[johnung]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

I notice that to install earthquake, you need to splice wire from the BMW harness.

is there a way not to splice wire and instead use a pin at the end of the harness to extend the wires? for example if the harness is female, then use a male pin at the BMW harness to extend the wires.

The earthquake wiring is very simple. The car harness has a rectangular connector on the end that plugs into the stock BMW underseat subwoofer. Simply snip off the connector leaving a couple inches of wire sticking out of the connector. After you remove the stock sub, just plug the connector into it for safe keeping. I used the Earthquake boxes to store the stock subs.

Then just strip the two wire ends from the car harness and insert them into the spring terminals on the Earthquake spacer rings. See photo. (Remember to connect the wires coming out of the spacer ring terminals underneath to the speaker itself. They have spade connectors that fit perfectly.

Black terminal on the spacer ring is negative and red is positive. I don't recall the wire colors on the BMW stock harness. But in Germany cars often negative is indicated by a brown wire or by a striped wire.

In BMW HiFi systems and Harman Kardon systems, there are just two wires in the harness to each subwoofer. But the BMW Base audio system has four wires because it doesn't have a separate amplifier in the trunk. All of its power comes from the head unit in the dash. I have seen BimmerPosts about how to wire them properly to aftermarket subs.

Note: I have done extensive searches for a pigtail with a rectangular connector that would fit the connector on the BMW harness- so that it doesn't have to be snipped off. I even bought a few from China that looked promising but nothing fit properly.

Technicpnp used to sell a spacer ring with rectangular connectors on it but stopped. I inquired about the source of their connectors but never received a response.

Hope this helps!

[wildcat10]

I connected my earthquakes the way it was described by johnung - and I believe most members have done the same.

Technic PNP (https://technicpnp.com/) used to sell the adapters, but not anymore.

These from ebay seem to fit the bill, but I have no experience with them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362946871646

[dangerus_car]

from the same youtube video, when the guy is installing match sub, it seems that he uses a harness

starts at min 34:00 to 34:30

[wildcat10]

He is NOT installing the earthquake woofers. He is installing the Match UP W8BMW-S woofers.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/medi...8BMW-S_Web.pdf

The harness you see in the video comes with the Match woofers.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

from the same youtube video, when the guy is installing match sub, it seems that he uses a harness

starts at min 34:00 to 34:30

I believe that I contacted Match and they said that the pigtail is not sold separately.

[dangerus_car]

Originally Posted by wildcat10

He is NOT installing the earthquake woofers. He is installing the Match UP W8BMW-S woofers.

https://www.audiotec-fischer.de/medi...8BMW-S_Web.pdf

The harness you see in the video comes with the Match woofers.

i know he is installing match sub as i said earlier. what i m discussing is there is a possibility to buy a harness and use it in earthquake. both you and johnung said no, so i mentioned the match sub since it seems like it uses a harness.

Originally Posted by johnung

I believe that I contacted Match and they said that the pigtail is not sold separately.

i assume the pigtail is proprietary? can't be bought from ali express? lol

[johnung]

Originally Posted by wildcat10

I connected my earthquakes the way it was described by johnung - and I believe most members have done the same.

Technic PNP (https://technicpnp.com/) used to sell the adapters, but not anymore.

These from ebay seem to fit the bill, but I have no experience with them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/362946871646

When you see the four wire jumpers in the top connector in your photo, I've seen connectors for the Base audio system look like that, but I don't think this particular one would work

[wildcat10]

Several of the aftermarket woofer vendors have a harness or adapter for plug-and-play without having to cut the cables. For example, Bavsound, Match, Focal. Feel free to contact them and see if they'll sell the adapter/harness to you. Several board members have tried, I don't know anyone who has succeeded.

Or buy your woofers from these other aftermarket vendors. Most of them are 2x the price of earthquakes and not as good, but you'll have pristine OEM wires

[wildcat10]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

can't be bought from ali express? lol

I assume anything can be bought from Ali Express, the problem is find it

I have seen a few people try, but none succeed in sourcing and being able to wire these adapters.

[wildcat10]

Originally Posted by johnung

When you see the four wire jumpers in the top connector in your photo, I've seen connectors for the Base audio system look like that, but I don't think this particular one would work

Thank you. Yeah, I don't know if this would work.

I'm starting to think this connector is the real reason why other aftermarket woofers are all $200 more expensive than the earthquakes

[johnung]

Originally Posted by wildcat10

Thank you. Yeah, I don't know if this would work.

I'm starting to think this connector is the real reason why other aftermarket woofers are all $200 more expensive than the earthquakes

Haha, I'm sure the higher cost is to pay for their slick marketing and profits!

[wildcat10]

Originally Posted by johnung

Haha, I'm sure the higher cost is to pay for their slick marketing and profits!

Yeah, that connector is probably only 25 cents wholesale

[dangerus_car]

any reason why the match BA-UP-W8BMW-S is not recommended ? due to price or quality? i understand crutchfield is selling for $520 a pair.

yes, earthquake is 50% cheaper, about $130 at amazon, so you can buy a pair of earthquake for the price of 1 match BA-UP-W8BMW-S sub. Curiously, their pair price is $270, more expensive than if you buy 2x each at $260.

as always, appreciate your comments. thanks.

so, a quick search for the sub harness at aliexpress, it looks similar to the youtube video harness from match...
this one at $3 a pair although paying a $4 shipping fee

[wildcat10]

Reason is quality: better specs on earthquakes than on Match woofers.

The sub harness you found looks like it could work, but i have no experience with it. Let us know how it works out if you end up getting them.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

any reason why the match BA-UP-W8BMW-S is not recommended ? due to price or quality? i understand crutchfield is selling for $520 a pair.

yes, earthquake is 50% cheaper, about $130 at amazon, so you can buy a pair of earthquake for the price of 1 match BA-UP-W8BMW-S sub. Curiously, their pair price is $270, more expensive than if you buy 2x each at $260.

as always, appreciate your comments. thanks.

so, a quick search for the sub harness at aliexpress, it looks similar to the youtube video harness from match...
this one at $3 a pair although paying a $4 shipping fee

Read posts from Billfitz. He only looks at the engineering specs to evaluate products. Bill looked at the Match subs and speakers and said that they are no better than average. Match makes fantastic amplifiers. It appears like they were looking to cash in on their amplifier success by selling an average line of speakers, probably made in China, under their Match brand, and charging a lot for them.

For many decades the audio industry has had good products, and average to poor products that use slick marketing to sell them. Heck, one marketing strategy in audio is to purposely price a product high. People convince themselves that something sounds great because they paid a high price for it.

When I was younger I used to hang out at my buddy's family's high end audio store. One day he showed me two speaker lines. One was reasonably priced and the other cost maybe twice as much. He played them both and asked me which sounded better. I said that I couldn't tell the difference. He laughed and opened their cabinets. They were absolutely identical, made on the same manufacturing line.

His store bought the two speaker lines from the same source company that made them both. It was cheaper to manufacture one speaker in large quantities and just put different brand names on them. They were marketed to be at two very different price points but they were really identical except for different shades of wood stain on the outside and different logos.

That afternoon I hung out while he played speakers for many prospective customers. Over 80% said that the more expensive speakers sounded much better. He sold quite a few. He even told people that they were the same and most people still bought the more expensive speakers. Crazy! But they wanted to buy the better known brand name and they wanted to tell themselves and their friends that they were the best- because they had paid a high price.

That's the marketing model that these couple of well known BMW aftermarket audio companies are using, and they are getting rich doing it. They are having inexpensive average speakers made in China. And they are spending most of their efforts on slick marketing to convince people that they sound great and that they are worth the high price. Often they purposely leave key specs out of their materials because it would prove that their products are nothing special.

Read Billfitz's posts. He ignores the marketing and evaluates audio products based on their engineering specs.

[dangerus_car]

Okay, thanks for the input. i m first sold on match amplified, now on earthquake. i m gonna get it and also i m willing to be the test rat for the harness.

Originally Posted by johnung

Read posts from Billfitz. He only looks at the engineering specs to evaluate products. Bill looked at the Match subs and speakers and said that they are no better than average. Match makes fantastic amplifiers. It appears like they were looking to cash in on their amplifier success by selling an average line of speakers, probably made in China, under their Match brand, and charging a lot for them.

For many decades the audio industry has had good products, and average to poor products that use slick marketing to sell them. Heck, one marketing strategy in audio is to purposely price a product high. People convince themselves that something sounds great because they paid a high price for it.

When I was younger I used to hang out at my buddy's family's high end audio store. One day he showed me two speaker lines. One was reasonably priced and the other cost maybe twice as much. He played them both and asked me which sounded better. I said that I couldn't tell the difference. He laughed and opened their cabinets. They were absolutely identical, made on the same manufacturing line.

His store bought the two speaker lines from the same source company that made them both. It was cheaper to manufacture one speaker in large quantities and just put different brand names on them. They were marketed to be at two very different price points but they were really identical except for different shades of wood stain on the outside and different logos.

That afternoon I hung out while he played speakers for many prospective customers. Over 80% said that the more expensive speakers sounded much better. He sold quite a few. He even told people that they were the same and most people still bought the more expensive speakers. Crazy! But they wanted to buy the better known brand name and they wanted to tell themselves and their friends that they were the best- because they had paid a high price.

That's the marketing model that these couple of well known BMW aftermarket audio companies are using, and they are getting rich doing it. They are having inexpensive average speakers made in China. And they are spending most of their efforts on slick marketing to convince people that they sound great and that they are worth the high price. Often they purposely leave key specs out of their materials because it would prove that their products are nothing special.

Read Billfitz's posts. He ignores the marketing and evaluates audio products based on their engineering specs.

[wildcat10]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

Okay, thanks for the input. i m first sold on match amplified, now on earthquake. i m gonna get it and also i m willing to be the test rat for the harness.

Cool, let us know how it works out with the harness.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

any reason why the match BA-UP-W8BMW-S is not recommended ?

This is why. Maximum SPL of the Earthquake, blue trace, and the Match Up, red trace:

[dangerus_car]

Originally Posted by wildcat10

Cool, let us know how it works out with the harness.

how do you rate the difficulty of installing the match amplifier vs the earthquake?

which is more difficult?

my review on match amp with match stock tune:
very happy. with stock hi fi, at half volume, it feels like i m listening to empty can getting beat up
with match, at half volume, it feels more full, and it's louder too...
the base with match amp and stock woofer feels more punchy compare with stock amp

i want to tune more, but i think i should wait until i get everything, the earthquake and additional tweeters.

upon looking at your ebay harness and comparing it to the aliexpress i found, it seems like it's the same harness...

thanks.

[wildcat10]

Originally Posted by dangerus_car

how do you rate the difficulty of installing the match amplifier vs the earthquake?

which is more difficult?

Installing the earthquakes was more time consuming and physically involved - it probably didn't help that the weather was a lot hotter when I installed the earthquakes.

Check out the post from johnung with instructions, it is the 2nd post in this thread.

some key points:

• Each seat has 4 T50 bolts, they can be pretty tight.
• Working under the seats can be awkward
• It was pretty dirty under the seats, so I took the opportunity to fully vacuum while the seats were up
• Cut some of the carpet to make everything fit better
• Woofers were glued to the enclosures, so I had to get the enclosures out of the car and pry the woofers free, see this thread: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1406775
• Splice the wires, connect them to the woofers - I guess you won't have to do this if the harness works as expected

There is nothing too complex, just more time consuming.

[Onizukachan]

Also. Leave your usb extension attached and wrap electrical tape around it to hold it in place so you don’t accidentally unplug it when working in the drivers seat. Then just coil it up amd tuck away when done.

[dangerus_car]

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

Also. Leave your usb extension attached and wrap electrical tape around it to hold it in place so you don’t accidentally unplug it when working in the drivers seat. Then just coil it up amd tuck away when done.

what usb extension? you mean from the amp? i do what wildcat10 did, i just place them on top of the amp for easy access.