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

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

It just occurred to me that I can measure my door speakers distances when the door panels are off. That would be one way to get right to the coils. Hindsight!!

its really not *that* important..

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

its really not *that* important..

I know... just when things pop in my head at random times like "oh, I was right there, I could have done this"

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Ripped both IASCA disc today, first time listening to them. On disc #2, the "Entertainment Disc" there are 3 tracks that hit hard as hell!
#13 Robodrop with samples from the original Robocop movie
#14 Moon with the Rebel Bass... you guessed it, Sample from Star Wars
#15 Do you like the Pressure
I will listen to them in the car at work tomorrow. Today was on the Samson near field monitors and the Yamaha sub. Both disc are cool. They simplified the test/evaluation disc but still covers the same basic ideas.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

My DD 2.75" mids seem to be just fine. I have 3 sets of tweeters, 1 set running in the car as I speak (ARC Audio 1.0), 1 set of DD soft dome tweeters and a set of 25mm Titanium Dayton Audio tweeters. The DD's and the Daytons are brand new and unused. I am going to make some more pods out of PVC caps. 3" to be exact for the DD 2.75 mids. I still have a two channel amp sitting here in my room... my RF 250a2. I am going to run my silverflutes on it and the 4 channel barbara ann will run the mids and tweets in the pods on the A-Pillars. This will be a final test/learning experience in THIS car. If this works like it is supposed to then I will apply all this to the next car... next Jeep Grand Cherokee 99'-04'.

SkizeR, I am going to stack the tweeters above the mids vetically at the A-Pillars... Suggestions? Words of advice? The mids and tweets will be ON AXIS. You know the speakers I have:

6.5" Silverflutes - 4ohms - Midbass
2.75" DD - 4ohms - Mids

ARC 1.0 - 4ohm Tweeter - Soft Dome
Digital Designs T2a - 4ohm Tweeter - Soft Dome
Dayton AN25Ti-4 - 4ohm Tweeter - Ti Dome

Which tweeters should I use? Can you list crossover points for each? I have the sub running up to 65hz 24db L/R slope. I have the Silverflute midbass starting at 80hz 24db L/R slope... from there I need the best suggested starting points. Whatta ya got? All active brother.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Found my A-Pillar pods I made for my Alpine tweeters and was able to remove the tweeters. I test fit both the Dayton's and the DD's and they both fit with no issues. I don't know... they both look good.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

So I ask and I ask and I ask the best way to set the amp gains with a DSP, what is the reference volume for setting the EQ's and what not... yada yada yada. I also ask if REW already compensates for the natural roll off of pink noise on its graph... apparently it does. So in REW you ARE looking for a pretty flat response across the board from bass to midbass to mids to highs on it's graph when using a calibrated mic and setting the EQ's and crossovers and so on. So basically I just opened up a false floor in the rabbit hole and I am about to jump in deeper.

One of the things I did not have was the answer to what volume should I reference all of my settings. Now I have it. 85db - 90db.

I have the max, undistorted volume from my head unit into my DSP. 36 of 40 on the eXcelon for the 3Sixty.3 as the 3Sixty.3 wants a clean 2v input.

Now I use my test tones at whatever "-5 or -10db" to set the gains on my mids and highs amp and I will use my O-scope to set with no clipping.
Ditto for my Midbass amp
Ditto for my sub amp

Now, I will turn down the volume on my 3Sixty.3 and turn the levels down on the tweets, midbass and subs and only have my mids playing pink noise. I will turn the volume up until I have my mids at or very near 90db. I will bring the other db levels up to the level of the mids.

Now the fun can begin... Equalizing. Phasing. Time correction. After watching a video, the need to eq each individual speaker makes sense.

I know this all looks like a bunch a chatter but it makes sense in my brain with what I have seen and heard now.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Ok, I got some more PVC today... the pics should give you the basic idea. These are CHEAP diy pods but should be effective. All drivers will be sealed in their pods so front and rear waves should not be an issue. I guess I will use the DD speakers for this experiment. I also included a mockup pic.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

you probably shouldnt be enclosing those mids in something that small

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

you probably shouldnt be enclosing those mids in something that small

Yeah... I thought about that too. There is going to be some poly type fill in each pod... though I don't know if it will help. It might.

 

[MattinMO]

Is this build EVER going to be considered done?

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Is this build EVER going to be considered done?

lol. ummm.... one day.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I think one of my ARC tweeters is either blown or has a very loose connection. Cuttin in and out all night. Very annoying.
I am trying something different tomorrow afternoon. I am going to run my 2.75" from 300hz to 20Khz on the dash, no tweeters. I am going to bring my 6.5" down to 80hz - 300hz.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Putting the pods together for the widebands. That foam is some left over Stinger Fast Ring material. I am hoping it will dampen the inside of the pods. To comment on the pods size, they are actually almost exactly the same size as the factory door panel pods 3.5" location which are also sealed pods. The 2.75" sounded fine in those with no foam. It is an experiment. These are going up on the dash, angled at the drivers head...ish.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Just sealed the speakers to the mounting hardware with Permatex Clear Adhesive Sealant Silicone RTV #80050. I also measured the voicecoils again and both settle on 3.9ohms. Good enough for me. Installation tomorrow. It will be single 10" subwoofer - Silverflute 6.5" midbass - DD 2.75" widebands. I will **** myself if this sounds better.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

If the miniDSP mic and REW are even slightly accurate together for spl readings then 90db is WAY louder than I thought, well 93db is anyway. I wanted to set the EQ in my room with my Samson near field monitors and Yamaha sub and took readings and set my volume to 93db. I am literally 2 feet away from each monitor and 3 feet from the sub. After I put the widebands in the car here in a few minutes and set all the levels and EQ's again I am going to take an SPL reading at my normal listening level... I am curious now cause I don't listen to it as loud as that 93DB was.