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car audio - it aint no pro audio


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i'm a little frustrated. let me back up.....

got a 1995 astro 5 weeks ago. nice van, we've been through that part of it but the tunes were no good; am/fm radio with blown out dash speakers (paper rotten, coils dragging). got a new stereo for christmas from crutchfield (kenwood 352u) and two blaupunkt 65.2 speakers (6.5" 2 ways with crossover).

stereo was a creative fit, with me making severe modifications to the "kit" that came with the radio (made a 1" thick plate out of oak and plywood and mounted it to the "kit"). the harness went smooth, got an adapter and a diagram and soldered/shrink wrapped an adapter that worked the first time. no electrical tape or wire nuts.

modified the weird clip that holds the dash speakers in (chevys idea not mine) and the speakers went in a little not so easy. this was a week ago.

it sounds awful. just awful. unbearable. its really bad.

i think the stereo is ok. i dont think the kenwood is bad. i think what is bad is the way the speakers are mounted - and i may not like the speakers but i dont know that because i think they are mounted so {censored}ty that you cannot tell what they sound like. the speakers fire right against the windshield and are reflected back off the glass. at the same time, they are open to the bottom of the dash and you can hear sound down there as well. in addition to that fact (thats a big deal in my book) the drivers sit on columns and are open to the sides where they bolt to the dash. sound just kind of goes everywhere and there is no bass at all except the dash rattling (the speakers are quite capable of moving serious air, or in my case the dash). if i turn them up the steering wheel vibrates to beat hell but there is no bass.

i dont see anyway to fix that. but thats not where the problems end; the speakers are also harsh as hell, and the crossover is way too high (like 3K or 4K) and no matter where i put the little tweeter it rips my face off with any type of volume. right now i have them in the glove box disconnected and the drivers are still harsh but at like 1.5k.

it really is this bad.

at very low volumes so as to where you can hear the words of the song but not much else they sound ok. and this is where it sits now.

end part one.

did i mention i love my van? i do. i really do. but this is also my daily driver and it needs tunes. every vehicle i have had has had tunes in it, none so bold as my old 1970 chevy with the sub in it but still. need tunes, and nice tunes. i sit in front of a damn PA all night and all day and i want THAT type of sound on the way home, and i have had it before but not now.

part two:

i'm stalled on the dash speakers. i want to believe that the blaupunkts are not garbage speakers and so i am telling myself its the way in which they are mounted that is the issue (and they are mounted {censored}ty, lots of problems there. you cant just have a driver sitting out in the open with the backside exposed all over and expect anything good).

so today i went and listend to every speaker in town i could find, and i listened to a lot. i've been researching car speakers for 7 days in a row in my free time (ha ha) and went to find the ones that everyone raved about. ALPINE and POLK. i could not find a polk speaker that i could tolerate - i wanted to, i really did but the bass was mid/muddy and the mids were smeary and harsh on every single one.

i listen to every INFINITY i could fine - and i didnt like those either although i liked them better than the POLK. i really wanted to like the polks. i was ready to drop $250 on new speakers for the rear of the van, plus add a sub and a sub amp. i had the cash in my pocket.

i listened to every speaker i could find and thought they ALL sounded bad.

i thought about buying a set of 12" yamaha clubs and mounting those in the van. i still think this is an option.

i was growing frustrated until i listened to a cheap set of alpine 6x9 speakers. they had nice mids, nice highs, and deep bass that was not muddy. they sounded like pro audio speakers, no hype, no junk, no bungled up mids, no mud, just good sound and extension. i played them at high volume, i played them at low volume. they sounded the same at loud or soft. they are ALPINE SPE-6090 and i paid $89.

i havent mounted them yet as i have to cur metal (they fit in the doors but require some work. also i can see daylight around the license plate mount after i took the metal door apart so i need to seal that up.

then i get on google and everyone is hating on these drivers due to lack of bass. these were the ONLY speakers that had ANY bass at all, the rest were just MUD. these have clearly defined low frequencies, not just MUCK.

i also looked everywhere for TS parameters for ANY of these speakers but came up nil.

i'm seriously; SERIOUSLY considering using pro audio speakers, a dsp and bassboxpro and doing it that way.

am i in some bizarre alternate reality? or does car audio SUCK.

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SRX or peavey QW van stereo is looking more viable as time goes by.

i've heard some damn fine speakers in my day that re studio monitors or even home speakers but they wouldnt last 2 weeks in a ND winter. the surrounds would disintegrate in days in the cold weather. i think the paper surrounds of pro drivers would be fine as i have paper surround drivers from 1978 (altec) that are fine and they live in a trailer year round.

hell my monitor ones i sit in front of daily from 1996 sound awesome enough and have huge bass from 6" drivers but wouldnt survive minutes in a van.

i do have the set of old yamaha wedges from mid eighties sitting in my shop ready to use for something but they are H-U-G-E. s2115 or some such. BIG BOXES that would take up too much of the van, plus they only go down to like 80hz or so

there is a set of SP4TI here for dirt cheap but those are astronomically huge. astro. nice

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SRX or peavey QW van stereo is looking more viable as time goes by.

i've heard some damn fine speakers in my day that re studio monitors or even home speakers but they wouldnt last 2 weeks in a ND winter. the surrounds would disintegrate in days in the cold weather. i think the paper surrounds of pro drivers would be fine as i have paper surround drivers from 1978 (altec) that are fine and they live in a trailer year round.

hell my monitor ones i sit in front of daily from 1996 sound awesome enough and have huge bass from 6" drivers but wouldnt survive minutes in a van.

i do have the set of old yamaha wedges from mid eighties sitting in my shop ready to use for something but they are H-U-G-E. s2115 or some such. BIG BOXES that would take up too much of the van, plus they only go down to like 80hz or so

there is a set of SP4TI here for dirt cheap but those are astronomically huge. astro. nice

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Something isn't right. With just a head unit and speakers it shouldn't sound that bad. Forget about the dash speakers. They'll pretty much always sound like crap unless you spend some decent coin for a nice component system. Just use the head unit straight to a decent set of 3 way 6x9's in the doors. I bet you'll be much happier. Check out the Kenwood KFC-G6930 6x9's on the Crutchfield website. They should sound really good with that head unit and they're on $50.

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Something isn't right. With just a head unit and speakers it shouldn't sound that bad. Forget about the dash speakers. They'll pretty much always sound like crap unless you spend some decent coin for a nice component system. Just use the head unit straight to a decent set of 3 way 6x9's in the doors. I bet you'll be much happier. Check out the Kenwood KFC-G6930 6x9's on the Crutchfield website. They should sound really good with that head unit and they're on $50.

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Well... I can't imagine what the problem might be, much less offer a solution.

My Astrovan's cup holder works just fine to hold a 12oz. can of Dr. Pepper.

I honestly don't know if the radio thing in my Astrovan works... I've never pressed the power button (if it has one) on the radio to see if it functions. But the stock radio thing in my Astrovan sounds just fine (the way I use it) as far as I'm concerned.

On the other-hand: If the heater wasn't working just right... I'd be all over that.

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Well... I can't imagine what the problem might be, much less offer a solution.

My Astrovan's cup holder works just fine to hold a 12oz. can of Dr. Pepper.

I honestly don't know if the radio thing in my Astrovan works... I've never pressed the power button (if it has one) on the radio to see if it functions. But the stock radio thing in my Astrovan sounds just fine (the way I use it) as far as I'm concerned.

On the other-hand: If the heater wasn't working just right... I'd be all over that.

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Maybe installing the speakers in the 6x9 enclosures you can buy and mount them in the van somewhere it will pass a much better sound. At least you will get the speakers installed in a solid box.

You got any pics of what you are trying to do?

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Maybe installing the speakers in the 6x9 enclosures you can buy and mount them in the van somewhere it will pass a much better sound. At least you will get the speakers installed in a solid box.

You got any pics of what you are trying to do?

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Maybe installing the speakers in the 6x9 enclosures you can buy and mount them in the van somewhere it will pass a much better sound. At least you will get the speakers installed in a solid box.

You got any pics of what you are trying to do?

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Maybe installing the speakers in the 6x9 enclosures you can buy and mount them in the van somewhere it will pass a much better sound. At least you will get the speakers installed in a solid box.

You got any pics of what you are trying to do?

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no pics yet. i do have the rear doors torn apart, and while i am in there i am going to try and fix the locking mechanism which is sticky.

a good friend of mine has a newer suburban with a factory stereo in it that actually kick some serious patootey, it has some form of subs and good speakers too. that would be good enough for me.

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no pics yet. i do have the rear doors torn apart, and while i am in there i am going to try and fix the locking mechanism which is sticky.

a good friend of mine has a newer suburban with a factory stereo in it that actually kick some serious patootey, it has some form of subs and good speakers too. that would be good enough for me.

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rear door. upper left hand corner is where i plan to put the speaker. it does fit, but the metal panel needs cut. i plan to make an interim panel out of 1/4" hardboard that i already own. i have a full sheet of this to make covers for the rear/side windows and paint the boards black. i need truck mirros befor i do this.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351010&d=135

i am on a new dell PC after my old one died recently (literally just exploded). this one is much faster and has a card reader so that is a new experience for me. i just take the card of the camera und drag the pics out of the folder. no more uploading with a usb cable

door without metal panel removed yet.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351004&d=135

inside of van as of now

attachment.php?attachmentid=351008&d=135

outside of van as of now

attachment.php?attachmentid=351009&d=135



attachment.php?attachmentid=351006&d=135



http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...6&d=1357273369

here you can clearly see it open on the sides by design. its also open on the bottom all the way to the floor.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351007&d=135

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rear door. upper left hand corner is where i plan to put the speaker. it does fit, but the metal panel needs cut. i plan to make an interim panel out of 1/4" hardboard that i already own. i have a full sheet of this to make covers for the rear/side windows and paint the boards black. i need truck mirros befor i do this.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351010&d=135

i am on a new dell PC after my old one died recently (literally just exploded). this one is much faster and has a card reader so that is a new experience for me. i just take the card of the camera und drag the pics out of the folder. no more uploading with a usb cable

door without metal panel removed yet.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351004&d=135

inside of van as of now

attachment.php?attachmentid=351008&d=135

outside of van as of now

attachment.php?attachmentid=351009&d=135



attachment.php?attachmentid=351006&d=135



http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...6&d=1357273369

here you can clearly see it open on the sides by design. its also open on the bottom all the way to the floor.

attachment.php?attachmentid=351007&d=135

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