Upgrading my not so old system for better quality.

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Am I wrong in thinking that the DSP will take care of all of the controls I will need?

The DSP will do all you need and more. An 80 prs cannot even come close to what a legitimate dsp can do. However speaker wise, for the money, I'd go with raw drivers instead, you'll get much more quality for what you spend.

Plus, whats the use of getting a DSP that has 8 channels of output and independent tuning controls for mid, midbass and tweeter if you are just gonna get a pair of passive 3 way components?

I'd go with scanspeak discovery 3 or 4 inch mids. 6.5 or 8" silverflute midbasses and vifa Xt 25 tweeters.

I'd go with A pillar mids and tweets and midbasses in the doors or kick panels. Nothing on the dash firing at the windshield that causes massive peaks from the reflections that you need to EQ down severely. Overall you want it to be smooth straight from the install without having to EQ a whole lot to control it.

 

[lowcel 10+ year member]

The DSP will do all you need and more. An 80 prs cannot even come close to what a legitimate dsp can do. However speaker wise, for the money, I'd go with raw drivers instead, you'll get much more quality for what you spend.
Plus, whats the use of getting a DSP that has 8 channels of output and independent tuning controls for mid, midbass and tweeter if you are just gonna get a pair of passive 3 way components?

I'd go with scanspeak discovery 3 or 4 inch mids. 6.5 or 8" silverflute midbasses and vifa Xt 25 tweeters.

I'd go with A pillar mids and tweets and midbasses in the doors or kick panels. Nothing on the dash firing at the windshield that causes massive peaks from the reflections that you need to EQ down severely. Overall you want it to be smooth straight from the install without having to EQ a whole lot to control it.

Thank you. I will check out the speakers you mentioned. A problem that I may have is that the IASCA rookie class requires all front speakers in factory locations with the exception of the tweeters.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'm not sure why it would be a recipe for disaster. At the worst I would eliminate the 3-1/2" and go with a two way with the 6-1/2" and tweeter.

Thank you. I will check out the speakers you mentioned. A problem that I may have is that the IASCA rookie class requires all front speakers in factory locations with the exception of the tweeters.

So if you're stuck with factory locations only and the 3.5" will create problems being dash fired you're kind of stuck with going 2 way.

Might be stretching the rules, but if you can use a large planar driver for "tweeter" custom mounted and crossed low then a robust dedicated midbass in a well prepped/sealed/deadened factory location you might have a good shot working from that approach. I'd wager there are some good home stereo projects involving a 6" woofer and planar which you could base your plans around (drivers, crossover points, and possibly even passive crossover to tame weak spots in the drivers' free air performance).

How about under dash horns? The old ID horn component set used to fare very well in SQ competition, though they're not always feasible to implement in all vehicles.

 

[lowcel 10+ year member]

So if you're stuck with factory locations only and the 3.5" will create problems being dash fired you're kind of stuck with going 2 way.
Might be stretching the rules, but if you can use a large planar driver for "tweeter" custom mounted and crossed low then a robust dedicated midbass in a well prepped/sealed/deadened factory location you might have a good shot working from that approach. I'd wager there are some good home stereo projects involving a 6" woofer and planar which you could base your plans around (drivers, crossover points, and possibly even passive crossover to tame weak spots in the drivers' free air performance).

How about under dash horns? The old ID horn component set used to fare very well in SQ competition, though they're not always feasible to implement in all vehicles.

Horns are not permitted either since they are not in the factory locations. Talking to people on the SQ fb page a lot of people go with the mid range in the dash and the tweeter on the a-pillar. It seems with some timing adjustments they have very good results with the speakers in those locations.

When I competed years ago I used the Image Dynamic horns and I loved the sound.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Horns are not permitted either since they are not in the factory locations. Talking to people on the SQ fb page a lot of people go with the mid range in the dash and the tweeter on the a-pillar. It seems with some timing adjustments they have very good results with the speakers in those locations.
When I competed years ago I used the Image Dynamic horns and I loved the sound.

Good luck with those dash locations. I personally have never heard them sound anything but awful, but perhaps you can make them work with enough fiddling and processing. Do keep me posted if you use them and get them to sound nice.

 

[lowcel 10+ year member]

Good luck with those dash locations. I personally have never heard them sound anything but awful, but perhaps you can make them work with enough fiddling and processing. Do keep me posted if you use them and get them to sound nice.

You asked for me to keep you posted if I was able to get things to sound nice using the factory dash location for the 3's. Here are my results from this past weekend, the locations seem to be working out. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Fantastic! Glad you managed to get them working for you.

You should post pics and some tips for others who wish to attempt to do the same.

 

[lowcel 10+ year member]

Fantastic! Glad you managed to get them working for you.
You should post pics and some tips for others who wish to attempt to do the same.

Thank you. Just about everything I did on my build is in my build log. I'm always happy to answer questions. I think the key is just having a good dsp and being patient. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif