Comps sound horrible in dashboard?

[B_Rad_NC 10+ year member]

I just replaced the front speakers in my catalina with some quantum 5.25 comps, i made mdf baffles for them so they mount perfectly to the dash, and are sealed around the mdf with silicone, i have the tweeters in the center console pointing outwards. I also put egg carton foam behind the speakers under the dashboard. Maybe i put too much foam? Theres an assload packed in there and there wasnt much room to begin with. So the speakers basically have no room at all behind them. Im also thinking maybe its the staging or whatever and where i got the tweets at. Also there is NO low or mid bass to speak of coming from them now, excursion is fine, and it seems like the bass should be there, because everythings hooked up correctly. I have a set in another car but in the rear dash and they sound great. Anybody have any advice? Im not running these on an amp btw.

Click to read more...

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

....... do u even know the difference between stereo and mono?

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

you're not going to get much bass to speak of out of 5.25s. And why the heck did you mount the tweets in the center console?

 

[B_Rad_NC 10+ year member]

actually i dont know the diff between stereo and mono. i dont know that much about car audio shit right now either. But i try. Itd be nice if youd help though instead of posting smartass remarks //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

jman was it a bad idea to mount them in the center console? ( its actually in the center of the dashboard, not console) this is my first comp set so im not sure about where to mount the tweets. Ill see if i can get a pic to show you what im talking about.

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

A guy won MECA finals in sound quality for '06 with dash mounted mids, midbass and tweeters I think in the sail panels (iirc, he changed his setup several times during the year). You have to give the midrange some airspace behind them to get any midbass - he used the defroster vents, and try mounting the tweeters in the A-pillars or in the sail panel (the inside triangle where the side view mirrors are).

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

jman was it a bad idea to mount them in the center console? ( its actually in the center of the dashboard, not console) this is my first comp set so im not sure about where to mount the tweets. Ill see if i can get a pic to show you what im talking about.

You should have mounted the tweeters on the doors or a-pillars or something. With the tweeters in the middle, you won't have very good stereo imaging.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

HU power isn't going to do very much, as you really need an amp to push them. If the HU has a HPF what is it set to? HPF = high pass filter or xover. Should be set to around 80Hz if yours has that.

Not sure about all the foam, but some deadener on the door might help...

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

actually i dont know the diff between stereo and mono. i dont know that much about car audio shit right now either. But i try. Itd be nice if youd help though instead of posting smartass remarks //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif



jman was it a bad idea to mount them in the center console? ( its actually in the center of the dashboard, not console) this is my first comp set so im not sure about where to mount the tweets. Ill see if i can get a pic to show you what im talking about.

basically stereo is when u have a left and right channel (the sounds heard from the left side are not always the same as the ones on the right side) and mono is pretty much when ur only running 1 channel the sounds comming out of 1, 2 ,3 or 20 speakers are all the same.

The reason u pretty much only see tweeters on the right and left side of the car (and not the middle) is so they can make that right and left channel for a stereo sound to create imaging (which also makes it not sound like crap).

The only time there should ever be a tweeter mounted in the middle is if you were running 5.1/7.1 surround sound in which case the tweeter in the middle is acting as the center channel, but that'll just confuse u.

Pretty much like the other people who posted already said, mount the tweeters at the A pillars or sail panels would be the easiest choice. Most cars have stock tweeters at those locations which u might be able to replace with your aftermarket components.

The midbass drivers do require a certain amount of space, it sounds like they're not getting enough, mounting them on the dash is not always a horrible idea but its not the best. I'm guessing that your lack of bass could be because they're not getting enough power, which is why i also agree with everyone in saying that you should get a amplifier, even a cheap $50-100 2 channel amplifier for the components will sound at least 10 times better then running off the headunit.

 

[B_Rad_NC 10+ year member]

thanks phypho, i understand that whole imaging thing now. These speakers actually have a very good amount of bass when mounted in the rear dashboard/deck/whatever. But none to speak of in the front, which is why i was confused. The HU i have sucks which im gonna upgrade soon, and i may get a small 4ch amp for all 4 component speakers. Im gonna take the dash out and remove some of the foam, and put the tweeters on the door at the top and see if that helps any. Thanks for the advice man

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

the smartest thing you can do is get a deck that has 3x pre outs and get a 4ch amp for them, you will be amazed

 

[ThatChevyGuy 5,000+ posts]

yeah those speakers arent very good either.

 

[dftnz7 10+ year member]

You will get some serious reflection as well off the windshield which isn't helping....

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

you have to learn to account for the reflections .... the best way is to install the speakers in such a way that you cannot hear any of the direct sound from the speakers, the result will be listening to what amounts to an imaginary speaker mounted where the reflection is coming from.