So I'm a newbie on sound systems and I've been thinking about some upgrades on my CM while keeping it in a tight budget. I basically need some help on decisions. I will get everything installed professionally.

My CM is '13 with non-HK 6 speaker system. What I want to do is:

1) Install two Earthquake SWS-8Xi subs under the seats ($130 on Amazon with the ring adapters)
2) Power these with a Boss R1100M mono sub ($50 on Amazon)
3) Install two front 4 inch speakers at max $65 usd per pair
4) Install a separate amp to power the fronts at max $65

Q1: Should I get 2 ohm or 4 ohm Earthquakes given the amp choice?
Q2: Is it too much of a trouble wiring two subs to the mono amp?
Q3: Is Boss a good enough amp for these subs? Is it overkill (at 2 ohm? at 4 ohm?)
Q4: Any advice on a speaker - amp combination?
Q5: Instead of using two amps, would it be ok if I use Planet Audio AC1200.4 4 channel amp ($72 on amazon)? Any comments on this amp?

Any and all advice appreciated.

PS: I'm thinking about doing the subs first and maybe do the fronts later in time.. That's why I chose two amps.. Plus getting things shipped to İstanbul is too expensive if the price is significantly over $100

 

ah such a helpful forum...

 

I sent Earthquake a question about this last year when I was researching for my wife's car. They simply recommend the 8Xi (2 ohm) for the factory stereo and the 8X (4 ohm) for use with an amp. They didn't elaborate.

Since you're talking about treating them as a mono pair rather than stereo, I would go with the 4 ohm and wire them in parallel, for an effective load of 2 ohm. Pretty much any amp will be stable with that.

If you get the 2ohm drivers, you'll either have to wire them in series to raise the impedence enough to keep the Boss R1100M amp stable, or you'll need to buy a 1 ohm stable amp. The R1100M is not 1 ohm stable; it wants to see a 2 to 8 ohm load.

That's a long way of saying get the 8X/4 ohm drivers and run them in parallel with that amp. Or, get either and use a stereo amp. There's precious little under 200 Hz coming from of the 3" drivers at the top of the doors, and the subs have to fill in there. Personally, I'd run them as a stereo setup.

That's all I got. Good luck!

 

That is a great answer, thanks for the effort but it's a little late as I couldn't wait and purchased 2x Alpine SPS-410, one SWS 8xi (they didn't have another in stock) and Planet Audio AC1200.4.

I believe Planet Audio is 2 amp stable so I can use 2x Earthquakes on each channel. How would I get Alpines and rears wired?

 

Are you looking to do the installation yourself? I would highly reccomend doing an installation of the subs in the trunk. What I did was take out the trunk platform divider in my 2012 R60, and use the space below for the subs. I built a custom box for the subs that fits perfectly in the space there, allowing me to run my 10" JBL sub and have room for my 5 channel alpine amp. By doing this, I still have a full sized trunk and avoided messing in tight spaces with difficult wiring underneath the seats.

In regards to your sub choice, any sub will fare better with a more powerful amp. Just have to make sure the amp can handle your subs. I'm not knowledgeable about that brand, but I can tell you that if you can afford it, the amp is probably the best place to invest more money.