|
Speaker Installation
The photo above shows one of the stock tweeters (left), and
the replacement I selected for it (along with the x-over components). The
original replacements that I selected were the Aurasound NT1-204-8Ds, but I
replaced those with Dayton ND20FB-4s when one of the Aurasounds blew
prematurely. The Daytons are used with a passive high-pass
filter at 8kHz, 12dB/octave originally designed for the Auras (but should
work fine for the near-identical Daytons). The Daytons are basically used to offset the off-axis roll-off
of the main tweeters.
The photo above shows the midbass driver from a Boston
Acoustics R61 component system (used in my previous car), and the midbass
speakers I've chosen to use in my new vehicle - Silver Flute's W17RC38-04.
I've heard good things about this driver, and when I finally got my own to
try out, I understood why - very smooth midrange: much better than the R61
midbass driver, which seemed to have a peaky upper end. Once I'm done with
this particular project, I may find some other uses for those Boston
Acoustics drivers - perhaps in my wife's car with an upgrade crossover to
take care of the peakiness.
A side view of the two midbass drivers. The Silver Flute
driver has a much larger motor and voice coil, and a cast basket (compared
to the stamped steel basket of the Boston Acoustics midbass driver).
Laying out the crossover components. This took about
two days to get right!
One of the crossovers, completely assembled. Note: the 8kHz
high-pass filter for the Aurasound tweeters is implemented on a separate
circuit board.
One of the completed crossovers, installed on the right rear
door. This thing is huge! I've reused the stock speaker terminal on the
crossover, so I don't have to cut into any of the stock cabling.
Another view of the crossover - it's almost the same size as
the midbass driver!
One of the midbass drivers. I made a mounting bracket for it
out of 3/8" ply, spray-painted black.
One of the tweeter brackets (viewed from the rear). The
channel on one side is for the speaker cable. The other side is trimmed down
a bit to ensure that it does not come into contact with the midbass driver.
The same tweeter bracket, viewed from the top. The two
slots line up with the stock speaker grill.
One of the tweeter brackets, with the tweeter installed
(front view).
One of the tweeter brackets, with the tweeter installed (rear
view)
One of the tweeter brackets in its installed location.
A front view of one of the installed tweeters (right rear
door). It's nearly invisible in this view, and it's totally invisible when
the panel is in place on the door. Mission accomplished!
A view of the midbass driver installed in the front right
door. The main crossover and the sail panel tweeter crossover are located
above the driver.
A close-up of the rear of one of the front grills. I had to
shave it down a bit to prevent the midbass driver's surround from hitting
the grill. This modification is invisible from the front.
One of the sail panels, with one of the new tweeters
hot-glued into place.
The same sail panel from the front. The new tweeter is
all but invisible. Mission accomplished again!
[introduction]
[head unit]
[amplifiers]
[subwoofers]
Brian Steele
brian@spiceisle.com
|