A Solution To My Midbass Problem

[wattsat]

Since the 5.25's in the Front doors suffer from a complete lack of Midbass as well as being too close to your ears I have come up with this. It is not finished, but it is in a working condition. Over the next week or so I will trim it out and make it look like a factory piece.

There are 2 6.5" midbass drivers in a sealed box. One driver is set up out of Phase. Speakers are run in Mono. Right now the Macrom drivers are not quite up to the challenge. I don't think they were meant for the type of sealed enclosure I created.

Here are the Pics.

What do you think?

[Bing_0]

first, i still dont know why you dont just fix the midbass the issue by putting a larger midbass upfront? having two wooferes in the middle behind the front seats will undboutly drag the stage backwards, and mess with the stereo nature of your system.

as for the macrom or morel drivers, they prefer a large vented box or a free baffle, so with a a small sealed box, they will probably have a reather boomy response...

my call is still for a pair of 6.5" midbass up front in kicks...

b

[wattsat]

Bing,

I certainly agree with putting Kicks in the Front. They most certainly will sound better.

However, this solution is Free, with the exception of my Time. Building Kicks is not an easy task and is a job that I cannot do myself. Buying them is not currently an option.

As far as moving the sound stage. I have the 6.5's playing 150hz Down and the Fronts playing 120hz up. I have the 6.5's hooked up to a crossover with level control. When I turn them down I can tell the Mid Bass is gone. When I turn it back up I feel it and hear it, but because the frequency is low it does not move the stage rearword.

When I change the frequency of the 6.5's to play full range it certainly moves the stage and sounds like Crap.

I have a Set of Orion 6.5"S in my RX-7 that I will swap out. They are a much beefier driver and meant for a sealed enclosure.

Up front, I need to play with the direction of the tweeters. They are very harsh at high volume levels.

I really hate the placement of the 5.25's in this car. It would have been much better to put them in the bottom of the doors and move the storage space to the middle rear of the door like the rest of the car makers in the world.

Besides, for those that want more bass and don't want to lose foot space in the front or storage space in the rear, this may be a very good option. With two passengers in the back there is no loss of space. With a different box, an 8" sub could easily fit.

[potroast]

I hate kicks. The stage is always so low with them.

But making them is EXTREMELY easy. I don't know why you think it's hard? $20 and a trip to Home Depot should get you started.

[Bing_0]

that is about the single most uninformed reply i have read on here in a long time.

care to explain your reply in more detail?

b

[potroast]

Okay, $20:

1) $10 Fiberglass resin Hardener

2) $5 Fiberglass Matt

3) $2 Gloves

4) $1 Painters Tarp

5) $2 MDF ring

Okay, that's your $20...

Now, for how *easy* it is to make kicks:

put speaker in ring, place on kick, and position speaker for best listening. Once that's set, remove the speaker, and find some way of holding the ring in place. Put painter's tarp under everything so it doesn't get messy, then use the matt and resin/hardener to create your kicks. (Wear gloves!) At the end, you have a nice kickpanel ready for sanding/paint, carpet, tweed, whatever.

[Bing_0]

well, lets see:

1) $10 Fiberglass resin Hardener

where in the world do you get enough resin and hardner to make a set of kicks for $10?

2) $5 Fiberglass Matt

again, where in the world do you get enough mat to make a set of kicks for $5?

3) $2 Gloves

fine...

4) $1 Painters Tarp

painters tarp? for what?

5) $2 MDF ring

i didnt know they just sold random mdf rings designed to fit your particular speaker at stores for $2

and this is not counting a whole slew of other important materials and parts you didnt even mention...how about things like:

masking tape

router or jig saw to cut rings

metal strapping

mold fabric? (whcih is one of the main ingredients)

mold release

sand paper

spray adhesive

carpet

and some more, or are you saying that you meant epople should already have these in their houses?

honestly, from your decription of how to make a set of kicks, you are either someone who has never made a set of kicks, or makes very poorly designed and fabricated kicks, which of course, makes me understand why you say kicks are horrible and always have a low sound stage.

b

[potroast]

1) $10 Fiberglass resin Hardener

where in the world do you get enough resin and hardner to make a set of kicks for $10?

Home Depot

2) $5 Fiberglass Matt

again, where in the world do you get enough mat to make a set of kicks for $5?

Home Depot.

4) $1 Painters Tarp

painters tarp?  for what?

So you don't get resin all over your car?

5) $2 MDF ring

i didnt know they just sold random mdf rings designed to fit your particular speaker at stores for $2

A local shop does sell rings, you can usually find them at arts/crafts stores (although not marketed as a speaker ring. You know, it's just a circle!

masking tape

router or jig saw to cut rings

I assumed you'd have the above items. I do.

sand paper

spray adhesive

carpet

Sand paper is only neccessary if you paint. Spray adhesive/carpet is only neccessary if you go that route. I happen to have all three in my garage. Am I weird or something?

metal strapping

mold fabric? (whcih is one of the main ingredients)

mold release

I never needed any of that when I used glass.

and some more, or are you saying that you meant epople should already have these in their houses?

As I pointed out above, I don't factor in the need to buy simply tools such as a dremel, drill, or screwdriver every project I do! These are basic tools that I kind of assume people have.

honestly, from your decription of how to make a set of kicks, you are either someone who has never made a set of kicks, or makes very poorly designed and fabricated kicks, which of course, makes me understand why you say kicks are horrible and always have a low sound stage.

I have made kicks before, and I found them to be less than impressive. I have found that I am also not alone in this feeling -- especially since I find the Q-Logic kicks to be equally disappointing. Also, please do not insult my skills with fiberglass, I have used it many times and have never had a problem!

[Bing_0]

i really dont feel the need to debate this issue further...I am not neccessarily doubting that you know how to fiberglass and do it well, but your original explanation on how it is done, and your follow up replies, just seem to contradict a lot of things i know and learned in the decade or so I have been in the field of custom car audio and fiberglassing...but anyway, to each his own...

but as for kicks sounding bad, first of all, no real car audio phile would bring up qforms as a source of reference, not until they are heavily modified at least...but can you explain why the best sounding cars, or in othe words, almost all the iasca and usac world champions have had kicks in their vehicles? and why over 90 percent of serious sound quality competitors use them in their cars? especially when sound stage height (the main deficiency you have listed for kicks), is among the main judging critierias?

anyway, perhaps it wold be much clearer to me if you posted some pics of the kicks and fiberglass projects you have made in the past, maybe we have two totally different approaches to glassin', be nice to learn a new technique...

b