[archat68]

Got a pair of JBL GTO608C installed in my car for 5.5K (easiest to find). The difference from the stock crappy speaker is huge!! Thanks guys !!

[jakesride]

[quote=jakesride;2340773]hey thanks

How much are the comps from bull ? how big are they , as in will they fit into
the vista doors without cutting/adding spacers etc ?
And what bout the rear ?
any particular models in pio or kenwood and how much do they retail at ?

Bump!

Guys, At ma budget, can anyone brief me in on the best gear to pick up ?
Please do let me know what brand and model (Hu, components and ovals) to look for.

Thanks

[archat68]

^^ please specify your budget so that people can throw some recommendation.

[kaushik_s]

Hi All,
I've recently got Diamond Audio D1 component speakers for my car. When I just love the thump of the mid-bass (it's really good), it's the tweeters that is giving me trouble. They are just too bright for my taste and I feel as if my ears are bleeding, even brighter than the old JBL's. I tried tuning in the Amp (Rockford Fosgate prime 300.4) and the tuning the head unit (Kenwood 7539BT) but to no avail. They still sound bright and I just fill it's irritating.
What options do I have to reduce this bright sound and make it bearable? I tried reducing the mid and highs in the equalizer to -2 or -3 db but it's of no use and if I reduce it further the whole music starts sounding muffled.
Can it be some wiring issue or D1's sound like this only? Should I check the X-over connections?
Or is only option to change the whole speaker setup itself? If so then what next considering I'm not very interested in too bright sounding speakers?
Or is there a remote possibility that it's the amp?
Regards,

[jakesride]

Originally Posted by jakesride

Thanks for the replies guys .. appreciate it

Well, Im looking at the cheapest deal I can get here.

I need bass but from my limited knowledge, I understand that my requirement does not warrant an amp or a separate sub. I need crisp clear vocals complimented by decent bass, not boom boom kaboom.

I have only about 12k to spare actually. Pio would be the HU of choice, right ? I need just the regular ( ipod compatibility, Usb stick etc).. Is there a particular model I need to be looking for? and what kind of speakers can we work out in this budget? I know the budget is really restricting but I don't see more money coming in any time soon so don't want to wait and get something later.

Thanks in advance

And if absolutely necessary, maybe another 2 grand !

[archat68]

^^ If you don't need CD player - check out the JBL 333 HU . It has everything you want except the CD for 3.75K shipped from carplus.in with 2 years warranty. Pioneer HU with USB should be around 5K.

Assuming the car will self driven - install a pair of components for the front doors. Boston Sxi 606 for VFM and Morel Maximo or JBL GTO 608C (5.5 - 6K) for a bit better sound.

You can install a pair of co-axials in the rear door if you have the space for it, else install a MDF parcel tray and install a pair of 6X9 there.

All these can be done within your budget of 12K.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

... it's the tweeters that is giving me trouble. They are just too bright for my taste ...

Your best bet is to pad the XO (Navin-ji, help required).

For the time being, tape a couple of layers of pieces of curtain cloth over the tweeters - might help reduce the intensity.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Your best bet is to pad the XO (Navin-ji, help required).

For the time being, tape a couple of layers of pieces of curtain cloth over the tweeters - might help reduce the intensity.

Oh ok. Let me try doing it. What is padding of XO? Navin-ji, plz pitch in.
Can the position of the tweeters be an issue? They are mounted on the A-pillar and that's kind of quite close to the ears. The car in question is Scorpio. I felt for my prev car, i.e. Baleno, the A-pillar mount was ok as the distance was bit more than here.

[cranky]

Your biggest problem is the listening position.

Padding the crossover is reducing the level of the tweeter in the crossover itself. Some component units have switches to regulate the level of the tweeter. My Focals, for example have a setting for -3dB and -6dB.

If the crossover does not have this, you have to add a resistor in series (and possibly another in parallel) with the tweeter. If this is not something you understand, you probably shouldn't do it as it may lead to problems.

Try experimenting with the angle of the tweeter. Some are very bright on-axis, but mellow down when pointed away from the listener. I would suspect most of your issues are related to this. Maybe reposition them so that the tweeters do not fire directly into your ears.

[DerAlte]

Distance is not the issue (it will be usually ~4-5' average in any car), the angle at which it is mounted is. Can't visualize since you haven't posted a pic. Who installed your setup? Unless you were hopelessly fell in love with the sound output at the installer's place and forgot to give the right feedback, a bit of honest feedback enables the installer to tune everything to your satisfaction.

One normally uses 'off-axis mounting' of the tweeters. To put it simply, the driver's side tweeter (imagine the central axis perpendicular to the tweeter) is angled so that it faces the passenger's right ear (in RHD cars ), and the passenger side tweeter is angled directly towards the driver's left ear. The left tweeter distance is larger to the driver's ear than the right tweeter's. In this setting, the intensity of the main beam is reduced at your ears. Check if it is so, otherwise you can angle it to the correct angle. Double check if the stereo image is natural.

[kaushik_s]

^^ Thanks Cranky and DerAlte, I'll try repositioning the tweeters and see if I can feel some difference. In my Baleno they are positions differently and not towards my ear directly and so I guess that's why there I'm fine with the audio.
@DerAlte, it was done at Evo. That day it got really late at night(almost 12) and so I didn't checked it properly. But from the next day onwards itself I could feel that there is something wrong with the treble. Couldn't go there again due to time constraints and the distance.
I;m posting the pics of the Tweeters mounts. The RHS is directly aimed at the driver and the LHS is directed towards the passenger. I'll try to change the positions today itself and see if that helps, guess it would.
Driver side :


Passenger Side :


And here is a image of the XO, sorry for the bad pic quality as these are all taken from mobile cam and low light. Anyway, there is something called reference and -2db written on the XO for the tweeter levels. If I remember correctly there were jumpers in the XO and probably they were set to reference. Should I change them to -2db and see if that also helps?

[DerAlte]

Ouch! The right one is firing at your ear directly. Schedule a session with Satya and ask him to set it in the right direction and also check the image. The XO image is not clear, please post a good pic.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Ouch! The right one is firing at your ear directly. Schedule a session with Satya and ask him to set it in the right direction and also check the image. The XO image is not clear, please post a good pic.

Sorry for the bad pic, I had only one pic of the XO. Will be opening the doorpads and change the tweeter level to -2dB. But as you guys pointed out, the bigger problem is that the tweeters are firing directly to my ears. Let me see if I can do something myself, or else will pay Satya a visit soon.

[navin]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Your best bet is to pad the XO (Navin-ji, help required).

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

What options do I have to reduce this bright sound and make it bearable? I tried reducing the mid and highs in the equalizer to -2 or -3 db but it's of no use and if I reduce it further the whole music starts sounding muffled.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Oh ok. Let me try doing it. What is padding of XO? Navin-ji, plz pitch in.
Can the position of the tweeters be an issue? They are mounted on the A-pillar and that's kind of quite close to the ears.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

One normally uses 'off-axis mounting' of the tweeters.

Tweeter response can fall considerably off axis. It is best to first experiment with the angle of the tweeter before making more significant modifications (physical or electrical).

The simplest pad would be a single 4 ohm 10W resistor in series with the crossover (between the tweeter crossover and amp). Take care that the resistor is only between tweeter crossover and amp. It should drop the tweeter about 3db.

A padding resistor installed in this manner will not change the effect of the crossover. If for example you wre to introduce a padding resistor between the crossover and tweeter the turnover frequency of the crossover would change as the crossover would see 4ohm+tweeter impedance in series. The way around this is an L-pad that consists of a resistor in parallel with the tweeter and a series resistor.

This series resistor is the simplest pad I can think of. The L-pad is more correct but requires to resistors to fit inside the XO box.

The other thing I have noticed in many car XOs is that the Q of the tweeter Xois very high. This makes the crossover peak and the peakyness so introduced is reprodiced by the tweeter giving a harsh/forward sound to the tweeter.

The advantage high Q XOs have is that the roll off the lower frequencies fast and hence protect the tweeter from over-excursion. You can re-design the XO to have the same XO frequency but with a lower Q (and hence less of a peak) but that also means that there will be less protection for the tweeter aginst abuse. Used with reason andunderstanding the limitations this can be an effective process to reduce the forwardness of a car tweeter.

Beyond the electrical options are mechanical options.

The simplest of these is using a silk cloth over the metal mesh grill of the tweeter. Another mod is to fill the rear chamber with a wad of cotton wool or felt cloth. However these mods are not easy to implement unless you know what you are doing.

Edit: I am posting this after seeing your pictures above.

1. Switch tweeter to -2db.
2. try tweeer by reversing tweeter wires. I think the tweeter should be out of phase give that is is being rolled of at -12db/oct.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Hi Gurus's i need help with a ICE install in my Fiesta.

I have 0 knowledge on ICE whatever little i understand now is a result of browsing the ICE section on TBHP for the last 3 weeks. SO here goes

I listen to almost everything except HArd Rock, Trance and the usual head banging stuff, I prefer soft rock, punjabi music ,hip hop and hindi music.
What I want from my System is crisp Sound with good mid bass , minnimun Shrillness.

My budget is 25K - 30 K max Out of which I already have a Pioneer 5050 HU with me from my previous car So all I am Looking for is

1. Front Components
2. A 4 channel Amp for the comps and woofer
3. A good woofer (to be placed in the boot of the car)
4. I do not want any sort of cutting and spacers and all that in my front doors the size for the front comps has to be 5"X7". So am looking for Comps that are a direct fit into the front doors.

The car is a Ford Fiesta

Now Based on reviews here on TBHP Driven is recommended by a lot of folks paid them a visit and below is what Mr RANA told me would go into my car with the prices mentioned

1. Front Comps Image Dynamics 5X7 - 9500/
2 Rockford Fosgate Woofer 4 channel amp - 11000/
3 Rockford fosgate Woofer in a wooden box factory made- 8500/
4. Bull audio 5 gauge wiring kit - 3500/
5 Wires - depending on wires used

I asked about JBL, as i have no clue how they sound but he said they are crappy comps and we dont stock them , then i asked about Bull Comps he said they arent being supplied as of now. There were other comps there but on being quoted prices of them i thought its better not to ask

Now my dilemma is what would be the best combination considering my budget and is the above mentioned configuration any good as i have no clue as to the pros and cons of different brands.Could i get a Better configuration in my budget??

Cheers.