1996 Chevrolet Crew Cab - Troubleshooting
by CAE, Jul 01, 2001
Q I have been building a system and am about to go into the final part of the installation process and I do not know what do to with my 6-1/2"and 6"mid-bass speakers. I have a '94 Saturn SC2, with a JVC 929 head unit and a 12-disc changer, Audiocontrol EQs, and PPI amps, etc. I want to know how to make my 6"JL and the 6-1/2"Orion sound the best up front. I will place one set in the doors and one in custom made kick panels. Keep in mind my car has standard transmission. Should I put the JL or Orions in the kick panels? I am looking for good midbass response up front. Hopefully when it is all said and done my car will be good enough to put in your magazine and start attending sound off events.Thanks for the time!James K
A Hey James,Sounds like you have a pretty sweet system. It depends on what speaker is going to be playing the mid-bass, and from what I understand the JL Audio will serve that function. If that's the case then I would put the JL in the doors. Although I would recommend beefing up the size of those mid-bass drivers to at least an 8"speaker (because you already have a 6"speaker for your midrange. And the reason for putting mid-bass in the doors is because the mid-bass is not as directional as the midrange is going to be, because of the different band frequencies they're going to be playing. You might have to do some modifications to your door panels but it will be well worth it.
Please send questions to:Car Audio and Electronics, c/o Troubleshooting, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870E-mail: techpanel@mcmullenargus.com
In choosing speakers, the first consideration is "will they fit?" Grill size is a minor concern, so a professional installer will usually remove the existing speaker just to get an idea of obstacles within the door cavity for the purpose of upsizing the speaker. It is a common approach to install the largest possible speaker that reasonable modification will allow. For instance, in our Astro Van "school bus" the students removed the stock GM speakers and modified for a pair of 8" bass drivers firing through the unaltered door grills. Talk about "bass up front"!
When you know what speaker fits in the location, then you can limit your auditions to the speakers of that size and shape. In a general speaker system such as a two-way or three-way packaged speaker system (not "cherry picked" components) how it sounds to you is the only worthwhile deciding factor. For that reason, it is important to be able to audition components before buying. If you can't find the product where you want to buy it, strike it off of your shopping list. Support and service are also benefits that come from a local retailer.
Personally I have never found a factory head unit to be equal in all characteristics to an aftermarket unit, but factory units are getting better and one day they may no longer be blamed for "garbage in/garbage out" performance. I typically ALWAYS replace the factory head unit to obtain features and performance that suit me. However, on my new car I am for the first time considering retaining the factory head unit or gutting its circuitry to make a "super stealth" adapted head unit controller.
When upgrading from factory equipment you don't need to melt your credit card on the first try. The mobile electronics industry has been utilizing a compatibility design model for years, meaning you should have no difficulty finding speakers that match the mounting configuration of your factory units. In addition, whatever amplifier you choose will very likely be fully able to accept the signal from the factory head unit.
