muddled speaker sound help

[gloucester Q]

i've got a 93 q45 on which i've SLOWLY been working on a stereo upgrade. i am totally not happy with my front mid bass speaker sound quality. the rundown:

-nakamichi cd-400 head-phoenix gold m50 (50 pretty damn good watts x 2) running into...-nakamichi sp-652 component speakers

so, i'm fairly confident the quality of components is not the problem, more likely the quality of the install, which sadly, i did myself.

the one thing that i wonder about is that when i took the oem bose speakers out of the doors, i fab'd a template out of approx 1/2" plywood (can't remember the exact thickness) on which i mounted the mid-bass components. i used some neoprene gasketing that i'd lifted from work to seal the joint between the speaker and plywood and again between the plywood and sheetmetal door.

the sound just doesn't sound as clean as i'd hoped, or as forceful. i've tried running it with the high pass to the components off (full range) or about 100-150 hz, and it doesn't help the unclarity.

any hints or suggestions? i wonder if i should have used a specialty material--mdf comes to mind--instead of plywood, or if i should have put some baffling behind the speaker? would really like to get the sound cleaned up out of these. thanks guys. randy

[PoorManQ45]

Nope, it is your components that are causing the problem. I have read many reviews about the Nak 6.5 components and they all say that they are lacking mib bass.

Can we see some pictures please?

Great choice of head unit.

What amplifier are you using to power the components?

[PoorManQ45]

i wonder if i should have used a specialty material--mdf comes to mind--instead of plywood, or if i should have put some baffling behind the speaker? would really like to get the sound cleaned up out of these. thanks guys. randy

Um... Did you put the drivers in an enclosure? If not, this would cause degraded sound quality.

Plywood works just fine. Most people think that it is to porous, but in this case it should be just fine.

[Rex]

You're using a PG M50, NICE, but if you're using it on mids and not subs it's being underutilized. I always wanted a Route 66, Outlaw, or MPH6300 (which they never really made).



Also, as PMQ said, if you're using the entire door as a speaker enclosure, then you're gonna have muddy or "loose" sound. Try using some of those foam "hats" that act as speaker baskets. It'll help clear things up.

[gloucester Q]

pmq--well, they may also lack in midbass response, but they're also muddy, so perhaps it's part of both.-rex has it right on the amp i'm using.-nope, not using baffles/enclosures yet. guess i'll give that a try and hope for the best. i had a civic years ago in which i installed some polk components in the doors without baffles and the results were excellent. other than the obivious difference--the speakers--the only other difference is that the speakers mounted directly where honda's oem speakers did--no need to fab the new mount template, which i hope i properly attached a pic of. it's about 1/2 inch, with counterbores for the mtg hardware. i'm going to revisit my gasketing too i think while i've got the door panel off.rex-yeah, i got the amp from a friend who was powering a huge enclosed 12 inch and he said it was awesome. i'm still in the upgrade process and looking for another amp, so i possibly will dedicate this amp at some point to a sub. i borrowed the sub too for a while and the resuts were excellent, but it was too big to drive around with so i gave it back and reconfigured. first thing is to get happy with my front sound, then go from there, but it's good to hear the recommendation on the m50. i've got my eyes out on ebay for another and the m44 as well.

[Rex]

I bought an PG MS275 off ebay last year, I'm gonna round up some of the killer late 80's early 90's stuff so when I finally get to a project car, I can put "period correct" stuff in it.

Pheonix Gold or Orion AmpsJL Audio, PPI or RF SubsPioneer Premier or Alpine HUAudio Control EQT'sAn Epicenter of course

That's the plan .

[gloucester Q]

hmmm... crutchfield currently out of stock for 6-1/2" xtc baffles, best buy doesn't carry them, and i was hoping to get this done this weekend. any other clues for where i could purchase foam baffles?