Where to mount 3 way components?

[Larry77]

I just bought some JL XR653-CS 3-way components for the front and JL VR650-CXi coaxials for the back, both are 6 1/2" drivers but the components for the front have a tweeter, which I'll probably mount in the stock tweeter area, and a 4" mid-driver, which I'm not sure where to mount.

You guys have any suggestions on where to mount the 4" mid-driver up front?

Also I'm using a Scion '06 HU to try and stay stock appearance (sick of getting things stolen), will my sound quality be up to par? Have you guys with Scion decks found that you are getting a "clean" signal to your amps?

System:
'06 single disk Scion HU
JL 5/500 amp
JL XR653-CS 6 1/2" 3-way components (4" driver, tweeter) in front
JL VR650-CXi 6 1/2" 3-way coax in back
JL 12W6V2 in vented box (ugh, miss my stealthbox in my '97 T4R)

 

[JMT529]

I thought the front speaker size was 6x9? Also, you should check out that other thread with a custom box for the sub. It looks real nice.

 

[Larry77]

I thought the front speaker size was 6x9? Also, you should check out that other thread with a custom box for the sub. It looks real nice.

Yes the stock speakers for the front are 6x9's but I challenge you to find good SQ 6x9's...I haven't seen any. The 6 1/2" will fit up front with a little modification. Most upgraded systems on here are 6 1/2's all around...least that I've read. I do like that custom enclosure but I have a lot of installing to do before I'm going to worry about an enclosure. I may just go with another JL Stealthbox I just loved my old one. I would use my stealthbox for everyday driving and throw in my vented 12" box when I wanted to "boom".

 

[viper4evr2001]

i have up front Infinity Reference 9612i 6"x9" with infinity reference tweeters and love them for the price and the sound, addes good mid bass since there 6x9's. seriouly sounds good.

 

[Larry77]

i have up front Infinity Reference 9612i 6"x9" with infinity reference tweeters and love them for the price and the sound, addes good mid bass since there 6x9's. seriouly sounds good.

Yeah I had Infinity Reference series 6 1/2" up front in my '97 runner and was very happy with them besides the limited midrange output that is.

I haven't had my door panels off yet but I was checking them out from the outside for potential locations for the 4" drivers and I would really love to have them in the same location as the 6 1/2" (where the stock 6x9's are) maybe just locate them at the upper front corner of the grill, but I don't know how much room there is until I get the panels off.

 

[viper4evr2001]

if my memory is right there is not that much room, im thinking u might have to make a kick panel for the 4" but it might look weird.

 

[curtis]

Right now I am using CDT Audio's new 6x9 component setup, crossed over at 80hz to my sub, and it sounds very good.

What I would like to do down the road is deaden the door panels.

 

[Larry77]

So if I mount the 4" driver in the kick panel do you think that it will throw my soundstage off? I mean do you guys think that I wouldn't even hear the 4" because the 6 1/2" would be closer to the listener and probably drown out any signal from the 4"?

I've never installed 3 way components and I don't know the 4th gen door yet so if you have other suggestions i would reallyl appreciate it.

 

[curtis]

So if I mount the 4" driver in the kick panel do you think that it will throw my soundstage off? I mean do you guys think that I wouldn't even hear the 4" because the 6 1/2" would be closer to the listener and probably drown out any signal from the 4"?

I've never installed 3 way components and I don't know the 4th gen door yet so if you have other suggestions i would reallyl appreciate it.

The smaller the driver, the higher frequencies they play, and higher frequencies become more directional.

IMO, it would be best to have the tweeter closer to the ears, then the 4", then the 6.5". If you mount the 6.5" closer to the ear than the 4", you will lose a lot of the directional frequencies, as well as suffer some cancellation issues.

If you look at good home speakers, most times the woofers are mounted on the bottom, followed by the mids, and then the tweeters. This gets the tweeters closer to ear height because the tweeter's high frequencies are the most directional.

 

[Larry77]

Kind of what I was thinking...my ideal would be to mount the 4" mid between the 6 1/2" stock location and the tweeter stock location I just don't know how much depth is back there to work with and how I can make it look descent...I guess I will just have to see after I get my stuff and take the door panel off.

 

[Bluto]

Some info from Crutchfield on soundstage. The 4" driver will be tough. Are any custom kick panels available for the 4th Gen?

 

[sammyb]

Did you ever mount 3 way components in the door Larry? If so, do you have pictures of the install?

 

[ChipG]

3 Way Comps

I have the same JL components for the front of my 5th Gen. If you read the JL instructions, you'll see that the tweeter & Mid must be within 4" of each other & no further than 18" from the Mid-woofer. If you start to stretch these limits, you'll get some time alignment issues that will need a digital signal processor to fix.

 

[knightrider]

Your imaging should be good if u did the tweeter in the stock location, then the 4" in the old 6x9 location using to small sheets of abs plastic to make an adapter to mount it the use the 6.5 in some kick panels, now yes the 6.5 would be a lil farther away but kick panels cause the speaker to be angled towards the listner so that would correct any timing/imaging issues.

Another thought is mount the tweeters in the windshield pillars then the 4" in the stock tweeter location and 6.5 in the 6x9 location.

These will prob be the easiest and best sound staging w/o heavy Modding ur doors way to much ...I.e. building custom fiberglass speaker door pods.

I hope this may help!

 

[sammyb]

I think I might use 2 way components. I was just wondering if anyone had picture of a 3 way component install. Thanks for all the help and tips!

 

[jdkilroy]

Here is how I positioned the components of the 3-way I just installed. (ignore the tweeter mounted in the OEM upper door grill) I positioned the midrange where you see it just above the grille for the main door speaker. There is a flat space here that allows mounting of a 3" speaker and there is room on the back side of the door panel to allow this. I backed the speaker with a ring of 3/4" MDF to solidify the mount. I mounted the tweeter in the front pillar which was a very easy install. It is farther than recommended from the woofer and mid but since my head unit has adjustable time correction, I can create a very nice sound stage.

Midrange door mount


Tweeter on passenger front pillar:


Amp and cross-overs beneath passenger seat: (I know, its an unholy mess but this is just set-up and test state before final clean-up) Note the ground using the rear seat bolt. (need to sand, clean and thoroughly expose bright metal on bolt, seat frame and chassis to assure excellent ground)

 

[ChipG]

Not to be rude but,

You cant Time Allign a set of 3 way component speakers if you use the passive cross-over. You would have to amp each speaker independently ie 6 channels.
Time allignment involves delaying or adjusting the signal timing to each individual speaker to correct the time it takes to reach your ears.

 

[jdkilroy]

What you say is only partially true; you can time align each channel; not perfect, but way better than none at all. So with this set-up, I can time align each of 4 channels or each set of speakers. Building custom pillars was the next option and bi-amping the front components but I'm going to play around with this set up for now and see how it all plays out. Many of the upper end HU's today are offering basic time alignment and this can be used to create a more realistic sound stage. Is it going to win competitions... ? no, but it sounds pretty sweet.

 

[riceandpho]

lift the seat off the carpet, and lift the carpet up, u will see a ground point, its where the wires from the seat is grounded at, use that instead. also that 3 way mount is a lil bad, i would fierglass the midrange on the a pillar, cant mount the mid on the door like that, on the driver side, that mid is being block by the steering. i think u need more power to the speakers, i have a rf 600-2 thats making 248w per channel, driving focal 165k2p.

 

[caly87]

Would there be enough room behind the panel above the pull handle/armrest?

i am looking at the JL C5-653 & the midrange has a top mount depth of 1.62 inches.