Back at it again, doors or kicks?

[ssh 924]

Current setup:

exodus ex-anarchy mids

peerless/scanspeak hds tweets

Kicks are sealed.

I've started making new kick panels for the mids and tweets, possibly porting for more midbass, but I've started thinking about exodus mids in doors, get some midrange drivers (bumping up to a three way, I think I can manage ), put midrange & tweets in kick area, or just midrange kick, and or possibly tweets in dash and deal with window reflections.

I like the idea of mids in doors so I could seriously free up some leg room, what downsides am I'm looking at?

If they went into the doors, they would be mounted to a fiberglass panel/pod that's securely bolted to the sheet metal. The panel/pod could either be sealed, or IB into the door panel window cavity.

Processing is an ms8.

Here's some pictures for better understanding:

Sheet metal would be cut to allow the driver to sit back a few inches (2" - 3")

Not currently used, just another mounting location.

I know in the past Sean mentioned window reflection issues with using the dash area, but I'm just throwing it out there (whether it be good or bad.)

New kicks that I started:

As you can see, big shit, where as the tweeter and midrange alone in the kicks would take up little space.

Cliff Notes:

What are the advantages / disadvantages to mounting midbass drivers to the door? Speaker will be mounted in fiberglass panel, sealed or IB, securely bolted to door.

Midrange and tweeters would be placed in kick panel area (more leg room).

processing=ms8.

[Skullz 8]

With those drivers i would go with the door install and well deadened for midbass output, mids in the dash if you can get good ones small enough and tweet's in the pillars or sails if you have the room. I have been kicking the idea of going with 2 anarchy exodus's per door myself and doing pretty much everything i described for my own ride except i will be using the PPI PC 3.65 passive 3way crossovers.

EDIT: I would use some mdf rings to isolate the speaker from the sheet metal in the door to reduce any chance of noise and allow some extra clearance from the window.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Skullz

[ssh 924]

With those drivers i would go with the door install and well deadened for midbass output, mids in the dash if you can get good ones small enough and tweet's in the pillars or sails if you have the room. I have been kicking the idea of going with 2 anarchy exodus's per door myself and doing pretty much everything i described for my own ride except i will be using the PPI PC 3.65 passive 3way crossovers.

EDIT: I would use some mdf rings to isolate the speaker from the sheet metal in the door to reduce any chance of noise and allow some extra clearance from the window.

Not enough room on a-pillars unless I do smaller tweets.

Anything mounted to the door will be with a fiberglassed panel / pod.

Since our ears aren't too keen on picking up sound source location vertically, I figured the tweets / midrange would work well in the kicks.

[Skullz 8]

I guess the best way to go about where everything sounds best would be to fire it up and start taping speakers to locations and see how well they sound and where you get the best possible sound stage from, you can get that 3/4" foam and makes some quick and easy pods to see how well they sound down in the kicks or somewhere in between.

[S.DeYoung 968]

I like the idea of mids in doors so I could seriously free up some leg room, what downsides am I'm looking at?

If they went into the doors, they would be mounted to a fiberglass panel/pod that's securely bolted to the sheet metal. The panel/pod could either be sealed, or IB into the door panel window cavity.

This

[ssh 924]

I guess the best way to go about where everything sounds best would be to fire it up and start taping speakers to locations and see how well they sound and where you get the best possible sound stage from, you can get that 3/4" foam and makes some quick and easy pods to see how well they sound down in the kicks or somewhere in between.

I've seen tons of builds with tweeters and midrange in kicks, so I'm not too worried about that part.

More interested in midbass driver in door location | sealed, ib choices.

Should give me more shit to glass.

[ssh 924]

I'd appreciate any one's thoughts who has had experience with the various locations, and differences noted.

[Randal Johnson 544]

I would get smaller tweeters and mount them in the a-pillars to start off with a eye-level sound stage and go from there ...

Yes, install the mid drivers in the doors ...

And do not use the kicks unless there is no other option ... I thought those kicks you made (looked great but ...) was taking up too much leg room ...

[S.DeYoung 968]

I currently have mids in doors and tweeters in kicks. I like this arrangement a lot. I prefer my mid bass to be as wide as possible. Maybe you could try just the tweeters in the kicks and see how you like it? If you think your two speakers blend well why add another?

[ssh 924]

I currently have mids in doors and tweeters in kicks. I like this arrangement a lot. I prefer my mid bass to be as wide as possible. Maybe you could try just the tweeters in the kicks and see how you like it? If you think your two speakers blend well why add another?

Both drivers have a pretty big usable bandwidth, but there are a few things I hear on some material that gives me the impression that adding another driver, and lessening the bandwidth on each driver will fix the issue, and if done correctly, improve overall sound.

I'm up for the task of a three way after spending countless hours (that add up to days) learning from the two-way.

Perhaps it's unnecessary, perhaps not.

[S.DeYoung 968]

Mid woofers in doors, tweets and midranges in kicks is what I would do then. Sounds like a fun project!

[Randal Johnson 544]

Take your tweeters and temporary mount them (with tape or something) half way up on your a-pillars, aim them at each other slightly angled above your center point in your winshield ... Actively cross them at 2600 htz, and come back and tell me what you think ...

[ssh 924]

Mid woofers in doors, tweets and midranges in kicks is what I would do then. Sounds like a fun project!

That's what I'm beginning to like, mainly for the additional leg room.

I'm interested to hear Brad and Sean's input, considering they seem to have an abundance of information that's always helped me in my endeavors.

[ssh 924]

Take your tweeters and temporary mount them (with tape or something) half way up on your a-pillars, aim them at each other slightly angled above your center point in your winshield ... Actively cross them at 2600 htz, and come back and tell me what you think ...

With mids completely out of the picture for testing?

[edouble101 314]

Current setup:

exodus ex-anarchy mids

peerless/scanspeak hds tweets

Kicks are sealed.

I've started making new kick panels for the mids and tweets, possibly porting for more midbass, but I've started thinking about exodus mids in doors, get some midrange drivers (bumping up to a three way, I think I can manage ), put midrange & tweets in kick area, or just midrange kick, and or possibly tweets in dash and deal with window reflections.

I wouldn't run a midbass driver in the door without a serious baffle or a pod. Actually scratch that. I wouldn't run a midbass driver in a door unless it was in a pod. If you are using the EX-6.5 I would defintiely port them.

Try something like I did. Just keep in mind this requires a lot of space in the door.

I like the idea of mids in doors so I could seriously free up some leg room, what downsides am I'm looking at?

If they went into the doors, they would be mounted to a fiberglass panel/pod that's securely bolted to the sheet metal. The panel/pod could either be sealed, or IB into the door panel window cavity.

For an SQ setup I would not run the mids(midrange?) in the doors. Midbass yes but not the midrange. When ever possible I try to eliminate the need for extensive processing. IMO door mounted mids need heavy doses of processing. Also, larger midrange (like your 6.5") drivers have worse off axis response than a smaller driver. But a smaller midrange has poor sensitivity compared to a larger driver. IMO mounting the EX6.5 in the door just isnt a good idea without a pod.

Processing is an ms8.

Here's some pictures for better understanding:

Sheet metal would be cut to allow the driver to sit back a few inches (2" - 3")

Not currently used, just another mounting location.

I know in the past Sean mentioned window reflection issues with using the dash area, but I'm just throwing it out there (whether it be good or bad.)

New kicks that I started:

As you can see, big shit, where as the tweeter and midrange alone in the kicks would take up little space.

Cliff Notes:

What are the advantages / disadvantages to mounting midbass drivers to the door? No disadvantages if mounted right. Speaker will be mounted in fiberglass panel, sealed or IB, securely bolted to door.

Midrange and tweeters would be placed in kick panel area (more leg room).

processing=ms8.

1. Consider using the EX-6.5's in a door pod ported and running a small(er) midrange and tweet in the kick.

2. Consider using the EX-6.5's in a door pod ported and running a midrange in the kick and the tweets up high on the a-pillars ear level.

I like option 2. Good stage width from the midbass, fairly equal pathlengths from the kick mounted midrange drivers and high stage height from the tweets. When crossed over properly those three cominabtions should = a good sound stage - bazinga

Either way bro it all comes down to testing, as you know. Grab some towels and some tape and have fun!

[16K 159]

I would get smaller tweeters and mount them in the a-pillars to start off with a eye-level sound stage and go from there ...

Yes, install the mid drivers in the doors ...

And do not use the kicks unless there is no other option ... I thought those kicks you made (looked great but ...) was taking up too much leg room ...

+1

[Randal Johnson 544]

Yes ... This will set your stage, give you width and height

Once your tone is correct with aiming ... Then you can time align to the center and keep your width at the same time

[edouble101 314]

Take your tweeters and temporary mount them (with tape or something) half way up on your a-pillars, aim them at each other slightly angled above your center point in your winshield ... Actively cross them at 2600 htz, and come back and tell me what you think ...

For my liking, a-pllar tweets should be as ear level as possible, aimed at each other.

I would definitely not cross tweets over at 2600hz being mounted that far away from a kick mounted midrange. If you are spacing those two drivers that far apart cross the tweet as high as possible, plus 4000hz at least. Sounds really f'ing weird having your crossover points right in the middle of midrange frequencies.

[Randal Johnson 544]

I never said that (2600htz). Would be a final setting ...

I wasn't done explaining my idea of the setup ...

But this was a trial tuning (with no other drivers) to set the stage ...

[Randal Johnson 544]

Besides, half way up the a-pillars, isn't that ear level in a normal driving position (give or take a few inches)

[ssh 924]

Just snapped a terminal on one of the tweets, think I fixed it, about to do some testing, bb in hour.

[Randal Johnson 544]

I would definitely not cross tweets over at 2600hz being mounted that far away from a kick mounted midrange. If you are spacing those two drivers that far apart cross the tweet as high as possible, plus 4000hz at least. Sounds really f'ing weird having your crossover points right in the middle of midrange frequencies.

I would never install or suggest a midrange driver to go in the kick pannel ...

The idea for a stage and image is to be up and out on your hood ... Correct ?? and width to seem to be as it was beyond the a-pillars ??

Can't wait to hear what stefanhinote has to say after this test ...

[ssh 924]

Uploading pictures of my fuck up, and some testing.

I tried the tweeters against the a-pillars firing towards the center of dash, and each other a-pillar, then tried the tweeters in the stock dash position. To me, it was hard to differentiate any difference in sound.

Which is leading me to tweets in stock dash location.

[Randal Johnson 544]

was the stage and image higher than your origional setup ??

[ssh 924]

Link to my fuck up:

I couldn't tell much difference between the variations. Even with the plastic cover and dash mat over the tweeter. Call me crazy?

If the midbass(exodus) drivers will work in the doors, I'm thinking midrange driver + tweeter in kick, or midrange driver in kick and tweeter in stock dash position.