[thumper88]

So,
after much head-scratching and convoluted purchasing, I'm more or less there with the parts and am going to attempt what might be the first installation of the German Maestro SWF 8012 HE 8-inch subs under the seats of an E82, and am posting here as the setup is of course extremely similar, and this is the sort of issue e90 owners have faced much much more often.

The build will otherwise be pretty familiar to a lot of you:
1) the mandatory Technic harness
2) the ubiquitous JL Audio 600/6 amp in stock location.
3) Morel 402 Hybrid separate mids, tweeters and crossovers.

Head unit is standard Hi-Fi.

I executed on the buy plan for the Maestros thinking I had everything worked out in my head, that I would run the rears off two channels, underseats off two and Morels off two letting the passive crossover handle the split between mids and tweeters.

But I looked at the power demands of the Maestros when I got them, and given the specs for Morels it seems like either or both would be happy with double the power from each channel of the amp (75w RMS), which got me wondering.

Maestros spec out at 90w RMS, 290w transient max.
Morel mids spec out at 100w wrms for power handling, 300w wrms max transient power.
Morel tweeters at 130w arms, and 350w wrms max transient.

How would you guys deal with the distribution of the power? Part of me says bridge it and send the wattage from four channels to the maestros, delete the rear speakers, and run the remaining two channels to the Morels.
But seems like that would unbalance the sound badly...I'm more alt rock, even tad of acoustic, than rap/techno... though frankly gots to have some Jack White and even once in awhile some Zeppelin.
On the other hand, I hate to waste two full channels on the crappy rears, and the Morels need a good dose of power, too.
Not in any way shape or form thrilled about installing another amp, and highly unlikely to go that far.
Can I power the rears off the head unit somehow without totally screwing the SQ, and bridge up to send four channels to the underseats or even just send two to them, and run two to mids and two to tweeters?
My gut tells me I should prob just stick with the original plan, but it's just gnawing at me a little to blow two full channels of power on rear speakers at all, let alone those lackluster factory ones, and wanted to hear from wiser folks, which would be just about anyone.

Lastly, thoughts on amp settings for the Maestros, given that they have a pretty broad frequency response, 28hz to 4,500hz and have a rep for properly delivering it...massive, heavily-built items.
Morel mids are 50-4,200 hz, Morel tweeters 1,600 to 25,000.


I think the Maestros have the potential to be by far the best option, SQ-wise, for under seat use if they go in without toooo much aggravation.

Piecing it all together, I hope, was the hardest part. I'm in Afghanistan, had to arrange for DHL delivery of Maestros direct from Germany to a hotel in Europe where I was staying on brief break from the war zone.... was huge pain in the butt to time likely window of delivery to my stay in that hotel and deal with the desk help.... and then I had to carry them as hand luggage out of Paris, through Istanbul to here, and next will have to carry them as hand luggage out of here, through turkey and paris again, atlanta, then home...
trust me, if you are in the US, it's one hell of a lot smarter and easier to do something like let MusicarNW figure out all this and send it to you ready to go, settings, wiring and all.
...and of course I dealt with Technic by PM here, which was by far the easiest and most pleasurable part of the shopping BS. Standup guy and wise.

[bmw325i]

I have Morels, Jehnerts, and an XD600/6. I had the Morels bridged and I think that made a big difference. I think you should bridge for the underseats though if you don't have a trunk sub.

[thumper88]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

I have Morels, Jehnerts, and an XD600/6. I had the Morels bridged and I think that made a big difference. I think you should bridge for the underseats though if you don't have a trunk sub.

So what you're saying is that you think dropping the rear speakers entirely, bridging four channels for the underseats and using two channels for the Morels would yield the best results?

And nope, not intending to run a trunk sub. Have to stick a race bike back there several times a week and its unbelievably tight space for that.

[ctuna]

Jehnerts are pretty efficient my setup sounds bass heavy without bridging.
It might make the system more balanced to bridge the doors.

[thumper88]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Jehnerts are pretty efficient my setup sounds bass heavy without bridging.
It might make the system more balanced to bridge the doors.

I suspect the Jehnerts need less power than the Maestros. But still, probably not a bad idea to simply try one, then switch to the other, then try it with the backs on two channels.
Easy enough to do, except really only able to rough out the tuning in each case unless I get the urge to spend days and days on the comparisons.

[thumper88]

in the rear just to give me one more thing to experiment with. Not so expensive I'd feel bad if I decide to bypass rears entirely after testing, but should def. be a step up from stock rears.
Still would expect to dial the rears waaaay down and let the door mids, front tweeters and under seats carry most of the load if I go 6-channel.

[thumper88]

Sunday bump, still looking for thoughts on power distribution...

[taibanl]

Consider the new 800/8? Or stack the alpine pdxv9

[thumper88]

Originally Posted by taibanl

Consider the new 800/8? Or stack the alpine pdxv9

The 800/8 might be the trick, the question is, will it fit. That amp is indentical to the 6/600 in height and width, but needs 4.5 inches more in the long dimension (fore to aft in the car.)
From photos Ive seen of 6/600 installations, it LOOKs like there is room there....
Or a Gladen One 120.4 might wedge in, it needs about 2 inches more in the long dimension and 3/4 of an inch more in width than 6/600.
The car is about 8,000 miles from me, so I can't measure it

[Hopeful]

Or a Gladen One 120.4 might wedge in

It will, just:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=822366