[seanblee]

Hi all,

I've got a 2007 E92 with a CIC retrofit. The car originally had the UK 'base' stereo system, so 6.5" underseats and 4" paper cones in the front doors and rear sides. I added the BMW Alpine upgrade kit shortly after buying the car and have coded the HU to hifi, so I've got balanced outputs. It sounds OK, but I'm bored of the sound and looking to take it to the next level.

I've done a lot of reading here and over on diymobileaudio and I've come up with the following:

• Upgrade underseats with Kicker SSMB8, Jenhert XE200 or Gladen/Audio System AX 08
• Upgrade front doors with Morel Hybrid 402s in custom adapters
• Add a center and replace rear sides with Vibe Slick 4 V3s
• Add an MS-8 processor

Does this look like a sensible shopping list for these bits?

Regarding amps, my initial thought was to run the centre and rears from the MS-8 then get a JL HD600/4 or an Alpine PDX-F6 for the front components and underseats. Does the MS-8 have enough power to keep up with a 4x 150W amp?

I might consider adding a sub in the future, so an alternative might be to get an HD900/5 or a PDX-V9. Would the change from 4x150W to 4x100W be significant for listening at normal volume levels? Otherwise, I could go with the 4-channel from day one then add the five-channel later, bridging two to give 150W to the center...

One final question, regarding cabling - I was thinking of using 16/4 cabling throughout, leaving the Morel crossovers in the trunk with the amps and installing a run all the way into the doors for the components, a run down to the underseats (carrying midbass on one pair and bringing back the balanced output from the HU on the other) and another run to the rears (carrying rear signal on one pair and bringing back the HU output on the other). Would that work OK or do I really need twisted pair cabling for the signal and 14ga to the underseats?

Sorry for all the questions, but many thanks for any assistance!

[macck]

Originally Posted by seanblee

Hi all,

I've got a 2007 E92 with a CIC retrofit. The car originally had the UK 'base' stereo system, so 6.5" underseats and 4" paper cones in the front doors and rear sides. I added the BMW Alpine upgrade kit shortly after buying the car and have coded the HU to hifi, so I've got balanced outputs. It sounds OK, but I'm bored of the sound and looking to take it to the next level.

I've done a lot of reading here and over on diymobileaudio and I've come up with the following:

• Upgrade underseats with Kicker SSMB8, Jenhert XE200 or Gladen/Audio System AX 08
• Upgrade front doors with Morel Hybrid 402s in custom adapters
• Add a center and replace rear sides with Vibe Slick 4 V3s
• Add an MS-8 processor

Does this look like a sensible shopping list for these bits?

Regarding amps, my initial thought was to run the centre and rears from the MS-8 then get a JL HD600/4 or an Alpine PDX-F6 for the front components and underseats. Does the MS-8 have enough power to keep up with a 4x 150W amp?

I might consider adding a sub in the future, so an alternative might be to get an HD900/5 or a PDX-V9. Would the change from 4x150W to 4x100W be significant for listening at normal volume levels? Otherwise, I could go with the 4-channel from day one then add the five-channel later, bridging two to give 150W to the center...

One final question, regarding cabling - I was thinking of using 16/4 cabling throughout, leaving the Morel crossovers in the trunk with the amps and installing a run all the way into the doors for the components, a run down to the underseats (carrying midbass on one pair and bringing back the balanced output from the HU on the other) and another run to the rears (carrying rear signal on one pair and bringing back the HU output on the other). Would that work OK or do I really need twisted pair cabling for the signal and 14ga to the underseats?

Sorry for all the questions, but many thanks for any assistance!

Would recommend technics harness to tie it all together . Why not just mount the cross-overs in the door panel. Otherwise you will have too run two runs off speaker cable for tweeter and mid into the door. Dont skip on the center speaker as its the most important speaker when using the jbl ms8.

[makkan00]

^^^
What he said.
I'd strongly suggest you to listen to a sound system based on MS-8 configuration with central speaker.

If you look on the UK forum, Rudz has a sound system similar to what you are thinking of doing (except his under seats are SWS-8s).

If you want Jenherts, then you'd require a sub.
Alternate is to have SWS-8s now and change them to Jenherts when you add sub.

[seanblee]

OK, thanks. So you both think I'd need a better speaker than the Slick 4 for the center, and that running it from the MS-8 probably isn't good enough?

[macck]

Originally Posted by seanblee

OK, thanks. So you both think I'd need a better speaker than the Slick 4 for the center, and that running it from the MS-8 probably isn't good enough?

Have a read on the ms8 thread about setting it up. The centre speaker is the work horse of the jbl ms8. If you can amp all the speakers it makes it easier to level match the speakers so you get a good calibration. If you just run the centre and rears of the ms8 it limits the other speakers when during a calibration .

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by seanblee

OK, thanks. So you both think I'd need a better speaker than the Slick 4 for the center, and that running it from the MS-8 probably isn't good enough?

Lets put it this way. Central speaker limits what other front speakers can do.

On Rudz car, central speaker is running from MS-8 and SQ is excellent TBH.