14 replies to this topic

[pcguru000]

The center speaker I have is making some awful noises would like to know the specifics on it but not even crutchfield knows what replacements would fit.

I was thinking about getting a 6" sub or something, it seems that it provides A LOT of the bass for the car, and I wouldn't want to just throw any normal speaker there...

I guess I will be measuring... just figured I would ask if anyone has been here before. Thanks!

[(n)A-GAME]

Actually it provides almost no bass, in my experience. It just sets up the surround stage. Sub would probably blow the Dolby box and would sound terrible. Your best bet is to disconnect it entirely (cheap and you probably won't miss it) or find someone parting a C70 or V70R and buy the speaker individually.

[Jesus]

Center channel only gets a 25 watt amp, so probably not enough power for anything too interesting.

[BEJinFBK]

pcguru000, on 12 July 2011 - 07:48 PM, said:

The center speaker I have is making some awful noises would like to know the specifics on it but not even crutchfield knows what replacements would fit.

I was thinking about getting a 6" sub or something, it seems that it provides A LOT of the bass for the car, and I wouldn't want to just throw any normal speaker there...

I guess I will be measuring... just figured I would ask if anyone has been here before. Thanks!

I just wanna be sure I understand this.
You want to replace your center channel speaker with a sub?

[pcguru000]

BEJinFBK, on 12 July 2011 - 10:34 PM, said:

I just wanna be sure I understand this.
You want to replace your center channel speaker with a sub?

That was the idea- I really don't like the 5.1 sound, when you switch it from Stereo to 3CH it sounds great... not sure why, then to the Dolby setting- it sounds awful, regardless of input, everything seems to get a bit "tinny"...and it almost seems like it mis places channels (maybe mixes left and right up? (queen - bohemian rhapsody was really jacked... was playing the right channel, what seemed to be, only in the rear speakers...)

I am happy just leaving it on 3ch or stereo - and perhaps disconnecting the center speaker...

How do we know the center speaker is actually 25 watts? Is that RMS ? Because if so I could at least put a nice quality 6" or so speaker in there... Maybe I am under estimating the level of bass a good 6" speaker can provide... I just felt like I was getting A LOT of bass out of it [the stock speaker].

[Jesus]

The reset of the speakers get power from the external amp, but the center channel gets it power from the HU.

[pcguru000]

Perhaps could I wire that into a separate amp?

[Jesus]

Don't see why not.

[mkc70]

pcguru000, on 13 July 2011 - 07:46 PM, said:

Perhaps could I wire that into a separate amp?

The board is labeled in the 901, so if you wanted to intercept the audio from the Dolby unit it could be sent to a larger external amplifier.

[BEJinFBK]

pcguru000, on 13 July 2011 - 07:46 PM, said:

Perhaps could I wire that into a separate amp?

WHY? All it does is mids and highs.
And just to fill for the other front drivers.
25 watts is plenty for that speaker's job.

Before you get too crazy here, You may want to research just what that speaker is actually for.
I'm getting the impression that you haven't really got a good handle on the whole "center channel
helping your sound stage" concept. It's NOT a bass speaker, it's not 5.1, it's not supposed to be
ear bleedingly loud. It's job is to make up for the crappy locations of the other front speakers and
give you something close to decent left/right balance in the hostile listening envionment of a car.

And judging the effect of the system with a 30 year old song like "Bohemian Rhapsody" ?
That tune was not even close to being engineered for analog Dolby Surround.
Try some different music...

As for wedging a sub in there - Not gonna happen. There's no room.
Have a look at something for the back of the car if you want to go for
some bass reinforcement. Bass takes Space. That's all there is to it.

Good Luck!

[(n)A-GAME]

BEJinFBK, on 14 July 2011 - 01:38 AM, said:

WHY? All it does is mids and highs.
And just to fill for the other front drivers.
25 watts is plenty for that speaker's job.

Before you get too crazy here, You may want to research just what that speaker is actually for.
I'm getting the impression that you haven't really got a good handle on the whole "center channel
helping your sound stage" concept. It's NOT a bass speaker, it's not 5.1, it's not supposed to be
ear bleedingly loud. It's job is to make up for the crappy locations of the other front speakers and
give you something close to decent left/right balance in the hostile listening envionment of a car.

And judging the effect of the system with a 30 year old song like "Bohemian Rhapsody" ?
That tune was not even close to being engineered for analog Dolby Surround.
Try some different music...

As for wedging a sub in there - Not gonna happen. There's no room.
Have a look at something for the back of the car if you want to go for
some bass reinforcement. Bass takes Space. That's all there is to it.

Good Luck!

Exactly what I was too lazy to write out. Nicely put!

[BEJinFBK]

(n)A-GAME, on 14 July 2011 - 01:50 AM, said:

Exactly what I was too lazy to write out. Nicely put!

I DID forget to throw in that Night at the Opera really is a great album!
Just not for surround. I'm guessin' that's why the system has a MODE button.

And I left out a quick, very basic rundown on the MODEs:

"Normal" Stereo - Well, stereo...straight ahead Left/Right to all four corners.

3CH - Adds the center. It's an L+R mono with the bass rolled off.

"Dolby Surround" - Same center operation. The rears are essentially a L minus R low pass mono
with a high frequency roll off. For music intended for decoding, you get some cool effects depending
on how the studio engineer mixed the cut. For anything that was mixed for plain vanilla stereo, it just
sorta adds some "ambience" or depending on the mix, and any number of any other unintended acoustical
effects. Still, it can adds nicely to many tracks that were never mixed for Dolby, if you like that kind of thing.

Remember, Dolby Pro Logic is like, one step up from original analog
Dolby Surround using 70's vintage tech based on analog stereo sources.

For anybody that's interested, check out the Dolby site for "Pro Logic". ( Not ll, just Pro Logic )
Good luck finding it there, though. It's way old analog tech... But I did find a wiki entry with some info:
http://en.wikipedia....Dolby_Pro_Logic

[deepsovlov]

BEJinFBK, on 14 July 2011 - 03:03 AM, said:

I DID forget to throw in that Night at the Opera really is a great album!
Just not for surround. I'm guessin' that's why the system has a MODE button.

And I left out a quick, very basic rundown on the MODEs:

"Normal" Stereo - Well, stereo...straight ahead Left/Right to all four corners.

3CH - Adds the center. It's an L+R mono with the bass rolled off.

"Dolby Surround" - Same center operation. The rears are essentially a L minus R low pass mono
with a high frequency roll off. For music intended for decoding, you get some cool effects depending
on how the studio engineer mixed the cut. For anything that was mixed for plain vanilla stereo, it just
sorta adds some "ambience" or depending on the mix, and any number of any other unintended acoustical
effects. Still, it can adds nicely to many tracks that were never mixed for Dolby, if you like that kind of thing.

Remember, Dolby Pro Logic is like, one step up from original analog
Dolby Surround using 70's vintage tech based on analog stereo sources.

For anybody that's interested, check out the Dolby site for "Pro Logic". ( Not ll, just Pro Logic )
Good luck finding it there, though. It's way old analog tech... But I did find a wiki entry with some info:
http://en.wikipedia....Dolby_Pro_Logic

+1 I also use to think the Dolby Pro Logic system sucked until i noticed 3 of the 12 speakers were blown (distorted/muffled). Replaced them & added an aux ipod hookup,now it sounds great,cant believe its stock. I prefer the ProLogic mode, crisp highs - boomy lows and a touch of surround.

[pcguru000]

BEJinFBK, on 14 July 2011 - 01:38 AM, said:

WHY? All it does is mids and highs.
-Because I felt like experimenting and more so because the current speaker sounds like a rats arse...
And just to fill for the other front drivers.
25 watts is plenty for that speaker's job.
-This is true, while it was working it sounded great.

Before you get too crazy here, You may want to research just what that speaker is actually for.
I'm getting the impression that you haven't really got a good handle on the whole "center channel
helping your sound stage" concept. It's NOT a bass speaker, it's not 5.1, it's not supposed to be
ear bleedingly loud. -I am aware that is not a Bass speaker OR 5.1 OR ear bleedingly loud, but in its current state it is completely useless... I am not after something "crazy" just a decent after market alternative, frankly the door speakers offer a lot of bass, perhaps just (as I said before) a decent 25watt 2 or 3 way speaker... It's job is to make up for the crappy locations of the other front speakers and
give you something close to decent left/right balance in the hostile listening envionment of a car. -And yes I agree its purpose is most certainly to make up for the other speakers

And judging the effect of the system with a 30 year old song like "Bohemian Rhapsody" ?
That tune was not even close to being engineered for analog Dolby Surround.
Try some different music...-I was using that song as an example, because if you are familiar with it you would know that during its opening there are some heavy left-right balance transitions in how it was recorded, the issue I had with the Dolby Surround was that it confused simple stereo L/R and put one of them in the back seats only... didn't make any sense...

As for wedging a sub in there - Not gonna happen. There's no room.
Have a look at something for the back of the car if you want to go for
some bass reinforcement. Bass takes Space. That's all there is to it.-Bass does take space, the car came rigged with the wiring and I could easily throw my amp/ 12" sub from my other car in it HOWEVER I feel like that is overkill, the audio system is excellent as it stands (minus the crackling center speaker).
I suppose the sub in the center is out of the question, I will hunt for a decent 25watt 2-3way speaker replacement.


Good Luck!

Just commented in bold above, thank you for your suggestions and input, please don't get the impression that I am trying to do something completely ridic, I am not about to tear up my dash for a 6" sub.

BEJinFBK, on 14 July 2011 - 03:03 AM, said:

I DID forget to throw in that Night at the Opera really is a great album!
Just not for surround. I'm guessin' that's why the system has a MODE button.

And I left out a quick, very basic rundown on the MODEs:

"Normal" Stereo - Well, stereo...straight ahead Left/Right to all four corners.

3CH - Adds the center. It's an L+R mono with the bass rolled off.

"Dolby Surround" - Same center operation. The rears are essentially a L minus R low pass mono
with a high frequency roll off. For music intended for decoding, you get some cool effects depending
on how the studio engineer mixed the cut. For anything that was mixed for plain vanilla stereo, it just
sorta adds some "ambience" or depending on the mix, and any number of any other unintended acoustical
effects. Still, it can adds nicely to many tracks that were never mixed for Dolby, if you like that kind of thing.

Remember, Dolby Pro Logic is like, one step up from original analog
Dolby Surround using 70's vintage tech based on analog stereo sources.

For anybody that's interested, check out the Dolby site for "Pro Logic". ( Not ll, just Pro Logic )
Good luck finding it there, though. It's way old analog tech... But I did find a wiki entry with some info:
http://en.wikipedia....Dolby_Pro_Logic

Also thank you for the wiki link, that was a good read.

I would say that probably 3/4 the music i listen to is just simple L/R and the dolby pro logic isn't really making them sound better "enough" for me that I would choose it over normal stereo... I have two ears... left and right . I am simple I suppose.



--- I will be pulling the speaker out sometime this week and getting dimensions on it... I thought it was a much deeper speaker but obviously not.

Also is that 25 Watts RMS? I am guessing it probably has a 40-50 watt max then? Haven't been able to find any specifics on it...

Edited by pcguru000, 14 July 2011 - 12:38 PM.

[pcguru000]

lolwut, started pulling things apart to figure what the rattle was...

there some loose screw piece of plastic jumping around in the radar detector (sits right above the center speaker suctioned to the window...)

zzzzz

Thanks for the help and suggestions either way!