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Thanks. Haven't seen those specific mounts. Are they similar to these?:
I do like that design, how the tweeter is partially recessed at an angle into the A-pillar.
I wished the GS had enough clearance behind the A-pillar to accommodate something similar. Ultimately, I had to make compromises, but am satisfied with the results so far. I'll post some tweeter mount pics soon.
Yep that's them. I just don't like the excess forward extra Teardrop. I plan to go pod hunting at pick and pull junk yard soon.
I want something flat in the Pillars like stock looking. But I figured there was little to No room back there for depth.
I want something flat in the Pillars like stock looking. But I figured there was little to No room back there for depth.
Depth is definitely limited. There is the airbag at the top, the airbag air tube that runs the entire length, and a large wiring harness right where a tweeter would logically mount all eating up precious space back there.
Whatever solution you choose, choose one that limits the number of times you're required to remove and reinstall the A-pillars. There is a retaining clip designed to make a gap just large enough for the side curtain airbag to properly deploy without popping the A-pillar in your face. It is an over-engineered solution that will frustrate and try your patience. I had to frequently remind myself that this is a hobby, it's supposed to be fun. But honestly, I wanted to smash my windshield and throw my tools into the street.
Its not a real project until property is damaged and tools are tossed in a fit of rage.
Depth is definitely limited. There is the airbag at the top, the airbag air tube that runs the entire length, and a large wiring harness right where a tweeter would logically mount all eating up precious space back there.
Whatever solution you choose, choose one that limits the number of times you're required to remove and reinstall the A-pillars. There is a retaining clip designed to make a gap just large enough for the side curtain airbag to properly deploy without popping the A-pillar in your face. It is an over-engineered solution that will frustrate and try your patience. I had to frequently remind myself that this is a hobby, it's supposed to be fun. But honestly, I wanted to smash my windshield and throw my tools into the street.
Its not a real project until property is damaged and tools are tossed in a fit of rage.
I went under there on my ES to run a Radar Detector wire, air bag and just what you said.
I'm currently also working on my 15 GS. I picked up some infinity kappa 6x9 components and they came with some pods that look like this. These have enough clearance.
I ended up drilling too large of a hole on my passenger side so I'm looking for another pillar. I'm still debating if I should order a new pillar or attempt to fill the hole and get them reupholstered.
The pillars are about $130 per side new.
Also would you guys suggest the Dayton 408 Dsp. Its a bit more budget friendly.
I'm currently also working on my 15 GS. I picked up some infinity kappa 6x9 components and they came with some pods that look like this. These have enough clearance.
I ended up drilling too large of a hole on my passenger side so I'm looking for another pillar. I'm still debating if I should order a new pillar or attempt to fill the hole and get them reupholstered.
The pillars are about $130 per side new.
Also would you guys suggest the Dayton 408 Dsp. Its a bit more budget friendly.
I have always liked the Kappas and have used various Kappa components in previous installs.
I've heard nothing but good things about that Dayton DSP. As long it has the number of channels that you want to run, for that price I don't see why not. It gives you a lot for the money for sure.
I lucked out and found a used pair of tan A-pillars on eBay. The upholstery was in bad shape, but I was going to re upholster them anyway. They were only $53 for the pair.
For over $100 a pop, I would at least attempt to repair the one you have. Doing so would almost pay for that Dayton DSP.
The stretchable microsuede that has a small amount of spandex worked well. Upholstering them is not difficult. Perhaps some Bondo would help fill the hole. As long as you are re upholstering it the repair does not need to be absolutely perfect. How big of a gap are we talking about?
I'm currently also working on my 15 GS. I picked up some infinity kappa 6x9 components and they came with some pods that look like this. These have enough clearance.
I ended up drilling too large of a hole on my passenger side so I'm looking for another pillar. I'm still debating if I should order a new pillar or attempt to fill the hole and get them reupholstered.
The pillars are about $130 per side new.
Also would you guys suggest the Dayton 408 Dsp. Its a bit more budget friendly.
Nice job on the Tweeters. You can also check car-parts.com for a pillar, lots of yards and some cheap parts.
On the Dayton..... I looked at then last year. Most are very happy with them, but just a few have a constant Alternator pick up noise. But only a few had this problem. Also there were complaints of the low voltage 3.5Volts. That was last year so who knows if there were any revisions.
Are you going to use the Stock ML Amp to drive all your front drivers still?
The tweeter mounts are where I had so many things to consider when determining a mount. Ultimately, you must strike a balance, based on your own preferences, between sonic performance and tweeter stealth and visuals.
Most mounting options that conceal the tweeter places the tweeter in a sonically inferior location. I wanted to be able to point the tweeter towards the listener. Testing various options with a towel shoved in the corner where the windshield, dash, and A-pillar meet, I placed the tweeter and rigged a means to feed it sound. With objective listening tests, I concluded that the best sound to my ears was with the tweeters pointed towards the opposite side's B-pillar, where the seatbelt loops when set to the highest position, see photo as a reference. I tried various seating positions - all the way back for me, and mostly forward for others, and still, the best overall sound (specifically clarity, dynamics and separation), came when pointed that direction.
Also, I preferred to keep the tweeter relatively close to the mids in the dash, so I didn't want to mount too high on or in the A-pillar. I've experienced setups where the tweeter was a foot or more away from the tweeter, and unless you are capable of very low crossover points (say in the low 2kHz), it just doesn't blend well to me. There are things you can do with the DSP, such as overlapping crossover points, Butterworth crossovers, steep crossover slopes, creative time delays, etc. but each "fix" comes at a price and a compromise, particularly phase issues. Ever hear a tweeter with excessive phasing issues? Sounds like a high pitched helicopter "wah-wah-wah-wah-wah" on sweeps.
The best mounting location seem to be low on the A-pillar. No dash modification would be needed, and replacement A-pillars could be obtained without selling an organ and be very close to the dash midrange. This was going to be the best spot. With measuring and some trial and error, I determined I needed a 15 degree upward tilt on the vertical plane and a 45 degree tilt on the horizontal plane - it'll make more sense when you see the photos.
Flush mounting was going to be exceptionally difficult to get right. There is limited space behind the A-pillar, especially down low near the dash midrange. There were few options for a flush mount that also swivels. Alpine, Infinity, and JL Audio make a swivel/flush mount version that could possibly work, but the angle was not steep enough to hit my target and I still had limited depth to contend with. There were also some options for angle surface mount, still, nothing giving me the options of hitting my target. Though a Hertz tweeter did come close and was almost selected. A search for an existing tweeter pod or mount was fruitless. So I needed to make my own. This would be a first for me.
Yes Tweeter placement vs options? Been thinking about this for a while. I am determined to get something un-noticeable on the same plane as the door woofer factory looking in front of the vents right here. Don't know how or what yet?
There are some pro's and cons with it. The pros would be it's my choice and I can live with it being very un-noticeable. Sound wise, pointed directly to the ears altho just a little low. .
I started with 3/4" pine board and cut a small piece of it at a 15° angle on the edge and a 45° angle, effectively making a right triangle with one edge (the edge that ultimately would be facing the A-pillar) having a 15° angle.
This triangle piece was then mounted to a 1/4" piece of pine board that was cut it in an almost teardrop or oval shape.
Here's how these mounts will be oriented on the A-pillar.
Speaking of the A-pillars, I found a set on eBay for $53 total for the pair. Upholstery looked like someone used it as an ashtray, but it was clean underneath. I planned to reupholster them anyway.
Yes Tweeter placement vs options? Been thinking about this for a while. I am determined to get something un-noticeable on the same plane as the door woofer factory looking in front of the vents right here. Don't know how or what yet?
There are some pro's and cons with it. The pros would be it's my choice and I can live with it being very un-noticeable. Sound wise, pointed directly to the ears altho just a little low. .
That would make for a great solution. Ive seen some beautifully done fabrication for tweeters in a spot like that in other verlhicles, if you have flberglass skills, the sky is the limit. I also think a small flush/swivel mounted tweeter in the door panel just below your red circle could make a good alternative as well, just gotta cut that big ole' hole in the door panel. Yikes!
Using the LPG tweeter mount ring recommeded by Madisound, you must cut away some of the tweeter ring plastic that rests behind the tweeter magnet so that the tweeter sits flush to the mount ring mount edge, no big deal. You can see just how much must be cut in the attachmed photo.
Using popsicle sticks and hot glue, I created a frame to which a hardening material, such as Bond, could stick.
My Bondo skills are... how do we say, uh, in severe need of improvement. I mixed the Bondo a bit rich - too much hardener, and the working time was only about 3 minutes. Despite mixing multiple small batches and adjusting accordingly, I never could get a decent work time and rushed to fill in gaps before each batch hardened to the point of being unworkable. Regardless, nothing a good sanding job can't fix.
I applied a few layers of Bondo glazing putty and sanded in between to get a smooth-as-glass finish.
After about 6 rounds of glazing putty and sanding, each with an increasingly higher (smoother) grit of sandpaper, I applied three light coats of self-etching primer.
Notice the threaded insert at the bottom of the tweeter pod, this will be the method in which the pods will be secured to the A-pillars. These are #10-24 threaded in 0.394" in length.
Nice work. I suck at artistry and making things like that. Coming along and the reward will be what you want. I like it.
What are you going to cover the tweeter Pods with? Or are you going to paint finish them? I was going to do some work on speaker installs today but forgot that I keep forgetting to order the factory connectors to bare wire plugs. Don't want to go into that project but 1 time only.
03-03-21, 04:58 PM
I ended up drilling too large of a hole on my passenger side so I'm looking for another pillar. I'm still debating if I should order a new pillar or attempt to fill the hole and get them reupholstered.
