Has anybody here tried any of these, Seam to be some possibly interesting options from Pioneer, and Polk.
Maybe one of these 13" shallow mounts with an adapter mounting flange would be decent in our rear deck without hanging down too far, or a shallow, long flat box of suitable volume.
Pete

 

i have played with them, and also did some testing of my own. They seem to work pretty good, however the structure and coil usually were kinda fragile and cant take too much abuse. If we are talking about jazz music at moderate levels, or current rock, these will work just fine, however if we are talking about rap music and bass music in general, you may want to look elsewhere (and dont run a bazillion watts to them either)

 

LOL exactly what is a bazillion watts Jason? That sounds like something Power Acoustik or Audiobahn would claim!

Power doesn't kill speakers, distortion does! (Sine wave clipping because the transistor is clamping to the rail) You're much better off with too much power than not enough.

Ok basically subs, or all speakers for that matter, are basically just electric linear actuators designed to ossilate back and forth at a specific frequency, which at at any instantaneous moment is a summation of all the frequencies going to it.

Speakers make sound by moving air. using the cone of the speaker. these thin subs seem to have a different type of drive mechanism for the coil where a big magnet isn't "needed".. I'm sure their ability is limited relative to conventional subs, but they could work...

George

 

being the tech savvy group we are, im sorry if i dummed downed the bazillion watts thing, dealing with the general public day in and day out with technical questions, makes my responses......how shall i say............generic at times????


if i hear 1 more person say they have a 5000 watt amp and it has a 30 amp fuse in the side of it.....im gonna poke my own eyes out...........sorry off rant

 

I am installing new audio (still) and in my testing..a big sub facing up in the rear deck sound like garbo..I would reccomend a highend set of 3way..maybe focal utopia's .and if your looking for bass kicker makes some 6.5 marine subs,that will fit our back deck nicley..that being said..I opted for one 2000w rms sub in my trunk,pointing forward.with the cut outs for my back deck grilled and basically using the trunk for a secondary box..i am running the utopia;s but there's lots of toy's out there,,as for my back seat..not to worried about it..no one sits there...lol

 

Yeah I hear you Jason. Generally speaking I just shake my head! I had a guy tell me at an f-body meetup I was a fool for putting a 40x4 amp in my Iroc because a "good" headunit - (read: $100 Sony purchased at wal-mart), like his made 52x4 and was therefore superior lmfao!

Ok by that logic, my sub amp has 2 40 amp fuses, and my music amp has 3. so 200 amps (in fuses / 30 = 6.67 x 5000 = 33,350 watts! We'll say 3 bazillion for those who don't like math! No worries folks, if the power goes out all I need to do is turn on my stereo and I can power the neighborhood!

So Jason you In Cali again, or you still local?

George

 

back in cali, at Autopage again. They made me an offer i couldnt refuse.

 

Awesome! Best of luck with that.

With the weather we've been having here, I wouldn't mind being in Cali myself.

George

 

Jason/George
I am driving my wifes V70 with the HU-803 premium sound in it today.
Volvo publishes - yes I know fluff - that the speaker Freq response is 20hz - 20k hz, I think the front door speakers are 6.75" round. And I think the amp is a PA-300 which I believe is 50W RMS x 4.
My mindset is kind of - how far wrong can I go if I get good used volvo parts - provided the speakers will fit, because basically I am able to make a relative comparision of this system as been very close to what I want or at least I would be certainly satisfied for the near term if I get to this level.

We all have been conversing and this is appreciated.

And yes, I agree with the Honda syndrone of the 5000Watt walmart being the best - guess you need a 6hp gnerator in the trunk to run it. kind of like the 3" tailpipe adding 20hp!

Peter

 

Haha I have Dual 3" exhaust tips... Does that mean my 3.0 has an extra 40hp??

Awesome!

Peter, we've talked about it before but leave the OEM stuff alone. It's just a headache that's not worth going to. I wish you were closer, I'd let you listen to my car. It would prob make the volvo sound like a walkman.

George

 

volvo actually lied to you...... 20hz-20k hz is the range of human hearing.....even though we may be able to hear these ranges, most people have hearing in between that. when you plot this you will see dips and peaks depending upon the music, this is normal. music being dynamic, is not ever flat....unless your listening to say...static...but then again thats not music. ANYWHO, i have had my hearing checked multiple times, and there is a natural roll off of my hearing that is completely different than others...we all hear differently, yet at the same time, hear the same. How our brain processes that info depends upon the ability of our body to process that sound. (i know im rambling)...so, in a short version, volvo lied.

Im willing to bet that an RTA (real time analyzer) reading in your vehicle would show you virtually have no output below 60hz out of that 6.75" driver. Especially at normal listening levels. Its the nature of the beast.

We can sit here and disect every speaker out there, its all going to come down to proper installation, proper power, and proper tuning.

I was working with a speaker company for some time and learned alot of production and repair of said speakers, and also alot of time was spent training me about why things work and why some things dont. Needless to say, i learned to look at pathlengths and frequencies in the vehicle, not equipment.

 

Go get a test CD, or download wav samples of different frequencies and burn them.

You'll see what we mean... Forget specs. That's like guys sitting there with the summit catalog and a pencil deciding how much horsepower a motor is going to make based on selecting random components...

George

 

Yes, that is on my list to do, to make a 'sampler' CD of snippets of tracks of music I am familiar with to judge response, and also George, good idea to do some testing/listenin of raw frequency generators. Then take this to evaluate speakers by ear.

I also realize and agree, I cannot get to the 'ultimate' level without considering path lengths and vehicle differences form one model to the next. Good analogy, the summit catalogue and calculating Horsepower Jason.

PR

 

Come to mind some of the lowest frequencies which I look for include:
(personal taste not an issue, simply good examples).

The original movie soundtrack intro (not the pop releas on Lets Dance) of Cat People by David Bowie.

Some Sarah McGlachlin (SP) off here earlier CD's got very low.

More thumpish, but important detail is David Bowies Young Americans

Very thumpish and on my occaisonal playlist Def Lepard pyromania

 

Some of mine:

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing

Eagles - Hotel California unplugged

Katy Perry - Waking up in vegas

Gloria Estefan - Turn the beat around

Toto - Africa

Billy Idol - Mony Mony

Finger 11 - paralyzer

 

These are very good as a listening track.....especially the dire straits recording, its one of my go too tracks for final listening test.

 

also if you want to waste some reading time online, goto the forums at www.carsound.com head into the IASCA archive forum, make some popcorn, sit back and hold on......we got into some awesome discussions and had some awesome internet fights regarding sound, however if you read through all the emotions and bullcrap, you will see some definite good info.....just throwing that out there

 

Brings back memories of 1986 downtown Toronto on way back from school 1st yr, stereo shop guy demo-ing speakers "whow listen to this 250 watts....playing ONLY THE VERY INTRO to money for nothing, he quit before the bass riff begins......


PR

 

LOL that reminds me of this guy who was a classic example of 80's excess who used to run a stereo shop that supposedly known for high end custom work. Guy had slicked back grey hair with a pony tail, his shirt half unbuttoned with a couple gold chains, etc...

He used to demo subs for customers in his sound room, and not happen to mention that he had 2 Orion XTR 12's running off of 2 300w ppi amps that happened to be "accidentally" switched on in the soundboard...

When customers used to complain or comment that their cars didn't sound like what they expected he would blame the fact that they were in the trunk of a car etc... He was the only guy who managed to invert the transfer function lol.

Jason, how long you been in the game? Were you around for the rec.audio.car days on IRC? Those discussions and people were legendary. You had Eddie Runner, Dave Navone, This guy from Syracuse or Rochester NY that moved down to Miramar, FL as one of the original JL engineers. He drove a Talon, I can still see his face but his name escapes me.
Now everyone with a dsl connection and a headunit thinks they are a car audio expert on the internet.

And Pete. I know you're impressed by the Volvo System, but trust me, stick with the aftermarket. You'll be much happier.

Personally if it was my car. Here's what I would do.

First, swap the headunit and amp as we've discussed.

Leave ALL the tone controls on the head unit flat. Bass, treble, loudness, soundfeilds. Forget they exist.
Get yourself a couple passive crossovers and use the factory Alpine components. You'd be surprised how they will sound with some real power behind them.

Second Add a small sub, maybe a single 10" or 12".

Replace the amp, spend a couple days listening and tweaking.

I guarantee you you'll forget about your lust for the Volvo system in a hurry.

Once you listen to that for a while, and you get the itch for more:

Now, the next step, would be a set of good 6.5" separates in the front doors. Focal / Diamond / /a/d/s if you can find them. For more moderate budgets, MB Quart or Boston Acoustics.


Now as far as setting the amp up.

Start with the gains turned 1/4 of the way up. Only listen to one set of speakers at a time. Start with the fronts. Set the high pass crossover on 100hz. Set the max volume you are EVER going to use on the headunit. (select a point 2/3 or so the max volume of the headunit's scale).

Slowly turn the crossover down. Listening to a variety of songs each time. I'd say for a 6.5 somewhere around 70-80hz.

Then slowly bring the gain up to 1/2. Listen for any sort of distortion or other nuances that you are reaching the limit of the speakers. Back off a bit from there.

If I was you, I would turn the rear gains down relative to the front. You want the sound to originate from in front of you. If you're anything like me (I'm 6'2") My ear ends up closer to the rear speaker than the front.

Now add the sub, first demo the sub to make sure it's not distorting. Start at 80hz with the crossover and adjust the gain.

That's the basics.

George

 

i was on the Image Dynamics team, and yes i remember those days, i started in 1989 working in a shop, learning from old school installers.

If you look in my pics, you will see my last IASCA car, in 2003 i placed 5th in the ISQC challenge in Memphis. It was kinda the first time they threw the top 30 cars together, from all the different classes, and had judges from different countries go through the cars (2 seat judging) and whether or not you were an expert, novice, amatuer, it didnt matter. No install scores, just straight up sound judging, with the judges own music.

It was the first and only time i actually had higher scores than Mark Eldridge. (guy is a legend in my eyes) I think the top 5 were Gary Biggs, Scott Buwalda, Nick Wingate, Steve Cornell, and myself. I was shocked at how the outcome shook down. One of my cherished moments from IASCA days......so sad that they are over.

I was the first competitor to release the TRU TECHNOLOGY amps into competition. Man those were some awesome years.... (ohhhhhh the memories)


I was with the IMage Dynamics Team for many years. All of my vehicles ran HLCD drivers, and they were set up right, it did not sound like a "horn" car as everyone said. Many judges didnt even know they were there. I ran the ODR system mostly, then in the last 2 years went to the P9 combo. Still to this day my favorite radio. So plain, yet so unique.... you know??

I think i used my full name over on car sound, been a while since ive been there though...jason ewing