1998 Sable front sound stage

[mr_naler]

I have been going back and forth about what I want to do with my front speakers/amps. The Precision Power 3-way passive set up seemed good, but I am not sure that is the best for what I am wanting. I currently have a Rockford P400-4 powering JBL GTO 5x7 component speakers. The speakers were easy to install and sound decent honestly. Much improved over the 15 year old factory system anyhow. The tweeters are a bit too bright for me, though I haven't tried EQing extensively. The midrange is what is lacking the most. The vocals aren't as warm as I would hope. I listen to a lot of trap, rap, and dubstep but I also listen to Florence + The Machine and Explosions in the Sky. In those types of music the vocals and the detail in the high end is lost.

I have looked into using raw drivers and running an active 3-way set with the Pioneer PRS80, but it seems like it will end up being more trouble than it's worth being that I have 0 experience with 3-way set ups anyhow.

Would a decent set of 3-ways passive (Focal Access/Precision Power) remedy this? Will I need an EQ? Will I need a better HU (current is Kenwwod KDC-493)? What other advise can be given on how to work a 3 way set up work for my installation?

Click to read more...

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Hey Cody. First off get a better deck like the cz 702 or kdc 996 the hertz 3 ways are a good set to consider as well as the cdt mx3 way set. Both around $400 give or take

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Before you change the speakers, you must try to EQ for the response you want to hear. You could be pleasantly surprised. Loss of detail is often caused by poor frequency response, which mainly comes from the close quarters environment bouncing the sound several times before it reaches our ears.

The car probably is not helping you get the most out of those woofers. The doors should be sealed around the perimeter of the speaker so the sound is focused through the grille. This can be done with a bit of weather strip foam. Above and beyond that there are several other ways you can treat your doors to act more like a proper speaker enclosure.

3-way active plus a subwoofer is not possible on most head units. Tweeter/mid/sub is easy, but with the CDT MX Designs systems you can combine 4 channels into 2 by running the tweeters and mids on the passive crossovers. Otherwise you need an 8-channel DSP, and the project cost rises sharply.

 

[mr_naler]

I fooled with the EQ setting on the radio, I still couldn't find anything close to what I want. Right as I was getting out of my car just now I noticed the right woofer is crackling so now there is that too. Could I replace the 5x7 woofers with some decent 6" mid drivers? Or at that point should I move on? (That is if I can't find a solution to the rattling). I tweaked them quite a bit on my cheap Pioneer deck but it was always missing something. I've never had a good sounding front stage so I don't have a good reference point but I know what sound I am looking for. If that makes sense. 3 way active using the PRS80 or LDC-x997 am running the subwoofer channel to the midbass with a cutoff at 250 high pass then cross the midbass and subs at 70hz on the amplifiers. Though I think a decent passive system would do well for me.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Could I replace the 5x7 woofers with some decent 6" mid drivers? Or at that point should I move on?

If you can't fix the rattling, then whole speaker set should go. It sounds like you don't care for the tweeters, and you can't just put a different woofer in a passive component system and expect it to work out great. It would be a guess, and that's not the best approach.

3 way active using the PRS80 or LDC-x997 am running the subwoofer channel to the midbass with a cutoff at 250 high pass then cross the midbass and subs at 70hz on the amplifiers.

The fatal flaw with this plan is time alignment. Time alignment is based on distance. Since your mids and subwoofer are in 3 different locations, but the signal source is the same on these drivers, you will have no useful time alignment in the vehicle. The 3-way tweeter/mid/subwoofer arrangement will work fine.

 

[mr_naler]

Ah, I have never used time alignment so I guess that's why I don't take things like that into consideration. It seems like my best course of action is to run a 2-way front sound stage off of the 80PRS using both channels of my P400-4 as well as my DC 10s until I decide to step up and get a RF 360.3 or something similar.

Any suggestions as to raw drivers for this option with the ability to drop in a mid range speaker later?

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Any suggestions as to raw drivers for this option with the ability to drop in a mid range speaker later?

CDT has a large selection of raw drivers, plus excellent customer support and a free 5 year lifetime warranty extension which comes from buying from a knowledgeable dealer such as myself. I would be remiss to leave out the suggestion of exploring other raw drivers, as the selection is extensive, but I'm unable to provide the same level of support. I've been experimenting with CDT drivers in several configurations over the past few years, and I have many satisified customers.

 

[mr_naler]

CDT has been something I have looked into but never extensively. The HD 6 and HD-1/BL seem like they would be a decent place to start building from. The ES is just a bit over what I want to spend currently. Besides, I am just getting into having more than just a loud audio system so the improvement would probably be lost on my ears. It took me forever to discern the difference in guitar tones. Ha

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

CDT has been something I have looked into but never extensively. The HD 6 and HD-1/BL seem like they would be a decent place to start building from. The ES is just a bit over what I want to spend currently. Besides, I am just getting into having more than just a loud audio system so the improvement would probably be lost on my ears. It took me forever to discern the difference in guitar tones. Ha

HD-1/BL is my favorite tweeter, and it's hard to go wrong with HD-6. I have a discontinued weather resistant woofer that's similar to ES-6 in my doors, and I use ES-02 as my midrange. HD-1/BL really brings the top end to life, resembling live instruments more than other tweeters I've heard.

 

[mr_naler]

HD-1/BL is my favorite tweeter, and it's hard to go wrong with HD-6. I have a discontinued weather resistant woofer that's similar to ES-6 in my doors, and I use ES-02 as my midrange. HD-1/BL really brings the top end to life, resembling live instruments more than other tweeters I've heard.

Can you hook me up with a quote for the HD-6 and HD-1/BL?