[Wongway]

Did you start with the HiFi audio? or Base Audio?

Wondering, because if you started with the Base Audio, you'd ideally want something along the lines of JL's Clean Sweep to flatten the audio you're amping.

HiFi audio would be flattened already, then processed by the car's existing amp/dsp.

Base audio doesn't have an amp, so the head unit does some processing by boosting the Treble and Bass signals to the speakers.

The easy way to tell the difference is if you already had an amp in your trunk prior to your upgrades.

And yes, the gains should be a good starting point, though I'd personally start out a little lower.

Reason why I mention it, is that if you were starting with the Base Audio, you'd then be taking an already amped Treble and Bass signal and then feeding that into the amp to be amped further, likely overdriving your speakers.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by csu87

correct, 14.1v. As far as going 3/4 volume, I turn it up as loud as it goes (youll notice it isnt gettting any louder) then back it off some. Close enough to 3/4 is good enough.

But if they are going to use an o-scope to set up the amp for $75, thats the best way to do it. Thats how I use to set mine up, but O-Scopes are expensive.

Im still standing by that the earthquakes could play higher if you install and seal them up properly. One thing I havent heard you mention though is if you are going to have a dedicated sub. If you arent, then the earthquakes are going to have troubles playing 20hz up to 200hz as most speakers would. If you are, then high pass the earthquakes above where you crossover your sub and they shouldnt have issues. You can always try it out and see how it sounds.

Not gonna have a dedicated sub. My brothers old car which I drive at school in Dallas now I had a shop do a JL amp, JL coax speakers, and JL 10 inch sub in the back and honestly although it sounds pretty good it is very bass heavy. My old setup with the MB quarts I loved cause it was just enough bass but not overpowering and still clear. I like to feel the bass but not have it over the top which is why I think i'll be pretty happy with the earthquakes.

As of right now i'm planning on trying to seal up the Earthquakes really well and have them set to LP around 135 ish then have the Morels & OEM rear HP to around that maybe a bit higher as well. That would be ideal, right? For the 3/4 yea I was gonna say I did 38 clicks today while driving and there was no way that was 3/4 volume... The guy who posted that when I read it must have had a different setup or something. I'll get it to max volume then just back it off a bit and set them to 14.1 V. I'll call the shop and see if they were going to use an oscilliscope for $75 but who knows. All the guy said was depends how complicated the amp/processor setup was and when I told him it was just a 6 channel JL he said probably an hour labor which is $75

Originally Posted by Wongway

Did you start with the HiFi audio? or Base Audio?

Wondering, because if you started with the Base Audio, you'd ideally want something along the lines of JL's Clean Sweep to flatten the audio you're amping.

HiFi audio would be flattened already, then processed by the car's existing amp/dsp.

Base audio doesn't have an amp, so the head unit does some processing by boosting the Treble and Bass signals to the speakers.

The easy way to tell the difference is if you already had an amp in your trunk prior to your upgrades.

And yes, the gains should be a good starting point, though I'd personally start out a little lower.

Reason why I mention it, is that if you were starting with the Base Audio, you'd then be taking an already amped Treble and Bass signal and then feeding that into the amp to be amped further, likely overdriving your speakers.

Started out with hifi with an amp in the trunk

[bmw325i]

The earthquakes might be 2ohm depending on which ones you got, but the Morels are 4 ohm.

As far as setting the gain I wouldn't go too close to max volume on the headunit because the stock headunit will clip before you get to max volume. If you set it around 3/4 volume you won't ever turn up the headunit high enough for it to clip.

I usually start by setting the gain on the front speakers by ear as loud as I can tolerate and at the highest volume I want to go on the headunit(my aftermarket headunit doesn't clip even at max volume so I set it just under that). Then with the headunit set at the same volume I set the gain on the underseats and subwoofers using a multimeter.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

The earthquakes might be 2ohm depending on which ones you got, but the Morels are 4 ohm.

As far as setting the gain I wouldn't go too close to max volume on the headunit because the stock headunit will clip before you get to max volume. If you set it around 3/4 volume you won't ever turn up the headunit high enough for it to clip.

I usually start by setting the gain on the front speakers by ear as loud as I can tolerate and at the highest volume I want to go on the headunit(my aftermarket headunit doesn't clip even at max volume so I set it just under that). Then with the headunit set at the same volume I set the gain on the underseats and subwoofers using a multimeter.

Well last time I did by ear it didn't end well... Are the OEM speakers 2 or 4 ohms? I got the sws 8xi so the 2 ohm ones. So only difference is since the virtus 402's are 4 ohms I want to do 17.4 on the multimeter now for those?

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by csu87

correct, 14.1v. As far as going 3/4 volume, I turn it up as loud as it goes (youll notice it isnt gettting any louder) then back it off some. Close enough to 3/4 is good enough.

But if they are going to use an o-scope to set up the amp for $75, thats the best way to do it. Thats how I use to set mine up, but O-Scopes are expensive.

Im still standing by that the earthquakes could play higher if you install and seal them up properly. One thing I havent heard you mention though is if you are going to have a dedicated sub. If you arent, then the earthquakes are going to have troubles playing 20hz up to 200hz as most speakers would. If you are, then high pass the earthquakes above where you crossover your sub and they shouldnt have issues. You can always try it out and see how it sounds.

I just got the adaptors for the earthquakes and they have foam on the top and bottom already... Should i sti get weather strip and add that or do you think this will seal them up enough

[mkPOTO]

Originally Posted by csu87

Yeah the problem with trying to set them by ear is, unless you have set up a ton of systems, it is hard to distinguish where clipping actually starts. Even a soft clip will kill speakers over time.

100% agreed. I had my good friend RTA my car so that we could dial it in.

OP, sorry to hear about your issue with MB Quart, I will send you a pm and see if I can assist you in any way.

[psmitty95]

Originally Posted by mkPOTO

Are you running the MB Quart QM200.3? I have been running mine for over a year and have zero issues. If you still have them let me know and I can possibly help you out

Yes i am running that kit. If you could help out with anything that'd be awesome even though i am upgrading it'd be nice to be able to sell these as a full kit instead of with a blown sub. As far as i know just that one underseat sub is blown

[mkPOTO]

Originally Posted by psmitty95

Yes i am running that kit. If you could help out with anything that'd be awesome even though i am upgrading it'd be nice to be able to sell these as a full kit instead of with a blown sub. As far as i know just that one underseat sub is blown

just sent you a pm