My first "Active" "SQ'ish" build attempt.

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Got them on the dash... sounded like the doodoo. Did some EQing and other stuff. Sounded like the Angels singing. I can tell they roll off and where tweeters could help with some sizzle but this is just an experiment. Gonna ride with these unconventional pods for a while, then add tweeters.

Oh, 90db in the car is a HAIR above where I normally listen to my music (88db). This particular setup is now clean to well over 110db... Which hurt.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I have my Silverflutes at 80 -300hz. A very narrow frequency range in my opinion. Took the car on a road test and the door speakers are almost non existent. They were crossed over from 80 to 4Khz and handled that range fine. I think I will move them up to... 700hz - 1Khz? I just don't want to take the focus off the dash because the soundstage is definitely up on the dash now. I am going to bring the widebands down 3-5db in the DSP. The dash speakers will need some more eq'ing as there are some undesirable frequencies in there. Kinda like some nasal air overtones... the EQ should handle them fine once the laptop is charged back up. I am surprised how much louder a speaker is when pointed somewhat at you as apposed to each other in the doors. It makes sense now why you can get away with a 30w 91db speaker or a 25w tweeter on the A-Pillars. When that stuff is right at your dome, you don't need much power to be loud.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Brought the midbass up to 700hz and the mids down to 700hz. Adjusted the mids down -6db and they blended in MUCH better. I also adjusted the EQ on some trouble frequencies which were easier to locate once I went up to and down to 700hz.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

cross lower than that. 350hz or so. And no, a USB mic is not SPL calibrated out of the box. that 93db is not actually 93db

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

cross lower than that. 350hz or so. And no, a USB mic is not SPL calibrated out of the box. that 93db is not actually 93db

It's the miniDSP UMIK-1 with calibration file... pretty close though?

I had it crossed over at 300hz but that was before I lowered the mids 6db. I will put it back and see if the midbass are still there, I suppose they should be now. Right now, I am literally just trying to learn what different situations sound like in the car. I have never had speakers on the dash like this and active. Here are the pods... don't laugh too hard, it is an experiment. I am looking at some prefab pods that fit may A-Pillars and that fit up to a 3.5" and 1.5". Those aim the drivers at the headrest. As you can see, these are off axis... but they are friggin loud.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

There is an 8 channel amp that I am looking at. It would solve my amplifier situation by keeping me at only two amplifiers but easily allowing me to amplify ALL my active channels with two channels left over... future rear fill? Maybe. The problem is, its a **** name brand with over rated power. Now, I know damn well it is over rated however the "actual" power should be perfect for mids and highs.

I used a "realistic formula" to guess the possible actual power:

100a fuse x 14.4v = 1440w potential output - assuming 50% efficiency - 1440 x 0.50 = 720w - 720w / 8 channels = 90w per channel. What do you think?

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

If you want a consolidated package, just get a Helix V Eight Mk2

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

It's the miniDSP UMIK-1 with calibration file... pretty close though?

No. With a mic that isn't SPL calibrated REW just spits out an arbitrary number. Might be close, since 90db is around where people listen, but its not the actual measurement.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

If you want a consolidated package, just get a Helix V Eight Mk2

Ummm $1,400+ is no small investment. Though exactly the right idea.

I am learning a little bit each time I mess with this Active Crap. I spent 25 minutes on the drive to work listening to different music that I am used to listening to at home and when I got to work I hooked up my laptop, set the midbass back to 300 or 350hz, I forget which and did the same for the widebands. Then I did a bunch of eq'ing by ear. I also realized that even though I time aligned the widebands, the left side was way louder than the right. I lowered them overall -6db as a pair yesterday, today I raised the right speaker up to -3db and violawalasapaka!!! Now they sound nearly the same volume at the drivers seat. The 7 drums track on the older IASCA disc sounded MOSTLY even but the kicker is that the snare drum sounded the same height across the dash, no more dipping to the lower right speaker. You have NO idea how excited that makes me... silly I know, but progress!!!

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I may just buy a pair of these.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Ended up buying a different set.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I am thinking something set up close to this...

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Tracking says my pods have cleared customs and was accepted to the airplane for transport. Yay!!

 

[MikeFPV]

Those pods look pretty cool . I was thinking of getting some but I would really like to learn to build my own . I have been following a guy on Facebook in the UK . He is a master at building those right on the A-pillar . Check out his site . PsSound . Dont hold your breath on getting them anytime soon . I bought a slash off fleabay and its been sitting in Indiana for 10 days and I paid for top notch postage . Went to my post office to complain and I dont think I have ever seen that many people there waiting to mail something

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Those pods look pretty cool . I was thinking of getting some but I would really like to learn to build my own . I have been following a guy on Facebook in the UK . He is a master at building those right on the A-pillar . Check out his site . PsSound . Dont hold your breath on getting them anytime soon . I bought a slash off fleabay and its been sitting in Indiana for 10 days and I paid for top notch postage . Went to my post office to complain and I dont think I have ever seen that many people there waiting to mail something

I bought them because like the Kicker pods coming out next year, the tweeter housing can be rotated around the mid. I was sold.