Posted March 6, 20178 yr I'm going to go active for the first time and need some help. Eventually I'll pair my SSA Evil Mids and XCON 10" with Evil tweeters, but spring break is coming and I'd like to install what I have and run a temporary and inexpensive tweeter until the Evil tweeters come to market. Info: 2013 Jeep Wrangler, mids will go into the speaker pods mounted in the dash, on axis. The stock tweeter location is on 'tombstone' pods on axis on the top of the dash. I don't have any flexibility on speaker location as I frequently have the doors off. I take it off road and it gets a little wet so kick panels aren't an option either. I'll be powering the front stage with an NVX JAD 800.4 and the processing will be through a Kicker Front Row DSP. I need a 1" on axis tweeter that can play down to 3,000 Hz and I don't want to spend more than $30 each because it'll only be temporary. I could run the JBL power series tweeters I currently have, but I'm not sure they will sound good crossed over at 3,000 Hz. I got the JBLs for $90 and they are LOUD which is great for a Jeep, but the tweeters sounded very harsh to me.
March 6, 20178 yr What are you using for midrange drivers? You should be able to cross your tweeters high @ 8k with a small midrange driver. Edited March 6, 20178 yr by edouble101
March 6, 20178 yr Author Currently I'm running a JBL 6 1/2" component series. It's loud (that's a good thing) but harsh. I've been wanting to go active for a long so I purchased the Evil mids and the kicker DSP. I don't have a PC and am reasonably intimidated with the prospects of borrowing one and downloading software and setting everything so I settle on the kicker. Plus, there's only so much you can do in a Jeep Wrangler...
March 6, 20178 yr You will be surprised how much active filters can help any driver. If the jbl's are in just try them first.
March 7, 20178 yr 7 hours ago, SS Teacher said: I'm going to go active for the first time and need some help. Eventually I'll pair my SSA Evil Mids and XCON 10" with Evil tweeters, but spring break is coming and I'd like to install what I have and run a temporary and inexpensive tweeter until the Evil tweeters come to market. Info: 2013 Jeep Wrangler, mids will go into the speaker pods mounted in the dash, on axis. The stock tweeter location is on 'tombstone' pods on axis on the top of the dash. I don't have any flexibility on speaker location as I frequently have the doors off. I take it off road and it gets a little wet so kick panels aren't an option either. I'll be powering the front stage with an NVX JAD 800.4 and the processing will be through a Kicker Front Row DSP. I need a 1" on axis tweeter that can play down to 3,000 Hz and I don't want to spend more than $30 each because it'll only be temporary. I could run the JBL power series tweeters I currently have, but I'm not sure they will sound good crossed over at 3,000 Hz. I got the JBLs for $90 and they are LOUD which is great for a Jeep, but the tweeters sounded very harsh to me. I did the same thing your doing in my old S-10, and didn't feel a need to change out the components for raw drivers. I just took out the passive crossovers on my Alpine's and used a alpine 9887 for active signal to a set of 2 channel amps, and it worked great. It took a lot of listening, and adjusting to get it right, but I was very pleased with the end result. It wasn't the loudest setup I have had but it was one of the best sounding with everything being on axis and properly staged and aligned. I had 2 pre-sets so I could aim it for the driver or the center for when someone was with me. If both passengers leaned to the middle on the arm rest the time alignment was almost right, close enough anyways.
March 7, 20178 yr 9 hours ago, SS Teacher said: 2013 Jeep Wrangler, mids will go into the speaker pods mounted in the dash, on axis. The stock tweeter location is on 'tombstone' pods on axis on the top of the dash. Beware of one thing. On axis and tweeter is usually not desired. Location can stay, but I'd play with aiming. 1 hour ago, Billy Jack said: I had 2 pre-sets so I could aim it for the driver or the center for when someone was with me. If both passengers leaned to the middle on the arm rest the time alignment was almost right, close enough anyways. As we clarified before, that doesn't work. Not even close. I am sure your "driver" and "passenger" settings were better for the other person than if you didn't change them, but it was far from optimized and your "close enough" is miles away for most of us.
March 7, 20178 yr I have a wrangler too. I'm interested in your end result. I put Rockford pro 6's in the rear and alpine type s components in the front. I'm steadily gonna switch those out for rockfords tho
March 7, 20178 yr Can you post a pic or two of your dash area ??? Different angles if possible please.
March 7, 20178 yr Author 10 hours ago, Randal Johnson said: Can you post a pic or two of your dash area ??? Different angles if possible please. I joined Imgur and posted a build log, but now when I try and copy and paste the URL on SSA the field stays shaded light red and the picture won't post. Any idea what's going on?
March 7, 20178 yr Author 20 hours ago, SS Teacher said: 2013 Jeep Wrangler, mids will go into the speaker pods mounted in the dash, on axis. The stock tweeter location is on 'tombstone' pods on axis on the top of the dash. Beware of one thing. On axis and tweeter is usually not desired. Location can stay, but I'd play with aiming. Looks like I have a plan of action! I'll have my art/engineer friend fab be some angled spacers so I can play with the tweeter angles and I'll keep the JBLs for now.
March 7, 20178 yr 11 hours ago, Billy Jack said: Do you realize I'm just talking about time alignment, not anything else? Yes. You CANNOT time align for two seats at the same time. Not even close. Rudimentary Physics...
March 7, 20178 yr 1 hour ago, SS Teacher said: Beware of one thing. On axis and tweeter is usually not desired. Location can stay, but I'd play with aiming. Looks like I have a plan of action! I'll have my art/engineer friend fab be some angled spacers so I can play with the tweeter angles and I'll keep the JBLs for now. Perfect. Then when you get those nailed as good as they get, complain about what you don't like and we can either help you select temporary replacements or fix the tune further
March 7, 20178 yr Author 1 hour ago, S.DeYoung said: Try and paste the direct link here. It should work just fine. Got it, thanks!
March 7, 20178 yr Author 13 hours ago, ManzKea said: I have a wrangler too. I'm interested in your end result. I put Rockford pro 6's in the rear and alpine type s components in the front. I'm steadily gonna switch those out for rockfords tho I don't normally run rear fill, but in a Wrangler, door off, top down, it helps with the volume at highway speeds. When I switch to active I'll cut the rear fill out completely and focus on quality over quantity. I've entertained the idea of putting dedicated mid bass, say 80-150 Hz drivers in the sound bar, but I'd image staging would be a nightmare.
March 7, 20178 yr If you ever decided to sell the Mikro IV, let me know. Do those tweeter pods come apart? God is that mid/woofer location terrible.
March 7, 20178 yr Author 1 minute ago, S.DeYoung said: If you ever decided to sell the Mikro IV, let me know. Do those tweeter pods come apart? God is that mid/woofer location terrible. The pods are stationary, I popped off the cover took out the factory tweet and replaced it with the JBL. I might have just enough room to fabricate a mounting ring so I can play with angles. The roll bar is good for passengers and volume, but it destroys the sound stage. I've read there is no stereo separation below 250 Hz, but I don't posses the skills necessary to get get a good sound stage AND mount mid bass behind me. I'd love to have mastered the secret of the USD Grand National that ran 12"s in the rear for mid bass! I'm going to hang on the Mikro just in case, it's such a cool little amp and the only Mantz designed amp I have. I did find this no so little gem on Offer Up for $50.
March 7, 20178 yr Author 2 minutes ago, S.DeYoung said: Are fabricating kick pods an option? No, it's a stick and I have large feet, plus I take it off road in some pretty deep water and the floorboards get soaked.
March 7, 20178 yr 52 minutes ago, SS Teacher said: No, it's a stick and I have large feet, plus I take it off road in some pretty deep water and the floorboards get soaked. Ah, okay. Can you describe and/or take pictures of what the dash enclosures look like when the mids in the dash are removed?
March 7, 20178 yr 3 minutes ago, S.DeYoung said: Ah, okay. Can you describe and/or take pictures of what the dash enclosures look like when the mids in the dash are removed? Nevermind, I found a couple of pictures. It looks like they are mounting in their own enclosures. Here is some motivation, these guys do great work: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/build-logs-project-install-gallery/256625-departure-our-norm-2016-wrangler-install-af-arc-mosconi-illusion.html
March 7, 20178 yr Author 1 hour ago, S.DeYoung said: Nevermind, I found a couple of pictures. It looks like they are mounting in their own enclosures. Here is some motivation, these guys do great work: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/build-logs-project-install-gallery/256625-departure-our-norm-2016-wrangler-install-af-arc-mosconi-illusion.html That is an amazing build! That model year had some audio changes, most notably the absence of tombstone tweeter pods replaced by 3 1/2" full range speakers, and the roll bar set up looks very different. I couldn't mount any electronics (other than marine components) in the rear area because it gets wet from time to time. Thankfully the underseat area has always been dry.
March 7, 20178 yr 3 hours ago, SS Teacher said: That is an amazing build! That model year had some audio changes, most notably the absence of tombstone tweeter pods replaced by 3 1/2" full range speakers, and the roll bar set up looks very different. I couldn't mount any electronics (other than marine components) in the rear area because it gets wet from time to time. Thankfully the underseat area has always been dry. My Jeep came with a amp under the drivers seat and I have the exact same tweeters on my dash. All I have in mine is a Memphis 10" and a memphis amp to match, more low end fill then anything.
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