My small build , "New Focal component set" Pg 89

[oldsoundguy]

Well son of a bitch if the faital pros on the freaking floor make everything sound amazing. So the tweeters were not hooked up today at all when I put the faital pros on the floor just to hide them and damn if I didn't stumble into a great sound. So when I got home I decided to hook the focal tweeters back up and didn't sound good. It pretty much drowned out the failtal pro but not in a good way. So I took the tweeters off the A pillar and tried a few other mounting locations with double sticky tape. They really didn't sound good anywhere. I put them above the Focal speakers on the door. I put them down in the kick by the faital pros but for some reason now after hearing the faital pros play the tweeters just sound harsh to my ears. So I removed the tweeters from my truck and for now (temporary) I have them on the floor. I will make a mount for them in the kick and mount them there.  I love these little speakers. I am hoping putting them in a nice pod will make them shine even more than just open air. Almost want to buy another set and have two but I know that would over power the 5.25s in the door.

Oh another thing I tried also was turning off the faital pro and listened to just the 5.25s full range and the highs just don't sound as good. I have the 5.25s crossed at 80hz and 4k hz and the faital pros at 2k hz.

This is were they sit right now.

[oldsoundguy]

So I have been thinking about why the tweeters sound harsh to me know. I think it is because I am trying to cross them to low with the faital pros. So what I will try tomorrow after work is tape the tweeter in a few different places but instead of using the deck to cross them with the faital pro I will use the passive crossover. I can try 4k 4.5k and 5k along with -3db and -6db.  I noticed that down in the kick the faital pro does not need any attenuation but the tweeters do. I think that may solve the problem. If it does I will be building some A pillar STYLE pods for the kicks.

It still baffles me how moving the speakers down can move the sound up. Any one care to explain? lol

[bcbrassard]

I think its because on the floor you have them on axis to the driver position. These little drivers beam the sound to your position which i think tricks your ears into thinking the staging is higher up. Where like you you said on the dash its to into your face stage.

Keep playing with location, its the only way to see what works and where. Glad you like the speakers, these sounded great in the Sidekick on 70 watts off passive crossover.

[oldsoundguy]

Todays update: lol

I installed the passive crossovers for the tweeters and set them to 5000k and -6db. It worked and took the harshness out of the tweeter. I moved the faital pros around but they still sound best down low. I am really thinking about trying the 4" faital pros or the Dayton audio 4" reference speakers. HHHHMMMMM.

 

 

[bcbrassard]

Get your speaker choice and locations figured out and then get that ARC amp! HHHHMMMM! lol

[oldsoundguy]

 

I don't know about what freaking amp to get. I have done so much reading that my brain hurts.

[oldsoundguy]

Todays update:

With the tweeters hooked back up with the passive crossovers, wired to the same channels as the Faital pros it sounds pretty good. I think part of it is getting your ears used to what you are hearing then it seems to soften up after some listening.

I have been reading a lot about amplifiers and sound quality. One thing I have noticed is the fact they like to use amplifiers that make more power than what is really needed and actually turn the gain down as not to introduce noise and still get the power they need. So just for the fuck of it I reached back and turned the gain to 0 on the tweeters, faital pros and the focals. So mids and highs are at 0 gain. I just turned the sub down just a little because I have a bass knob and can control that from up front. Plus I am still a bass head LOL. Anyway the speakers still sounded great. It really didn't seem like I lost much volume really. I  mean I did loose some but all I have to do is turn up the volume knob a little more. Is it cleaner? IDK but I do know I don't need gain to put good power to the speakers.

The 4 " faital pros should be here next Thursday. Tomorrow I want to make some temporary pods for the 3". I was thinking of getting some PVC pipe big enough to fit the speaker into then cutting a speaker ring out of the plastic cutting board that I used for the focal speakers. Cut the PVC pipe at a 45 degree angle or whatever I need to aim them. Then add a bottom to seal it up and poly fill then mount it to the kick.  I am betting they will sound much better in an enclosure.

Still amplifier researching.

[Karkov]

Great read, playing catch up, lol@ you two and your "Hmmmmm's"  

 

Well shit, Now I am wanting faitol Pro 3" AND 4" too...have them book marked, haven't ordered any yet, been too busy and weather still shitty.  I LOOOOOOOVE playing around with stuff like you have been doing.  That is basically what fills up my free time in summers is what you have been doing, it's also how i can justify continually buy stuff for car audio, i can stick almost endless time into just playing around with it.  If I get bored I just think out loud about what to try/do next same as you have been doing...or I turn gain knob to the right and set the cruise....

 

I have a different vehicle but I have noticed when I had a few speakers in the doors it sounded "decent" then i added a bunch more to the doors and got what I would call diminishing returns.  then i added 1 mid and 1 tweet to the kick on each side and the sound came alive again and made the staging so much better and in front of me again (somehow).  It's just amazing how stuff works sometimes.  And they were all down low for me.  I did the double sided tape thing with tweets all over the place up high and always got the same results...harsh unless you REALLY had mids (and lots of them) over powering them.   I just love tinkering around with this stuff like you.  That smile on your face when you listened to the 3" down low and liked it is so worth it, opens up so many more things to play with, hehe

 

Keep going man, i am enjoying ALL your posts.

[oldsoundguy]

I just got back from the depot. I picked up 2' lengths of ABS pipe in 1 1/2" , 3" and 4" , a 12x12 sheet of polycarbonate that's about 1/8" thick, a tube of gorilla glue gel and a tube of two part gorilla epoxy. My plan is to cut the ABS pipe at a 45 or what ever allows me the best aiming of the 3" faital pros. Then I will cut out the shape of the bottom with the poly and glue that to the bottom to seal up the pod. Then put a little polyfill in the pod and mount it to the kick. Should be quick and easy and the pipe is already black so that will hide it pretty well. I bought 4" abs pipe to make the same type of pod for the 4" faital pros. I also bought the 1 1/2" so I can make some smaller ones for the tweeters to I can put them in different positions to see what sounds best. The small pods that came with the set have a hole in the bottom to run wires so they don't sit flat unless you drill a hole in your mounting position. This will let me try better position without them falling off and not having to drill a hole to mount them.

I know I need to get the tweeters and the faital pros closer to each other for better time alignment. I have just grown not to like the speakers on the dash in my face.

Well I guess its time to get to work.

[bcbrassard]

Sounds like a solid way to set up the drivers to test out locations. Hell you get this figured out and fabricated up you might be competing this summer in a SQ class. Would be fun and what a great opportunity to hear other systems.

You are getting me interested in playing with the Malibu' s set up, well at least thinking about it while i am sanding my life away on the Lancer.

Look forward to pics & opinions on speaker locations with in depth reviews. LOL