Re: urq audio and tires

["Mark L. Chang" <mchang@ece.nwu.edu>]

On Wed, 25 Nov 1998, c a l i b a n wrote:

> 	and well what a pain in the ass this is going to be.
> 	i am a bit of an audiophile, and this car is not made
> 	with good sound in mind.

Amen... true true -- but, if you have some creativity and a guts, you can
make it sound great.

Like others that have asked before, go to Huw Powell's page at:
http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~human/index.html

He's got _everything_ there that you need to know.  And, being a
speaker-design guy, I'd assume that his ear is at least as good as mine
[sic] :).

He has a good approach, but needs a little snipping of the metal that
resides below the rear deck.  He suggests making your own rear deck out of
something substantially stiffer, like MDF or particle board (I'm
paraphrasing here...) and snipping the metal to either vent a enclosure in
the trunk into the cabin, or to allow drivers in the deck to use the trunk
as a sort of infinite-baffle enclosure.  Enough here... hit the site.

It might be more than you are barganing for, especially if you do not want
to cut your car up.

> 	i'm considering trading my fuel tank for the 16 gallon
> 	(couple) version just so i can get decent bass penetration
> 	through the back seats.  probably will have to have a
> 	custom fiberglass box made int he passenger side of the
> 	trunk, perhaps ported thru the speaker holes in the
> 	rear deck.

I've stuffed a sealed enclosure with on 12" subwoofer in the boot of my
4kq.  Penetration is okay... just don't expect to be pushing much air into
the cabin.  It would be nice to be able to use it like a true hatch-back
and have it all in the same airspace, but try it.  It's easy and works
okay.  I've just got it for low-end extension.

> 	should i cut them into the door panels?  will i seriously
> 	regret having those nce leather door panels with holes
> 	in them?  is there even room in the door for a typical 6"
> 	or 5.5" driver?  perhaps someone has some old door panels
> 	i could use and retain my original ones to keep the value
> 	of the car up.  coupe/cgt panels fit too, right?

The PO of my 4kq had cut into the doors in the front.  Smartly, though, he
mounted the drivers _beneath_ the panels.  He (okay, coulda been a she...)
also cut the cardboard backing where the speakers would mount to make
panels a little more acoustically transparent.  Works quite well.  Ask
Huw, he's done similar things.

I'd avoid cutting, if at _all_ possible.  In the door you probably want a
5.25" driver.  I've stuffed a 6.5" driver in there and it _barely_ clears
the window.  I think it is 2.2-2.3" deep.  Also, you have that
door-jamb-catch that you have to watch out for.  Good way to poke big
holes in your drivers.  Otherwise, if the UrQ dash is like the 4kq, you
can get at most a 4" or so driver in the dash.  Maybe a nice 4" coaxial
set?  Dunno about imaging.

> 	the other option is molded fiberglass cabinets on the 
> 	floor - front left corner for driver's side, front left
> 	corner for passenger.  that's actually better than the
> 	door for imaging, but pricier work to have done.  ofset
> 	by the "value" of not cutting the door panels?

That would be cool.  The further you can get the drivers away from your
ears the better, IMHO.  A little more costly for kicks, but worth it for
that cool-install look :).  It's up to you and how much $$$ you have to
spend.  As far as I can tell, the little kick that's already in the
footwells can be unscrewed from the side by lifting the lower and away
edge of the carpet to expose a screw.  Might be a good place to mount your
new kick panels to.

Still, I would go for stealthy over flashy.

Mark

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