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Post by Meerkat on Sept 15, 2016 14:09:09 GMT
That's my thinking - the problem with the door speakers is they are mounted very low in the footwells, and with the roof down at motorway speeds you really have to blast them to be able to hear anything over the wind noise. Also with the speakers in the rear shelf, I should be able to seal them off better so that the boot space acts as a speaker cabinet. I've bought a roll of loft insulation to pack into the side channels, which should help stop things getting too boomy.
Still don't really have any idea if it will work, but at least with the drivers closer to my head it will be easier to hear them.
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Post by V6 on Sept 15, 2016 14:31:11 GMT
If you don't care about the front stage I am sure it'll be fine. Most car audio headaches stem from being obsessed with the imaging.
There is something to be said with just installing it well, but in a way to make your life easier. If you enjoy it, then it is a job well done.
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Post by Meerkat on Sept 15, 2016 15:12:54 GMT
Yeah that's the main problem with car audio - you're always sitting in an offset position relative to the speakers (unless you drive an F1 car or have a seperate stereo pair for each occupant!) so the sound stage is always going to sound wrong. As you say, it's easy to become obsessed with that, but as long as I can hear the music clearly and have a modest level of bass then I'll be happy. My days of blasting trance and electro at window-rattling SPL levels are behind me now... mostly...  |
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Post by V6 on Sept 15, 2016 19:08:21 GMT
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Post by V6 on Oct 3, 2016 14:30:38 GMT
Just sold a load of my spare power supply components to a huge RF collector. His instal kit list sounds mega and weighs 700kg! He used to be sponsored by RF back in the 90s too. My little rig is barely even a system now haha.
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Post by Meerkat on Oct 3, 2016 15:49:32 GMT
700kg! What is he installing it into? A bus? lol
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Post by V6 on Oct 3, 2016 17:02:07 GMT
There was an enormous list of RF amps and subs. With that amount of power the battery, sound deadening and cabinet weight all get out of hand!
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Post by V6 on Oct 7, 2016 14:47:50 GMT
Meerkat, I've been thinking a lot about options without actually doing a damn thing yet. But I am really coming around to your suggestion of making something to go on the rear deck. It does make a lot of sense in our cars for various reasons:
1. Being closer to my ears to actually hear the damn things when the top is down and I am at high speed.
2. Freeing up cabin space which could be eaten up with cabinets.
3. Avoiding messing with the less than ideal doors.
4. Gaining extra low end grunt, due to proximity, enclosure size, or boot loading.
Due to the massive compromises which come with such a daft little drivers car, it might make sense to not get too carried away with Hi-Fi obsessions such as sound stage, spending a small fortune etc. The car is fun and basic and perhaps the audio should follow suit. Besides expensive drivers may end up getting wet / stolen / not actually being heard correctly anyway, above the noise of screaming exhausts and wind rush!
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Post by Meerkat on Oct 10, 2016 9:37:03 GMT
I was actually looking at this again over the weekend.
I think the parcel shelf will work well, but it will need some modification to get the best sound out of it. There are quite a few gaps and holes in the metal plate which will need to be sealed off to allow the boot to act correctly as a resonator. Also, the metal is pretty thin, so it's likely to sound a bit tinny if the speaker is just attached to it directly.
So my plan is to get some high quality plywood and lay it over the metal plate on the parcel shelf, with another sheet as well as down the back behind the seats. This will serve the dual purpose of stiffening up up the parcel shelf as well as sealing up all the gaps. I'll make a template out of cardboard first and then use that to cut the final wood sections. I'll use some rubber matting to form the seal between the the plywood and the metal, and then screw it into place round the edges. That way it's removable if I need to access the fuel pump. I'll probably coat the metal with some sort of rust protectant to stop condensation causing any corrosion.
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Post by V6 on Oct 10, 2016 9:57:57 GMT
Sounds like a plan.
I want to get my roll bar fitted first so I can see what space is left. Then I will make a decision. The options could be:
1. Make a plywood baffle as you suggest.
2. Make a sealed or ported enclosure, depending on the space and drivers specs.
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Post by Meerkat on Oct 10, 2016 10:05:35 GMT
I did think of going the ported route, it would be possible to add ports into the sheet behind the seats. The only trouble is that ports need to be tuned quite carefully to get the right bass extension out of them, and I simply don't have the brain power to work out the maths! The boot is a really complex shape and it would be difficult to work out it's volume accurately. It could be possible to make a GRP enclosure using the gaps on either side of the fuel tank and then calculate the volume of those in order to tune the port, but again that's beyond my intelligence! So for me, an infinite baffle design seems to be the simplest and easiest to achieve. |
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Post by V6 on Oct 10, 2016 14:58:25 GMT
If you have the TSP of the drivers you can download a free basic enclosure calculator. But due to space, sealed is the most likely option.
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Post by V6 on Nov 14, 2016 20:38:48 GMT
I have a plan so cunning you could stick a foxes tail on it and employ it as Professor Of Cunning at Oxford University.
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Post by wannabe on Nov 15, 2016 9:14:23 GMT
I am liking the Blackadder reference  |
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Post by Meerkat on Nov 15, 2016 9:56:42 GMT
Intriguing!
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le sigh