Fortunately, I bought a new car...Unfortunately, it wasnt a Toyota. I bought a 350Z, which does not have too much room for a subwoofer. Behind the headrests of both seets are 6 1/2" speakers. For the sake of this whole imaging thing and the fact that I want bass without sacrificing the trunk space, I was thinking of replacing those two speakers with 6.5" subwoofers.
I looked around for who makes 6.5" subwoofers and came across kicker, jl audio, elemental designs, and MB Quart makes an "add a woofer" speaker. I also looked on the Madisound.com website, but there were too many types of non-mainstream brand drivers for me to decide which ones were good. I have MB Quart PCE's for the front components (if that makes a difference). I plan to run the subs with an xtant 121m which is a monoblock amp rated at 250wrms at 2 ohms. The subs will probably be crossed over at 200 hz
I what I am concerned about is:
1. How will it sound? Will I get sufficient bass from these drivers? Will placing 6.5" subs behind my headrest make my stereo sound like crap?
2. What would be a good brand/model to buy? I am trying to keep it under $150.
3. What are my other alternatives? A 10" in a custom box is an alternative, however it will end up being very expensive.
Just for shits and giggles, here's a 350Z install that I have a picture of:
You could try to fit 8"s infinite baffle behind your headrests... That won't take up any trunk space and doesn't require a whole lot of power. Chances are, it won't be that "lowwwwwwwww" bass you're looking for...
A custom box enclosure would cost around $100 and decent subwoofer like the IDQ10 or jl 10w3 would cost another $180. I figured the two 6.5" subs would cost me less than $150 for both. So I guess what you're saying is that I should spend the extra money and go with the subwoofer and box option. Do you see any other alternatives? I checked some of the 350z forums and it doesnt seem like they are as knowledgable as the people in this forum. I've been reading a lot of people thinking that the infinity speakers are the best and a majority of them shop at best buy. I want my system to sound better than that.
A custom box enclosure would cost around $100 and decent subwoofer like the IDQ10 or jl 10w3 would cost another $180. I figured the two 6.5" subs would cost me less than $150 for both. So I guess what you're saying is that I should spend the extra money and go with the subwoofer and box option. Do you see any other alternatives? I checked some of the 350z forums and it doesnt seem like they are as knowledgable as the people in this forum. I've been reading a lot of people thinking that the infinity speakers are the best and a majority of them shop at best buy. I want my system to sound better than that.
lol, Infinity. That sucks.
Hey do you have a pic of where the stock speakers are mounted? And by any chance one without the paneling installed?
http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Tutor...r_Installation
This is a link with pictures of the door panel speakers. The only problem I see is that the tweeter and midrange is somewhat far apart. I might end up mounting my components "coaxial" style. It may sound better that way. Sorry, I cant find any pictures of the rear speakers with the panel removed.
http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Tutor...r_Installation
This is a link with pictures of the door panel speakers. The only problem I see is that the tweeter and midrange is somewhat far apart. I might end up mounting my components "coaxial" style. It may sound better that way. Sorry, I cant find any pictures of the rear speakers with the panel removed.
Installing the comps like in the link above raises the soundstage. If you go with a "coaxial" style install the soundstage will be down around your shin/ankle,might not sound as good.Some ppl use kick pods which can go in the footwell area so the speakers can be aimed up at the listener.U can try the tweets in different locations & hear what gives u the best imaging.
I have the eclipse 8454 head unit and in "pro mode", the crossovers are set for a 3-way system, with High-pass, Mid (band) pass, and Low-pass. I was just curious as to how you would utilize this type of configuration. How does the head unit know what speaker it means to crossover at what frequency? For example, if I wanted my components to play the highs and mids, and the subs to play the lows, how to i make sure the head unit crosses the tweeters high, the midrange driver in the mid range frequencies, and the sub for the low-pass. I guess this is what you would call an "active" setup.
I have the eclipse 8454 head unit and in "pro mode", the crossovers are set for a 3-way system, with High-pass, Mid (band) pass, and Low-pass. I was just curious as to how you would utilize this type of configuration. How does the head unit know what speaker it means to crossover at what frequency? For example, if I wanted my components to play the highs and mids, and the subs to play the lows, how to i make sure the head unit crosses the tweeters high, the midrange driver in the mid range frequencies, and the sub for the low-pass. I guess this is what you would call an "active" setup.
You will need 5 to 6 channels of amplification to run this active setup.
The front RCA's of the headunit will go to the two channels of the amp that will power the tweeters. You set the High's HPF to anywhere between 2K to 3.5khz.
The rear RCA's will go to the rear channels of your 4 channel amp(or sepperate 2 channel/3 channel amp)
Then you will have the mids LPF set to around where you set your HPF for the tweeters. ANd you will set your HPF for the mids at anywhere between 50-80hz.
The sub will pick up where the mids left off.
In an active setup ,each individual speaker get's it's own channel of amplification(except if you are wiring your subs to a bridged configuration)
are we assuming that there is no rear speakers? What if I have the rear speakers running off the deck? how does that affect things?
I currently have my tweeters running off the front channels of my 4-channel amp and the mids running off the rear channels. The rear speakers are running off the deck. Will this matter? shit...i may as well just disconnect the rear speakers.
I am using the mb quart crossover, which i should probably take out. You said that crossing over the mb quart tweeters at 3k or 3.5k sounds good?
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92 Camry v6 (3vz-fe)
Last edited by mauibuilt59; 01-19-2006 at 10:57 PM.
Yeah, rear speakers are the devil. Throw them as far as you can.
Also get rid of the passive crossovers. Your headunit is your crossover.
Set the HPF on the tweeters to 3.5 or 4khz whichever sounds best. Try a 12, 18, and 24 db slope and see which sounds best.
FOr the mids, set the HPF to about 63 or 80 hz. The lower the better if they can handle it at high volumes. Set the LPF on the mids to 3.5khz if you have the tweeters at 4khz. That's how I had my MB Quarts setup. Those tweeters are some of the best out there. Just cross them over 3.5 or 4khz and have them pointed off axis. They work best in the A Pillars pointed straight accross the dash towards each other.
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