Hi All,

I'm thinking of putting tweets and mids up on my dash in my new Honda Pilot. I know, I know, this has been done poorly by many and successfully by few.

With respect to path-lengths, I've found that the lengths don't really improve at the kicks - as the dash is quite deep. The added issue is that Honda conveniently placed the fuse box in one of the kick-panels so that also negates using the kicks. As far as the stock mid location, well my thigh tends to attenuate the driver side speaker... So not too many options here

I'm wondering which speakers would work best in the a-pillar location. I presently own a set of Utopias, but would be willing to switch to another brand if the drivers will work better off-axis or in the a-pillars. The options are to:
a) Fire the mids and tweets directly across the dash (like I had in my RSX) (off-axis)
b) Fire the mid from each side to centre of the cabin.

The tweets will likely be fired off-axis across the dash like in my RSX.

As far as drivers go, I'm thinking of the following:
a) Focal Utopia
b) DLS Ultimate
c) Morel Elate

The system will be run PASSIVE as this is not a "true" competition vehicle. Other equipment includes (or will include):
Pioneer AVH-P7500DVD
JBL Px300.4 (to the components)
JBL BPx1100.1 (to the sub(s)
JBL W12GTI (x 1 or 2 - still unsure)

Thanks for any input you can offer.

Mike

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'04 Honda Pilot - Granite Edition

Mike, drop me an email and we can talk about this some more if you want. I had a setup like you're talking about in my X5 as it had a deep dash.

What are you doing for midbass..... stock door locations ?

tkliem@markham.ca

BTW, Pilot because of a new family on the way !??!?!?!??!!?

the main issue with midrange/midbass is time alignment, your idea is a good one but will provide you wil its own set of challenges, secondary relections can be nasty, be prepared to do some non traditional sound absorbing on your dash, roof and a pillars. you will want to try to absorb as much winshield relection as possible. i am a firm beliver that if you want the sounbd to come from up high you had best put speakers there, i have yet to hear a vehicle with floor or door speakers that didnt sound like they were there. i understant they exist, i have heard of only 2 that accomplish this and one uses horns so im not sure that it really count but whatever

the car judged best sounding at ces was the scion van in the alpine booth with 6" and tweeters in the a pillar, i listened to it and it was pretty good for being built in 4 days

your project will get you great results if time and care is taken in initial speaker location testing and installation

Thanks for the input guys Any idea with respect to drivers?

Pilot 'cause we're most likely getting a dog. Hence the trunk install has to be able to be stood on [img]smile.gif[/img]

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'04 Honda Pilot - Granite Edition

I cannot personally vouch for these drivers, however they have been used successfully in SQ competitions, so take that for what it's worth:

Midrange: Seas Excel Speaker Model W18E-001 http://www.oregondv.com/Seas_Speakers_W18E-001_E018.htm

Tweeter: Seas Excel Speaker Model T25CF-002 http://www.oregondv.com/Seas_Speaker...C_002_E011.htm

Woofer: Seas Excel Speaker Model W26EX 001 http://www.oregondv.com/Seas_Speaker...X-001_E026.htm


You can read feedback from audio guys on Elite Car Audio here - http://www.elitecaraudio.com/forums/...hreadid=109704 where I started a thread about those drivers.

Apparently in Asia and Europe the audio guys there are more hardcore when it comes to SQ than us North Americans (not my opinion) and these drivers are highly recommended by them. I have a couple of friends there.

No flaming please!

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Badass 1999 Silver Lexus GS400 - http://www.sounddomain.com/id/silvergs

I have toyed with the idea of putting some 2" dome mids next to my tweeters on my A pillar -- I really see a trend towards dome mids in the home theater realm lately -- it is an especially good idea for centre channels -- it helps reduce "lobbing". I still believe that the car audio environment can benefit from the same thing -- having a dome mid lets the woofer do more of the mid bass duties it is better suited too IMO.

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12 Inches is useless..until you put it in the right sized box

Obcon..... the best slot you will ever have....

i totally agree mike, the only drawback is muliple point sources that can be difficult to tame in a car. i really like the sound of the dome mids ive used over the years, avi and dynaudio, very dynamic and controlled

Dave, you have a great point -- I guess that is why there are so many great two way speakers in home audio -- Henry Kloss once said that creating 2-way speakers leaves less room for error... I just find that both Center Channels in home theatre and cars can benefit from dome mids -- perhaps it is that both are placed so close to glass? [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img] If anyone could enlighten me further on this, I would appreciate it -- I could be incorrect about this...

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12 Inches is useless..until you put it in the right sized box

Obcon..... the best slot you will ever have....

I will say that you will have a tough time doing them in apillars without blocking driving view. I have an MDX(acura version of the pilot) and the issue is the side curtain air bags so you have to build out. Good luck with it

I'm waiting for a pair of Morel dome mids to arrive - part of the Elate component series. I think not having to worry too much about an enclosure is a big plus. How they sound in relation to their location will be interesting. The Morels, btw, are a little under 4 inches in diameter, so they're not as small as what you're using, Mike. I've never used dome mids myself, so it will be fun to play around with it. If they don't work out, I can always use the domes for rear fill and put the 5-1/2 Morels back in the kicks up front.

Domes have better sound dispersion, right? Does that translate into better off-axis response?