I did some measurements today in my Scion xB comparing dash mounting of my Boston Pro 5.4 mids vs kickpanels. I got some interesting results:

As measured from the driver's headrest to the dash speakers and the kickpanels:

Left side dash: 51"
Right side dash: 62"

Left kickpanel: 56.5"
Right kickpanel: 67.5"

The difference for both is 11 inches, but more interesting is the ratios:

The distance to the left dash speaker is .823 of the distance to the right dash, and the distance to the left kickpanel is .837 of the distance to the right kickpanel!

Seeing that these are practically identical, I can go either way, so it just comes down to installation methods and stealthiness.

On the dash, I'm thinking about fabricating an angled mount to have the mids aimed up and backwards a bit, with the tweeters next to them either in the A-pillars or suspended on a thin metal rod. Grills will be fabricated to cover the entire setup in much the same style as the Mirage Omnipolar home speakers.

If I run kickpanels [which I'm against because of stage height and footroom], I plan to buy some Q-Forms and stiffen them up with fiberglass and try to find room in the kickpanels for airspace for the mids.

Midbass will be handled by door speakers of indeterminate make and size.

Thoughts, ideas?

Thanks
-Matt

 

...please?

 

I have my 5.25" component speakers in the dash locations and they image great, with the tweeter molded into the A-pillar. the door speakers will be made into mid-bass this year (Kicker SSMB8 will be in there), but for now just a 6.5" component mid, I have the tweeter molded into the door sail panel (the panel that covers the mirror bolts). You can play with the angle of the speakers on the dash to see if you can get more out of them, but for me they sound great as they are.

I was never big on kick panel spekers, mainly because I always owned vehicles with a 5-speed so kicks were such a pain in the butt. one thing I did do in a Ranger I owned was I put a set of 5" components under the dash facing down towards the floor and it sounded amazing. you couldn't tell where the sound was coming from but it sounded like it was on top of the dash. I never thought it would work, I thought the carpet would absorb all the sound but it really worked. maybe something to try.