So, I think I figured out why my mids/midbass aren't hitting hard.

It has to do with how I sealed up the doors. I used a corrugated plastic sign, like a "Garage Sale" sign, to seal the big holes, then, covered it with deadener and Ensolite. I think the cardboard is flexing, and I'm losing midbass and mid energy.

How has everyone else sealed their doors? I was thinking a sheet of 1/2" birch ply with 3/4" self tapping screws and some silicone sealant to get the job done. Anyone with another suggestion?

 

I don't think that has much to do with it, really. I "sealed" my doors with multiple layers of dynamat. I'm sure that's flexing but not enough to actually make a difference. Keep in mind that just because you covered up all of the visible holes, doesn't mean that your doors are actually sealed. There's plenty of spaces where air escapes and re-enters the doors while your speakers play and you want to keep it that way (or your doors will hold water when it rains).

I think the mid-bass loss is just a product of our doors and the speaker location. On an RTA I've noticed substantial drops in the 500hz range from systems in our trucks. Next time I fool around with my EQ I'll post a picture of what adjustments I've made to help remedy that, but I'd look at it with a grain of salt since our systems are still quite different. Have you tried the foam seal between your speaker baffle and the door panel yet?

 

No. It hasn't arrived in the mail yet. I'm waiting for Friday, since that's when they're supposed to be here. I'm actually kind of glad you responded like you did, tearing apart the doors wasn't the most appealing prospect that I had in front of me. I'll wait till I get the foam rings in, and see what I get then. You said there's a substantial drop around 500Hz, that kind of correlates with what I've found while tuning with the app on my phone. I'm going to play with it a little tomorrow, again, and I'll post what I come up with.

 

If you cannot make any further adjustments by tuning your system, it is the JLs. They are a mid level driver, at best. Though they have good sensitivity and range, they will not provide substantial midbass. They are more of a midrange driver. Even more so with what little power they can handle. It sounds like you have done enough to the doors to accommodate "air tight". As shaneckc pointed out, you cannot "seal" doors. I have had two different setups in the truck and both had very good midbass response, but they were both high end drivers. Unfortunately in this hobby, you get what you pay for.

 

I'm not rockin' the JL's anymore. I've got a set of Hertz HSK165XL's now. I checked on what Shane mentioned, about a dropoff in the 500Hz area. I boosted my EQ there, and got a noticeable improvement in the sound. Looks like more tuning for me, and my rings might arrive today as well.

 

That is a much better driver. I have nothing but love for Hertz.

 

When i listed to it, there was a very notable lack mid bass response across all mid freq. The stock speakers provided much more output and but your tweeters were bang on. Based on the given speakers and the power your tossing at them i will hands down say that it has something to do with Cross over points. Your messing with deck settings, eq, cross over points, slope and various octaves along with settings on the amp then also running it Passive.

1) id connect just the speakers to the amp, run it full range and look at the output but keep it within limits, Hell play Scooter and see if it bumps.
2) Some way some how the signal or the portion of the signal is being filtered out which in return results in poor sound.
3) With the amount of processing you have on ur deck as well as on your amp you should simply run it active anyways.

 

I can't go active without a DSP. Highest HP crossover point is 200Hz. I would need either a DSP, or an amp with adjustable crossovers. But they do sound better with a little tuning that I've done. And, I got the foam speaker rings today, will install tomorrow. I'll keep everyone informed.

 

So, I installed the rings today. The back plug, about 6" in diameter, doesn't line up perfectly behind the driver, because of the safety bar in the door, so I'm not sure how much that affects performance, but they do make a difference. I was able to drop the 100Hz, 315Hz, and 500Hz ranges by 3db on the EQ, and the sound is crisper, more defined. The mids are more punchy, and really get to work at higher volume levels. I'll put pics up later in my build log, but I would say the F.A.S.T. rings from Soundconnections.com are worth the $25 to get that little extra out of your system, to improve the mid and midbass frequencies. Thanks Aw9d for getting them for me here in Canada, as shipping to Canada from soundconnections is cost prohibitive to Canada. I'm a happy camper.

 

Flip the phase on your left midbass speaker. Re-tune the time alignment afterward with the phase flipped. Tell me if that doesn't fix your problem. It just might.

If you need tuning help let me know. I've spent HOURS in the truck tuning the Audison Bit 1 and I like to think my truck sounds pretty damn awesome.

 

I don't think he has an Audison Bit processor yet, Steven.

 

Well he can flip the phase by changing the polarity of the wiring, for the midbass, at the amplifier.

 

I don't know, I'm kind of happy with what I have now. But you think switching the phase on the left midbass will help? Just the midbass or the tweeter too? I'm running passive, so I'd have to do it at the crossover, but I'm willing to give anything a try.

 

Sometimes that helps. It might not but it's worth a shot.

When I'm tuning I typically try it both ways and see which one sounds more full. Sometimes the right one out of phase works too; just depends on the car. Most of the time the left one works better if putting one out will help. If you have to throw the mid out of phase you'll need to do some time alignment to get the stage back because it's likely to sound quite funny if you keep it normal.


More often than not, lack of midbass usually means one of two things...

1) Your midbass drivers suck or...
2) You have a frequency cancellation happening due to some odd geometry in your car.

#1 is an easy fix and #2 is a bit harder. You need to change some things.


Those mids should be fine so I'm thinking option 2 in your case. It could also be worth building up some sort of shroud for the driver to act as a sort of "wave guide" that directs the speaker waves through the holes int door grill. If not, you can get some cancellations INSIDE the door covering. This is how mine are setup.

 

That's what I installed today. The F.A.S.T. rings surround the speaker, and seal it to the door card. This puts the speaker output straight out of the grill in the door, giving a fuller sound. I'm going to try the way I have it right now, and see what I think at different volume levels, low level and high level have increased presence so far, and go from there. Here's a pic of how the F.A.S.T. ring seals to the door card.

 

So I posted a quick write up on installation of the F.A.S.T. rings in my build thread http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/au...e-some-thinking-but-im-going-make-work-7.html
I've also posted a pic of my EQ settings on my 9-band parametric.

 

swing by sunday, ill be working on my buddies car-- installing a DD9515G and a nice micro 2kw amp. Then ill have a listen and run through a few sample tunes that i used to test when i had my CDT's in there.