Spacers shouldn't affect SQ, but will have fitment issues with the door panel if they're too thick. I think I've heard the deepest you can fit with spacers, without modifying the door panels, is 2.75".

 

Mounting depth from the door to window is 54mm (at the top of the opening, bottom of the opening s 61mm).

A 3/4" spacer adds approx 19mm, for a recommended max of 73mm (or approx 3" since very few magnets are 6 1/2" diameter...)


Contrary to popular belief on these forums, an increase in speaker quality is indeed noticeable (even at speed, with the top down). There is a distinct difference between my old Diamond tweeters and my current SEAS tweeters - at highway speeds, with the top down, with only 65W/tweeter (slightly underpowered). Mainstream tweeters tend to be bright (and woofers are muddy). This is because of excellent marketing - the speakers don't really replay music all that well, but most kids couldn't care less - they just want something that seems loud. So speakers (and amps/HU's/etc) are designed to make the music "loud" - this means boomy bass out of subs and woofers, low quality midrange, and bright tweeters. Because the distortion tells kids that it's "loud." The great irony is that a very high quality SQ system will be as loud as most of those systems - without causing the same level of listener fatigue. Oh, yeah, and those Diamond tweeters (that receive excellent reviews) cost over 2x as much as my SEAS tweeters ($160 from a dealer vs $70 from a dealer).







And Claus, I have my reasons for hating on Alpine... I believe it is possible to have a not-so-bright system using Alpine HUs...but you have to work MUCH harder to find speakers that will allow that to happen. I also have heard at least one story of Alpine "quality" that leaves me able to assure everyone that I will not only never buy Alpine products, but I will never install Alpine products for anyone else either. That's without even getting into my experience with Alpine HU's...

 

if you are in socal, I can give you a ride to show you the difference

 

Likewise for anyone in the NE

 

And, just to clarify the comment about how much I've spent...

Currently the system in my S would cost approx $2300 to replace (not including the Revelators - that bumps it to $2700).

Currently the system in my truck would cost approx $3k to replace.


The amazing thing is that the truck has 4 amps, the car has 2. Audison and JL are expensive, Sundown is far less expensive with at least the same SQ (if not better). Doing the car build all over again, I would run pretty much the same setup, but would save quite a bit by running Sundown amps and less expensive door speakers (because the Sundown amp would put down enough power to handle 8ohm impedance - SQ improvement and cost savings over the Revs). The truck system was built with the end goal in mind, the S system was somewhat pieced together.

Keep in mind that the $6k I have in stereo equipment right now does NOT include the $10k I have spent over the years on equipment I no longer even own. The truck and S are perfect examples. The truck has had nothing upgraded since I did this build and given the SQ, nothing ever will need to be upgraded (replaced when broken/blown is a different story). The S, on the other hand, started without a real goal in mind other than just having a system. So it's on it's 2nd sub, 2nd mid-range amp (admittedly to switch from passive to active, but still counts as an upgrade), 2nd set of door speakers. Think about how much I would have saved over the past year or so just by buying what I will wind up with (at least $250 for the sub, $150 for the amp, $250 in speakers).

 

Taking your recommendation on the seas speakers, i went on their website but just got more confused. They have 3 different lines excel, prestige, and exotic. Which one do you recommend?
I thought I had some understanding of audio, but the more I read both of your postings it's obvious that I don't

 

That happens to me a lot too

The speakers I have in my truck are SEAS Prestige (woofers and tweeters). The same tweeters are in my S. The woofers for my S (that I'm building enclosures for) are ScanSpeak Revelators.

The amp you purchase will have as much of a say as mounting depth does. There are really 2 elements to picking a speaker - how much power it needs/you have and if it will physically fit

So, while I could build spacers to make most of the SEAS line fit in my S, because they are 8ohm speakers, they would be woefully underpowered (65W/2 = 35W @ 8ohms, not enough). That wasn't an issue in my truck as I have a 50x4 (or 160x2 @ 4ohms) amp for each door so running at 8ohms I had 80W on tap for the woofers (and turned the gain WAY down for the tweeters).

If you're picking up both the 4-channel amp and speakers at the same time, then you can tailor each to match - i.e. pick up 8ohm speakers and a 125x4 @ 4ohm amp - that's essentially 65x4 @ 8 ohm which would be powerful enough.

Make any more sense?


When shopping for woofers I would steer clear of anything with either an uncoated paper cone (you'll have to build fiberglass pods or water will cause the cones to melt) or a metallic cone (metal cones resonate at certain frequencies and thus reduce sound quality).

Probably the best choice for tweeters is to go to http://www.madisound.com/catalog/ind...ath=45_245_313

Any of the SEAS or LPG tweeters offered will be excellent. The SEAS tweeters are the same except for the dome (one is textile, one is metallic). A metal dome tweeter will tend to be brighter, while a textile dome tweeter will tend to be slightly warm.