Puma Swede

[Wild E. Coyote]

Ok, nice subs. I am affraid the box won't be able to take them as the plastic is so soft and wobbly. Put some reinforcement, the drivers are big and heavy.
I agree with you 100% regarding the Infinity. Since you are from Sweden, have a look at your product: DLS! Fantastic speakers! I have them Ultimate Pro UP6A two way in front.
http://www.dls.se" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Check it out

 

[xztraz]

Yepp quite heavy things. I think the replaced laminated wood baffle would be enough to hold them in the boxes at least but i'm leaning towards more internal reinforcements since the remaining plastic walls can easily be pushed around by hand. this feels like building a box out of a plastic bag..

dls should sound good. but they are a bit on the expensive side. dls in front and infinitys moved to rear.. hm. i don't want rear sound to take over the sound stage. even possible to fit 6,5" in the rear bins? i'll have to think and measure a bit.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

In the end I disconnected the rear twitters! I am using DLS in front in full range and the back speakers (10x7) only without twitters connected. That way the stage stays in front and you get some bass from rear but it is not important as bass can't be detected where it is sourced from..

 

[xztraz]

hm.. options.. so many

As you say bass is hard to locate. and most of the mids and highs should come from the front. I don't mind a little fill from back but it should be kept at a fill level.. and also nice if someone going in the back seat to hear something else than just bass ponding..

ideas

1. Keep the infinity at front and put in some crap speakers in back complementing the subs. just for a little fill. Least work and cheapest. might get tired of the infinity sound..

2. move the infinitys back if they fit. get better fronts. dls maybe. i'm not shure if component or coaxial would be best. don't want to fiddle too much with the interior and since i have manual mirrors that space is taken by the adjusters.
so sub ideas:
2.1 component. most work. probably sounds best.
2.2 coaxials in front. since speakers sits so high in the door it might work.

3. Get a set of 4 matching speakers. 5x7 for the back and decent front speakers. same question here. coaxials or component for front
3.1 component in front and coaxials in back
3.2 coaxials all around

4 skip back speakers and just use subs in back.
if i did think this way from the start i would have built a set of back speaker pods that play out of the original speaker grills. but i don't want to start with new boxes now.

I'm gonna reinforce the back pods with more laminated wood, glue and screws.


I've read a lot of reviews and people say that the jbl gto line of coaxials might also sound hash.

looking at these brands now.

Hertz (seems promising for the money and they make 5x7)
Dls ( a bit expensive)
jl audio ( also have 5x7)

I'm leaning towards getting 4 new speakers. 5x7" or 5.2" and make an adapter plate for the back and 6.5" for the front (coax or component)
preferably same brand and series. would be nice if the speakers could be driven of the head unit. 4 x "50"w

if i want to use components i dont want to mess up my a pillars and have to put the tweeters in the mirror cover plate. but to do that i'll have to get electric mirrors and buttons.

 

[Cartman]

Are you making a seperation plate inside the reat Box to seperate the rear speakers from the sub? If not you can't have both subs and speakers.. the subs wil just overpower the speakers, and it wil just sound all wooly.. i know this because i tryed made a plate innside the Box, and a smal bass port, and mow it sounds not super awsome, bit good enough for me

I want those jbl 8" in my sub boxes too have some polk audio 8" now as they were all i could fimd at the time.. gpimg to swap all my elements to jbl over time..

Edit: the wiering for Electric Mirrors are already in the car, all you need is the Mirrors, and a New swich panel, and switch.. goimg to do that myselfe, i put my tweeters in the hole for the Mirror ajusting Pims

 

[xztraz]

Cartman I'm not sure if you can see in the picture a couple of posts above where i have a inner wall of plywood and also the baffle? Yes they will be separated. Otherwise there would be cones flying all over the place

Closed boxes as the gtos like. and some more internal supports just to make the boxes sturdier.

Thats sounds right with the cables. Only thing it's a bit hard to find bits in sweden. Have to talk to ian. would be nice if the project didn't take the whole summer..

i have now shortened the amplifier that had an oversized heatsink and repainted it. It wasn't even getting close to being hot in the previous installation and in the puma there is a lot less space.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Just to remind you: the twitters in the plates covering the mirrors doesn't work as well as you'd think (or hope). You have lots of reflections coming from the dash and the result is dissapointing to say the least. Better to stay with coax speakers in the original spot IMHO.
Unless you want to work on your A-pillar shrouds (not a problem at all, mind you!, especially for a guy who can repair rotten sills!) I'd suggest to stick with OEM installation spots.
Also, check the eldude's great audio write up on pumapeople. He is using JL Audio coax speakers and Boston acoustics at back. Apparently it is very good and balanced setup with a 4 channel amp. Ofcourse, everything is treated with dynamat. I used russian STP as it is waaaaay cheaper than dynamat. Anyway, my strong (STRONG) recommendation would be to invest time and effort in sound deadening. It will payback later, trust me! I treted even the roof and I would recommend everyone to do it

 

[xztraz]

The plan is to soundproof doors and other areas. I've been looking at your project and also eldudes guide. Great inspiration
jl audio you say. i'll take a closer look at which elements have been used in the guide

The roof might be a later point to soundproof thou

Sounds like coaxials is the way to go to save some trouble and don't mess with the interior too much.

I got a packet with a reversing camera today.. yeey stuff!

 

[xztraz]

JL Audio C2 series might do the trick. Should be easily driven by the head unit. Im thinking 5,2" or 4" in the rear just for fill. any thoughts?

 

[xztraz]

Just ordered this

1pair JL AUDIO C2-650x
1pair JL AUDIO C2-525x
10m2 Ampire Exmat22 Alu/butyl

I'm not sure all of the sound proofing will end up in the car but rather too much available than to run out in the middle of installation.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

10 sqm should be enough. I used just under 12 sqm and did also the roof and probably overdid it a bit in other areas!
JL Audio should be much better than stock speakers

 

[xztraz]

i hope the jl:s will be better than the infinity:s

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Presonally I don't have any experience with them. Had once Infinity's and never liked them. Had rockford fosgates, also didn't like the speakers. The amplifiers (old school made in USA) are entirely different matter!
When I tried DLS UP6A's (12 years ago) that was it: no going back, still using the very same set!
I heard Morrel is also very nice, never had a chance to hear them at work….

 

[xztraz]

They have had some good reviews. Well if looking at the up6as they where double the price. and i don't know how the lower range of dls sounds. well if the jls sound a bit shit then dls is next up.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

Lower range sounds ok, but won't fit in the doors. You need installing depth of 63-64 mms and that is possible only with neodim magnets you find in UP range and possibly above

 

[xztraz]

Allright. Didn't look at the mounting depth of dls. Jls should fit with 61mm.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

JL should fit straight in without hacking the doors. You just need to drill holes for the screws, puma uses just 3 of them, JL will need 4 of them IIRC

 

[xztraz]

Nice I'll have to check what the previous owner have made with the front speaker holes too. but since they are 6.5 now it shouldn't be a problem fitting these ones.

Did put some reinforcements in the bins today. i think it will work. best would of course be to build completely new boxes out of wood. but so much work to get all those weird angles right. and the weight would be a bit more.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

From experience I know you can't put anything behind it (like MDF plate for instance) because it will foul the door trim. It is very tight in there; the hole has to be spot on

 

[xztraz]

I've seen that in your thread i think. Good to know

Thinking about building real wood boxes for the subs.. never ending project