j-roadtatts

You could build a link with heim joints. would be adjustable.

As what you described as the irritation is most likely from harmonic distortion introduced by the actual driver itself that's coloring the sound. Sean's post got me thinking too. The driver that is harder to tune may be the most sterile and have the least amount of coloring. Think of it like this, if your immediately impressed with the sound of a set of speakers, chances are there is something wrong with them. This sounds counter intuitive, but the speakers that impressed you are most likely coloring the sound by adding their own character to the sound. When a speaker adds something of its own, it masks the original material. It might sound good at first, but you will get listener fatigue quickly. (in like 15 min, lol) Which brings me to another thought in regards to tuning. Another suggestion is to only change settings right when you start each day, as you will get listener fatigue rather quickly. Jam those settings until the next time you get in the car, or the next day. Wash, rinse, repeat. You can change the frequency response of a driver after its installed, BUT you can't change the harmonic distortion.

I bought the Seas U18's a few months back for a very similar application. I have been busy on another project though so I haven't had time to install them yet. May be worth looking at. They should have a little better off axis response, and reach on the top end too. Great build quality also. I would hope others might make some suggestions too as collectively they have tried lots of drivers.

Last few suggestions before giving up on the current drivers. As mentioned before something in the path of the signal(hu,amp,etc) could be generating nonlinear distortion, that isn't present in the original signal. Would explain the weird extra tone. So would involve testing the speakers hooked to a different system and/or swap one piece of equipment at a time if is the cause. IIRC you had kick pods. Possibly try the mids in those and see if it helps the reflections and such. As it would suck to buy new equipment have the same problem, I'm trying to think of any other plausible faults.

If you have the alt grounded to the front battery, and a run of wire from the front battery negative to the rear battery negative then no body ground is necessary. Ground both amps to the rear battery. If you don't have a run of wire between the battery's on the negative side then use the body/chassis. You would still want to ground the amps to the rear battery. You shouldn't need a distribution block either if you can hook the power direct to the battery.

The destructive distortion/phase cancellation occurring with ONLY one driver playing would most likely be from reflective sounds reaching your ear out of phase from the original sound.

Sitting in the dentists chair ATM.

I only have one expectation when I am generous or help others. I expect it to make me feel better. Go's back to my motto of I help others because I am strong, not because they are weak. If the person helped you first, then just view it as gratitude.

Thanks for the build pics. After a lot of thought and advise from multiple people on this website and in person today, I decided to mount my (2) HDS3 12's in my trunk and stuff the cavities on both sides with wood and blankets. It was sealed up good enough to see whether or not the sound would come out how I wanted. As many have stated, I did not like the way it sounded. No depth to the bass at all. Yeah, it was punchy as hell, but I don't know how I would ever get those body vibrating lows like a rear firing setup gives me. There was a huge difference. I know for a fact that my car sounds great with the subs firing toward rear and I can also really hammer out lows. I will use the rest of my QMat to put on the lid to help reduce as much rattle as possible. If there is something else I can do to help eliminate trunk rattle, I'm all ears... These two Ethos are going to pound the crap out of it. At least all the work I've put in the last couple of days to seal off the trunk, did help out tremendously with the rattles on the inside of the car. Almost no panel rattles at all. We will see what happens when I install the Ethos. I have a feeling it might be a different story. Oh well, it is what it is... Maybe one day if I do a true "SQ" build, then and only then, will I face subs/port forward. Until then, I'm a rear firing guy... I will post pics when finished. I also installed a processor today. Kicker Front Row to help balance out everything and give me a little more control over my system. I'm ready for the subs to get here so I can call this build, COMPLETE! Thanks again for all the advise guys. You helped me save a ton of time and frustration with the forward firing setup... Most of the subs I have helped install the owner preferred the sub firing into the trunk for subjective reasons. Glad you did some testing first. As far as tips on deadening the trunk. Install everything and physically touch the panels making noise. Then you will know where to brace/dampen. Rattles are an easy one, just decouple whatever is rattling. As far as panels resonating, you are more trying to shift the panels resonate frequency. You won't stop the panels from resonating, but can make them resonate at a frequency that isnt as audible, or atleast resonate to less of a degree. This is a better logic than thinking you are going to make the trunk acoustically dead. Honestly the trunk panels having a little give, opposed to being super rigid, should help the sound.

Don't feel bad. One of my mids has a wrecked coil and buzzes from time to time. It wasn't DOH-zer approved either. YOURS will be easier to find replacement for atleast.

The stupid people pay me to hurt them so its all good. Can you feel me now....How about now?

AGREED! People come up to my wife and rub her tattoos in public all the time.

Nail that MF'er J!!!

I would say 200 at best considering what they are and the price of new parts.

If you get any ford with sync in it, think hard about about putting a system in it unless it is the sony upgrade with a sub output. Ran into that with a friends focus. I wouldn't pay for that as I'd want to yank it out anywayzI agree after that experience. I don't want or need any of the gadgetry. I just want a car to drive. They can keep their damn navigation, touch screen, back up camera, "audiophile" system bullshit. All I need is air/heat, cruise, and power windows. A -> B. No, it has to be more than that. I prefer a true driving experience though that is not too common anymore more. I want a NEW, pure mechanical car, but everything has electronics that affect the driving experience. I am just trying to get as minimalist as possible. sounds like you need a pony car again but then it won't be new I dream of the day I can buy a car and just add a sub.

I encourage this type of behavior as we are over populated!!

With some accents white could be nice. Solid white (as is nothing besides rims and tires) just screams 'break my mirrors' to me.J I really like the monochrome white look. Adrian, I have been on a white kick lately too. Never been a fan of it but it makes the Miata look newer. Simplest easiest white should be cheaper and easier to detail / touch-up. Black is out of the cards. It gets plenty hot in the summer, I don't want it to get hotter. White looks good on the right sports car, and thats about it in my opinion. Most white vehicles look too utilitarian to me.

Would probably have better luck looking through the photo gallery. http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/gallery/album/356-honda/www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/gallery/album/356-honda/ I can elaborate later, off to work atm.

Sounds like those driver's weren't DOH-zer approved. Off axis should not affect the low frequencies. That driver shouldn't start beaming until around 500hz I would guess. You ear can localize frequencies above that, but can only differentiate left to right below 500hz.

Most likely the coil has started to come unwound. Thought something didn't sound right when you said one driver sounded warmer. I assume the blown driver is the one that was lacking midbass.

Don't get frustrated, the stereo is an inanimate object you have complete control over. The way you have the frame built now should work great to butt the enclosure up to. Subwoofer frequency sound waves are huge, we are talking city blocks. You are not going to stop them from traveling through an object thinner than them. My point is you will be sealed by just butting the box up and securing it. NO NEED to foam around the box. A few reasons I like this setup is no road noise from the trunk, pressurizes the cabin better, more accurate sound, less unpredictable coloring of the sound, to name a few. I run my sub at about 20% when I want things to sound level and good. I crank the sub when I just want some violence. If your not trying to squeeze every last db out of the sub you should be golden. As stated the best term to use would be loud and still sound good. I would guess you dont want to be an SQ snob OR a one note wonder. I agree on lossing the rears, but thats not the topic at hand. Can post pics of mine sealed if you want to check them out. Is overkill but as you stated I wouldn't know until I tried it.

Fight over the clouds, over wind, over sky. Fight over life, over blood, over prayer, overhead and light. Fight over love, over sun, over another, Fight for each other, for the ones who are rising.

Mustangs new shoes should be here tomorrow!! Hope I can nail the mild street look.

Team Holland lol

I would rather own the Focus over a Mini. Bet your stoked to be getting a new ride either way!