I'm back! Audio system changes - component tweeter mounting suggestions anyone?

[Darrin kirby]

Hey all! Life's been getting in the way of toys the last few months, but I'm back!

I don't have much on the agenda for the 'Vette this year, other than upgrading the brakes (just slotted & cross drilled rotors with ceramic pads) and messing with the audio system. I'm sure other little projects will happen along the way. I might re-spray my wheels if I can find the time.

The previous owner did replace the factory Delco/Bose audio system with a cheap touch screen Pioneer head unit and some off-brand speakers. Unfortunately it is kind of half done - the front speakers don't work and the rears sound like unwashed a$$.

For now the head unit has to stay (although I detest the thing, so you never know), but the speakers gotta go. I'm planning to replace the rears with a pair of 6.5" shallow-mount subs and the fronts with JL Audio component units that I had in a previous vehicle. I have an external 4ch amp to drive them. That should be plenty of juice for that small cabin.

Anyone have any suggestions about mounting the tweeters? I don't want to mount them in the foot wells - won't be able to hear them. I was thinking about mounting them in the door panels but I don't want to hack the panels up. Maybe on the a-pillars but again, don't want to chop them up. I was thinking about mounting them in those after market a-pillar gauge pods if I could find both left & right pods. I've only seen lefts around but there have to be right side equivalents for Europe.

Kirb

Ideas welcome!

 

[dannyboy]

I have a '92 convertible and I mounted them behind the seats next to the shoulder belt anchors.

 

[Darrin kirby]

I have a '92 convertible and I mounted them behind the seats next to the shoulder belt anchors.

Interesting idea. You don't find that the passenger seat blocks the right tweeter?

 

[Darrin kirby]

Quick follow-up on this. I installed the "subs" in the back today. I had to enlarge the holes in the factory boxes just slightly. I also added a bunch of sound deadening material in the boxes. They sound pretty decent. A little on the honky side, but I don't think that's the speakers - I think it's the head unit or power amp. The old speakers had that too. I can EQ it out to some degree, but there's definitely still a peak there in the upper/mid bass. I might try plugging the factory port in the speaker box - it's probably tuned piss poorly considering how awful the factory Bose systems sounded in these cars.

I really want to replace the head unit also, but I'm kind of dreading the butchery I'm gonna find in the wiring back there. There is buzz even when the car isn't running so the dude probably messed up a ground somewhere. The cheap Pioneer unit in there is...well, cheap. I kinda like the more expensive Pioneer stuff (had one in my Tacoma), but these bargain basement units you get at Walmart & Canadian Tire are hopeless.

 

[Tourmax]

I only run front speakers and a sub. When I listen to music, I want it to sound like I'm at a concert. At a concert, the sound is in front of you. I like to replicate that as much as I can.

Bass is effectively non directional, so that can go where's there's space for it.

I actually run a fairly cheap "all in one" chinese entertainment center. It's actually pretty good, especially when you use the line out to an amp:

6.5 components, sub and amp are all infinty reference series stuff.

 

[OL Yeller]

Welcome back Tourmax...Hope all has been well with you since you last posted...Looking forward to a few project updates.

 

[OL Yeller]

I only run front speakers and a sub. When I listen to music, I want it to sound like I'm at a concert. At a concert, the sound is in front of you. I like to replicate that as much as I can.

Bass is effectively non directional, so that can go where's there's space for it.

I actually run a fairly cheap "all in one" chinese entertainment center. It's actually pretty good, especially when you use the line out to an amp:

View attachment 82703

6.5 components, sub and amp are all infinty reference series stuff.

 

[Creedence85]

@Darrin kirby I'm not terribly familar with the C4 interior, but can you surface mount the tweeters with 2 sided tape, and then place them near the edge of a panel where you can run the wire around? I did this on my Maxima years ago.

Or can you mount them on the A pillar with 2 sided tape and then tuck the wire around?

 

[Tourmax]

Welcome back Tourmax...Hope all has been well with you since you last posted...Looking forward to a few project updates.

Just testing the waters for now and seeing how it goes.

Staying in the C4 section exclusively.

 

[Creedence85]

I only run front speakers and a sub. When I listen to music, I want it to sound like I'm at a concert. At a concert, the sound is in front of you. I like to replicate that as much as I can.

@Tourmax Agreed. Not to mention almost all music is mixed in stereo, so placing speakers behind you and in other places will distort the stereo image. 2 seater cars are ideal for front speaker setups. @Darrin kirby the JL Audio component with amp should be plenty.

Is that a Secaine or similar Android head unit? It fits well and blends in. I was looking at the Secaine unit because they have one that fits in the GM slot without an adapter and has similar font on the buttons to match the rest of the car.

 

[Darrin kirby]

Yeah - I could have done that. I decided to use the factory Bose front boxes modded slightly to fit 5.25' coaxials in the front. Using a pair of 6.5" subs in the back (direct bold in to the original boxes). Sounds OK, but the head unit is the weak point for sure. Maybe if the EQ was a bit more useful it would be fine, but the 5-band with the lower & upper bands being 100hz & 8k just isn't doing it. Also, I may plug the port in the rear boxes. It sounds a tad woofy back there.

 

[Creedence85]

What's your audio source? If it's a phone plugged into aux, try a multi band EQ app if doesn't have one already. I did this in the Maxima, it had an old Kenwood from the late 90s with no aux, I had a 4 channel amp on the speakers, so I put a Y cable on the RCA with a 3.5mm cable so could use the head unit or plug something in. I had an iRiver Clix with a multi band EQ then switch to a phone when I got my first smartphone. Even EQd flat it sounded good and pretty clean, but the EQ helped bring out the lows, cut some problems in the low mids, and bring out the highs.

 

[Tourmax]

@Tourmax Agreed. Not to mention almost all music is mixed in stereo, so placing speakers behind you and in other places will distort the stereo image. 2 seater cars are ideal for front speaker setups. @Darrin kirby the JL Audio component with amp should be plenty.

Is that a Secaine or similar Android head unit? It fits well and blends in. I was looking at the Secaine unit because they have one that fits in the GM slot without an adapter and has similar font on the buttons to match the rest of the car.

It's a dual OS unit. Windows CE and some things (nav, etc) are Android. Strangely enough, it all plays together just fine. No idea on brand, it's a generic unit. I bought it as a "get you through" piece (price was cheap), but it's good enough that I'll probably keep it until it dies (which could be at any time with generic stuff).

The dash is a custom piece sized to fit the radio.

 

[Creedence85]

Bit of both. It's a windows CE unit and some things (nav, etc) are android. Strangely enough, it all plays together just fine. No idea on brand, it's a generic unit.

The dash is a custom piece sized to fit the radio.

@Tourmax Windows CE I'm glad it works!

 

[Tourmax]

@Tourmax Windows CE I'm glad it works!

It's CE 6 RE3. CE isn't that bad in this application. It's light and pretty quick, demands on it are really pretty low. I wouldn't doubt this one has been stripped down to it's minimum, making it even faster. As Long as you leave it alone and don't try to "hack" it, no worries.

It's got a boatload of features (TPMS, OBDII, internet, etc) but I don't use most of them. It's really more of a "pass through" device for me. Music comes from my iPhone via bluetooth, radio tuner is the unit, Nav is stand alone on it's own processor board inside. Works as a hands free as well, with surprisingly good sound on either end of calls.

 

[dannyboy]

Interesting idea. You don't find that the passenger seat blocks the right tweeter?

I have no problem hearing it.

 

[Creedence85]

I have no problem hearing it.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do in a car, but I wouldn't recommend that placement, and would try to get the tweeters as close to the mids as you can. You probably hear the tweeters really well, because they're just behind your ear, and dome tweeters do work well when pointed on axis to the listener, but mid and high frequencies are directional, so you'll distort the stereo image having the mids in front of you and the tweeters on the sides.

 

[Darrin kirby]

What's your audio source? If it's a phone plugged into aux, try a multi band EQ app if doesn't have one already. I did this in the Maxima, it had an old Kenwood from the late 90s with no aux, I had a 4 channel amp on the speakers, so I put a Y cable on the RCA with a 3.5mm cable so could use the head unit or plug something in. I had an iRiver Clix with a multi band EQ then switch to a phone when I got my first smartphone. Even EQd flat it sounded good and pretty clean, but the EQ helped bring out the lows, cut some problems in the low mids, and bring out the highs.

It is certainly a possibility. My source right now is a USB drive. I like having the control in the head unit. I don't like having to fiddle with an external device in a vehicle.

That said, I could certainly mitigate some of the audio issues by doing it this way. Regardless, I have to pull that head unit eventually to resolve the buzz issue, and to re-wire the outputs to the power amp (instead of using the front & rear outputs from the head unit the previous owner split the front outputs - I can't fathom why). At that point I may just replace the deck anyway. I dread discovering wiring butchery that's undoubtedly back there though.