Too good to not share
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dBincognito
- Randy Bo-Bandy
- Posts: 3301
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:32 pm
Ya .. not exactly my cup of tea either when it comes to 'style'. This car was done more as a 'do what makes it sound best .. not what makes it look good' approach. The blue suede is about the only cosmetic change and that was mostly because the old interior was trashed when he bought it. Otherwise, the install is bare minimum. No cosmetic trim panels at all. With weight savings being a concern too. (He has done a few of those parking lot rally .. time attack thingys whatever they're called) The trunk was all done with aluminum, free air subs and room for the spare tire. This guy is the DLS competition team leader here in the US. He has gone to EMMA finals in Europe the last couple of years to help tune cars and has come back with nothing but high praises for the cars he listened to that had similar set-ups. So I was game for doing something new.
As for visually .. ya .. they were a distraction when they were first done with the polished finish. I thought it looked allot better but I didn't have to drive the car every day. hehe. They aren't any worse then maybe a gauge pod in the pillar as far as obstruction goes. And once they were painted they weren't a distraction to him anymore. Except for that incredible urge to poke them ....
The SQ is outrageous. Especially in the mid/high freq's. Open, natural, and surprisingly deep considering the physical location. Staging is like nothing you get from just kickpanels. And tuning was a breeze. Very little eq. Mainly crossover slopes and phasing stuff. But as far as doing this placement with tweeters, the big difference was getting the driver on-axis and hearing detail from the main focus of the driver and not from a reflection off the windshield. It made a dramatic difference. Is it the end all do all? No. But trying to tame and eliminate the acoustic problems in a car is really the only way to get a 'new' improvement and not just rehashing the same ol speaker locations with different drivers. Ultimately rebuilding the dash (or eliminating it) would be the next step. If you're up for that...
It's definitely a love it or hate it install.
As for visually .. ya .. they were a distraction when they were first done with the polished finish. I thought it looked allot better but I didn't have to drive the car every day. hehe. They aren't any worse then maybe a gauge pod in the pillar as far as obstruction goes. And once they were painted they weren't a distraction to him anymore. Except for that incredible urge to poke them ....
The SQ is outrageous. Especially in the mid/high freq's. Open, natural, and surprisingly deep considering the physical location. Staging is like nothing you get from just kickpanels. And tuning was a breeze. Very little eq. Mainly crossover slopes and phasing stuff. But as far as doing this placement with tweeters, the big difference was getting the driver on-axis and hearing detail from the main focus of the driver and not from a reflection off the windshield. It made a dramatic difference. Is it the end all do all? No. But trying to tame and eliminate the acoustic problems in a car is really the only way to get a 'new' improvement and not just rehashing the same ol speaker locations with different drivers. Ultimately rebuilding the dash (or eliminating it) would be the next step. If you're up for that...
It's definitely a love it or hate it install.
Greg Kitching
I figured it sounded amazing and I can respect function over form if that is the goal. I like to blend the two.
That is a busy and yet very simply trunk as well. It took a while to take it all in and I can see the challenge of trying to keep it all clean looking. I love the blue suede on that one panel in the trunk.
That is a busy and yet very simply trunk as well. It took a while to take it all in and I can see the challenge of trying to keep it all clean looking. I love the blue suede on that one panel in the trunk.