Door and dash speakers- Coaxials? Components? What do I do?

[Smitty]

Kenwood X995 $150 shipped

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Those silver flutes... How would they sound compared to some of the other woofers on that site? I know they have wool cones, but I don't know how that affects the audio.

They've been compared to Hybrid Audio L6s which are some top notch woofers. But the Flutes are a lot cheaper. They're some of the best reviewed budget woofers out there. You could also look into Dayton Audio woofers which are aluminum cones IIRC.

The best thing to do is to find a woofer that u like and do a search for reviews on it, especially on diyma.com

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

They've been compared to Hybrid Audio L6s which are some top notch woofers. But the Flutes are a lot cheaper. They're some of the best reviewed budget woofers out there. You could also look into Dayton Audio woofers which are aluminum cones IIRC.
The best thing to do is to find a woofer that u like and do a search for reviews on it, especially on diyma.com

Hmm. I've heard of the Dayton B652 bookshelf speakers described as "audiophile-grade", which is good. But I don't really have a frame of reference for the cones... Where do you find reviews for these sorts of things, anyway? I'm liking the idea of the Flutes, and if the consensus is that they're superior to the Daytons, they definitely seem like a good choice.

Edit: Which Daytons were you referring to, specifically?

Kenwood X995 $150 shipped

Well, since that has an LCD, not a VFD, it kind of defeats my point. I also set a budget cap of ~$95 for the head unit alone.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Hmm. I've heard of the Dayton B652 bookshelf speakers described as "audiophile-grade", which is good. But I don't really have a frame of reference for the cones... Where do you find reviews for these sorts of things, anyway? I'm liking the idea of the Flutes, and if the consensus is that they're superior to the Daytons, they definitely seem like a good choice.
Edit: Which Daytons were you referring to, specifically?

You can find reviews on parts express or on forums like DIYMA.com

I was referring to the Dayton reference line but the designer line is also nice.

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

The Dayton reference line has 6 and 7-inch woofers, but no 6.5-inch ones. I'm assuming the thing to do would be to get the 6-inch and rig some sort of mounting bracket for it?

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Or get the 7

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

I'm mostly concerned that the 7'' would be too large for the door speaker compartments... Plus the 7s are $15 more, each. Although I'm still not sure about the Dayton reference vs Silver Flute. I want something that will compliment the 3.5'' dash speakers best.

Edit: It's occurred to me that perhaps neither of them are a good choice... The R.F. amp has a low-pass filter up to 250hz, and the Polk dash coaxials come with 200hz high pass filters... A ~200hz crossover seems more like subwoofer territory... Which means I don't get any strong mids from the door speakers. The Daytons and Flutes seem like they'd be optimized for something like a 2khz crossover... But how would I achieve that? By making my own high and low pass filters?

Edit 2: Wait, I just realized that since the woofers and dash speakers would be on different channels, (woofers powered by amp, dash speakers by head unit) I don't need to worry about that, do I? I could, say, give the woofers a 2khz low-pass filter and the dash speakers a 200hz high-pass filter, and they wouldn't interfere? Or am I failing to understand how multiple channels work...

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

I'm mostly concerned that the 7'' would be too large for the door speaker compartments... Plus the 7s are $15 more, each. Although I'm still not sure about the Dayton reference vs Silver Flute. I want something that will compliment the 3.5'' dash speakers best.
Edit: It's occurred to me that perhaps neither of them are a good choice... The R.F. amp has a low-pass filter up to 250hz, and the Polk dash coaxials come with 200hz high pass filters... A ~200hz crossover seems more like subwoofer territory... Which means I don't get any strong mids from the door speakers. The Daytons and Flutes seem like they'd be optimized for something like a 2khz crossover... But how would I achieve that? By making my own high and low pass filters?

Edit 2: Wait, I just realized that since the woofers and dash speakers would be on different channels, (woofers powered by amp, dash speakers by head unit) I don't need to worry about that, do I? I could, say, give the woofers a 2khz low-pass filter and the dash speakers a 200hz high-pass filter, and they wouldn't interfere? Or am I failing to understand how multiple channels work...

Ok first off 200hz is NOT subwoofer territory. 70hz and below is.

The purpose of running the separate mid up high is to get the phase/driver shift out of the middle of the vocal range. A crossover point of about 250-300hz would be great for that. If you're gonna run the 6.5s all the way up to 2khz, u may as well just do a regular 2 way component set.

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

Ah, yeah, I suppose I don't really have enough experience with this to realize what a 250hz low-pass filter actually sounds like... I also realize I've largely forgotten how logarithms work... I realize now that 250hz should work fine.

I'm still not sure what woofers to get, though, keeping in mind that sub-250hz performance is most important. The Daytons, for example, seem like they have good performance across the low-to-mid section, but if there's others which are cheaper, and still perform just as well at the frequencies I need, then I'd rather go with them. Or if there are some which are even more focused on the bass-end for around the same price.

Also, can crossovers overlap at all? If the low pass filter is set to the aforementioned 250hz, can I use it in conjunction with the 200hz high pass filter?

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Ah, yeah, I suppose I don't really have enough experience with this to realize what a 250hz low-pass filter actually sounds like... I also realize I've largely forgotten how logarithms work... I realize now that 250hz should work fine.
I'm still not sure what woofers to get, though, keeping in mind that sub-250hz performance is most important. The Daytons, for example, seem like they have good performance across the low-to-mid section, but if there's others which are cheaper, and still perform just as well at the frequencies I need, then I'd rather go with them. Or if there are some which are even more focused on the bass-end for around the same price.

Also, can crossovers overlap at all? If the low pass filter is set to the aforementioned 250hz, can I use it in conjunction with the 200hz high pass filter?

The absolute best for cheap in those frequencies is the Peerless SLS but its deep and may cost more but well worth it.

Yes they can overlap if they need to. Shouldn't hurt enough to be noticeable

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

Okay, well, I've decided that I really want to get the Dayton RS180-4 woofers. However, reality is kicking in, and I think those are a bit extravagant, at about twice as much as I'd like to spend. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's no way in hell they'd fit in my doors without significant modifications...

I could go with the RS150-4's, but I'm worried they wouldn't be able to output much with their smaller drivers and my low crossover frequency... But how would it compare to some of the other 6.5'' woofers around that price range, such as the Silver Flute, Goldwood, and Dayton "classic"?

And how unhappy would I be if I just bought a $18 pair of Pyramids?

Edit: How about these?

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Okay, well, I've decided that I really want to get the Dayton RS180-4 woofers. However, reality is kicking in, and I think those are a bit extravagant, at about twice as much as I'd like to spend. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's no way in hell they'd fit in my doors without significant modifications...
I could go with the RS150-4's, but I'm worried they wouldn't be able to output much with their smaller drivers and my low crossover frequency... But how would it compare to some of the other 6.5'' woofers around that price range, such as the Silver Flute, Goldwood, and Dayton "classic"?

And how unhappy would I be if I just bought a $18 pair of Pyramids?

Edit: How about these?

Is go with the flutes just bc they review well, will allow u to run a regular 2 way later on if u wish and are right between the 6s and 7s Dayton offers.

I wouldn't spit on Pyramids

And never heard of those others.

 

[Siguy 10+ year member]

Based on reviews, and lower cost, I think I'm gonna go with the Dayton DC160-4s. They seem like a good match for my intended crossover frequency, and they're the cheapest of the speakers I've considered. If I ever build a home speaker system, I'm definitely getting some reference-series drivers, or possibly Flutes, though.

One more thing, are the Polk 3.5's going to benefit at all from being amplified? Should I go with a 4-channel amp instead?

The DB352s are rated at 30W RMS, the head unit at 22W RMS.

Of course, the amp is rated at 40W RMS and the DC160's at 60W, so it's a similar difference in rated/supplied power. But I'm not sure how honest the 22W RMS figure for the head unit is.

 

[>>SQL<< 10+ year member]

This reminds me of another thread

Full range door speakers? - SaabCentral Forums

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Based on reviews, and lower cost, I think I'm gonna go with the Dayton DC160-4s. They seem like a good match for my intended crossover frequency, and they're the cheapest of the speakers I've considered. If I ever build a home speaker system, I'm definitely getting some reference-series drivers, or possibly Flutes, though.
One more thing, are the Polk 3.5's going to benefit at all from being amplified? Should I go with a 4-channel amp instead?

The DB352s are rated at 30W RMS, the head unit at 22W RMS.

Of course, the amp is rated at 40W RMS and the DC160's at 60W, so it's a similar difference in rated/supplied power. But I'm not sure how honest the 22W RMS figure for the head unit is.

Can't hurt to amp them