A-Pillar Speaker Placement for Sound Quality?

[Wicks]

Hey SQ guys:

If I were to put some speakers on or near my A-pillars, what do you like better for sound quality (sound stage, imaging, etc):

-Aimed at the driver?

-Aimed off-axis and if so, how much?

Considering that higher frequency's protrude from the speakers in "lobes", do the angles of the lobes come into play as well?

Discuss.

[Colin - STAPUFT]

I don't think there are enough keys on the keyboard to talk about this definitively. lol

One of the best sounding systems I have heard had the tweeters a bit below eye level on the A-Pillars, pointing more or less to the middle of the vehicle. That final placement only came after many hours of listening to. It sounded great and imaged wonderfully from the drivers or passengers side.

No doubt, each application is different depending on the vehicle, speakers, number of speakers and crossover points. I am planning on doing a dash speaker build for my work / daily vehicle with a MTM setup firing on axis. Who knows, it may sound like poop. The other thing to consider when doing on axis vs off axis is you might get everything sounding awesome in the drivers seat and like butt everywhere else.

[Kevin M]

I'm with Colin. You have to look at the vehicle, driver being used, it's dispersion pattern... We have mentioned firing them towards the rear of the rear view mirror, direct crossfiring, on axis 45 degrees, on axis 90. It really comes down to the vehicle. When we talk about imaging we would want it to extend beyond the boundaries of the A pillars while still maintaining a strong center. Depth is important too. It should seem to extend beyond the glass. There are a few tricks that can help. Some clever tuning and time delay. Placement of the drivers. A dash mat to eliminate early reflections. My seats are all the way back. That helps create a wider stage and a strong center with my horns. Improves stage height too.

The lobing issue you mentioned can get in depth and my knowledge is shallow in that area. lol Someone can explain that better than me. I would look at a drivers polar response graphs if they are available and see where the driver has any beaming problems. Some drivers will sound great to say 10k before they start to have directivity issues. It's like turning a nozzle on a water hose. The sound becomes more focused as the freq. response goes up. So it will seem to change volume as you move to the left or the right. It might not be huge but if we are talking serious tuning it will make a difference.

When it comes to tuning unless you have someone who is in to it as hardcore as you are I would just tune for the driver. They probably won't notice. Eager to see some other people's responses. (Randall) About time we started having some serious "round tables" about sq and how to achieve it.

[ghostlyrich]

all i can say is get some double sided tape or something sticky and try them in multiple spots.

in the end my loctions were pretty close to hat was mentioned above.

[Wicks]

I don't think there are enough keys on the keyboard to talk about this definitively. lol

One of the best sounding systems I have heard had the tweeters a bit below eye level on the A-Pillars, pointing more or less to the middle of the vehicle. That final placement only came after many hours of listening to. It sounded great and imaged wonderfully from the drivers or passengers side.

No doubt, each application is different depending on the vehicle, speakers, number of speakers and crossover points. I am planning on doing a dash speaker build for my work / daily vehicle with a MTM setup firing on axis. Who knows, it may sound like poop. The other thing to consider when doing on axis vs off axis is you might get everything sounding awesome in the drivers seat and like butt everywhere else.

LOL, it is a can of worms...

Yeah sound placement is always tricky... Considering I'm in the car 100% of the time and don't have too many passengers, then priority would be on the drivers side.

But I would like it balanced if possible.

I'm with Colin. You have to look at the vehicle, driver being used, it's dispersion pattern... We have mentioned firing them towards the rear of the rear view mirror, direct crossfiring, on axis 45 degrees, on axis 90. It really comes down to the vehicle. When we talk about imaging we would want it to extend beyond the boundaries of the A pillars while still maintaining a strong center. Depth is important too. It should seem to extend beyond the glass. There are a few tricks that can help. Some clever tuning and time delay. Placement of the drivers. A dash mat to eliminate early reflections. My seats are all the way back. That helps create a wider stage and a strong center with my horns. Improves stage height too.

The lobing issue you mentioned can get in depth and my knowledge is shallow in that area. lol Someone can explain that better than me. I would look at a drivers polar response graphs if they are available and see where the driver has any beaming problems. Some drivers will sound great to say 10k before they start to have directivity issues. It's like turning a nozzle on a water hose. The sound becomes more focused as the freq. response goes up. So it will seem to change volume as you move to the left or the right. It might not be huge but if we are talking serious tuning it will make a difference.

When it comes to tuning unless you have someone who is in to it as hardcore as you are I would just tune for the driver. They probably won't notice. Eager to see some other people's responses. (Randall) About time we started having some serious "round tables" about sq and how to achieve it.

Good info Sir!

Sounds like I may need to do some testing........a LOT of testing

As far as drivers, it'd be my set of Hertz HSK130's. Would putting a 5 1/4" mid up that high a good idea? Or just tweeters and the like?

BTW, thanks for sub'ing to my YouTube!

all i can say is get some double sided tape or something sticky and try them in multiple spots.

in the end my loctions were pretty close to hat was mentioned above.

Sticky tape! I'll have to try that.

[WastedTalent]

I don't think there are enough keys on the keyboard to talk about this definitively. lol

One of the best sounding systems I have heard had the tweeters a bit below eye level on the A-Pillars, pointing more or less to the middle of the vehicle. That final placement only came after many hours of listening to. It sounded great and imaged wonderfully from the drivers or passengers side.

No doubt, each application is different depending on the vehicle, speakers, number of speakers and crossover points. I am planning on doing a dash speaker build for my work / daily vehicle with a MTM setup firing on axis. Who knows, it may sound like poop. The other thing to consider when doing on axis vs off axis is you might get everything sounding awesome in the drivers seat and like butt everywhere else.

LOL, it is a can of worms...

Yeah sound placement is always tricky... Considering I'm in the car 100% of the time and don't have too many passengers, then priority would be on the drivers side.

But I would like it balanced if possible.

No love for the wasted? Just want it to sound good for you and not me? Well, that's a bit harsh there. Lmfao.

[Wicks]

I don't think there are enough keys on the keyboard to talk about this definitively. lol

One of the best sounding systems I have heard had the tweeters a bit below eye level on the A-Pillars, pointing more or less to the middle of the vehicle. That final placement only came after many hours of listening to. It sounded great and imaged wonderfully from the drivers or passengers side.

No doubt, each application is different depending on the vehicle, speakers, number of speakers and crossover points. I am planning on doing a dash speaker build for my work / daily vehicle with a MTM setup firing on axis. Who knows, it may sound like poop. The other thing to consider when doing on axis vs off axis is you might get everything sounding awesome in the drivers seat and like butt everywhere else.

LOL, it is a can of worms...

Yeah sound placement is always tricky... Considering I'm in the car 100% of the time and don't have too many passengers, then priority would be on the drivers side.

But I would like it balanced if possible.

No love for the wasted? Just want it to sound good for you and not me? Well, that's a bit harsh there. Lmfao.

Read the fine print Sir.....

[White Lightning]

Pics of the dash / a-pillar area would help when asking for placement suggestions ...

When you go to install midrange drivers ... make sure they have enough breathing room to operate normally ... Yes, they require airspace like any other midbass driver on the market, especially if you want true dyanmics (balls) up on your dash ...

If you want both seats to sound nice ... midways up on the A-pillars aiming towards the rear view mirror would sound nice ...

but if you want driver seat perfection ... I'd say do full on-axis to the driver listening position ...

... but here again, pics of installation application would be nice ...

[Wicks]

How's this for a start?

I'll go through my build log and see what I've taken.

As for midrange/midbass response, keep in mind I also have a set of HSK165 (6.5") components for the door panels.........and a set of Hertz ES200 8's that I could also squeeze into the doors. The 6.5's and 8's would be in custom sealed pods that would have to be build into the doors, and I'd try to give them plenty of breathing room, as much as possible anyway.

Or would that many drivers be overkill...?

[White Lightning]

ok, question ... you want this just to soud good ?? or do you want to trip people the fuck out ???