Domf3

I'm trying to set the time alignment on my head unit and I have some questions about measurement. My car is a 5th gen and all speakers are in the stock locations.

My system is passive 2-way using DLS UP6 components and I do not have the ability to EQ each side individually. I do have the stock speakers in back for rear fill.

After googling for several hours I realize everybody has a different opinion on time alignment. Do you do it by ear or measure? Do you adjust all speakers or just delay the drivers side? What about the sub.

Domf3

Anybody else using time alignment?

eng92

iTrader: (3)

Sure, but I use it in an active setup.

You can measure out the distances to get you in the ballpark but then you need to fine tune it by ear to centre your stage.

Domf3

I measured each speaker and now the vocals/stage is directly in front of my face, seems kinda thin too.

Fast1one

iTrader: (12)

You want to do it by ear, but the mids and tweeters in different positions can cause some problems since you are passive...I would really consider doing your install with the tweeters and woofers mounted together. Moving the tweeter deeper into the dash will increase the distance to your ear, approaching the distance of the mid, but then you introduce bad reflections. Another reason to go active

Anyway, time alignment is only part of the equation and only really applies to midbass and lower midrange frequencies. The mid and upper octaves are amplitude based, not time based (up to a certain extent). Which means you need to have individual gains for both sides and independent EQ for both sides. You can get it close (assuming you move your mid and tweeter together), but the stage will not be consistent.

Enough of my rambling, now for my suggestion:

You don't want the rear speakers to interfere with the front stage, add a significant amount of time alignment (max it out) and they should literally disappear. Rear passengers will still hear them since they are close. Also high pass them really high if you can, and invert the polarity of ONE speaker so the midbass doesn't shift to the rear. If it still shifts back, fade it to the front a bit

Add T/A to the left side FIRST to get the stage roughly center. Also use your balance control since you don't have the above requirements. Then add time alignment to compensate for the sub distance. Another technique is to add T/A to the sub instead (on the order of 5-7ms). Try them BOTH.