Rear Speaker - tC baffles
03-02-2007, 05:36 PM
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Rear Speaker - tC baffles
I just wanted to let everybody see a few pics of the rear speaker baffles I installed. It might give others some food for thought. This is from another post that rocketgyrl replied to.
The key to getting subwoofer (or any low frequency) output is isolating the front of the speaker from the rear - generally in the form of a "baffle" - the piece the speaker's mounted to. The tC's rear speakers are mounted on metal, but not at all isolated from...anything, really. If you pull the rear panel, you'll see what I'm talking about. Also, you'll want to mount ANY speaker, especially subwoofers to a VERY sturdy baffle.
Generally speaking, a subwoofer will perform better if installed in a corner are of the car, most commonly near the tail lights/rear bumper. Yes, boxes up against the rear seat facing the back of the car will perform well too. The polar opposite of the ideal situation would be to use subwoofers mounted in the rear speaker locations. To expand on this, let's pretend you built sealed enclosures where the rear speakers are located. The distance between the driver's side subwoofer and passenger's side (something like 4.5 feet) is in the range of the wavelength of bass you'll be asking those speakers to play (below ~80hz), and you'll kill the output due to phase cancellation. Ideally, you'll want the subwoofers next to each other, or at a similar distance to the listeners.
To get back on topic - will 8" subs perform well? The simple answer is YES. The more cone surface are you have, the better. If we compare SIMILAR subs (not a 'wimpy' 8" to a 'super' 10"), (2) 8"s have more than a single 10", and the output will be cleaner because they won't have to pump in and out to get the same amount of output. The LESS your speakers move, the cleaner the output!
To cover all my bases, you should be realistic with your SPL (output) expectations. Asking a pair of 8"s to blow out your windows is a bit much. For most daily driving music levels, careful driver selection, box design, and installation, will yield good performance.
I followed up by posting this:
I have a few pics to add to it. I just baffled my rear speakers and dynomatted the metal (thin piece of garbage) that the speaker is attached to. Behind the speaker (the side panel) was already raamatted 3x's over but since I matted the whole car (last year about 13months ago)....after 2 full days of taking the car apart ..matting...and putting it back together ...I didnt care at all about the speakers. Now - 3 weeks ago - I amped and finished the setup with baffles. The job is ultimately ghetto. I had the infinity speakers for 6 years (from my old truck) and they are still going strong, so I used them for my car. I took sealer and applied it to the baffle and pressed the speaker onto it. The baffles I used were from crutchfield. Anybody that needs them...get the slimmer ones. I used the standard ones and they were over and inch too deep. I had to bend the baffle and fold it under. If the speakers were new I would have sent the baffles back and bought the thin ones so I wouldnt have to use any kind of glue. Here are the pics. I didnt have clear sealer so I used white....ghetto yes....but with the side panels on it looks good and sounds better.
This is the pic of the baffle:
I poked a small hole in the back and ran the wire through it. Then glued it:
Here is the finished job:
The above are camera phone pics. Its better then nothing just so people can get the idea of what I did.
Originally Posted by rocketgyrl
Originally Posted by jwaggz82
im liking that setup. Im wondering if i put 6 1/2 subs in the rear speakers spot ....how that would sound ....so could save space
Generally speaking, a subwoofer will perform better if installed in a corner are of the car, most commonly near the tail lights/rear bumper. Yes, boxes up against the rear seat facing the back of the car will perform well too. The polar opposite of the ideal situation would be to use subwoofers mounted in the rear speaker locations. To expand on this, let's pretend you built sealed enclosures where the rear speakers are located. The distance between the driver's side subwoofer and passenger's side (something like 4.5 feet) is in the range of the wavelength of bass you'll be asking those speakers to play (below ~80hz), and you'll kill the output due to phase cancellation. Ideally, you'll want the subwoofers next to each other, or at a similar distance to the listeners.
To get back on topic - will 8" subs perform well? The simple answer is YES. The more cone surface are you have, the better. If we compare SIMILAR subs (not a 'wimpy' 8" to a 'super' 10"), (2) 8"s have more than a single 10", and the output will be cleaner because they won't have to pump in and out to get the same amount of output. The LESS your speakers move, the cleaner the output!
To cover all my bases, you should be realistic with your SPL (output) expectations. Asking a pair of 8"s to blow out your windows is a bit much. For most daily driving music levels, careful driver selection, box design, and installation, will yield good performance.
I have a few pics to add to it. I just baffled my rear speakers and dynomatted the metal (thin piece of garbage) that the speaker is attached to. Behind the speaker (the side panel) was already raamatted 3x's over but since I matted the whole car (last year about 13months ago)....after 2 full days of taking the car apart ..matting...and putting it back together ...I didnt care at all about the speakers. Now - 3 weeks ago - I amped and finished the setup with baffles. The job is ultimately ghetto. I had the infinity speakers for 6 years (from my old truck) and they are still going strong, so I used them for my car. I took sealer and applied it to the baffle and pressed the speaker onto it. The baffles I used were from crutchfield. Anybody that needs them...get the slimmer ones. I used the standard ones and they were over and inch too deep. I had to bend the baffle and fold it under. If the speakers were new I would have sent the baffles back and bought the thin ones so I wouldnt have to use any kind of glue. Here are the pics. I didnt have clear sealer so I used white....ghetto yes....but with the side panels on it looks good and sounds better.
This is the pic of the baffle:
I poked a small hole in the back and ran the wire through it. Then glued it:
Here is the finished job:
The above are camera phone pics. Its better then nothing just so people can get the idea of what I did.
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