Opinion on 3 way placement

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

Just ordered a set of the powerbass 2cl60.3c's. They seem to have excellent reviews and for the price they are definitely worth a shot. This is my first 3 way set. They will be seeing about 100rms. May bi amp down the road. Depends on if I decide to upgrade the woofer or not. My question is, which of the 3 choices below do you think would sound best with the placement? The larger circle is a cone for the 2" mid and the smaller one for the tweeter. The third pic where my finger is pointing is where the tweeter would go. That wouldn't go in a sphere. I'll just cut that piece out and glass it

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[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

These seem to be a common placement for some SQ rigs

 

[Chriszle 10+ year member]

Best way to find out is to temporarily mount them in each of the positions and see what works for you.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

Definitely not trying to have mine looking like any of those. Those things are huge. I'm going for a more stealth and stock kind of look.

Has anyone else on here used these speakers yet?

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Jesus can they see while driving? Looking at running a 3 way also.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

Jesus can they see while driving? Looking at running a 3 way also.

I recommend looking at the powerbass 3 way. I had my doubts but all the reviews I have seen so far seem pretty good. I'll be posting a review of them once I get them in

 

[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

Jesus can they see while driving? Looking at running a 3 way also.

All you really lose is that small amount of windshield

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

I would do none of those options if a stealth look is on your list of requirements. If at all possible, put all the drivers in the doors, maybe with the tweeters in the sail panels. Further spacing between the drivers will add a sense of disconnection to the sound across the frequency range. Putting drivers on the A-pillars adds reflections to the mix, which varies depending on how you aim the drivers. If the set has a good passive crossover it will probably have adjustments to help blend the sound with a variety of speaker locations, but from what I understand this is a very low cost 3-way set. The crossovers tend to suffer on cheaper 3-way systems.

Do you have any plans to use a DSP?

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

I recommend looking at the powerbass 3 way. I had my doubts but all the reviews I have seen so far seem pretty good. I'll be posting a review of them once I get them in

Im leaning towards a Dayton setup running active.

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

You can easily counter the distance issue with phase control. Reverse it on the midbass's, you'll be fine.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

I would do none of those options if a stealth look is on your list of requirements. If at all possible, put all the drivers in the doors, maybe with the tweeters in the sail panels. Further spacing between the drivers will add a sense of disconnection to the sound across the frequency range. Putting drivers on the A-pillars adds reflections to the mix, which varies depending on how you aim the drivers. If the set has a good passive crossover it will probably have adjustments to help blend the sound with a variety of speaker locations, but from what I understand this is a very low cost 3-way set. The crossovers tend to suffer on cheaper 3-way systems.
Do you have any plans to use a DSP?

It doesn't have to be completely stealth. Just don't want it looking retarded like the pics above.

I won't be running dsp to begin with but may upgrade to the Ms8 or the 3sixty.3 down the road. May try to trade my SPG555 for something like that now

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the man problem that those dash speaker systems will encounter is stage width and imaging problems related to HRTF. there is very little shadowing happening with opposite ears. and yes, they lose sight of the corners which means you can expect to hit shyt when parking. really, the cars above were just not committed enough to cut the dash. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif the second pic of the Sprinter Van is not a fair comparison, the amount of effort that went into those is staggering and worthy of the title "the audio system no one would build".

certainly, tweeter height is key to setting soundstage height. tweeter aiming determines both soundstage width and depth. i've found a placement and aiming that allows for shadowing as well as minimizing reflections off the opposite window work well. sail panels are a bit low for my liking but have the right position for HRTF.

dash mids are a tricky sort. i've actually had success with them in the dash firing up with apillar tweeter spheres and door midbass. it worked very well and would make most people very happy. the mids are stealth after a grill is added and the spheres just confuse people.

 

[Alrojoca 10+ year member]

Mmm, these 3 ways systems are becoming very popular lately, more and more people want them.

I saw this in another thread.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

we just need to be careful looking at what someone else has done and expecting to get similar results. the system is so dynamic, even windsheild angle will change how they (a-pillar mids/tweets) perform relative to each vehicle.

i've had better luck with tweeters in dedicated spheres, they are difficult to localize and very smooth. diffraction and phase interference due to reflections are real concerns and a limiting factor in every system's performance.

the main challenge is balancing aiming with off-axis response and opposite side reflections. if the sound stage changes when the windows are rolled down, you know reflections are playing a role.