Kick panel speakers

Just wanted anyone's thoughts on Q logic kick panel speaker pods,Never used them,Do they give you a better sound because of the way they are aimed?Thanks! Just wondering.

 

My 2-cents on the Q-pods - They have always been priced at $200 per pair for about 20 years now (so they are cheaper now than they were 20+years ago)- because of the amount of labor time it would take you to make your own good set or pay someone to make you a set of kick panel pods, then texture/color match them to your interior. They probably are worth the $200 if you look at it that way. If you are experienced in using fiberglass, or otherwise have the time to learn to make a good set (there are some good YouTube videos, but I suspect there is some trial/error involved), then I say make them yourself.

My concern with Q-pods in the Tacoma is the driver's side fitment with the dead-pedal. And I've always wondered about Q-Pod's strength as well - they ‘appear’ pretty thin (maybe they are hard like fiberglass?), so there probably isn't much rigidity for the speaker to mount to (although you could just put a speaker ring behind). Not sure they put in the design time into aiming the speakers at the opposing headrests either.

 

Thank you!!

 

When I worked in the audio industry we used the Q pick panels a number of times. As mentioned above they are a huge time saver. But they could use some beefing up once you get them. At least adding deadened to the inside or possible lining with fiberglass for strength.

 

Yeah. A speaker's frequency response will be best when on axis with the listener. The further you get from pointing the driver directly at the listener, the more the frequency response suffers. Think about where your door speakers are. Your driver's side midwoofer is close to 90 degrees off axis!

This polar plot helps illustrate what happens as you rotate a speaker off axis. Note that lower frequencies aren't affected as severely as higher frequencies. Ideally this plot would give a better sampling, but this gets the point across. At 90 degrees, in your driver door, you're off around 8 dB in this example at some frequencies.



If you can rotate the driver toward the listener you can improve frequency response and imaging. Using the above example I'd wanna be within 30 degrees if possible above midbass frequencies. It's going to be tough to get a midbass to work properly in q forms - relatively weak open baffle and all, but this is a great platform for something like a 3" midrange. Keep midbasses in the door, do a couple 3" mids in the kicks with a tweeter somewhere or maybe even a 3" widebander down there. It's totally possible to get a perfect stage on the dash with all your drivers down low.

 

well said. period! ive had them and this is true.