Hi All,
I will be installing a new stereo next month on my 04 quad cab (starting from scratch). I plan on installing one of these 3 way component systems in the front (one is a 6.5" and the other is an 8")

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-9345-hd-...onent-set.aspx

http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/ppipc365c.aspx

I'm going for the best soundstage and imaging possible.

Here're my questions:

• Should I use an active crossover or the passive crossover that comes with the system? What about timing if I place the speakers off axis?
• Where should I mount everything knowing I'm going for the best imaging?
• Can I mount the mid and tweet off-axis? What are the drawbacks to doing so?
• If I use the 8" mid driver setup, can I use a baffle and mod my door to fit in the 6x9 hole? (the doors will be dynamated and sealed)
• The ppi system has 2.5 mids which I think will fit in the door panel above the door switches. Would this be a good location of I put the tweet right above the infinity logo?

Note: I hate how the current dash speakers sound (stock infinity). Will better speakers completely change that? I don't want to use custom kick panels as I had them in my last truck and couldn't stand how the speakers shot right into my leg and I could hardly hear them. (I'm 6' 5", 250 so there's lots of leg down there to absorb all the sound).

Thanks for the help!!

 

The front doors won't even fit a normal-depth 6x9, so I seriously doubt you would be able to fit an 8" woofer in there without serious modification (not to mention the speaker sticking way into the cab).
If you have to put the tweeters in the door at all, I would recommend at least the top-most portion that covers the side-view mirror connections. More preferably you would mount them in the upper A pillar covers, or in the dash pointed at the windshield. Either of those positions will sound far better than mounting them to your door.

I honestly don't know much about crossovers as far as "active" or "passive" goes, so I'll let someone with more experience comment on that.

 

I've seen how several guys have put the tweeters in the a pillar covers and it looks pretty good. I was thinking of putting the mid right below the tweeters in the door panels and the driver in the stock location. I didn't think about the depth at all so the 8" is probably out of the question. I've taken a couple pics to show what I have in mind. I'm scared to put holes in my doors if it isn't going to sound good.

 

I would check the depth in that part of the door for the mids. I don't imagine it being an issue, but I would check it out first. Like I said for the theaters though, if you have to mount in the doors, then that's a good spot, but If you want good imaging, the A pillar or the dash is the way to go. You want your tweeters high, around ear level, for best imaging. If you absolutely don't like the sound from up there, the A pillar covers are not that expensive. The placement of the woofers is not important at all, and where you're placing the mids looks great.

 

There's way more to imaging than placement. Putting tweeters ontop of your dash aiming at the windshield is the WORSE place. You don't want ANY sound waves bouncing off the glass. It distorts the sound and alters it's timing. Putting the tweeters in the pillar is much better, but you'll need time delay adjustment r the driverside tweter will dominate all other sounds.
For the best sound staging possible, you need to keep a tight group of your components. Spreading them out makes it very difficult to achieve premium sound. Generally, guys creat molds around their feet so to get the speakers as far away as possible yet aimed right at them. They even put the tweeter on the floor amongst those other components so to keep the sound coming from one spot only. You can still get the highs sounding way above the ear level with them mounted to the floor. Mounting them high up around ear level plays no role in sound for an automobile like it does for your home theater system. You can have the highs sound like they are unreachable by placing them anywhere that's in front of your ears....placement above the knee is not needed to achive proper imaging.
Placement of woofers isn't important??? I'm going to leave it at...I strongly disagree.
Also, a sound processor with equalization and time delay is going to be your best friend. You'll never achieve premium imiaging without one.
I have the RF360.2.

The first set..CDT...overpriced brand that sounds average.
Second company..PPI, OK for the money but won't win any Comp's.

Active vs passive....Active for best sound stage and imaging..Passive for easability and convenience. You won't see anyone with passive crossovers winning competitions either. Those guys all run active. Active is more expensive and time consuming.
The depth on the front doors is right around 3-5/8"-3.75" for depth with no spacers. rear doors are a more of an issue with depth but if your going for imaging, then you don't want any sound coming from the back.

I've got Boston Pro 6.5's in the front doors and my tweeters are up on the dash in pods aiming directly towards the center of the cab. It's a 2-way Component set-up and I can promise you that if you buy quality speakers and a quality amp, little tiny 6.5's in the doors that are blocked by your legs will still blow your ears off and make you run for cover. if you were local I would give you a demonstration of what I am talking about with my truck. You don't need all kinds of speakers to be very loud and clean. You need quality parts and a quality install!!!
I've got alot of $$$$$ into my system. They aren't cheap to do right which is why most guys don't and buy what's cheapest.

 

I will admit that I was not thinking about timing when I mentioned the dash mounts, and you have raised a very valid point. If you're worried about timing at all, don't bounce the sound off of your windshield LoL

I have to argue for the woofer placement however. The lower the frequency that the speaker has to reproduce, the less the mounting location matters. A typical 8" woofer is going to produce sound in the ~30-600hz spectrum (maybe higher depending on the speaker). If you're using mid range speakers and a subwoofer in addition to your woofers, then you can setup your hi/lo crossovers to output in the ~60-200hz spectrum. Inside that range, it would be exceedingly difficult for the average human to detect either the direction or source of the sound. Maybe I just have terrifically bad hearing, or maybe my science is off. What are your thoughts?

 

His 8" woofers should be his mids and not his lows. I would guess, depending on his sub, 80 and higher would be playing through his mids. Placement does not matter for really low freqs but the main range of mids would be in the 120 and higher range. In this case, placement is extremely important.

I would have to agree with everything dirtydog said because, well, he's correct. Placement can make your expensive speakers sound like ****... Throw tweeter on your dash or in your apod and enjoy the tweeter headache... Depending how serious you are, you're better off keeping your mids and highs mounted as close together as you can. Go with Passive, once again depending how serious you are....

I wouldnt buy either one of those. Everyone enjoys a different sound fromt their speakers. You're better off going to a store and demoing. What i think sounds good may sound flat to you.

What do i like?
Rainbows, the new JL Evolution C6's, DLS, RE

 

In a system that comes with woofers, mids and tweeters, why would you use the woofer to do the same job as the mids? The woofer is not even designed to recreate the upper half of the mid-range. Woofers, by design, are meant to respond down to the ~60hz range, filling the gap between the subwoofer and the mids. Sure, many modern subs can reach into the 200hz range, but limiting your sub to 60-80hz makes it more efficient.

I'm just going to assume that I have terrible hearing, as your science seems to dictate that one should be able to locate the source by ear from 120hz up. I don't imagine myself realistically being able to locate anything below 250hz.

 

The woofers are mid-woofers and they are intended to play the lower mid notes with more clarity. They are not subwoofers and do rely on placement for proper imaging. I prefer to have components co-located but everyone hears things differently.
You should be able to locate anything over 120hz though. I prefer my mid-woofer to engage at, depending on the power of the mid-woofer, 60hz or 80hz.

 

This is the prefered method if you're stage will be up front. You could fill space in the rear


Most of your imaging cues will come from your midrange speakers, so a higher placement will generally give you a higher sound stage.

You may find that an 8" midbass works well in the front doors, a 4" midrange works well in the top of the dash, and the tweeters will work on the a-pillars as long as they are NOT pointed forward toward the glass. (But let your ears be the judge) Additionally, a vehicle this wide may pose a center image challenge. This means that the lead vocals of more intimate music will be less than focused. Try solving this by running one or both of the midbass drivers out of phase with the rest of the speakers. You may also try this with the midrange, but I doubt that you will observe a difference on the midrange.

BUT ALL OF THIS IS MEANINGLESS if you purchase the wrong speakers. Do yourself a big favor, and Go And Listen to several high-end 3-way component sets. They won't sound the same in the store as they will in your vehicle, but you will have a MUCH better idea whether you will like them at all if you at least listen to them first. At least this way, you will buy the component set that best suits your personal taste.