Comparative testBMW Loudspeaker

246/2015

Price ca. 450 EuroSound 55 % 1,2 ■■■■■■

Labor 30 % 1,3 ■■■■■■

Practice 15 % 1,3 ■■■■■■

BMW-LoudspeakerPrice/Performance: excellent 1,2

Edition 6/2015

„A very successful BMW System.“

Rainbow IL-C8.3 BMW

Assessment

Rainbow IL-C8.3 BMW

100

90

80

70

60

50 10 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k Hz 40k

The Rainbow product range has always been very extensive. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that it also features a line of vehicle-specific sets. Of course this inclu-des a three-ways system for BMW.

In addition to some Mercedes and VW systems (even a three-way system for the T5),Rainbow puts no less than nine packa-ges with the BMW signature on the shelves of specialist dealers. The woofer set is availa-ble separately and the E46 covers Limousine and Coupé. The three-way BMWs can only be equipped with the mid-high system or can be upgraded with a complete three-way set. There are three variations of E, F and Mix available for the mid-range positions. Exem-plary is the compatibility list available on the Rainbow homepage.

Our Rainbow set comes with a well made chassis. The very solid woofer is set in a well-ventilated steel sheet cage. The mem-brane consists of paper and a big dust cap, which is constructed to carry jointly. As a matter of fact, the Rainbow 8” is const-ructed more elaborately than the standard model, because the neodymium magnet drives the voice coil not only with a stray field, the 8” also entails an iron cup as the magnetic pole on the outside. Coil and former cannot be mounted inversely, which is the reason Rainbow attaches the module directly to the dust cap. This makes a strong drive and a shallow construction possible at the same time.

The mid-range unit also works with a neody-mium drive and is therefore slightly shallower than its competitor with a thick ferrite ring. The membrane consists of paper and is closed with a plastic dust cup. A 25mm silk dome acts as the corresponding tweeter. The frequency response as well as the distor-tion behavior of the speakers is extremely good, as this is often the case with Rainbow. The BMW set is no different in that respect. The very low distortion of the mid-range set highlights the precise development at Rainbow. Also typical for Rainbow is the elaborate frequency crossover. In the high frequency path it exhibits a complete voltage divider with a bypass capacitator in order to raise the super-high frequency. Rainbow is the only manufacturer that offers a band-pass switch for the low-mid frequency

path. This is also possible to do actively, but with the passive crossover you get an exact separation and it is also possible to use this system with a two-channel amplifier. In terms of sound, Rainbow impresses with an almost high-end presentation. It sounds very neutral and scores with a very natural reproduction of voices and instruments. The high-frequen-cy range is pleasantly spatial. We also like that the set sounds acoustically transparent and clear over the whole frequency range. This also includes the bass, which plays most precisely and offers depth and enough pop for all different styles of music.

With Rainbow you can even switch on a high-pass filter for the midrange unit. This relieves the 10 from very low frequencies.

The woofer comes with a mounting ring and a short cable harness with a four-pole BMW plug and a lead out for the radio signal. The frequency crosso-ver also turns out to be very complex.