Advice on going active

[handman84 60]

and now I keep getting a message that I can't attach any more pics, I've exceeded my limit. How do I delete previous pics so I can attach more? Or do I have to upload them somewhere else?

[lithium 358]

i use photobucket.

 

imgur might work too

[handman84 60]

Here are a fer shots of the panels. Would love to modify the panel to be able to mount the woofer better but it feels like these doors would take a ton of work to make them look good and i am not quite ready to commit to that yet. Can this work without cutting the panel? I am fine with altering the inner skin to mount the drivers but just can't bring myself to cut the panel, not confident enough yet.

[handman84 60]

 

If you open the image and look close you can see where the speaker mounts to the inner skin.

[lithium 358]

you look limited in height by the speaker grill area, what are the dimensions here? 

 

or does the speaker sit significantly behind this area? 

 

Edited March 13, 2013 by lithium

[lithium 358]

It wouldn't be particularly hard to mount the tweeter in the A pillar if you are interested in learning how to fiberglass a bit. of course you would want to try out multiple locations, heights, and angles then compare to the stock location before mounting. 

[///M5 2,833]

Stock tweeter location blows.

Curious on your mid size restrictions as well...and if you are willing to glass pillars for the tweets.

[handman84 60]

I am definitely willing to fiberglass the pillars, whatever will give me the cleanest sound stage. I guess I would just have to leave these tweeters in to fill the holes in my door panels...

I have more room behind the grills than it looks like, but not much. about an inch-and-a-half from speaker to panel, that is with the speaker mounted on stock half-inch baffle. as far as height goes it is about 6.5" but I can gain another half inch or so if I cut the plastic "rib", for lack of a better word, around the grill on the back side of the door panel.  There is more room behind there than it looks like

[lithium 358]

I am definitely willing to fiberglass the pillars, whatever will give me the cleanest sound stage. I guess I would just have to leave these tweeters in to fill the holes in my door panels...

I have more room behind the grills than it looks like, but not much. about an inch-and-a-half from speaker to panel, that is with the speaker mounted on stock half-inch baffle. as far as height goes it is about 6.5" but I can gain another half inch or so if I cut the plastic "rib", for lack of a better word, around the grill on the back side of the door panel.  There is more room behind there than it looks like

 

did you check the mounting depth with the stock baffle while the windows are completely down? 

[handman84 60]

**sigh** No. Damn! I will be tearing apart my door this weekend and taking more detailed measurements.

[lithium 358]

another idea, check if that stock grill can pop off easy. might be able to modify them to reduce diffraction  

[handman84 60]

So I did a bit more measuring and found I have 5.25" depth and just under 7.5" diameter for woofers in my doors.  I will be trying my hand at glassing my a pillars, so I am open to size up to 4" diameter for tweets. I will be positioning them on axis. The problem is that the stock grills are not removable, I can cut and customize some, but the shape of the door panels limit what I can do. So even though I can fit 7" drivers, I can't really get them positioned very well, and quite a bit of the driver will be blocked by the door panel... Would it be better to go with 6.5" woofers in this case? What are my options without building new door panels?

[lithium 358]

7 or 6.5 wont matter in the doors. a 7 might have a bit more midbass  but that depends on other parameters. a lot of raw drivers are really closer to 7inch mids anyways. 

 

the door panel will likely make it difficult for the woofer to play higher frequencies, so look for a tweeter that can play as low as possible.  

 

the only other option would probably be to put the wooders in the kickpanel, a lot more work and i'm not sure if its worth it. 

[handman84 60]

I keep thinking of other things or places I could move the woofer but am not familiar enough with that level of customization to feel confident doing it.  This being my first attempt at putting together a nice sounding system I know it will be a learning experience anyway and I really don't want get into something I can't fully recover from.

 

The real frustrating part is I am just flipping a coin and hoping for the best with the drivers I pic. I don't have a way that I am aware of to audition anything other than big box stuff. I have learned that I like the sound of a paper cone and soft tweeter so I guess its not all bad...

 

I am looking for drivers that will fit, then matching a tweeter that will play low enough to blend well when I cross it over. Is there any other factors I should be considering? I feel like I am making this too easy. I realize there is a learning curve but I don't have money to burn. If I'm guessing here, which it feels like I am, I would like to make the most educated guess possible.

[///M5 2,833]

I'd shy away from exotic cones as a first purchase.  The extra tuning isn't worth the confusion it will add.

 

Figuring out what tweeters fit and the overall budget will help the most.  Don't assume on axis is a good idea for tweeters.  Normally in a car they sound better off axis.  If it is a full range mid then it NEEDS to be on axis because the off axis roll off is so extreme.

 

An ultra generic recommendation that is hard to screw up would be some HDS tweeters mated with the Seas ER18s.  Bang for the buck it will sound sweet.  Potential to severely put a hurtin' on components that are well over $1k.  Fits with your "soft" tweeter and paper cone although not exactly, but response wise it surely will.

[lithium 358]

partsexpress has a return policy of sorts but you cant damage or mark the speaker. madisound might have something similar.  

 

edit: sean covered the rest

Edited March 23, 2013 by lithium

[handman84 60]

I knew I was going to have to go with a tweeter that would play low but hadn't come across the HDS's. Thanks for the recommendation. I will be posting pics and feedback as this phase of my build progresses. It will take a couple more months to complete I'm sure but I am excited to learn and step up the sq of my system.

Thank you M5 and lithium for all the help and guidance 

[handman84 60]

Is the HDS the same tweet now that it is a scan speak not a peerless? 

[lithium 358]

i think they're pretty much the same. not sure

[ssh 924]

i think they're pretty much the same. not sure

From everything I could find out they are the same. Awesome drivers.

[///M5 2,833]

If any change occured it was superficial.

There are tons of other options as well, that option will just be easy and works well for what you've told us so far.

[handman84 60]

There were a few others I was looking at that were a little cheaper but nothing that has the same feedback as the HDS' s and none that seem to be a "better" option at the moment for my current set up and goals

[handman84 60]

There were a few others I was looking at that were a little cheaper but nothing that has the same feedback as the HDS' s and none that seem to be a "better" option at the moment for my current set up and goals

[lithium 358]

Might not be too hard to find them used on home audio forums. 

[handman84 60]

Can't believe i didn't think of that...thanks