How to install component sets? *pics*

[Diceman83]

Well,

I found that my car is designed to fit so tightly that I can't even get a tweeter to fit in the grill in front of the mid without them touching. I was assuming that there would be enough space for everything (tweets, mids, xover and wires) in my door if I took out the stock mount and made a new one, but now I'm seeing that there's barely enough room for a mid speaker. It's so cramped.

My goal is to hide as much of the stuff as possible so that my car doesn't become a target for break-ins, and looks as stock as possible. Kind of a stealth mentality. I think the only way to do it is to use the stock wiring to get power to the mids, and hide the crossovers under the dash somewhere. I can probably mount the tweets immediately forward of the door in/on a cover panel. I just hope the panel is strong enough, and there's enough room behind it to screw it in. Are there any other suggestions for how to install this stuff?

[Diceman83]

oh yeah, I'll post pictures later tonight.

[aznxthuggie]

don't worry, it was a tight fit for my accord as well, i had to make a mdf speaker ring and another mdf mounting bracket for my speakers, in my car, the only thing that doesn't look stock is the head unit, everything else is hidden, show us the pics!

[Diceman83]

OK... here are the promised pictures:

This is the current passenger side:


Drivers side:


What I had before that didn't work because it's so freaking tight in the door:


Here's what it looks like inside without the enclosure:


And here's what I've done with the enclosures:


I know I should just make some MDF mounts, and I may in a couple weeks after finals and stuff. I just want them working now.

So where should I put the tweeter on the drivers side? My feet are always kicking things down there when I get in and out of the car, so I don't want to hit it or get it full of dirt and dust. Any suggestions?

[CBFryman]

mount the tweeters up on the A frame or like i am doing int my truck....other wise make small kick panels for the tweeters....

[Diceman83]

Does it sound better to have them up there on the dash? Do you just surface mount them or flush mount?

What about heat damage or sun damage?

Can I run the mids from my head unit without a cross over without damaging them until I get all this finished?

Questions, questions questions... sorry guys, I'm just too curious You've all been a great help!

[GSteg]

Originally Posted by Diceman83

Does it sound better to have them up there on the dash? Do you just surface mount them or flush mount?

you somewhat raise the soundstage when u you them up on the dash. Yes it can sound better, and yes it can sound worse. Not all tweeters have the ability to be mounted on dashes and sound good. My friend's Focal TN-51 sounded pretty nice up on the dash. When he changed to a set of Seas Lotus reference tweeters, it sounded better in the kick panel area.

What about heat damage or sun damage?

you probably wouldn't have to worry much about that.

Can I run the mids from my head unit without a cross over without damaging them until I get all this finished?

yes you can, but it will probably sound horrible. Just make sure you don't try to crank up the volume too high.

[quote]

[Diceman83]

I'm honored by a reply from the legendary GSteg!

From images I've seen, like the one below (provided by aznxthuggie) the tweets look like they're pointed in a horizontal direction parallel to the windshield. Is this an accurate observation? Do I just have to put them in various places until they sound good?

[GSteg]

that is exactly how the focal tweeters were positioned, except they were on the dash and not on the a-pillar.

try experimenting. I'm sure you'll hit that sweet spot somehow

you can really get a good staging and imaging even when mounted on the floor or in doors. One of the cars that surprised me was my friend's car at the IASCA event back in january. He had dummy tweeters on the a-pillar and the real working ones on the floor. I can tell you one thing for sure. I was fooled. lol.


So try throwing the tweeters around and see what happens.

[germanyt]

i would put them right where the a frame meets the roof. if you can flush mount them then definitly do that. you might also want to look at mounting them next to the visors. in the ceiling towards inside of the visors (opposite the hinge side). i dont know what kind of results that it would produce. like if the tweet needs to be closer to the mid to get better sound

[aznxthuggie]

hey diceman, our cars are extremely similar, even the speaker mounts, here is what i made for my doors, it fit perfect, and it was in tight when i put some deadening in





the places where there was a gap, was filled in by my glue gun so it was airtight, i even put some glue between the 2 pieces of mdf to make sure

it took me a small sheet of 1/2 mdf, a jigsaw, and about 20 minutes not including the glue drying

[CBFryman]

the higher mounting area will just get them up off the floor, i just cant stand to have all of my music coming from where my feet are. it will also make things slightly easyer for you too. if you can, get one of CDT's cobra mounts and just slap them up on the dash, quick and easy, hassle free.
and if anybody brakes into a car to steal the system just ebcause they have cobra mounts...they have problems, but for a mot stock look i would put them in the A frames if you are going to mount the high...

[Diceman83]

Well, I'm probably just going to embed them in the lower part of the A frame then. I'll have to see if I can get the panel off, and if I can't, I'll just surface mount it until I can find something nicer. I'll be pulling my deck out (again... I'm getting sick of doing it) so I can rewire everything and get the crossovers tucked away. Look for some pictures later tonight, probably around 8:30 (EST).

[PaulD]

I used the Qform kicks for the Accord .... they fit over hood release and look pretty nice. I put a pretty good layer of bondo on the inside to deaden them.

[Diceman83]

OK... some more long awaited pictures... I have never tried to do something so freaking annoying before. Most of it wasn't bad, but trying to mount those honking big crossovers somewhere hidden in a Honda Accord is such a royal pain in my neck, back and arms. Anyway, on to the pics.

Where I put the left crossover:



Where I put the right crossover:



The very last thing I have to do before I can finally put the tools away and call this a done deal (for the next couple months at least): screw down the tweeters. I'm testing them for now to see how they sound there.




Is there any way to manage these stinking wires so it'll still go in? I've tried to coil them nicely, but it always jams against the stuff in the back, and I've found that the easiest way is to just leave it like a pile of worms and wiggle it around until it locks in.


That's it for now... I'll probably have some more questions about balencing the 7 band equalizer that's in my head unit, but I'll fiddle with it tomorrow. It sure is nice to have sound up front again. The sound seems to be focused right about where my clock is (way up on the dash), so that seems to be what I'm aiming for.