Installing tweeters? (component speaker set)

[zombo]

Hey guys,

What's the best way to install component tweeters in a honda? I want the most "optimal" location to make it sound good, and want to know the best tool to use, I figure a usual hole-saw will probably rip the crap out of the vinyl stuff the dash/doors are covered with...

Cheers

[2MPRS]

mine tweeters on me eg civic are on the inside cover of the side mirrors i just pre drilled the holes looks pretty stockish i can get pics if u like. the optimal location is really up to ur ears connect it up and move it around till u find the spot that best suits u. ive been told the lower down u put the tweeter the more mids and bass u get and vice versa.

[arverson]

not in the mood to write up a technical essay so ill just copy&paste this brief explanation from fhrx..



http://www.fastfoursforumscarclub.co...ios/faq.asp#12

Where should I place my tweeters for best performance?

Okay, stop and think about a concert for a second. You don't sit with your back towards the band right? Rather, you want the sound in front of you. Likewise you want to be in the first row, be dead center of the band on stage and depending on your personal preference you might like to be slightly below the sound (as is an audience member) or slightly above the sound (as a conductor is). This is the image we try and capture inside cars today and tweeter positioning plays a large role in achieving this phenomenon. You cannot just simply slap tweeters in anywhere. To get a decent stage you need good width, height and depth - preferably mirror-tip to mirror-tip, floor to roof and as far down the bonnet as possible.

Where to mount them then? Kick panels, sails or elsewhere?
We often see tweeters mounted up high on the sail area on the door or down in the kick panels. Both these work well but can suffer from similar issues. The problem with the sail mounts is this; think about the position of your ears in relation to the tweeters. One speaker is belting the high pitch tunes out about one foot from your ear where as the other tweeter is triple, quadruple or quintuple that distance away. The image has no choice but to be right out the side window. Sheer laws of physics govern this fact.

If you place the tweeters down in the kick panels then the right speaker distance is about three feet and the left speaker is about four feet away. The problem is not utterly eradicated but it becomes a lot less noticeable as the distance separation is reduced (by up to half sometimes). However using the kick panel method can result in the stage being a tad low (the kicks are often used on cars with no factory tweeter location to avoid the cost of custom A-pillars or sails too). Remember tweeters cannot be placed anywhere where they fire straight into ones feet so you have to be more careful about their placement on both sides and more often than not this results in them being mounted very high up in the kick panel, quite often well out of sight and well up under the dash - this is also good for security too.

The final mounting place of your tweeters depends what you desire from your system and what your budget is. As mentioned above; when choosing a tweeter mount in order to achieve a great sound stage you're always faced with various issues. Put the tweeters up high and forward and you'll get good depth and height but the stage width can sometimes suffer. If you put them deep in the kick panels you tend to get good width and depth but the height can sometimes suffer. Seems you cannot win sometimes, especially when you factor other things on like reflection issues. Generally speaking though, mounting the tweeters in the a-pillars right at the front corner of the dash will result in the best unmanipulated (i.e. no time alignment) sound stage. If that is not an option, then experimentation is the best strategy. Remember too that tweeter location can also play a role in ambience too. If the tweeters are positioned correctly (whether in the kick panels, A-pillars or even behind the review mirrors) they will help the whole component set fill the car with high frequency sound - not just way off in front of you.

There are two other issues to consider when choosing where your tweeters will go too. Cost is one because to mount the tweeters successfully in the A-pillars there is a good chance you're going to require some custom work done and hence the price goes up. Then there is also the security issue too because people can now see your tweeters. Factor all these issues in when you are deciding.




basically theres no single 'best' location, just depends on the individual speakers, car environment and a well-trained ear with some knowledge between em. all you gotta do is stick some blutac on your tweets, then just experiment with different locations & different on/off-axis angling and see what situation gives you the stage height, depth & width that you're happy with. might take weeks but hey you wanted 'optimal location'.

best tool? depends on the location you settle on..