Speakers...in the Headrests?
04-13-2004, 03:53 PM
#41
So a rear-output then? So I'll either have to get a better HU or use the LOC to get the correct signal? Also, about the hearing the headrest speakers more than others: I have my seats reclined back usually at about a 55 degree angle (yes, gangst-er indeed), but do not lay back with the seatback, but sit with my back probably at around a 70 degree angle. So assuming I sit like this most of the time, there's still a good 2.5' to 3' between my head and the speakers, so they shouldn't be totally dominant.
04-13-2004, 03:56 PM
#42
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Originally Posted by lophix
That's true about the rear seat riders not really needing much...but that's subjective. generally, it's all about the fronts...especially the driver. but from what i've seen so far concerning soundstage, if that's what you really want to achieve, the headrest wont be a really good position for the simple fact that you will be getting one channel a lot more than any...that is, if you run the left channel, it will be pre-dominantly the left channel you will get without hearing much, if any, of the right. i've seen some people place the center speaker in/on the dash, speakers in the lower kick panels and a-pillars, as well as the center b-pillars right beside the headrests. you then get equality by turning down the left channel and turning up the right channel so you can recieve equally on both sides.....at least those are my thoughts on getting a pretty good balance...but again, i don't know jack.. 
04-13-2004, 04:21 PM
#43
Originally Posted by TSoprano
Hey thats cool you from Scranton too.. I'm actually in ****son city...
Anyways I've been thinking about making some custom kick panels out of fiberglass or something.. Like these, http://www.audio-n-more.com/Qlogic/kick_panels.shtml...
I'm no expert by any means but I've had enough systems to know that ideally you want the soundstage in front on you rather then behind you.. The rear door panels are a good spot if you wanna give your rear passengers some good tunes but as the one investing all the money and time in a system, I base it all around the driver's listening pleasure..
Screw the back seat drivers if they don't like it they can GTF out and walk...lol
As for the headrest idea.. It might take some tweeking of the amps output levels to make it sound good but it's not a totally off the wall idea at all... Look at some competition vehicles and you'll see speakers in any place they can get em to fit...
Oh yea I'll upload some more pics for ya D
I'm actually in ****son city...Anyways I've been thinking about making some custom kick panels out of fiberglass or something.. Like these, http://www.audio-n-more.com/Qlogic/kick_panels.shtml...
I'm no expert by any means but I've had enough systems to know that ideally you want the soundstage in front on you rather then behind you.. The rear door panels are a good spot if you wanna give your rear passengers some good tunes but as the one investing all the money and time in a system, I base it all around the driver's listening pleasure..
Screw the back seat drivers if they don't like it they can GTF out and walk...lol
As for the headrest idea.. It might take some tweeking of the amps output levels to make it sound good but it's not a totally off the wall idea at all... Look at some competition vehicles and you'll see speakers in any place they can get em to fit...
Oh yea I'll upload some more pics for ya D
TSoprano: but with comp. vehicles...its not always about quality but more about quantity...they want to fit the highest amount of speakers in the smallest space to get the most sound...which isnt always the best sound
04-13-2004, 05:23 PM
#44
Anyone know of a good nation-wide chain I can buy the Line-Out-Converter at?
Someone was talking about depending in which seat I was sitting in, it would be very channel-biased...driver's seat, left channel dominant, vice-versa with the passenger seat. Is it possible to somehow combine the channel and have left and right sounds coming out of each headrest speaker?
Someone was talking about depending in which seat I was sitting in, it would be very channel-biased...driver's seat, left channel dominant, vice-versa with the passenger seat. Is it possible to somehow combine the channel and have left and right sounds coming out of each headrest speaker?
04-13-2004, 05:40 PM
#45
Originally Posted by DMad8724
Anyone know of a good nation-wide chain I can buy the Line-Out-Converter at?
Someone was talking about depending in which seat I was sitting in, it would be very channel-biased...driver's seat, left channel dominant, vice-versa with the passenger seat. Is it possible to somehow combine the channel and have left and right sounds coming out of each headrest speaker?
Someone was talking about depending in which seat I was sitting in, it would be very channel-biased...driver's seat, left channel dominant, vice-versa with the passenger seat. Is it possible to somehow combine the channel and have left and right sounds coming out of each headrest speaker?
04-14-2004, 01:59 AM
#49
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DMad,
Your cardomain page says you got 4" pioneers up front.. Assuming those are the ones you wanna mount in the headrest, I'd just give em to your girlfriend for easter or use em for refrigerator magnets or something..
They've served you well as a good set of starter speakers to replace the stock bose but you might just need to put em to rest for awhile...
I can only think of 2 cars off hand that had speakers in the headrest's, miata's and fiero's... Both tiny little sh#tboxes with no room for rear speakers so they put em in there to give some sense of rear fill... But the big difference there is that they actually have 2 speakers in each headrest.. I think thats the point Lophix was trying to get across - with only one speaker in each headrest it won't be truly balanced... You'd need to put a left AND a right speaker in each headrest to get a good balance...
The more I think about it the more it sounds like a HUGE pain in the a$$... Not to mention the fact that you said you wanna be able to easily disconnect em...
You'd be better off getting the best 6.5 components you can afford and throwing the driver in the door and tweeters up higher..
You still interested in the amp??
Your cardomain page says you got 4" pioneers up front.. Assuming those are the ones you wanna mount in the headrest, I'd just give em to your girlfriend for easter or use em for refrigerator magnets or something..
They've served you well as a good set of starter speakers to replace the stock bose but you might just need to put em to rest for awhile...
I can only think of 2 cars off hand that had speakers in the headrest's, miata's and fiero's... Both tiny little sh#tboxes with no room for rear speakers so they put em in there to give some sense of rear fill... But the big difference there is that they actually have 2 speakers in each headrest.. I think thats the point Lophix was trying to get across - with only one speaker in each headrest it won't be truly balanced... You'd need to put a left AND a right speaker in each headrest to get a good balance...
The more I think about it the more it sounds like a HUGE pain in the a$$... Not to mention the fact that you said you wanna be able to easily disconnect em...
You'd be better off getting the best 6.5 components you can afford and throwing the driver in the door and tweeters up higher..
You still interested in the amp??
04-16-2004, 11:25 AM
#51
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This isn't a 'stupid' idea....., and it's also not a new idea (like awsm66 mentioned). And the manufacturers are back to using this idea on 2005 & 2006 models (presumeably for 5.1 digital surround - although that's not confirmed yet). See the gallery in Auto Spies ((this link(hope it works...) shows a pic of the grilled speakers on the new '05 Cadillac STS on the top of the seatback. Elsewhere in the gallery they show the new Infiniti M45 Concept which also uses speakers in the top of the front seatbacks.))
http://gallery.dealerrater.com/galle...41&galleryId=5
http://gallery.dealerrater.com/galle...41&galleryId=5
04-16-2004, 11:41 AM
#52
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From the Nissan Infiniti News site regarding the M45 Concept (production ready tho):
"power reclining rear seats and an advanced surround audio system with 14-speaker 5.1-channel decoding with two personal speakers mounted in each front seat."
"power reclining rear seats and an advanced surround audio system with 14-speaker 5.1-channel decoding with two personal speakers mounted in each front seat."
04-16-2004, 03:37 PM
#53
There's a whole lot of difference in using in-seat speakers for surround and fill use (probably one is a sub as well, so that you _feel_ the music instead of just hearing it)..
to use it for actual music reproduction would completely ruin the soundstage and any semblance of quality in sound. speakers small enough to fit in the headrests are pretty much going to be crap, and will be very inefficient..
Overall, it's a bad idea if you ask me. But what do I know, I'm just a moron who's only competed in car audio competitions for 4 years.
Ahh well.. there's my $0.02.
to use it for actual music reproduction would completely ruin the soundstage and any semblance of quality in sound. speakers small enough to fit in the headrests are pretty much going to be crap, and will be very inefficient..
Overall, it's a bad idea if you ask me. But what do I know, I'm just a moron who's only competed in car audio competitions for 4 years.
Ahh well.. there's my $0.02.
04-19-2004, 06:11 AM
#54
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Agreed. The Fiero used the headrest speakers (which were very tiny) to augement the two plate speakers in the dash. This effectively created a headphone situation for the occupants.
The newer cars are only using these speakers in surround mode, NOT as main speakers, and certainly not with full power going to them. And it's important to note that the newer vehicles using these speakers for surround sound also put them pointing towards the headliner on TOP of the seatback, not in the actual headrest.
So the basic area the speakers are mounted are the same, but their overall contribution to the soundstage is much different.
I have yet to hear the new system, but in theory I can understand speakers in the seatback for surround purposes or for listening to specially recorded music on a DVD-A format.
Full-power 4" speakers in the headrests......, pointed directly at the occupants head tho......(like the old Fiero), I wouldn't do that.
The newer cars are only using these speakers in surround mode, NOT as main speakers, and certainly not with full power going to them. And it's important to note that the newer vehicles using these speakers for surround sound also put them pointing towards the headliner on TOP of the seatback, not in the actual headrest.
So the basic area the speakers are mounted are the same, but their overall contribution to the soundstage is much different.
I have yet to hear the new system, but in theory I can understand speakers in the seatback for surround purposes or for listening to specially recorded music on a DVD-A format.
Full-power 4" speakers in the headrests......, pointed directly at the occupants head tho......(like the old Fiero), I wouldn't do that.
04-19-2004, 06:36 AM
#55
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 5
imaging?
speakers in the headrests is not a BAD idea...however...one thing comes into play.... sound imaging. In a car the ideal audio system would essentially make a "stage" in front of the driver and passenger...like ur watching a concert. All channels of the vehicle right and left (and front and rear) should be heard at as close to the same time as possible. Meaning the soundwaves should reach the drivers (driver is focused on most during imaging) inner ear at as close to the same time as possible. This gives the feeling of watching one stage. Rather than ur left ear gettin blasted out while u can barely hear any sound from the right. With subs this is not a problem, they can be way in the back because the bass is a non-directional sound, meaning, its hard to differentiate the origin. Now a speaker directly behind your head right in your ear is not only gonna throw the imaging way outta whack, cuz ur gonna hear it REAL LOUD, unless you try to turn them down, which is not always possible without seperate amplification. Also, any little bit of distortion will easily be heard. I mean, i know you are probably not a huge sound quality guru, so u may not care about all of this...and im not tryin to be mean so plz no one jump to that conclusion...im just lettin ya know it may sound a lil funny like ya got headphones on! Good luck if you decide to do it though, its not the easiest thing in the world to do...and try to leave the speaker a little air around it if u can so it has a lil ventilation room.
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