Adam M

Hello, I know the ice section is rarely visited but I need help. 3 things.

1. I want to fit eight inch speakers in the doors of my pre-face lift my95 wrx. Being 8" they are very deep. I know that sixes will fit but I hear there is not alot of depth. I expect to have to build the door out but want to know if it will require a huge build. I am asking rather than looking because the car does not arrive in the country until next week and so I cannot check it.

2. Why don't more people post to this page? This is one of the few subjects where I can offer the benefit of years of experience rather than tax everyone elses knowledge.

3. Does any one want some image dynamics horn loaded compression drivers with passive crossovers and mid bass speakers. These are large-ish horn looking things which attach across the width of the dashboard (underneath) and give incredible clarity and volume. They are massively efficient and so reqire hardly any power input. They go down to 600Hz meaning that the mid in the door is required to do hardly any work. No component speaker kit can match these in any department (inside a car).
At the moment they are sitting on my wardrobe doing nothing but I would like to sell them as I am upgrading.
They retail for around 800 pounds but I am selling them with focal sixes (fit straight in doors) for 450 ono.

p.s. foreign keyboard has no pound sign.

Adam M

Mike,

Firstly I may actually consideer semi donating the horns by reducing the price simply because they are doing nothing and I have replaced them already.

Wth reference to your system. Firtsly give my friends at audio images in bradford a call. 01274 733633 and ask to speak to nasser, tell him you were recommended by me or he might think you are a time waster.
You may consider it a long way to travel, but if you explain the install you want you will probably find it a lot cheaper and I am willing to bet the quality will be better than anything you have ever seen in this country. The guy who does the work is the type that if you are not satisfied he will strip it out and re do it until you are.

But aside from that. The boot sunds similar to what I am doing in mine, my only concern is your choice of front end set-up. I have learnt that the fewer speakers the better. If you use 6s and 8s you will be overpowered by the 6s and the 8s will be virtually redundant. On top of that the greatest sound is achieved by having the sound coming from only one point (on each side) obviously this can almost never be fully achieved unless you know of a speaker which goes from 20 to 20,000 Hz. My new 8s get very close. Putting the 8s and sixes in doors will increase the volume but the centre of production of sound will be at least 7 inches apart. This will destroy the staging and imaging of the sound. I may be being a bit harsh. It will sound great but it depends on how close you want it to an ideal set up.
Given that I rate Bostons way over Kenwoods, I would fit just the sixes and tweeters, which will save you huge amounts on labour.

Sorry to cut your system to pieces but I would also ditch the idea of rear speakers. Having stereo rear speakers will destroy the imaging of the front speakers but will increase the volume. It depends wheer your priorities are. If you look at top hifi systems they only have two speakers in front of you as this is ideal.
If you do fit reaer speakers, wiring them in mono and only the mid not the tweeter will reduce their degradation of the front speakers but still give rear passengers some lound volume, but whose car is it, theirs or yours?

I am fitting rear speakers in my car for the first time and this is the only circumstance when I would. I am fitting a tv and dvd player. this puts outa dolby digital signal which requires five full channels and a sub. This means that the rear speakers receive an entirely different sound from the fronts therefore, if I exclude them I would lose almost half the film sound effects.
I promise I will switch them off during normal music.
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask anytime.

Adam M

just to apologise for the number of typos in that last message. I am not stupid, just incompetent.

Mike Tuckwood

Adam.

Some very interesting points there.

I want as most people do, total clarity at low/medium volume levels but with the ability to 'kick it' when the mood takes me.

The 8's in the doors were a suggestion by the fitter which if set up correctly with the crossover should contribute to the general proceedings as opposed to controlling the sound by being overpowered?

I understand what you mean about the 6's, the idea is that the 8's are there to provide a platform from which the 6's are able to perform more effectively (probably didn't describe that very well), to give the 6's a little more body. (It may not work)?


I spoke to the dealer about the wave guides and they were extended due respect. They were also of the opinion that they would not be done justice by anything other than a 30 channel each side graphic/crossover??

I took the car in today, it will be there for a week. I would not have minded travelling to get the cost reduced.

As I hope you will appreciate, there is enough kit going in already, the wave guides would have made everything so much simpler, keep hold of them I will see how this job turns out.

I always find something better <B>after</B> I have just bought/done something.

Mike.

Stef

Adam.

Just out of interest, why would you want to watch DVD's in your car in Dolby Digital sound on a 6-7" screen?
I love DVD at home, but why in a car? What's the motivation behind it? Is it purely for the 'gadget' factor?
A Playstation I can understand, DVD, not so sure.

Comments?

Stef.

Lee

Amusing. 8" in the doors. Perhaps your system should come with ear defenders
Yes that will be a new door panel. My 6.5 cliff designs touch the panel and have 3ml clearance to the glass.

Mike Tuckwood

Adam, I would love the 'Horns'.

Unfortunately the estimate for my stereo fit is currently 6 days and £1,500. (install only).

I am having a door build to carry 6 inch Boston Pro's and tweeters, with 8" Kenwoods in the front doors. 5 inch (or 5.5 inch, can't remember) Boston rallye's in the back possibly Rockford Fosgate 4 inch also and 2 x JL audio 10W6's in a custom built box. (Ported through the rear parcel shelf)?

False floor in the boot with viewing area containing 5 Kenwood Amps the biggest being a 1023, controlled by a Kenwood active crossover. Alpine TDA 7567R head unit(not in the boot) & CHA 1204 boot loader. (<I>approx £4,500 worth of kit including all the proper cabling</I>).


If you want to donate the horns in the interests of audio perfection, I know the perfect place for them.

I am also giving very fast thought to fitting a Mini Disc head unit (or bootloader instead of the CD boot loader), constructive comments welcome.

Mike.


[This message has been edited by Mike Tuckwood (edited 31-08-1999).]

Adam M

Stephan,

I am waiting for a playstation 2, but dvd audio I believe is due out within a year and having heard this through my home system, it knocks spots of cd. Bearing in mind I have a spare compliment of top end speakers that I can use in the rear I may aswell take advantage of the tv (I just had to have ir and ctva in southend on sea gave me an amazing deal, never to be beaten I guarantee it).
I also have a large collection of region 1 and 2 dvds and sitting close to a seven inch widescreen is almost the same as sitting further back from a 32 in my lounge.

Why not if it is too expensive?

Adam M

Mike,

Your fitter is right about needing a eq. of at least one third octave ability, i.e. probably thirty channels per side. There are better horns but not for the price.

Irrelevant anyway.

It sounds like your fitter knows what he is doing and as long as the passive in the doors has its slopes and cut-offs well chosen it will sound great.

I have found though that the best way to kick it as you describe is to get the punch from the subs not the mids by having them reach up to 150-200Hz. True punch in the front is difficult to achieve without damping the throw of the mid/woofer. This will require sealing in as much air as possible behind the speaker. In effect building an enclosure. Shape is not important as in a sub box, as long as there is sufficient volume not to "choke" the speaker, which can be worse than a free air set-up. It will be easier to extract puch from the sub. The 10W6 is an incredible subwoofer and will not dissapoint in any way, given that this is your taste.

Personally they did not suit my needs, as the only bass I enjoy is very very tight so that you can feel it in your lungs. Not necessarily loud just so that you can feel it. I am not a fan of subs that you can hear outside the car, which is what happens when the frequency really drops.