Hi gents,

So it's been four months since I installed my system with a set of MB Quart components in the stock locations and a 10" kicker sub enclosed in a Zenclosure. My problems with the sound are: I don't hear the mid-bass anymore, it sounded like all of the bass is coming from the sub only. I am pondering on a set of speaker enclosures from crutchfield to see if I can get some mid-bass back (I have tuned down on the bass **** and still most of the bass is coming from the sub). My other problem is the sound stage is off-balanced, again the tweets are installed in the stock location. So do you guys recommend a multi-channel processor?, or, try to adjust the angle of the tweet's firing position to see if I can get improvement first?

Cheers,

I.F.

 

assuming its tuned right...the best thing you can do is put the midbass in some kind of semi-sealed enclosure, namely kicks or speaker pods...

assuming also you are running it off an amp...just doing kicks will make a pretty big difference

b

 

kick panels are your friend....you'll be happy.

Check the link above.

 

I would highly recommend Nazar's door pods, I get a ton of mid bass to the point that I am considering adding another sub to compensate for my pods putting out more than the sub does at times. lol

Of course, if you are near bing, I would go with some of his work if I was able to.

 

GET PODS! Fiberglass n' resin = midbass heaven!

See my last post in this subforum for pics of my set up. Great mid-bass! You must sound dampen your door skin inside and out though for best results.

 

what are kick panels?

 

What is your high pass crossover set at for the fronts? At what slope?

What is the low pass to your subwoofer set at?

 

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ht=kick+panels

 

First thing I would do is try adjusting your crossover points. If the sub is crossed over to high it will tend to drag the sound to the rear and mask the midbass from your components. Set the components first, disconnect the sub, a good starting point is 90Hz. Crank it up with the tone controls flat. If you hear a poping sound from the woofer it's too low and you need to raise it a bit, if it sounds fine try lowering the crossover point till it starts to pop and then raise it till it's gone.

Once the components are set plug the sub back in and set the crossover to the same point as the components. If it sounds too boomy or it's still dragging the sound to the rear, lower the sub crossover. Depening on the crossover (1st, 2nd, 3rd order) the overlap of frequencies will create a boost at the crossover frequency. So setting them with a gap will most likely create a smoother sound.

I have my comps set at around 80hz and the sub at 65hz. Lowering your sub frequency will help a lot in letting you hear the comps mid bass and you will get better definition.

 

Did you swap out the factory 5 1/4 for 6 inch Quarts. Thats what I'm running but the Q models. I love midbass and get great sound from mine. I dynamatted the doors and used a rubber spacer that I fabbed from Home Depot. I think it was originally used for plumbing. I used liquid nail to seal it. Sounds 100 times better than stock. The tweets were a little harsh so I wrapped them in a couple layers of grill cloth to soften them up in the factory location.

 

The reason why the tweeters were so harsh is because they are so damn far away from the door speaker

 

That is false.

A good XO point if you want to have solid mid-bass is to run them is no higher than 60Hz (I'd run 18dB slopes to protect the mids though). You should have the complimentary slope on the subwoofer.

DHCrocks,
you are missing part of your music the way your crossovers are set, I cannot imagine that having correct midbass. Are your slopes the same? Are they level matched?

 

great write up, i couldn't agree more. setting my crossover points also worked wonders for me.

 

nope no holes. Once you set the component crossover, adjust the sub crossover, start at the same point and begin to lower it. you will notice that the mid bass will become more defined up front. keep lowering it untill you notice that there's a hole in the frequencies and somethings missing. at that point adjust it back up a bit. without a spectrum analizer this is about the best you can do.

My highpass crossover is a 12db (2nd order) and lowpass is a 24db (4th order). Crossovers are not a sharp cutoff, it still allows frequencies below/above the set point to pass, but at a reduced level. A second order will reduce the level by 12db for each octave. A forth order 24db for each octave.

For example:
1000Hz second order HP, at 500hz it's down 12db, at 250Hz it's down 24db.......
250Hz second order LP, at 500hz it's down 12db, at 1000hz it's down 24db...
Because both speakers would be playing a reduced level at 500Hz, the level would be additive and you would end up with 500Hz being down something like 6db. So you would still get sound at those frequencies in the "hole". If you don't create the hole you will end up with a bump in the frequencies at the crossover point and get an exaggurated level. This is just an example for simple calcualtions, but it can be worked out for your specific components. Each speaker/amp will have different characteristics and it's not easy. The easiest thing to do is go by ear.

 

You know it's been four months since I even looked at my amps. I will go take a look and get back to you.
I have to redo the amp rack sometimes soon so I can access it easier.

 

No I only swap out the front 6.5's, I left the rears untouched. I have rattles in my passenger side, I'm going to order the spacer, hopefully it will fix the problem. My installer trimmed off part of the speaker trims to make it fit in the stock location.

 

I tried everything including messing with the low-pass Xover on the sub, Dynamat, and attempting to seal off the woofers in an enclosure. (Though the door pods will probably work well for that). I found mid-bass nirvana with a $50 Clarion equalizer.