Hi all!

So - after months of tries, test and thinking I think I made it (at least it sounds GOOD to me:-).

First a little of theory: In roadster there is no reflection - simply said all sound (which is nothing else then vibration) is going 'through the roof'. Combined with the wind noise it is always challenging to do a good sound system for little 2 seaters.

My requirements were:

- crisp and clear mids and highs
- rock bottom tight bass
- NO loss of (so valuable) storage space

S2000 limitations are (among others):

- completely unacceptable location of stock speakers for midrange
- no room 'behind the seat' for additional speakers (for highs and midrange forget the rear speakers, really...)
- in-dash speakers? Forget it! (Only at first look though...)
- LOUD operation (both engine and wind)

So how to solve the puzzle?

First I tried to put the speaker into antiroll bar. The first results were impressive and if I would get different head unit I could have you meet with this solution. To all critics about the staging - you can balance the fader so that the sound is staying in the middle of your head or even a little up front. The rears in the bar will give you VERY personal mids, you will understand each word of a silent music when cruising top down at 90MPH. GUARANTEED!

But - I did not want to get a new headunit and I was still missing clear mids from the front. Also the speakers in the antiroll bar had a little of bass since the volume inside of the bar does not give enough incentives for the speaker to produce bass or low midrange. I used Kenwood Excelons 5.25".

It was clear that even the most expensive and best speakers to replace the stock simply won't do it - both driver's and passenger legs create very efficient cover - you try to break it by volume and as a results you get muffling noise.

THE SOLUTION

Well - simply said - the second look on the dash and especially under it and a look at the subs offering did it.

- In dash speakers (I chose Kenwwod Excelon 4")
- In-door(s) subwoofers Kicker RMB6
- Alpine F340 V12 amplifier
- Lots of new wires throughout the car:-)

THE RESULT:

- Clean, crisp and powerfull mids and highs coming from the front (even with the passenger:-)
- Rock solid bottom tight bottom (tight like our little car:-)
- NO LOSS OF SPACE WHATSOEVER (yeah, I put the tools into the spare wheel)

I am VERY pleased with the sound and generally OK with the appearance of the front speakers in dash. There are not many places on dash where you could put speakers and definitely not many speakers with such low mount depth.

What next?
- try to seal the doors for even better sub performance
- maybe new head unit - uqualizer might help.

Oh - btw - this is very sweet solution to hook my iPod into.

 

Oh - one more thing - understand my setup as a guideline - it would be good if we would get more experience / suggestions what 4" speakers sounds good in dash (remember - must have LOW top mount depth) and subs to doors (not many to choose from...)

 

I have to comment. It's awesome to be creative and bold and by no means do I wish to disrespect you.

2 major things...

The passenger airbag cannot have the grill over it like that!

An amp cannot be enclosed like that. In the summer time trunks can reach a temp of 158. Termal shut-down points for many amps is 160.

 

Thanks Lucid.

Speaker - I just finished. I planned to say something else but on a second thought - the reaching over is not that critical. I made a special fitting of plastic on a speaker body so that in case of deployment the plastic would be thrown to the windshield. Not speaking that I do not plan to engage airbag anytime soon.

As far as trunk I do not worry. No comment on 158/160, sounds - ehm - to me. In Fry's they sell a lot of little computer fans... seriously, that's easy fix in case of need. Much bigger problem I see in the amp noise - I heard that's pretty standard and you need some filter to fix it. Just don't know which one...

Other then that what you think? To me the sound ROCKS (really), the clarity is just beyond expressions.

 

I may add - my wife's 330iC has 'Harman Kardon Premium Sound'. Now it sounds quite pure compared to my setup:-) which I definitely could not say before

 

Please do not use BMW's stereo's for a baseline, they are some of the worst sounding in the entire automotive kingdom!

Very creative setup though, although a little too rough looking for me. I'm thinking of trying something with the midbass drivers in the doors, but horn load compression drivers under the dash.

 

You are right on it - the look was one of my concerns as well. I would prefer to sink the speakers into dash completely but two things kept me away from it. The only problem is (are) the depth (honda folks did not leave us much room - there are vent pipes) and secondly - well I am not HGTV guy so I would have hard time to build custom grills and don't know anybody...

So I traded - look (which I kind of start to like - my baby:-) for the sound which is at the end what I am listening to.

I would be definitely interested in finding more about the 'horn load' thing you mentioned - there is definitely 'some' room in dash at the passenger side and very little but workable room on the driver side. More bold person could replace existing air pipes by rubber thingies and get more room => sink speakers or put something else there.

Another thing I would like to hear would be anybody's experience how would 3 way system (which could fit) sound powered by smaller 2 channel amp which would fit under the passenger or driver seat. I saw nice setup from Rockford but I am little worried about the depths of its components.

Right now I am running 2 channels with hipass 400 for mids/highs and 2 channels lowpass at 400 for the subs. Sounds great! I don't want to leave the car now!:-)))

 

Look here for a good example of what I am talking about.

http://www.sounddomain.com/id/rmarrs

A good horn install can sound much better than conventional speakers when the time is taken to do it right.

 

Yep, they look promissing however there is one problem with them - don't know where to fit them. They're too big for dash to look up. If they would be bellow there is a risk of being blocked and therefore not sounding clear when driving top down. I would need to hear them, I know Boxter have them but they are behind the seats at the ear level - which is different from being under dash...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lucid
[B]I have to comment.