Component speakers, Advice on placement? Options

[ninefourteener]

I've finished purchasing all the components for my stereo in the teener. I think it's going to be AWESOME when I've finished it.

Aiwa detachable face CD

Aftermarket 6.5 inch speaker panels

6 inch bass tube (I shortened it from 22 inches to 14 inches, to fit snug up under the passenger side dashboard

Clarion 6.5 inch component speakers (comes with 2 crossovers, and 2 tweeters to separate high and low frequencies)

If you've ever heard a set of component speakers in a car, they are AWESOME...... but here's my question:

Where do I mount the 1-inch tweeters?? They should be about the same distance from your head as the 6.5's.... so has anyone done this yet??

I thought about the doors, but the window cranks get in the way.

I thought about the dash, but its too small, curvy, and cluttered with vents, knobs, etc.

Maybe the sides of the center console??

Suggestions?? Help??

Heres a pic of my interior (before any stereo upgrades)... not that it matters... everyone else's interior looks the same--LOL (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[tat2dphreak]

mount them on the windshield frame, they sell little plastic adapters for this so you won't have to cut the windshield trim... I wouldn't mount tweeters in the console... or the 6.5s... this will eliminate "stereo" sound.. because it will all be on one side, regardless of which side of the car you are on... you could mount the tube under the console though... I think.

[ninefourteener]

Nope... the 6.5's are going in the custom speaker panels I bought off e-bay...... I think the guy that makes them is a member here.

The bass tube is a 6-incher... but the housing is 8 inches wide. I think the console gets skinnier the futher you get toward the front of the car, especially on the driver side.... I don't think the tube will fit in there. Besides.. I placed it, and it actually fits pretty well...... there's like 6 inches from the floor to the botton of the tube.. my passengers can still stretch their feet out.

On the window posts?? You don't think air noise would interfere with the sound of the tweeters if they were up high like that?? Even if I have the top off?? Hmmmm

[tat2dphreak]

I had a set on the posts in an '87 GMC truck... no sweat
89 Ford Escort... no problems

always had the windows open too, no A/c in any vehicle before my civic I got in 98...

good tweeters will almost disregard road noise... the rule of thumb is... bass low, tweeters high... 1" tweeters need to be placed higher since the high frequency sound takes less time to form the right sound... bass, sould be as far away as possible, since the sound waves take more distance to form... I did semi-pro installs for a bit... won a small amateur comp with an install in an extended cab Ranger(prize was a new phoenix amp)... the 914 would be difficult to make a competition system for... but a good driving system can be put anywhere...

[tat2dphreak]

one more thing... you are thinking of morphenspectra, I just bought a carpet kit from them!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

[mike_the_man]

In my Rabbit I had 5 1/4" speakers in the door, and 1" tweeters in the top corners of the windshield. I used sticky tack to stick them on. It wasn't the ideal location, but it sounded pretty good, and you didn't notice them unless you were looking.

I'm planning on putting compnents in my teener pretty soon too, so I'll be interested as to what location you choose, and how they sound there.

[ninefourteener]

AWESOME!!

Ok.. I'm gonna take your word on it as far as the window posts are concerned... I hope you're right.

2 more questions.. and I htink thats it.

The bass tube...... should the speaker face the center console, or should it face the passenger kick panel??

The tweeters...... how far up the posts should I put them?? All the way up? Or close to the dash??

[tat2dphreak]

posts: I put them about 1/3-1/2 of the way up... they tend to point either up or down a bit(most are "supposed" to point straight.. but never do that I've seen) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) now I don't even know if they are made any more (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[tat2dphreak]

one more thing:

if you take your seats/carpet out in the future(for por-15 etc)... buy some sound dampener like dynamat

or:

I've also heard people say great things about this stuff and it's a shitload cheaper than dynamat...people in beetles use it a lot I'm told

http://www.mcmaster.com/ search for part# 9709T19 this is what I plan to put in my teener this spring... after por-15, before carpet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Kargeek]

I flush mounted the tweeters in the doors. DH

[tat2dphreak]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)
I advise against that... just because if you are lucky enough to have nice panels(esp. smooth) like you have, you will have to cut them... if you have shitty door panels anyway... no loss... but Kargeek, those are NICE panels! I don't care for the basketweave ones(though I have a nice set) but the smooth panels look great IMHO...

NEWAYz... very nice install despite cutting smooth panels!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)

my bad... they looked smooth at first glance, but I see the weave pattern now...

This post has been edited by tat2dphreak: Feb 25 2004, 04:53 PM

[mike_the_man]

tat2dphreak,

They still do make MB Quarts, and they're still kick ass, although they ain't cheap. I was looking at some for the teener, but I've decided I don't need something quite that high end. Especially around here, where they are likely to be stolen within a month. I used to be into big stereos, but after your car is broken into for the 5th time, it kinda takes the fun out of it.

[tat2dphreak]

I feel you man!!

MB quarts were NEVER cost effective... but god they sound great! I was lucky to never get anything stolen from a car that had a nice system in it... luxury of living in a small town,I guess .. though I've had $1000s of CDs stolen at several times and some other stuff... I don't waste money on alarms anymore though... they go off so often, no one looks, and that's just an extra 2-300 that is better used elsewhere!

[Kargeek]

I advise against that... just because if you are lucky enough to have nice panels(esp. smooth) like you have, you will have to cut them... if you have shitty door panels anyway... no loss... but Kargeek, those are NICE panels!

Well, not only were they nice, they were brand new NOS basketweave panels that I cut holes in them! Right out of the factory bag as was all of my interior. Speaker grills are from a 911. Oh, now installing a speaker that location in the doors has some problems with cutting the internal door drame. I welded flat sheetmetal onto the door to strenghten the area prior to cutting the speaker hole. DH

[ninefourteener]

I hear ya guys....I do like the MB Quarts... but seems pointless to spend more on a set of speakers that I did on the entire front spoiler of my car.... Especially when the best I can hope for from my teener is an "average quality" sound. Hopefully I'll get it to where I can actually hear it... well.... at 80 mph on the highway with the top off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I bought a set of Clarion Components... brand new. Clarion makes good stuff.. I think they will work just fine.

Ok.... half way up the window posts are where the tweeters are going. May be a couple weeks before I get the speakers in the mail... but the whole system is going in as soon as they do. I'll post pics (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[hargray2]

The tweeters will surely be loud on the windshield pillars, but this is definitely not the ideal place for them for the best sound. You want your speakers to be an equal distance from each ear for the best stereo imaging. This is not exactly possible in a car (because of where you sit), but you can get it close by placing everything near the foot area at the stock location. On the windshield pillars, one tweeter will be right in your face and the other will be on the other side of the car. A pair of speakers playing in stereo should ideally be placed in front of you and the distance from you to each speaker should be the same as the distance between the speakers. Imagine the three points on a triangle--you being the top point and the speakers being the two bottom points and each point has the same distance between them. This is proven to be the best location for speakers in a car. The tweeters will still be loud, trust me! All decent brands of component speakers come with swivel mounts for the tweeters allowing you to aim them towards your ears. As for the bass tube, you may have decreased the performance by shortening it. The tube is tuned to a certain length to
be most efficient. Anyway, aiming a bass tube shouldn't make much difference because bass tubes aren't very loud like a couple of 12" subs. Bass tubes are for low-end "reinforcement" and probably won't make as much bass as your 6.5's will. Just be sure you leave plenty of room on each end of the tube so the air can move freely. The
tube has to move air to make bass. Just hope you didn't create port noise on the tube when you shortened it. Oh, definitely put a high quality amplifier on the clarions,
one that puts out the nominal or RMS wattage for them. You'll enjoy cleaner, clearer,
crisper, brighter highs.

[Rgreen914]

Kargeek

I've never been fond of the brown interior, but your's is exceptional!

[ninefourteener]

The tweeters will surely be loud on the windshield pillars, but this is definitely not the ideal place for them for the best sound. You want your speakers to be an equal distance from each ear for the best stereo imaging. This is not exactly possible in a car (because of where you sit), but you can get it close by placing everything near the foot area at the stock location. On the windshield pillars, one tweeter will be right in your face and the other will be on the other side of the car. A pair of speakers playing in stereo should ideally be placed in front of you and the distance from you to each speaker should be the same as the distance between the speakers. Imagine the three points on a triangle--you being the top point and the speakers being the two bottom points and each point has the same distance between them. This is proven to be the best location for speakers in a car. The tweeters will still be loud, trust me! All decent brands of component speakers come with swivel mounts for the tweeters allowing you to aim them towards your ears. As for the bass tube, you may have decreased the performance by shortening it. The tube is tuned to a certain length to
be most efficient. Anyway, aiming a bass tube shouldn't make much difference because bass tubes aren't very loud like a couple of 12" subs. Bass tubes are for low-end "reinforcement" and probably won't make as much bass as your 6.5's will. Just be sure you leave plenty of room on each end of the tube so the air can move freely. The
tube has to move air to make bass. Just hope you didn't create port noise on the tube when you shortened it. Oh, definitely put a high quality amplifier on the clarions,
one that puts out the nominal or RMS wattage for them. You'll enjoy cleaner, clearer,
crisper, brighter highs.

uuuggggg... tooo....... much........ thought.......need....... beer

Ok... so maybe place the tweeters on the door, the same place that most folks cut holes for 5's?? Thats the only place I can think of that may work, and keep the tweeters as far from hy head as the 6.5s.

As far as the bass tube is concerned.... I bought it used off of e-bay for 10 bucks. If it doesn't work.. no biggy... I'll trash it. It's an "experiment" more than anything.

Don't get me wrong..... if you can hink of a place in the teener to drop a couple 12" subs.... I'm all ears--LOL

Another concern I had was sealing the 6.5s. I'm thinking I'm going to place some dynamat behind the speaker panels to help seal it up.. should provide for better sound. Thoughts? Suggestions??

[mike_the_man]

I looked at a 914 last spring and the guy had installed 2 12" subs. He just cut 2 12" holes through the back pad and rear firewall, and mounted the speakers. When you opened the engine bay, you could see 2 big speaker magnets and wires hanging out. The speakers weren't enclosed or anything. I idn't here it, but I'm sure it sounded like crap, it certainly looked bad, and I bet it was pretty hard on the speakers to be hanging out in the engine bay. All in all, an ugly job. I wouldn't reccomend trying it.

[ninefourteener]

I looked at a 914 last spring and the guy had installed 2 12" subs.  He just cut 2 12" holes through the back pad and rear firewall, and mounted the speakers.  When you opened the engine bay, you could see 2 big speaker magnets and wires hanging out.  The speakers weren't enclosed or anything.  I idn't here it, but I'm sure it sounded like crap, it certainly looked bad, and I bet it was pretty hard on the speakers to be hanging out in the engine bay.  All in all, an ugly job.  I wouldn't reccomend trying it.

LMFAO (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Yup.... that speaker setup will be immdiately followed by replacing my entire interior with pink crushed velvet........... a bobble-head Jesus on the dash....... some 12 inch gold wire-wheels...... and a trick set of hydrolics to go bouncy-bouncy down the road--LOL

Ok... now I'm curious....... anyone seen a 914 done in South-Central lowrider style?? C'mon.. I know someone has had to do it before (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)