All
I have a 2002.5 p5. I cannot put a sub in the hatch, due to space limitations (i need the space to haul stuff).
Head unit is a Pioneer Premier p9400 w/XM

1st, rather than use a subwoofer in a dedicated box, i want to to use component woofers in the rear door positions (crossed low and under separate Amp) as my low end, then use component mid/mid bass in front door and tweeters in the A piller (i have 2002.5 upgrade with tweeters)
Anybody done this, have any opinions? I don't need a thumping bass, but i do like even sound. 2nd, I am considering MB Quart components. anybody had previous experience with them. they seem to sound exceptional, but are a little pricey.
On hte cheap side, I am considering Kenwood separates, with a second set of tweeter in the rear to help spatial imaging.

BTW for those of you looking for a XM antennae location, I installed mine in place of the existing FM antennae, then used a "FM Ducky" inside the care between the headliner and roof. It works like a charm and no new holes required
thanks

 

Personally, I am not sure about the component woofers in the back doors. I see a couple potential issues - if you cross them over low enough that the sound stage isn't drawn into the back seat, the woofers (even component woofers) will be operating at or below their lower frequency threshold, leading to a) not very much sound, and possibly b) reliability issues. If you cross them over higher, then you will draw the sound stage back. There is probably no advantage to doing this than to just have 4 component or coaxial sets in the doors set up properly. Of course these are just my thoughts. Some of the other guys on the board will probably have opinions too, and probably more experienced than mine.

If you are looking at Quart's high end stuff, then at that price you have some pretty sweet options, like Focal and such. I have had Quarts for years, and when I have the cash to upgrade my front door speakers, I am seriously thinking of going Focal as an alternative.

As for bass, I am going a different route - the Kenwood Woox powered sub under my passenger seat to fill out the bass. I have part of my installation done now (finally), and if all goes well, I will have it finished this weekend and I can let everyone know how it went.

Check out this thread for more details.

Space saving bass

Sorry for the long post

Dale.

 

Dale- your post is not long!!



The bass is also a function of size of the speaker and the air space. Six and a half inches will go only so low without massive distortion. In addition, the cubic space behind a sub can get pretty specific so there are not nasty harmonics.
Bass if done right in omni direction, so as long as you have a volume control, and a fader, you should be able to balance out sound, but you will encounter limits on bass from a small speaker.

 

Dale pretty much covered most of the points. You "can" put 6.5" free-air subs or midbass in the rear doors but it would not be ideal. If you do though, make sure the door is very well damped & sealed as well as possible. Even with a decent set of seperates up front can produce a surprising amount of midbass given the right amount of power. Just look for speakers that have good low-end extension like Focal's, JL XR-series, CDT's. Of the MB-Quart's that I have heard, I found that the tweeter's are too bright & lack a little in the midbass. I've never listened to the higher series though in all fairness & I tend to be a little sensitive to bright highs. Decent speakers up front with a wOOx under the passenger seat should give pretty good results though & not take up any space. It mainly depends how much you have to spend & exactly what your goals are. Also, if you get bitten by the car audio bug, prepare to sell your kidneys..

 

Thanks guys.

I will post my results with the woox as soon as I am able. I can see some definite limitations with how I am doing it, so I am not recommending until I can say it defnitely works, or don't waste your time and money!


Dale.

 

another possibility is to check out maxxbling's new custom enclosure. saves space and will give you even sound. (i personally think you can't achieve "even" sound without the low end). check out his post on the updated pics of his work.

another option would be blaupunkt's new "saucer" subs. they are about 2" thick i believe, so you may wanna check into that. two 10's in a box 5" deep right behind the rear seats might be something to think about.

just throwing some suggestion out for ya!

 

Hawaiian- The 5WA Utopia will go down to 45 HTz, but have you priceed them lately? I would in all honesty out out run the MB quarts.
I have some in the shop in the focal pile
I also have two the blaupunkt disc, but have yet to take them out of the box for actual use.
I will let you know about them when I do-promise

 

aah focal. those guys are doing everything right. 45hz is solid for spkrs, but for me i need to hear everything. i am somewhat of a "poor man's" audiophile as i cannot afford such awesome sounds, but i have to hear sweet sounding music and it's reproduction. dunno about the price on the focal 5wa's, but i'm sure they would give as much balance as possible for their size.

as for the blau's, are those saucers for sale or your own personal subs? i am looking for (2) 10's for my brothers mustang.

 

They are actually the 5WX's, not 5WA. They're pretty nifty little things but are reserved more for audiophile quality, up-front bass for SQ judging. There's also the 5KX which is pretty similar except it uses the Polykevlar cone instead of the "W" fiberglass sandwich cone of the Utopia series. Of course, parameters are a little different too, one of them likes bass reflex (ported) or infinite baffle enclosures & the other works better in a sealed enclosure. There's also the JL 6W0 which is cheaper & have a little more cone area but they do not work well in infinite baffle applications. Another option for the hardcore, car-fi junkie is the Phase Linear Alliante. It is a German sub & is very highly rated in the SQ arena, especially in Europe & Asia. It is a very shallow sub & has a flat piston instead of a cone.

Also, "even sound" is a relative term. To me, it means less than 1db +/- variation on an RTA. To somebody else, as long as they can feel the bass, it's good enough. Again, what is your budget, that will probably narrow things down a lot.

 

Thanks for correcting my typo for me Huey! I honestly am amazed that I don't "lose" more information than I do already!! I have some 5's in my shop right now, I have a pretty complete set of the Utopia product line.
In this instance the focal's will cost more than the front soundstage that is currently installed. I try to be diplomatic in discussions of such issues with folks.
I had not even thought of the JL option, good thinking.
Besides Ampman Audio do you know of a source on the Phase Linear hardware in the states? I am intrigued by thier new audiophile series of speakers, and thier amps have always seemed to be top noch.
While I personally enjoy more of the high end hardware, the JL might be as good a mid fi solution as anything else...

 

No worries Dave. There's a lot of info out there & you'd either have to have a lot of time on your hands or have a photographic memory. As for the Phase Linear stuff, I'm not even sure if Kirk at Ampman can still get it or not. I'm personally in Canada & there are some local shops that can get it in straight from Germany. I was really close to buying a used Alliante SI 12" about 2 mths ago but the guy never called me back . Definitely quality stuff, though I haven't heard much about their new line of speakers or their amps, usually just hear about their subs on this side of the pond.

 

Thanks for the response Huey! Phase used to be stellar stuff, I can remeber when they were the cat's meow in home audio in the seventies and eighties....
down on the US side I can't say that anyone on the web is carrying the stuff in masse for car audio. More is the pity, as it appears to be stellar stuff!