I got the S-pods so I could install a set of 5.25" Infinity kappa components and they've sounded very weak and have had a LOT of distortion since install. At first I thought it was due to the cover hitting the speakers. While that was part of it, it didn't make the difference I had hoped. After scratching my head for a month or so I think I finally figured it out.... I had big air leaks and that was causing the "issues". So currently I have the opening around the tweeters sealed up with some foam tape and I have other padding around the bottom of the enclosure, between the seat trim and the metal S-Pod bracket filling it almost to the bottom of the woofer opening.

It has made a very noticeable difference and the speakers now sound (IMO) how they should have in the first place. Is this normal, or is it just my choice in speakers?

Also, would some fiber fill inside the enclosure help out too?
Unfortunately, I don't have any to throw in there to test, otherwise I would...

Thanks!

 

air leaks will do it everytime, and it isn't just your speakers..

and imo, a little bit of lightly fluffed polyfill might help.

 

Are these being driven by an amp or just the HU?

 

I haven't been informed that this is a problem before, but I'm going to do a little un-scientific experimentation to see if foam (or a gasket of some kind) will improve sound with other speakers. I'll try polyfill too and post results in a few weeks when I can get to this.

Better sound for little $ is always a good thing.

 

If you seal up a speaker not designed for that, it might sound better for a little while but it will sooner or later break/burn out the speakers... Make sure you use some nice cheapy speakers.

 

Currently, it's just powered by the Alpine headunit. I ran them on the stock headunit at first too and it sounded just as poor. The added power from the alpine deck didn't help the rear speakers at all. It did make a noticeable difference on the fronts though. I'm looking at a couple different 4 channel amps for the interior speakers, I just haven't made a final decision yet.

Also, they're not sealed 100%, I can still feel a little bit of air movement between the top of the mounting plate and the roll hoop, but yeah, the majority of the leaks are sealed now.

Thanks for the replies!

 

well, most door type speakers are infinite baffle designs... so, sealing them up 100% can be a bad thing. it could be ok as well, depending on the speaker and how tightly sealed you get them.

however, infinite baffle implies the baffle (board separating front from back) of the speaker is infinitely big (in theory). the S-Pod front just isn't big enough to qualify as 'infinite.', so too much leakage around it will result in poor quality.

i would guess that some minor leakage is not only acceptable, but might actually improve the sound quality. some polyfill in the mix might also simulate a slightly larger baffle size (by slowing down the air movement behind the speaker), and could also improve the sound quality...

however -- i am guessing. i've run no numbers, and i've not tried myself. just working from my understanding and past experience.

 

I sure do learn a lot hanging around the electronics forum! Thanks

 

just as a final comment, as i recall, the qualification for 'infinite' is that the air behind the speaker and air in front of the speaker are separated and cannot interact... i seem to recall there's some rule of thumb for how big the board has to be, with respect to frequency and driver size, but i simply can't recall it exactly....

 

correct,

I added some weather stripping and eliminated the tweeter hole altogether. sounds much better. I went with MB Quart coaxial, I can see a reason to put a tweeter back there


Mitch