Okay. So we can now all go to sleep

 

ditto

 

Alright....I was staying out of this one until that got settled....now back to S2k-DC's problem....

I highly doubt that it is an installation or resonance problem (as he stated that the stock setup was still in 1 door, and even IT sounded better than the upgraded speakers). I agree with GSteg that install does play a significant role in overall SQ, but this guy says that the speakers SUCK compared to stock. Installation should not play THAT big of a role. Think of it this way.....all other things being equal, (installation, resonance, etc), these speakers should sound as good as stock (just because the stock speakers are just THAT bad). They are not even living up to that.

The XTC "baffles" / enclosures are undoubtedly screwing with the speakers. I think that the removal of these will "probably" resolve the problem.....seeing as teh HU was working fine with the stock speakers, the signal probably is not to blame, and if the speakers are new, they probably are not bad.

S2k-DC - Did removal of the XTC's improve the sound? Please let us know if this resolved your problem.

Darkknight - You did kind of jump down GSteg's throat...... but almost EVERYONE gets questioned around here by an upper-up person (Darkknight for example, or NFRs2000NYC, or PJK3, etc.). I like it, because it keeps all mis-information out of this forum. Kind of like a checks-and-balances thing. Just a little qwerk about this forum .

John

 

I know sometimes we do... but think of how much garbage we've kept off this forum

We did figure it out together though As for thoe other 2 guys... I have no idea what the hell those guys are doing here though.

 

Those other guys are probably friends / colleagues of GSteg and were just defending him. Cant fault them for that. You are right, it does keep a lot of crap off this forum, though, which is always a plus. You have to take the good with the bad.

I was also wondering, when are you going to place that order of fiberglassing materials? I am looking to get it (if possible) around the second or third week in December. I want to start around xmas time, as I will have about a week off to screw around with it (trial and error).

I pulled my speakers the other day because I was getting some static-type sounds coming from them. I need to get some of those baffles and cut the bottoms off, because there was some serious corrosion on the back of the magnet, that had trickled onto the terminals . This is the first car I have had this happen on....any other ideas on how to weather-proof the back of the speakers?

Currently all I have put in are a set of 3/4" spacers (as the speakers are 7" drivers and would not even come close to fitting in stock speaker baskets ). I need something to cover the magnet / terminals for water splashing.

Thanks

John

 

Thanks for everyones help so far. I removed the XTC 'baffle' and that helped the sound, but it still didn't seem to sound good. I tried switching to the other mid-base and found out that it was blown, so so much for those speakers.

I bought new Infinity Reference speakers to test out. I installed them and compared them with stock on one side and Infinitys on the other. The Infinities are much cleaner and seem to produce the full frequecy range with clarity, whereas the stock speakers seem to be 'missing' some frequencies by comparison. And the stocks sort of sound like they are muffled, as if they were in a box, compared with the Infinities. The Infinities also handle more volume without distortion. For the bass response, the Infinities are more accurate, but the stocks actually seem to reproduce a deeper and fuller base sound. I think its because the Infinities require an amp to be driven properly (I believe they are rated at 90W RMS and I'm using a 45Wx4 (max) head unit). I guess this is because the stocks are 'more efficient'. Could this also be because the crossovers block the very low frequency from the mid-base, or do they only block higher frequencies from the mid-base?

All that being said, without adding an amp to my system, I'm not sure it's worth the money to me. I'm going to think about it, maybe I'll get an amp.

 

The stock speakers do seem to be pretty efficient and have rather good low end extension for a 6 1/2. Both the components I have tried (Focal 165V2 & CDT Audio CL-61) are pretty efficient (>91 db) but neither went lower (or maybe even as low) as the stockers with 50 wrms/side.

Maybe it is an installation issue (not sure those lucid aluminum spacer/baffle thingies are very solid), or maybe it would be better with more power, but most 6 1/2 drivers roll off around 70-80 Hz when mounted IB, period.

The passive crossovers that come with your components should have a low pass filter only for the woofer, they should not roll off anything on the low end.

Actually getting back to the whole baffle/spacer discussion, the fact that the stock MY03+ speakers can generate such decent mid bass when powered off a decent HU suggests to me that the factory plastic baskets are actually not that bad on this car. I would love for anyone who has tried the same speakers with a thick MDF ring vs. cut factory baskets vs. the lucid aluminum spacers to share if it made any difference.

Peter

 

Your speakers aren't really designed to reproduce low frequencies, like say a sub would.

and yes your x-overs will protect your speakers from trying to reproduce the frequencies that a sub would produce.

Glad to hear you figured it out

 

Dude, I never challenged your knowledge or skills. As for me stating I'm MECP certified, it was just to point out, that I agreed with GS and that I have experience with the issue. I don't know you or really care, I was challenging the way you treated him. As for being a noob, if you call being a noob just posting on this forum, thats fine. I am by no way a noob in car audio. I didn't mean to attack you if you felt I did. You were the one that got defensive.

 

Wow, looks like I've missed some positive flow here, and everyone's getting back on the same track.

I agree, noob to the forum, but not car audio. I used to go all out and build a nice looking system back in the late 80s early 90s, but now I'm more about building a system for Sound Quality. Working in the recording studios back then opened my ears to great sound. We won't get that in a car, but we try.

And what I'm learning more and more, is that installation will improve performance many times over versus buying more expensive products... as long as you have something decent in the first place.

Now in this case, he determined those speakers were crap. See ya, bye bye, time for something different. But hey, while you have the door panels off, you might as well take the opportunity to add at least a little sound dampening to help with resonance.

Heck, you can get a simple door kit for $33 from http://www.fatmat.com for a good simple addition.

DK, after looking around the forum, beyond this thread, I can see you have some knowledge as well. Yeah, you didn't handle this thread as well as you could have, but hopefully we'll all learn from this and put more attention on redirecting to the original problem and not on each other. Though, you're still a butthead for going through my site and posting an image without my permission.

By the way, those Zed amps are very clean and great for the money. It's big though, so space may be an issue.

I wouldn't mind getting your opinion on the Scan Speak D2904 tweeter in your Alpine F17 set. They can be found via pacparts.com for $60 each. I'm looking at it and some others to go active with Seas W18 7" woofers. The Oz comps are great, just curious about something new.

S2K, your head unit is lucky to put out 20w or so at full tilt boogie, and of course it won't be anything like adding an amp. There are a number of small 50w x2 amps out there that would help a lot. The more power, the more bass response. The more bass response, the more door resonance. Sound dampen the doors to handle that resonance, and also covering the holes in the doors will increase your bass response even more.

You won't have to spend that much to make a huge increase in your sound. I'm sure these guys will have some great suggestions for you to find a small amp that fits well in the car.

Good Luck.