wanting more out of my current setup

[GrnEydDvl 10+ year member]

Intro

With the equipment I have I should be happy, but for some reason my setup is not at the level I know it can be from a sq perspective. Stage height and width are great. I am not concerned with depth at this point.

Tonality and balance seem to be my biggest issues.

I have the Rainbow Power CS component set, currently running off the passive crossovers , in the doors of my truck. The mid sits at about thigh level and the tweet sits above the mid a few inches under the windowline, both in the factory location. Very off-axis. This puts the front of the soundstage right above the steering wheel, near the front of the dash. Centered over the steering wheel thanks to some time delay on the drivers side speakers.

The tweeters are set at 0dB on the crossover. They are buried behind the back seat and are a complete ***** to get to. I have the EQ on the headunit set to flat except for a gentle (-1 to -2 dB) rollover on the high end, starting around 3khz and ending at 20khz.

Crossover on the head unit is set at 63hz 12db for the both the high pass and low pass . Subs are set to 180 deg out of phase on the HU as it sounds better this way.

Questions

Would going active give me a large step foward?

Does anyone think picking up an RTA would benefit me greatly? I know they aren't a magic fix-all but my ears are not trained enough to know what is wrong, only that something is not right. I have read tutorials on how to use them in the car and am considering this unit http://www.laaudiofile.com/paa2.html $200 online.

Could it be I am just expecting too much from the factory door speaker locations?

Solutions

1. Take the plunge and go active.

2. Buy an RTA

3. Custom speaker locations (least favorite)

4. Invest in different speakers. I hear the z6's are strong in drop in locations.

Click to read more...

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

Honestly, it's nearly impossible to bandaid things like this. Bad speaker placment is hard to overcome, high door locations arent' exactly ideal. Heres how I'd evaluate the options, in terms of effectiveness.

1.Custom speaker locations

2.go active

3.RTA

4. New drivers

The only thing I can think of that may help you fix your current issues, is switching polarity on all your drivers. Tweets and mids as well. If you havent' switched them all to find what works best do that. Then T/A it all at the end. Another thing to consider, if tonality is the problem, is using an EQ. I know you said you thought about getting an RTA, but what kind of eq do you have?

If I was you, I'd do the first 2 options for sure. With some good effort, you may not need the RTA to get the sound you want.

 

[SQChevy 10+ year member]

If you were going to try the RTA you would almost need to have an active setup and processor to adjust the speakers to flatten your levels. Custom speaker locations will make a big difference. Also, look for local car audio shows, if a shop has an SPL meter they may have an RTA too.

 

[GrnEydDvl 10+ year member]

Honestly, it's nearly impossible to bandaid things like this. Bad speaker placment is hard to overcome, high door locations arent' exactly ideal. Heres how I'd evaluate the options, in terms of effectiveness.
1.Custom speaker locations

2.go active

3.RTA

4. New drivers

The only thing I can think of that may help you fix your current issues, is switching polarity on all your drivers. Tweets and mids as well. If you havent' switched them all to find what works best do that. Then T/A it all at the end. Another thing to consider, if tonality is the problem, is using an EQ. I know you said you thought about getting an RTA, but what kind of eq do you have?

If I was you, I'd do the first 2 options for sure. With some good effort, you may not need the RTA to get the sound you want.

Dual (L/R) 16-Band Graphic EQ built into the head unit.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

if tonality's the only real problem, mess with that eq! Try and get some sq cds if you can. Talk to audionutz on eca for details, if he's still doing that.

 

[BlackMaxima 10+ year member]

im no expert, but correct me if im wrong, location and speaker placement is everything.

Work on finding proper speaker location before you do anything alse.

thats just my $0.02