Advice needed on speakers
Discussion
I have a pair of 4" Focal speakers in the rear of the car, nothing else. Since they are classed as 'tweeters' the sound is not good enough and so I wondered what is recommended as a replacement. The MB Quart ones appear to be 'tweeters' as well or am I wrong? I do not want to spend big money on speakers to find they are the same as the Focal ones I have at present, they are an expensive speaker in themselves.
Thanks
S
Thanks
S
Hi there,
Worth doing a bit of reading up on this (I'm maybe one page ahead in the 'everything there is to know about speakers' guide?).
I don't think there's such a thing as a 4" tweeter - a tweeter is generally a very small speaker (maybe 1" across) that is either built into a housing in front of a larger speaker (usually a 'mid') or positioned separately and driven via a cross-over than splits the sound and sends the high frequency stuff to the tweeter. As I understand it, higher frequency sound is very directional, hence the need to position tweeters ahead of the cabin pointing towards the driver/passenger. Speakers behind the seats like the Tuscan cannot throw this high frequency sound forwards so you get a muffled sound.
On here, Alinton is your man - he's a sound engineer. I heard his setup in his Cerb and it was impressive. He's just bought a Tuscan and will no doubt be tackling it's totally unimpressive sound setup in the coming months.
There have been a few threads about this some months ago. Do a search to find other recommendations. I'm just going to pull out the existing speakers behind the seats and replace them with a good, bassier all-rounders and then install small tweeters in the corners of the front shelf. This will mean installing a cross-over box and running wiring under the carpet from the rear speakers but not a major job.
Good luck,
Al
Worth doing a bit of reading up on this (I'm maybe one page ahead in the 'everything there is to know about speakers' guide?).
I don't think there's such a thing as a 4" tweeter - a tweeter is generally a very small speaker (maybe 1" across) that is either built into a housing in front of a larger speaker (usually a 'mid') or positioned separately and driven via a cross-over than splits the sound and sends the high frequency stuff to the tweeter. As I understand it, higher frequency sound is very directional, hence the need to position tweeters ahead of the cabin pointing towards the driver/passenger. Speakers behind the seats like the Tuscan cannot throw this high frequency sound forwards so you get a muffled sound.
On here, Alinton is your man - he's a sound engineer. I heard his setup in his Cerb and it was impressive. He's just bought a Tuscan and will no doubt be tackling it's totally unimpressive sound setup in the coming months.
There have been a few threads about this some months ago. Do a search to find other recommendations. I'm just going to pull out the existing speakers behind the seats and replace them with a good, bassier all-rounders and then install small tweeters in the corners of the front shelf. This will mean installing a cross-over box and running wiring under the carpet from the rear speakers but not a major job.
Good luck,
Al
My Mk2 has got an alpine speaker system in it which appears factory fit.
There are tweeters built into the front on each side near the A posts.
I'd take photo's but I'm not in the same country as my car for the next 3 weeks.
I've only got one photo on my laptop of the interior but you can just see the speakers on top of the dash on either side by each A post.
Sound is very good.
There are tweeters built into the front on each side near the A posts.
I'd take photo's but I'm not in the same country as my car for the next 3 weeks.
I've only got one photo on my laptop of the interior but you can just see the speakers on top of the dash on either side by each A post.
Sound is very good.
Which Focals are they?
Focals are good speakers. I have them in the Cerbera.
But 4" ones are going to reproduce midrange the most; Probably a decent amount of treble ('top') too, but very little bass.
If you simply added some bass to your system it would probably sound immediately better, because the bass would balance out the mid/top that you're getting now.
But the problem is, how to get bass in a Tuscan? You need a decent amount, as the engine/exhaust noise tends to cancel out the bass anyway.
There's precious little space to put a bass speaker in - although I have seen a couple of bass enclosures that go behind the seats under the rear window which didn't look too bad. I guess if you could get some carpet the same or a matching colour, you could cover the bass enclosure with it. I'm all for making a sound system look integrated and unobtrusive.
You'd need an external amplifier to power the bass speaker(s), as bass is power-hungry and your head unit won't have the guts. The amp could go in the boot, then you'd have to run thick power cables to it from the battery.
Or, another possibility is an integrated amp/bass unit; Some of these aren't bad - maybe it would go under the passenger seat. Bass isn't directional, so it doesn't matter where in the car you put it.
I'd also recommend some small tweeters mounted in the front, with just a tickle coming out of them, which will directionalise the sound to the front.
The ones I have, and may install this weekend were about 20 quid and are only about 25mm diameter. They'll run direct from the unused front output of the headunit, via their little crossovers which they come with.
If the budget is there, you can't go too far wrong with Focal speakers though.
A.
Focals are good speakers. I have them in the Cerbera.
But 4" ones are going to reproduce midrange the most; Probably a decent amount of treble ('top') too, but very little bass.
If you simply added some bass to your system it would probably sound immediately better, because the bass would balance out the mid/top that you're getting now.
But the problem is, how to get bass in a Tuscan? You need a decent amount, as the engine/exhaust noise tends to cancel out the bass anyway.
There's precious little space to put a bass speaker in - although I have seen a couple of bass enclosures that go behind the seats under the rear window which didn't look too bad. I guess if you could get some carpet the same or a matching colour, you could cover the bass enclosure with it. I'm all for making a sound system look integrated and unobtrusive.
You'd need an external amplifier to power the bass speaker(s), as bass is power-hungry and your head unit won't have the guts. The amp could go in the boot, then you'd have to run thick power cables to it from the battery.
Or, another possibility is an integrated amp/bass unit; Some of these aren't bad - maybe it would go under the passenger seat. Bass isn't directional, so it doesn't matter where in the car you put it.
I'd also recommend some small tweeters mounted in the front, with just a tickle coming out of them, which will directionalise the sound to the front.
The ones I have, and may install this weekend were about 20 quid and are only about 25mm diameter. They'll run direct from the unused front output of the headunit, via their little crossovers which they come with.
If the budget is there, you can't go too far wrong with Focal speakers though.
A.
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