[vageta]

Ok guys I had a recent thread stating I was getting back into car audio and had acquired a Scion 2006 Xb. So my stock system was sounding horrible and I decided to take a peek at what I had going on. Opened up the dash grills... nothing. No wonder I had no highs to speak of. Saw a Velocity brand midbass in the doors and much to my surprise a 4" Focal 100cv coaxial in the back of the car.

Took the tweeters from my Diamond Audio comp set and plugged them in, put a towel inside the dash to set it on, aimed them at the opposite seats(angle mount)fired it up and voila! Instant soundstage. Didn't want to blow my tweets so I ended up taking the focals out of the back and plugged them in the dash for now. Don't quite fit but good enough.

Anyways to say the least a huge improvement, but better yet it reminded me that a good 2 way can get plenty loud and stage really well. I had my heart set on a 3 way active with a mid in the dash and tweeter on the a-pillar, but I'm starting to realize I may be better off with a high quality 2 way and can add a third down the road. This saves me some money for the extra processing and amp channels too.

So basically I got a buyer for my previous system and have about a 300$ budget for a frontstage. Thinking since I have a huge dash speaker location I could get a really nice mid in the doors and large format, low playing tweeter in the dash that I can play with the aiming.

Probably going to get the budget Clarion 785USB unit so I can go active without external processing (assuming I can do a bandpass on the mids..). Had a JL Audio e6450 but I found a buyer and also located a pair of old school Soundstream D100's to run my fronts off of. So with this setup I'd like some suggestions for my budget. Considerations:

1. 6.5" in the door so I don't have to mod too much.
2. Good quality tweeter that can play low and decent off axis since it won't be on the a-pillars.

I'm not sure if I should shoot for about 150 a pair for mids and highs, or spring on some kick-ass tweets and keep my mids in the 100 a pair range. Or vice versa.. kick ass mids with 100$ tweets. Again assuming some old school D100's for power and the Clarion deck.

I'm considering a DIYMA 12" with a small under seat mountable class D amp to push it but right now that's the least of my worries. I've been reading the site for the last few weeks and know quite a few of the recommended setups, but considering I can use a large format home tweeter I figured I'd have a better option than those using small format auto tweeters.

 

[trebor]

I used to have a 2004 xB and the only insight I can give is what worked best for me and that was with budget speakers. I tried a number of different configurations but what I finally settled on was 4" Infinity coaxs in the dash locations and I fit some 8" Radio Shack woofers in the doors, eD SQ10s one under each seat. Using steep crossovers and a lot of EQ, and time, it sounded really really good.
Also i've heard 6.5" component systems in these cars and placing the tweets in the stock dash locations. It's a hard combo to beat without a lot of work involved, I still recommend using EQ.

 

[vageta]

I'll definately be doing some EQ tuning using the head unit. Considering the Pioneer 880prs if it's "that much" better than the Clarion one. Otherwise it gives me more money to invest in the sub and sub amp since the Clarion is less than half the price.

So how did the 10's under the seat sound? I took a peek and yes there is a large amount of room but I'd like to know your opinion on how they worked. Also did you get the custom made underseat boxes from the ED site or did you build your own? I'd love to get my amps and subs under both seats and save the entire trunk area, just not sure how I'm going to manage that. Was thinking maybe one underseat sub and the ambs under the driver seat. If only I get could a DIYMA sub under the passenger...

 

[trebor]

I did use the eD underseat boxes, I used just a single for a while but it never sounded right to me. I added the second and it really came alive. I liked the sound of them and never had any problems with mine. Once EQ'd it sounded the same as my JL12w6 to me. It's worth mentioning that there are others here who didn't have as much luck using the eD shallow subs as I did though.

I made amp racks out of the rear quarter panel window openings, very easy to do. Pull panel off and trace opening onto wood then cut it out. Cover or paint then install wood into panels using screws along the edges. You dont lose any storage this way.

 

[vageta]

Interesting amp mounting method. I saw a few places selling pre-fabbed amp racks for those locations but you have to send your new ones to them or else they charge you more.

My only worry is that it'll be completely obvious and I may have theft problems though I guess I could stealth install them. Interesting on the underseat subs, at least I know I can fit one under each seat. Thinking about creating a false floor above spare tire and use the storage area on the right for a single 12" sub and the false floor for amp racks. Wish I didn't need that damn spare or I'd have tons of room