Strange horn install I saw years ago...

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Okay many (many) years ago I saw a horn install in a car audio mag in an Impala SS (94-96). The horns were mounted under the seat, firing forward. I lost the mag years ago, but I remember it was a pro install by a reputable shop. And, well, it got featured in an audio mag. Ive asked alot of people over the years if they saw it, or ever heard of this before... nobody has shed any light on the subject. I blew it off as stupid... but I do know ID recommends their horns be mounted under the dash, ideally as far back as possible, off-axis and even out of sight if possible. So, if super tweeters are used for the upper most freqs... this *might* be a semi-acceptable way to run horns. *shrug* Yes I know, it would probably rely too much on reflections. But anyone remember this car, setup, or seen anything similar to relate how it sounded?

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[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

I seeing a pic online once before... doubt I can find it...

nG

 

[tez4life Premium Member]

That does sound interesting, almost a complete opposite of what ID recommends for their horns.......I agree though, seems like it would rely too much on reflections.

Very unusual concept though, never heard of anything like that myself.

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

USD Waveguides.

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

http://www.usdaudio.com/

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

USD Waveguides.

Not sure I see how that's helpful. Care to elaborate?

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

if you have high-end horns reflecting directly off the windshield, more-less pointed right at you... unless you have a good EQ.. you're going to lose your hearing REAL fast. I have soem cheap horns reflecting off window right now, and I have my tweet turned WAYYYy down, and they're still really bright

 

[abrhino 10+ year member]

i have never cared for horns.. a guy i know had four across his rear deck.. i would not listen to his system.. the horns were too high pitched

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

I assumed you were looking for info on horn mounting in sq cars. USD has won many awards in SQ with their installs.

"or seen anything similar "

yes, USD had similar installs.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

if you have high-end horns reflecting directly off the windshield, more-less pointed right at you... unless you have a good EQ.. you're going to lose your hearing REAL fast. I have soem cheap horns reflecting off window right now, and I have my tweet turned WAYYYy down, and they're still really bright

The install type Im talking about would be directly the opposite of pointed right at me. As I said in my first post, hlcd's prefer off-axis mounting situations. Im very familiar with horn setups, Ive been a horn fan for almost 20 years now. Ive just never seen under-seat mounting setups besides the one I mentioned above. It occurred to me when I wrote this thread that maybe someone else on this board has seen a similar install (or better yet, seen and heard) as well.
And I have sufficient processing to control hlcd's, Im not looking for general horn info here, just specifics on the mounting type I described in my first post.

Thanks for the info tho.

i have never cared for horns.. a guy i know had four across his rear deck.. i would not listen to his system.. the horns were too high pitched

Im not talking about cheap piezo style PA type horns guys. Horn loaded compression drivers only for me.

I assumed you were looking for info on horn mounting in sq cars. USD has won many awards in SQ with their installs.
"or seen anything similar "

yes, USD had similar installs.

Yes Im very familiar with USD waveguides. Im just looking for specific info on the mounting type I described above, not actually looking for suggestions on products. I already own some ID horns. I dont mean this to sound snobby or anything, just trying to be specific about what it is Im after. Now, if you have any info or better yet, links to similar install types, Id really like to check them out. I thought the Impala I saw years ago had ID horns, but it may have been waveguides. Thanks for the info.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Yes Im very familiar with USD waveguides. Im just looking for specific info on the mounting type I described above, not actually looking for suggestions on products. I already own some ID horns. I dont mean this to sound snobby or anything, just trying to be specific about what it is Im after. Now, if you have any info or better yet, links to similar install types, Id really like to check them out. I thought the Impala I saw years ago had ID horns, but it may have been waveguides. Thanks for the info.

The two installs that stand out to me as different (really there would be 3 only 2 made to the mags) was either a neon or a cavalier with the horns firing up through the dash onto the windshield where the defrost vents were. I competed against a 97 camaro that was done up the same way. The other stand out was Femi's ID comp4 dash horns where the dash was the horn body. Femi worked for ID at the time and he had a VERY VERY modified dash.

 

[st8_of_mind]

back in the late 80's & early 90's we used EV 15 & 18 inch horns under the seats facing forward with several 6" or even 8" mid bass in each door, it would take at least 4 mid bass drivers/ door to keep up with them because of the efficiency of the horns and in some applications we added L-pads on the horns so we could tone them down depending on the music we would play. we would run them from around 800 Hz - around 3500 Hz and then let dome tweets take over from there. With them being mounted under the seat and firing forward there was a great angle of dispersion and because they were 15 & 18" the staging was wide. then came the smaller vehicles and this became impractical.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

Kind of off the subject, but does anyone remember those PVDF Tweeters that you basically taped to the windshield corners and it would use the surface of the glass as the transmitting surface.....I wonder what happened to those //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

The two installs that stand out to me as different (really there would be 3 only 2 made to the mags) was either a neon or a cavalier with the horns firing up through the dash onto the windshield where the defrost vents were. I competed against a 97 camaro that was done up the same way. The other stand out was Femi's ID comp4 dash horns where the dash was the horn body. Femi worked for ID at the time and he had a VERY VERY modified dash.

I believe Mark Eldridge pioneered the idea of mounting horns in the dash where the defrost vents would be, in effect utilizing the top dash plane and windshield as an extension of the horn mouth. IIRC, he had to cut out major sections of the firewall to accomplish this, but Im told the results were outstanding. Unfortunately I never got to hear that truck.

back in the late 80's & early 90's we used EV 15 & 18 inch horns under the seats facing forward with several 6" or even 8" mid bass in each door, it would take at least 4 mid bass drivers/ door to keep up with them because of the efficiency of the horns and in some applications we added L-pads on the horns so we could tone them down depending on the music we would play. we would run them from around 800 Hz - around 3500 Hz and then let dome tweets take over from there. With them being mounted under the seat and firing forward there was a great angle of dispersion and because they were 15 & 18" the staging was wide. then came the smaller vehicles and this became impractical.

Thanks for the reply. I may have to try this myself one of these days. But may I ask, who is 'we'... it looks as though you registered just to post in this thread. Id be curious to see any pics or get any more info I could on the subject. Thanks again.

Kind of off the subject, but does anyone remember those PVDF Tweeters that you basically taped to the windshield corners and it would use the surface of the glass as the transmitting surface.....I wonder what happened to those //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

From what I understand, that technology worked for more than just tweeters. With the proper suface/material, the system could be run full-frequency. I believe someone in Sweden invented it what... about 10 years ago? Ive been watching for a 'break out' application for this ever since too.

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

I do remember this car. Its was a pretty famous competitor but cant find any pics of the car.

I am almost tempted to say it was Earl Wills, but all the pics of his impala I have seen he had the horns under the dash so I am probably incorrect about that.

It does seem Howie Liwang helped build the car and if you ever saw his camaro, he completely built his own horn bodies into the dash so maybe its not the one I am thinking of.

But you have peaked my interest.