I think that I am now ready to begin a audio system in my Supercrew. My question is how would a 3 way component system sound with the tweeter and 4" in the front door together and then putting the 6.5" in the back door? I am trying to avoid making kick panels or buying Q-logic(tried those before). I will also be adding some sort of sub. Probably 1-10" either in the back panel or under the seat. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Personally, I would try to keep all of the speakers of the 3 way component in the front of the cab. If you drop the midbass driver in the rear doors then all of your midbass to low end will be easily percieved behind you... not cool. I think in your situation I would rather choose a 2 way component set with a strong 6.5" woofer. The 6.5" will provide you with the midrange and midbass.. its not TOTALLY necessary to have a separate midbass driver. With the 2 way component set you could easily install the entire component system in the front doors and keep the factory (or replacement) full range speakers in the back for rear passengers.

That's my thoughts anyway, with not wanting to go with kick panels.. I think the 3 way system would not be the best route to take... unless you wanted to fit all 3 speakers in each front door.. tweetery, midrange, and midbass. Just my opinion though.

 

I agree with TEK. Quality 2 way component sets are adequate to cover the frequency spectrum down to a subwoofer's range. They are the overwhelming choice. That's not to say you couldn't assemble a nice 3 way component set up. But there would be very little noticeable difference, given a comparable budget spent on each set up. Just my opinion.

 

thanks for the input guys. I might actually just go with JL audio's 5x7 coaxial in the front door. Seems like a high end speaker and the JLaudio's I have heard in the past were nice. My other thoughts was to still try and get kicker RMB8's in the rear doors and run it either as a sub(probably not the best, but I am not listening to rap either) or bandpass and still put some type of sub under or behind the seat?

 

Well I personally like the idea of the 400hz and below range coming from just about wherever you can fit them. Richard Clark, Harry Kimura, Holly Mongul and many many other top competitiors had subs and midbass drivers mounted behind the listener with a strong mid-high range mounted up front. It really all comes down to phase alignment and not speaker location. As long as the sound is reaching your ears at close to the same sound level and in phase and time aligned, you will not be able to tell from where the sound is coming. The ability to tell it is coming from behind you is totally psychosymatic (meaning since you know they are back there you perceive the sound to come from behind). However, If you are going to mount the speakers in the configuration that you are referring to you really need to ask yourself do I have the equipment to adjust my system properly (EQ, DSP, etc.) and do I have access to test equipment to get it sounding right (RTA mainly, or other test equipment to check for path lengths and time alignment).

In short, For the most part you can get awesome quality mounting in the configuration that you are referring to using only an RTA to help you adjust speaker phasing to overcome cancellation properties inherrent in using multiple speaker locations. What my suggestion would be is to use as few of speakers possible to obtain the frequency response you desire from your sound system. This is why I chose to use waveguides (HLCD's if you will) for my entire front stage. They have a response band of 400hz-22khz and the sound originates all from within the one speaker. You can look into Image Dynamics, USD Speakerworks, Veritas and others if interested in this type of speaker. Then you could feel free to slap a few 8" subs in the front doors and couple 12" subs back in the back.

Anyway, this is all just my opinion on how to build the optimum car audio system for sound quality and you will notcie that opinions will vary widely because peoples perception of sound varies widely.

 

Kick panels man!

 

Best placement depending on what brand or 3 ways is mid and tweet in the A piller and midbass in the front door.
This way will requre you do to Fiberglassing and use bodyfiller, not a job for a beginner unless you have the time to learn and do some trial and error.

Other wise mid and tweet in the kicks and midbass in the door. I have not gotten better results this way but its easyer to.


I would say 3 ways 100%
I used to run 2 way untill a year ago untill i switched to 3 ways
and i will never go back. You get so much more detail and vocals and they have so much more options.

Let me know how high end you want to go and i can give you some brands and some $$ figures also were you can get them

Darren

 

Darren,

You should here my (cough, cough) 1 ways sometime

I bet I could make you change your mind on the 3 way option.

Errr, I just realized something. Most people running 2 ways are actually running 3 ways and those running 3 ways are running 4 ways. We are forgetting to mention our subs here...LOL
Then again I guess that would be only when referring you your system as a whole.

 

I dont think i will ever change my mind about the 3 ways
Unless i am running a set of $1000 Seas Loutus 2 ways


Darren

 

Yeah I figured that would be your reaction. It is pretty standard until someone hears a setup that makes them step back and say "Wow, did I just hear what I think I did?" Needless to say, I stay as far as possible from conventional methods of sound reproduction. I have heard som great sounding 3 ways but I have found there is not much to compete with a properly tuned and tweaked set of compressions. The only down side I see with them are the shear amount of equalization it takes to get them just right, but if you like to tweak and have the time they truly are unbeatable in my opinion.

 

I think cgorris said it best when he mentioned having the right equipment to make it all sound good, ie an adjustable equalizer. I have found that simply "tuning" your low budget speakers can often times excel them past what you would have expected. Just a thought but look into a good head unit first, something with high/low pass filters, adjustable equalizer, and DSO ( I think it stands for digital soundstage organize or some b.s.). That alone is a good start to a good system. Rock On!!