Hello everyone,
I own a Volkswagen T2 bus from 1978 which I mainly use for long overland journeys. In my case space is at a premium, so not room for large woofers etc. I have a pretty decent audio setup running at the moment. It actually sounds nice but I'd like to be able to crank it louder. My current setup is as follows:
Head unit:
- Pioneer 5100UB
Amp:
- JBL GT5-A604 (4x 60W rms)
Speakers:
- Sony XS-HT170SN, component set, 17cm woofer with tweeter. Woofer is mounted low in the front doors, tweeters are on the dash, facing up, to the windshield. Powered by the amp.
- Sony XS-HT170SN, 6x9 4 way speakers, mounted in a cabinet in the back, facing down. Powered by the head unit.
- JL Audio 8W3v2 sub, powered by the amp, bridged 160W
Now here is the proposed new setup:
Head unit:
- Pioneer 5100UB
Amps:
- JBL GT5-A604 (4x 60W rms)
- Rockford Fosgate T600-4 (4x 100W rms) with Rockford RFC1 capacitor (already own these components)
Speakers:
- Rockford Fosgate T1652-S (same mounting positions) 17cm comp set, 100W rms, powered by RF amp
- Rockford Fosgate T1692 (same mounting positions) 6x9 2 way set, 100W rms, powered by RF amp
- JL Audio 8W3v2 sub, powered by the JBL amp, bridged 160W
Now I have a couple of questions about all this. The first problem we have at the moment is that the 6x9's in the back produce very little low's. I'm not sure what the problem is here, there are mounted in rather small boxes, which are not airtight. Besides that the speakers are angled vertically and actually pump their volume straight into the bed that is below it. If you lay down below the speakers you actually do hear some bass, although it is not nearly as much as the speakers in the front doors put out.
Can this be fixed by building a proper enclosure for them? Maybe vented? Or is their position just never going to work?
Here is a picture:
Another question I have is about possibly adding a center speaker in the dash. The stock factory radio had a single speaker in the center of the dash, facing up to the windshield. (5.25" mount) I was thinking about mounting a new speaker here and maybe power it from one of the (soon to be) free channels on the JBL amp, this will also allow me to turn it to a low volume since it would only need to fill the center of the soundstage a bit. What do you think about this idea? Worth the effort?
Then I have one last question about the tweeters in the comp set. I have read the best place to position a tweeter is actually as close as possible to the center of the main driver. In the current setup the woofers are low down in the doors and the tweeters are up on the dash.
Couldn't find a much better picture, but you can see the windshield there. Now I have also read the winshield can broaden the soundstage so this position might not be completely stupid.
In the new setup would you keep the tweeters on the dash or move them close to the woofer, on the door? Here is a picture of the current woofer location:
(not actually my own car, but we use the exact same location)
When we mount the tweeter there I'm a bit concerned all the high's will be lost in your legs being very close to them.
Ok, lot's of questions here, I hope you may have some answers and or suggestions for me. Thanks in advance!
I own a Volkswagen T2 bus from 1978 which I mainly use for long overland journeys. In my case space is at a premium, so not room for large woofers etc. I have a pretty decent audio setup running at the moment. It actually sounds nice but I'd like to be able to crank it louder. My current setup is as follows:
Head unit:
- Pioneer 5100UB
Amp:
- JBL GT5-A604 (4x 60W rms)
Speakers:
- Sony XS-HT170SN, component set, 17cm woofer with tweeter. Woofer is mounted low in the front doors, tweeters are on the dash, facing up, to the windshield. Powered by the amp.
- Sony XS-HT170SN, 6x9 4 way speakers, mounted in a cabinet in the back, facing down. Powered by the head unit.
- JL Audio 8W3v2 sub, powered by the amp, bridged 160W
Now here is the proposed new setup:
Head unit:
- Pioneer 5100UB
Amps:
- JBL GT5-A604 (4x 60W rms)
- Rockford Fosgate T600-4 (4x 100W rms) with Rockford RFC1 capacitor (already own these components)
Speakers:
- Rockford Fosgate T1652-S (same mounting positions) 17cm comp set, 100W rms, powered by RF amp
- Rockford Fosgate T1692 (same mounting positions) 6x9 2 way set, 100W rms, powered by RF amp
- JL Audio 8W3v2 sub, powered by the JBL amp, bridged 160W
Now I have a couple of questions about all this. The first problem we have at the moment is that the 6x9's in the back produce very little low's. I'm not sure what the problem is here, there are mounted in rather small boxes, which are not airtight. Besides that the speakers are angled vertically and actually pump their volume straight into the bed that is below it. If you lay down below the speakers you actually do hear some bass, although it is not nearly as much as the speakers in the front doors put out.
Can this be fixed by building a proper enclosure for them? Maybe vented? Or is their position just never going to work?
Here is a picture:
Another question I have is about possibly adding a center speaker in the dash. The stock factory radio had a single speaker in the center of the dash, facing up to the windshield. (5.25" mount) I was thinking about mounting a new speaker here and maybe power it from one of the (soon to be) free channels on the JBL amp, this will also allow me to turn it to a low volume since it would only need to fill the center of the soundstage a bit. What do you think about this idea? Worth the effort?
Then I have one last question about the tweeters in the comp set. I have read the best place to position a tweeter is actually as close as possible to the center of the main driver. In the current setup the woofers are low down in the doors and the tweeters are up on the dash.
Couldn't find a much better picture, but you can see the windshield there. Now I have also read the winshield can broaden the soundstage so this position might not be completely stupid.
In the new setup would you keep the tweeters on the dash or move them close to the woofer, on the door? Here is a picture of the current woofer location:
(not actually my own car, but we use the exact same location)
When we mount the tweeter there I'm a bit concerned all the high's will be lost in your legs being very close to them.
Ok, lot's of questions here, I hope you may have some answers and or suggestions for me. Thanks in advance!
