I installed my Alpine 7894 HU to replace my Bose which was crapping out on me (cd player). I used a Bose Interface Adapter. I really didn't have money at the time for new amps, components, and everything else that is required. I actually thought the factory radio sounded better because it distorts bass when I turn it up now. It might be the gains on the adapter or the power of the headunit overloading the Bose adapter... but anyways.. in the quest for better sound..

I just ordered 2 sets of 7" titanium Crystal's off sounddomain and was wondering if I could use the head unit for power until I have enough money for amps.

Also...

I am planning on getting a 4 channel Phoenix Gold 600.4 for the components and a 1200.1 for the Brahma 12 or 15... in the near future. What do you guys think? I like the Brahma because it can be used in a pretty small box. What do you think of Crystals.. I have heard good things about them and they are CHEAP at the moment ($139 pr). I think the most expensive part of the system is going to be sound deadening.

one more thing...

I happen to have a 2 extra sets of 6" midbass drivers from my Alesis Studio Monitor One's. I got them off of Ebay. I already have a set of Studio ones and they are WONDERFUL in bass response, clarity, and efficiency.. It amazing how much music you can hear with very low volume on monitors. Has anyone heard of using studio monitor's in a car and how do you think it will work? They are in a ported box normally. They are near field monitors.

Thanks in advance.. sorry for all the questions.

Julian

 

sounds like you have a good setup going...I haven't personally heard the crystal's but hear they are good but tweeter is a little harsh from others opinions..I wouldn't suggest running them off the factory head but if it is temporary, I suppose it would be o.k. they need more power than what your head will provide but if it is short term, it would be o.k...sound deadening can be somewhat expensive but their are several other companies out now making it so cascade and dynamat are kinda high for same quality...depending on area you live in, you could use raamat just have to make sure you use what is recommended for cleaning the surfaces..I usually use some type of prep-sol like 3m or any other brand usually because it dries fast and don't leave residue but you could use glass cleaner that isn't ammonia based also just make sure you wipe surface down with dry cloth or whatever after it dries..their is another company called elemental designs that makes good dampening material too..
as for the monitors, they could work, I believe alesis used scan-speak for their drivers but I may be wrong..they would be half as loud as well and would be ideal for rear fill..just have to be somewhat technical on mounting them..I would mount them underneath the rear parcel or deck where the factory speaks are now
all in all, sounds like a good setup in the end..I would try to do an on and off axis test for the tweeters and see which is better...off axis helps metal dome tweets somewhat to tone the harshness down...are you using factory locations for seperates or making kick panels for the crystal's?
if kicks' put the tweet behind the driver if possible also
good luck.....

 

I would love to use kicks but don't have the skills to custom make some myself.. you don't happen to know if anyone makes them for the Maxima do you? I was planning on putting the tweeters in the factory pillar locations. Oh.. speaking of tweeters.. do you happen to know what phase plugs are? Someone told me the speakers have them but what are they supposed to allow you to do?

Julian

 

kicks really aren't that hard to make...just takes a little time..depending on you year(i have a 98)...the kicks are very basic...follow the door line up and around then they come straight out roughly 2.5" and go straight back..I have dyn's and my mids are very wide dispersion wise..they are firing straight into the console..the tweets I have are soft domes so they differ from yours but I have mine in the very bottom of the curve angled up slightly and toward the domelight(crossing listener)...take your speak and make a "ring" make it 1" bigger than than your cutout...so if your tweet was say...2" with a 1 3/4" cutout, make it 2 3/4....depending on how you want to do it, what I did was take 2 rings and glue and clamp them together to make it 1.5" thick(3/4"mdf) then you have depth for the kicks...take the kick and cutout a hole for the rings...thicker the ring will give you more angle options..put the ring in where you want it and listen to the way it sounds...play around with different angles to get the image the way you want it..once you figure out your angle, draw a line with pencil(or whatever you can use to see the line) around the ring at the plastic kick panel to know how you want it...some people use plumber straps but for tweets you don't really need it...now you have your rings made...take a couple blocks out of whatever..mdf probably..and screw through kick into block...then you can screw the rings to the blocks..now pull out a ripped up pit gone t-shirt out of the closet and rap it around the whole thing...resin it in and add maybe 1 or 2 layers for strength of chopped mat...not necessary for just tweeters...then bondo over it if really wavy..(ghetto sense) now sand it smooth and wrap it with vinyl and pop them back in...done...really not that hard just time consuming finding the proper angle for image...
as for phase plugs, their is usually a dispersion ring of some sort around the dome...look at a quart for example...they have a cross over the dome with a little tiny hole in the center...phase plugs are usually put in that little tiny hole to disperse the sound in a different way....say your tweet is way harsh...if you put the plug in, it would be more direct and tome it down to some degree...focal,quart..and pretty much all metal dome tweet mfgr.s make them but most of them need modified to a degree to get it the way you want them...they are also to help phasing issues as well..metal domes play a much higher range and if impedence fluctuates a lot, it can give an "out of phase" response between bands...it really just disperses that sound in an array instead of giving a more point source path...this is why most metal domes are installed off axis or behind the mid to "drown it out"
I don't have tweet locations in my door panels so I can't actually tell you how they image...usually doors image poorly for mid and tweet because the pathlengths are so far apart...driver door reaches you before passenger...
as for making them for a max, if you were near me i'd be happy to..but the drivers really need to be in and listened to for setting them to the car....I couldn't use my tweet because they are totally different...
another thing you could do and may work well, is get that plumbers strap like I was saying above...and mount the tweet to it...then put the tweet over the top of driver in the door...you can tweak the strap to get the image close to the way you want and they won't be so direct..in a sense a coax

 

Thanks.. for the great reply. Since you posted this message.. I have looked on the web for tutorials... your right.. it doesn't seem to hard to make kicks.. just need a little space, time, and a lot of cleanup! hehe.. I think I will experiment this weekend! Looks like a lot of people are going the custom kick route.

Magnetik

 

depending on your oem kicks, they are only 65.00 from dealer if you screw up...or you could go to a junkyard and get a pair for your car and use those for your build...that way if you don't like them or get rid of the car in the near future, then you can put factory kicks back in...but no, they are very easy to build...just really depends on what you want, and getting the stage and image setup properly...you need to listen to them before glassing them in to try to get as little of a "rainbow" effect as possible...try to get the sound as high as possible...that is the only drawback of a kick install...the higher you can get the image and as wide as you can get it, the better off you are
good luck...personally I enjoy challenges...I have a difficult glass job i'm doing now...4 12's in a radius all drivers are recessed"bowled" about 3" also...it is a pain...lol