car speakers - advice?

Posted by: julf

car speakers - advice? - 01/03/2007 18:23

I'm finally getting around to upgrading the sound in the Morgan. Unfortunately space is really at premium. Seems only possibility is 2 x 8 in woofers in fairly small boxes (10-15 l) behind the seats, 4 in mids in 100 mm holes in the front footwells, and free-air tweeters at both ends of the dash.

I have been thinking about Focal-JMLabs elements - 21 WX Be woofers, 4Kslim mids, and Tbe tweeters. But unfortunately I don't seem to find any place that would sell them! Googling around it seems Focal has stopped selling individual elements

Any suggestions for suitable alternatives, as well as suggestions for suitable *small* 2 x 300 W + 2 x 150 W or
4 x 250 W amps?
Posted by: Cris

Re: car speakers - advice? - 01/03/2007 20:57

Last time I was at Andym's I noticed he still had the custom sub he had made for his old Smart. It was pretty slim, and packed quite a punch. Even if the box won't fit the speakers sounded pretty good to me.

Brabus also had the cool idea of putting a sub under the seats of the smart firing up, no idea what it sounded like, but I bet it was quite a ride for the ladies

Cheers

Cris.
Posted by: andym

Re: car speakers - advice? - 01/03/2007 21:03

http://www.earthquakesound.com/sws.htm

I've got the 2 x 6.5inch package. Robricc got them on my behalf in the US. Pretty good performance, I'm told the bigger units are even better.
Posted by: andym

Re: car speakers - advice? - 01/03/2007 21:11

The finished article



There are some more photos over at riocar.org
Posted by: julf

Re: car speakers - advice? - 03/03/2007 11:27

Quote:
Brabus also had the cool idea of putting a sub under the seats of the smart firing up, no idea what it sounded like, but I bet it was quite a ride for the ladies

I like the idea, but that would assume there was some space under the seats in a Morgan...
Posted by: julf

Re: car speakers - advice? - 03/03/2007 11:38

Quote:
http://www.earthquakesound.com/sws.htm

I've got the 2 x 6.5inch package. Robricc got them on my behalf in the US. Pretty good performance, I'm told the bigger units are even better.


They look ideal if the main isssue is lack of depth for mounting a traditional woofer. But on the Mog, there is a fair bit of depth available behind the plywood panel behind the seats. OK, at some point you will hit the rear diff...

I am also a bit suspicious of anything with "earthquake" in it's name. I am not looking at listening to surround soundtracks of disaster movies, and I don't need to be able to set off car alarms while waiting for a green light. Insetad I want a clean sound with sufficient volume to cope with the rather significant wind and engine noise - a german car it isn't.

For the same reason I have a bias against elements with glow-in-the-dark neon surrounds (and furry dice).

The Focal elements would have been perfect...
Posted by: andym

Re: car speakers - advice? - 03/03/2007 19:44

Quote:
I am also a bit suspicious of anything with "earthquake" in it's name.


What's in a name? Yes they can be driven very hard (the cone excursion on the drivers are really quite impressive) but I simply used them as reinforcement for the bottom octaves. If I'd wanted earth shattering bass I'd have gone with a much more substantial setup than the one you see above.
Posted by: julf

Re: car speakers - advice? - 04/03/2007 08:32

Quote:
What's in a name? Yes they can be driven very hard (the cone excursion on the drivers are really quite impressive) but I simply used them as reinforcement for the bottom octaves. If I'd wanted earth shattering bass I'd have gone with a much more substantial setup than the one you see above.


OK, good to hear - just seems that pretty much any car sound outfit I have seen over here is focusing on "boom for your buck"... :-/
Posted by: boxer

Re: car speakers - advice? - 04/03/2007 08:54

Quote:
I like the idea, but that would assume there was some space under the seats in a Morgan...

....besides, the whole point of a Morgan is that you can tell which way up a coin is, when you run over it - you wouldn't want to spoil that boast!