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Jul 21, 2007 | 12:36 AM

#21

rocketgyrl

Senior Member

SL Member
Scinergy

Joined: Sep 2006

Posts: 487

From: Littleton, CO

Quote:

Originally Posted by nodsetse

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocketgyrl

I thought you were building some kicks nodsetse?

I know, I know...really should do so, but I've just been too tired. You're right, as your photos show how it's much easier than in many other vehicles, although I don't look forward to extending & repositioning all those blasted wires. I'm a bit paranoid about it too, as I can just imagine the dealership attempting to deny some unforseen electrical warranty claim, by blaming it on the kick mods, when they've nothing to do with it. Oh well, guess I'll have to build them sooner or later regardless, if I want to have a decent soundstage in the tC.

Have you ever thought about locating drivers in the tC's dash? Considering your installation resources, you might want to take a long look at the car's dash-windshield shape, with a set of HLCDs in mind. Not sure of any/everything that might be in the way (difficult to determine from the service manual drawings of the dash removal procedure), but a set of horns mounted inside the dash with the mouth flaring to the windshield and dash, such that they effectively become an extension of the horn, might produce the best possible soundstage in the tC. Imagine how nice it'd be with a flush grille between the A-pillar and defroster vent, so people wouldn't even know what was there, and soundstage height would be excellent. Just a thought, too much work for me to seriously consider at this point, but maybe you & Matt would be up to it. Not implying your system needs anything, just mentioning it since that's the type of change a serious SQ competitor such as yourself might like.

Matt and I DID consider dash mounted drivers. He's got a cut-away diagram of the tC's dash, and there IS room to put speakers on the top, and the dash comes out VERY easily. During sound quality competition, the seats are as far back as they go, and reclined slightly. I'm 5'4" with heels on, and Matt wanted to build the system so that I would enjoy it ALL the time. We looked at horns, but as I'm sure you know, they come with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. There's another member here on SL that is the 2005 IASCA Rookie World Champion with Image Dynamics CD2-neo full body horns, 6.5" XS mids in the doors, and a 12" IDMax sub. He's got a Premier P-9 combo and TRU Technology amps. Matt heard it again this past CES, and said it was the best sounding car at the show. Pete's a great guy too!

Generally speaking, horns mounted ON axis will rip your head off. Can it be done? Sure, but the amount of work and processing required to pull it off would be huge - even with the "secret Team Image Dynamics" notch filter circuit (-10dB between 1-8KHz). Matt had horns in his previous car, powered by a 6 watt, class A tube amplifier. It was sweet, but took forever to dial in, and even then, he wasn't 100% satisfied. It did image and stage VERY well though - with little effort, since HLCDs do that very well naturally. Horns mounted under the dash, parallel to the floor, and square to the edge of the frame (not toed in/out), couple the output of the horn to the dash. There's NO issues with height when properly installed, negating the desire to mount them higher or on top of the dash. People have tried horns on top, or aimed at the glass before, only to have marginal results. Feel free to give it an attempt if you desire!

Please don't think I'm ripping horns apart though - one of our favorite home audio speakers is a horn system - the Avantgarde Duos...if you haven't heard them, leave your credit cards, checkbook, and write "NO" on your forehead when you go into the showroom. They're beautiful sounding, but about $17,000...then you've got to buy the tube amps (hopefully Art Audio - wow!), and digital gear...

So where does that bring us? Matt and I really like the Seas drivers. They're soooo smooth and transparent. We tried the tweeters on the A-pillar, dash, and kickpanels. The dash and a-pillar location forced the height, but at the cost of additional path length differences, and there was an obvious disconnect between the drivers. The image smeared too, most likely because the sound from the tweeter was ping-ponging between the dash and glass. With the tweeters mounted next to the midbass', we took ~3" hit on height, but gained image stability, position, and placement. It was the best compromise. Image height is right at eye level right now, with impressive width, and depth that goes over the engine. Matt's stunned every time he listens to it...