Could use some advice on my audio setup (noob)

[MERV]

I recently got a new car and I'm very excited to get started on my audio system.
There are however a few things I want to do better this time, compared to my previous car.
There was just this one thing I wasn't really happy with, the sound...

I mainly listen to Death Metal and Black Metal and need some good mids for that with tight low end.
In my previous set up the mids sounded really strange and the vocals were almost as if someone was recording through an empty can or something. I had to turn the 315hz all the way down in the EQ for it to sound sort of decent.
It sounded fine for EDM though.
Now what I would like to figure out, is what caused this sound quality issue.

This was my setup:
Speakers: alpine spg-17cs
Amp: Pioneer GM-A6704 1000w
Sub: Unknown Hertz woofer in a box (around €500)
Radio: Pioneer MVH-S300BT

Were the speakers just crap? or was the radio just messing with the quality? Or maybe the amp even?

Now for my new setup I'm planning to use these speakers: (4x) Rockford R165x3 (I've been told by multiple sources these are really good for metal)
I was thinking about using my Pioneer amp from my previous build but I'm not sure if this could be what was causing my sound issue. Should I reuse it or get a new one?

Any advice would be appreciated!

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[MERV]

Nobody who can give me some advice?

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Any advice would be appreciated!

Was gonna answer when first posted but pop ups got to me.
Your issue may have been polarity on the speakers, but it could have just been the door's resonance. Try sound deadening this time around. It is not cheap but the return is quite pleasing.

 

[MERV]

Was gonna answer when first posted but pop ups got to me.
Your issue may have been polarity on the speakers, but it could have just been the door's resonance. Try sound deadening this time around. It is not cheap but the return is quite pleasing.

Thanks for your response!

Hm, could rockwool do the trick maybe? i have a bunch laying around.
it's mostly used for insulation but i've read it's also pretty good for sound dampening.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Thanks for your response!

Hm, could rockwool do the trick maybe? i have a bunch laying around.
it's mostly used for insulation but i've read it's also pretty good for sound dampening.

I am sure it would work, but the tradeoff would be that in door moistue would linger longer and cause damage.

 

[MERV]

I am sure it would work, but the tradeoff would be that in door moistue would linger longer and cause damage.

hmm wouldn't want that.. Thanks for the input.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'm not a big fan of the Alpine Type S lineup (Type R is a big upgrade), but I'm with aespinoza on this, it's probably more to do with your mounting locations. Sealed/deadened mounting locations and proper aiming of speakers towards the listening position (if possible) will make all the difference here.

I don't think any of the other equipment you listed should be a weak link for you and with some care in mounting those Alpine type S may even sound fine for you in a different car.

You may also consider the relationship between crossover points of the subs into the mids. If you have issues there it'll sound "off". You can experiment with raising and lowering crossover points of sub and mids both and also experiment with running the sub out of phase which can help or hurt on a case by case basis depending on the acoustics of your vehicle. These things cannot be predicted or diagnosed by strangers on the other side of the world. You MUST get in there yourself and experiment to see what helps and hurts and hopefully you find something you like along the way.

 

[MERV]

I'm not a big fan of the Alpine Type S lineup (Type R is a big upgrade), but I'm with aespinoza on this, it's probably more to do with your mounting locations. Sealed/deadened mounting locations and proper aiming of speakers towards the listening position (if possible) will make all the difference here.

I don't think any of the other equipment you listed should be a weak link for you and with some care in mounting those Alpine type S may even sound fine for you in a different car.

You may also consider the relationship between crossover points of the subs into the mids. If you have issues there it'll sound "off". You can experiment with raising and lowering crossover points of sub and mids both and also experiment with running the sub out of phase which can help or hurt on a case by case basis depending on the acoustics of your vehicle. These things cannot be predicted or diagnosed by strangers on the other side of the world. You MUST get in there yourself and experiment to see what helps and hurts and hopefully you find something you like along the way.

I think that mounting location might be the biggest issue now that i think about it.
Everything sounded better if i moved my head closer to the speakers.
My crossover was fine to my ears. sub LPF 80hz -18db and my speakers HPF 80hz - 12db.
The issue were mainly the mids around 300-500hz.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Everything sounded better if i moved my head closer to the speakers.

Look up the difference between "on-axis" and "off-axis" response for loudspeakers. Having a better angle from speakers to your listening position is usually the biggest improvement you can make. This is why some cheap speakers can sound great in a display room of a store and then sound terrible when they're down by your knees in the car.

Now how to make those speakers aim directly at your listening position is the tricky part and will be different for every vehicle. I will say that if you can build them into the kick panels that will be the easiest place to start to make this happen.

 

[MERV]

Look up the difference between "on-axis" and "off-axis" response for loudspeakers. Having a better angle from speakers to your listening position is usually the biggest improvement you can make. This is why some cheap speakers can sound great in a display room of a store and then sound terrible when they're down by your knees in the car.

Now how to make those speakers aim directly at your listening position is the tricky part and will be different for every vehicle. I will say that if you can build them into the kick panels that will be the easiest place to start to make this happen.

Alright thanks!
My new speakers came in today, will be installing them in the doors this weekend and hopefully they will sound great.
If not I'll probably play around with putting them in different places.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Your HU specs indicate that you have Time Alignment and another feature Listening Position Selector. You may want to try those functions to see if they may benefit in some way. I would deff do some door treatments up front/ sound deadening and maybe even place some Plastic speaker baffles in the doors ( the Foam ones are pretty useless IMO). I drill a small hole like a 1/4" or 3/8" just in the bottom to drain down to the bottom of the door in case water enters the baffle.
https://abillionz.com/products/usp5...OmUPowdrJfsdIMg6bBALzrZCV6U-Pd4YaAjQUEALw_wcB

 

[MERV]

Your HU specs indicate that you have Time Alignment and another feature Listening Position Selector. You may want to try those functions to see if they may benefit in some way. I would deff do some door treatments up front/ sound deadening and maybe even place some Plastic speaker baffles in the doors ( the Foam ones are pretty useless IMO). I drill a small hole like a 1/4" or 3/8" just in the bottom to drain down to the bottom of the door in case water enters the baffle.
https://abillionz.com/products/usp5...OmUPowdrJfsdIMg6bBALzrZCV6U-Pd4YaAjQUEALw_wcB

Thanks, those baffles look promising. but wont they 'choke' my speakers?

 

[nauc 10+ year member]

what vehicle?

 

[MERV]

what vehicle?

Mazda 2 2014

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

Mazda 2 2014

As I re-read your first post, I thought about that "In a can" sound. I had something similar when the RCAs got pulled and only the center pins were making contact. Sounded hollow and reverberant.