sick of this crappy sounding setup. any tips?

[robbyredneck]

i have had the stereo that the previous owner installed since i bought the car and it has got to change. it has no low mid and flat out dissappears over 20 mph. i have a alpine head unit. i just bought q form kicks and polk db6501's i have two tens in a sealed box in the trunk. no eq but a x-over in the alpine. i also put 5x7's in the package tray and i am thinking of shittcanning the dash speakers and the door speakers, all they do is make non-sense. amps on all. do any of you guys have any suggestions?

 

[696]

Concert sound or aftermarket? I have 3 1/2,s in the dash, 6 1/2,s in G-body lower door panels, 4's in the rear panels (from G-body) and a 12 in the trunk all running off a Kicker 700.5 .Tweak to your sound preference but no added EQ, simple and as loud as you want it to be.

 

[robbyredneck]

front is where it is really lacking. i mounted my front amp for my kick panels tonight (backside of my heater delete,also where i will relocate my ecm). i have concert sound but it hardly sound like one. two tens in the back. my low end is ok but i get fatigued after 10 miles because of the rest. i removed my dash speakers tonight and so far i think i will start with that, maybe even get rid of the package tray's if my front speakers are happenin'.

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

Well with the Q form you wouldn't need the door speakers. The tweeters need to be in the dash or higher up than the kick pannels. What kind of AMP's are you using? I have found using differnet AMPS and headunits along with speakers do not work. Compatability is key with good sound along with being able to tweek each component. 5x7 suck get an adapter and mount some 6x9 on the rear package tray.

 

[robbyredneck]

i have two mtx 200's and an equally old jbl on the subs. i tested the old mtx amps last night and i was pleasantly surprised with their seemingly good output, although i have read that the polks gobble up wattage. yeah i know the 5x7's suck. it's a damn shame gm did'nt make the package tray a little deeper. i am not looking for big boom just something tolerable . i am also going to try to get my extraneous noise down so i am not fighting my exhaust constantly. any secret areas to dynamat ? other than the whole car.

 

[696]

My .02$ , I didnt do any speakers in the rear tray because I knew it would be hard to hear. The majority of my sound is focused in the driver and front passenger area. The door speakers provided most of the sound, BUT the front dash and the rear panel speakers "fill and blend" the areas very well. If I turn down the gain controlling those speakers it really hurts the sound quality. I didn't go with the Q Forms because I was afraid I would be bumping and kicking them all the time...they are called "kick" panels for a reason

 

[robbyredneck]

the reason i chose the kick panel style is that in the 90's a buddy of mine had a hyundai with kick panel components and it was one of those "your kidding me right, wheres the sub" moments. i think i might keep the dash and package trays on the h.u. amp and the rest on power amps so i can blend. my h.u. also has the feature of shutting its speaker outputs off which could make for a quick a/b test.

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

Well those Q forms are under the dash unlike a Honda where the seat is down a bit more. I think the location hurts the sound on our cars. I have 6x9 in the back with a nice size magnet and they fit pretty nice. Just cant use the original brackets though. The MTX amps are good but sound on smaller speakers is something to be desired I have a MTX thunder 200 that I took out that was powering my sub. I guess Im getting old and don't really car about the bass anymore. Anyway those amps on Mono are great but once you try and take them to Mids and highs they are just not appealing. You might be better off getting a nice 4way Amp (spend some coin) and add 6x9 in the back you will be happier.

 

[robbyredneck]

well i put the component polks in tonight. i am not sure i have real q logic kick panels. i had to do a ton of surgery to the panels and the grills. these speakers are better than all six of the old ones combined, much better definition and less fatigue while driving. i shut the doors and decks off and i can get tons of volume before breakup. i think i will be mounting the tweeters in the dash. my left to right imaging is way better. still missing some lower mid and by no meens am i completely satisfied but it's an improvement none the less. i am about out of budget but 6x9s may be in order. btw my used amp had a crappy gain pot that let the left side run wide open when i fired it up. i can fix it but it's a good thing i got two of these in the deal.

 

[grocerygetter]

the kick panel location is the best for the car when it comes to imaging. For daily driving...I'm not sure however. Custom kicks would be better by far because the qforms are flimsy. I think for a daily I'd put the tweeter in the dash in stock 3.5 location and the mids in the doors and throw some big power on them...200w a side easy.

 

[robbyredneck]

getting better every day. yeah tweeters in the dash and it appears to have a ton of headroom. power seems good as you can get it stabbing unbearable. i think 6x9's will give it the body i am lacking. i can now listen without fatigue. it seems like the more outside noise i get rid of the better, i know it seems obvious but it bears repeating. 696 is right as the closer i get the less eq i need.

 

[pjnutt]

What I did:
1.) Polk 6x9's in the rear, adapters needed
2.) Blaupunkt 5.25 components
3.) Sony deck
4.) Sony 4 Channel Amp
5.) 8" DUB Bass tube

I did all of this for about $300................

It sounds pretty good for what I have into it. Problem really is with the soundstage in these G bodies, it's just not that good.

 

[robbyredneck]

how do you like the polk 6x9's? i just ordered a pair. i guess i should mention my head unit has time alignment so my staging left to right is really pretty good once i get it dialed in.

 

[pjnutt]

how do you like the polk 6x9's? i just ordered a pair. i guess i should mention my head unit has time alignment so my staging left to right is really pretty good once i get it dialed in.

The 6x9's actually provide most of the sound. The fronts and the doors round it out. I'm not a bass head, so the little bass tube serves the purpose just fine. It was the best I could do on a budget with the spaces provided. The 5.25's fit in the concert sound spot just fine and the tweeters fit well in the front dash. Overall I'm pretty happy with it all.

 

[robbyredneck]

i put 6x9's with adapters in today and wow. what a difference a good pair of 6x9's can make. i went back to a single 10 box i have because it is much lighter. i wish i had started with 6x9's then door's and tweeters in the dash . i may never have put a sub and definately not the q forms in at all.

 

[robbyredneck]

just thought i would wrap this up for any body looking for good daily driver sound. old alpine with time align ,q forms with polk 6.5's tweets in the dash,polk 6x9s with adaptors in the back and a single sealed 10 sub in the axle tunnel and bam. deafining if i want it to be and solid . oh yeah and when i stripped it for paint i butyl sound deadened most of the interior. thanks to all that helped