Miasma

Hi guys,
well, somehow i have deviated from my performance and am working on my audio for a while.

i am going to have a 2 way setup up front. the tweets i am getting (morel mdt-29) are more like high end home tweets than car tweets, meaning they play lower and take more power. this way i can get results almost as good as a 3 way setup but without needing passive crossovers or all the room taken up by 4 or 5.25 inch mids in the kickpanels. i will have to mount the tweet on a baffle and it will have a final diameter of around 5".

anyway, i am trying to figure out how best to hide my tweet in the kickpanel area, i think i could modify the stock plastic kickpanel so that it still looks mostly stock and passers by would not notice it unless they REALLY knew what to look for. SO... how much would it cost to replace those pieces if i ever wanted to move the tweets or sell the car etc.

or, do any of you have a good place to hide a 4-5" tweeter in the kickpanel area. i may have to resort to building a quasi normal kick panel, but would like to keep it as stock as possible.

thanks!

ny96max

id say try Q-forms as a start, but i dont think they make Maxima kick panels

Ant

Miasma

duh, i could make kicks for 1/4 of the price q-forms would be if they made them for the maxima, and i need only one large format tweet to fit, most qforms are 1" tweet and 4" mid

ny96max

so then make them, DUH!!!

Ant

Sin

VERY nice choice on tweets for hi-fi sound, but I am telling you right now, they are WAY more trouble then they are worth.

I am currently setting up a new system running Peerless ring dome tweeters that are just CRAZY! They just absolutely blow away the Focal component setup I was running just a couple weeks ago. However, I do have an acoustical engineering buddy helping me out with the cross overs. I need to get some parts from an electronics store to tune the cross overs tomorrow. The tweets are a little too bright, and I'm using the eq to make the system sound good right now, which you should know is not the right way to do it.

The best part is, these components are freakin' sick when it comes to just how damn well they perform, and they are CRAZY cheap. Just for fun, I decided to see just how much power these tweets could handle. By the time it was getting SO loud, that I had to get out of the car, and use the remote control (I'm at about 142db's right now, I want to scrub out another 2 if possible, but even 1 more at 140+ is MORE than enough for me). I used a visualizer as well to check for clipping/distortion, which started to appear at 142dbs. By the time I got to about 143, the tweet started smoking And because the tweets didn't cost all that much at all, buying another one or even two, just to have an extra one, isn't a big deal.

Miasma

hehe, i still go back to the original question though.

Sin

If you want a baffle, you'll probably want to look somewhere else to mount such a large tweeter. There isn't much space back there. You are better off running a car audio style tweeter.

I am by know means trying to lecture you, I'm just saying most home application hi-fi stuff doesn't work all that well in the car without a SH1TLOAD of work.

I mean, already, I've sealed off EVERY hole between the inner and outter door. Everything has been sealed with mdf and silicone, except for where the latch rods bisect the inner and outter, where I have used plastic sheet about 15 cm x 15 cm, and poly fill. A 10% opening sounds like a 50% opening. Seriously. It's the actual versus perceived problem. BTW, I've also dynamatted the inner and as much of the outter skin as I could. It's all been very worth it as my recent install of Peerless components have shown, but I can't imagine trying to get a tweeter like the one you want to use to work right in a car.

If you really want to do it, I suggest using fibreglass with an MDF mount. Use atleast 3 layers, 5 preferably, and a little poly fill in there, and dynamat on the outside of the baffle.

slickonetoo

Hi miasma...I was somewhat in the same boat as you...I took the kicks and modified them by glassing over them for my dynaudio's.I'm using the 340 3 way set..
I would say modify the ones you have, but see how well they respond off axis...you may be just fine cutting a hole for the tweet in the panel and making a ring to mount it to from behind..but that will give you an off-axis response which some morel's tend to like very well..kicks cost about 26$ from a dealer from nissan..I would either use the ones you have and get another pair if you don't like off axis or buying a pair and using them instead of messing up the ones that came with the car...they should be the same...but sometimes they can be a little different
depending on the depth of the morel's, you should be fine, the buildout on the factory's is fairly large...i got my dome mids to fit without any problems.
nice choice on amps as well.....I have a 4.70 and 2 2.120's in mine and like them a lot.
good luck in whatever you decide...but i say try the easy route first...the may work well firing at the console instead of angling them up...if it don't work, I would try to get them back as far as you can if you have to make your own..it will help in staging and somewhat kill the rainbow affect also

Miasma

just so you guys who are used to normal car audio tweets have a little better idea of this tweet, here it is, i have actually changed my choice from the mdt-29 to the mdt-30, it has a better response and spectral decay for not much more $$$

if i am really going to compete, i need the tweets to be aimed perfectly, i like these tweets since they do have excellent off axis response

thanks for all the help still!

Sin

Look into the Peerless 841939-50RD 13/40 LM FF ring dome tweets. They have VERY good off axis response, and are MUCH easier to setup in a car.

Miasma

thanks for the suggestions, but i have heard and LOVE morel tweets, they are already ordered.

Sin

But have you heard them in a car? My Focals in a box sound freaking crazy good, but in the car, only so so.

Miasma

both in $80,000 home speakers (MDT-33) and in a friends car, the reason i am getting thse is for the flat curve and off axis response.

Sin

I am very familiar with Morel equipment, and I can't imagine a speaker setup running Morel equipment costing $80,000.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of car was your friend's, and what did he do to mount them (mounting, sound stage, etc)? He may have put a crap load of work into them.

Miasma

i plan on putting a crap load of work in mine, morel makes a fantastic speaker, my SQ buds all use kickpanels, and it seems i will too.

i am pretty sure the speakers i heard were dunlevy's, but i heard a LOT that day, and cant say for sure that the ones i remember most were the dunlevy or another brand, i just remember how they looked and sounded.

Sin

I am an audiophile at heart, and love great systems. I mean, my home system has used everything from Harmon Kardon, to JBL, to B&W, to Marantz, to Vifa, to Morel, and much more. I have personally found with home systems, in terms of amps, receivers, etc, most of the expensive brand name stuff is worth the extra price, while for speakers, you are better off building the box yourself, and buying speakers like Vifa, Morel, Audax, Dynaudio, and tuning them yourself, as opposed to buying speakers. Honestly, if you know enough about acoustical engineering, you can easily duplicate Nautilus speaker performance, which costs anywhere from $20,000-$100,000+, for about $1000-10,000, or even less.

I like Morel speakers a lot, I'm just worried that you will be tackling a HUGE project for very little improvement.

slickonetoo

miasma, those tweets will work fine...you will just have to experiment with the stage presence you want...since they are a sealed back..it can be very easy to position them the way you want them...best possible staging is the way "you" like them...like I was saying earlier, try them off axis at first...firing them into the console straight in the kicks...if that won't image the way you want them, make kicks..50$ worth of materials and a little time will get them the way you want..
If you don't know, you haven't said sorry, take the kicks out of the car that are factory, take a good 3m or whatever 2" masking tape and double layer over the carpet...first layer then aluminum foil is what i use, then the 2nd layer 4 or 6" bigger than the foil....resin the tape.lay fiberglass matting down...do this 2 times...let it dry then take the molds out..take small pieces of plywood or mdf and use them for supports for mounting...now take 3 pieces of metal duct strap..screw them to the pieces of wood...then mount the tweeters to the straps...this will give you bendability so you can position them how you want them...play them with different staging tracks..i use iasca cd...once you have them the way you like them, take them out...put in some dowel rods where the straps are...now get yourself some fleece they use to make sweat shirts, wrap the surface around to the back makindg sure there are no wrinkles...them resin them up..for strength, you can add 2 or 3 layers of matting but tweeters really don't need them unless their is the risk of foot damage...get some bondo and work them smooth...then wrap with carpet, vinyl or whatever you want...finished..and have the sound you want...
don't be concerned with size...i have a friend with 6.5 focal seperates in the kicks of a max..focal is one of the biggest drivers out there as far as mounting depth goes...they will fit...
time...patience and experimenting with all options can make anything happen if you work at it