[Problemhouston]

I am thinking of running a center on the top of my dash and wanted to get some +'s and -'s of doing so. I was an IASCA and USAC competitor back in the mid to late 90's but have been out of the loop for some time and need the refreshers.

What are some things I would gain by doing this and what are some negatives and how can/should I address them?

Thanks guys...

 

[TREETOP]

Let me switch the question around for a sec and ask you: What are you looking to gain by doing a center channel? Is this for 5.1/7.1 or just for audio?

 

[AWC]

I've learned how to perfect staging MAXIMIZE tonality. Gone are the 3-way days where I just want tonality and a bit of staging. I have a center channe and I've beat car audio...forever

 

[Problemhouston]

Let me switch the question around for a sec and ask you: What are you looking to gain by doing a center channel? Is this for 5.1/7.1 or just for audio?

5.1

I have an Alpine H700 that I am going to use. I will also be using factory door locations for the other speakers. I have tried to build my own kicks in the past and have FAILED and am not real confident that anyone in my city will do any better. So my solution is to use the center to bring the stage up and give me bit better stage...

 

[TREETOP]

In true 5.1, the center channel carries a large portion of the front stage, as the majority of vocals are represented there. So you're going to want something for center that equals your left and right in sound, output and timbre. You don't want your center sounding different than your left and right fronts.
Usually this will mean at least a 6.5" or 5.25" and tweeter, but you can probably do a pair of 4" and a single tweeter just as easily and it may work better as far as mounting location goes.

 

[AWC]

I used the center channel on the CDA 9887. Its very good Auto-tune works perfectly

 

[couchflambeau]

In true 5.1, the center channel carries a large portion of the front stage, as the majority of vocals are represented there. So you're going to want something for center that equals your left and right in sound, output and timbre. You don't want your center sounding different than your left and right fronts.
Usually this will mean at least a 6.5" or 5.25" and tweeter, but you can probably do a pair of 4" and a single tweeter just as easily and it may work better as far as mounting location goes.

Yes... I'd even go so far as say try to keep within the same family of speaker since generally manufacturers use the same tweeter across the line. You may not be able to get a 6.5 in speaker in the center to match what you have in your doors... but if you can manage to get a 4" in the dash with a tweeter identical to what's in the doors, you'll be better off.

I would NOT mix brands.... I've done in the past and you complicate things tremendously.

 

[Problemhouston]

It's going in a 2006 F-150. There is a huge tray in the top venter dash area and I am sure I can fit a 6.5 and tweet in there. I haven't taken it out yet to see what the depth is like under the tray but it should be to hard to get a decent 6.5 in as long as the mounting debth isn't 5 or 6 inches. I am going with the same speakers all the way around to keep them matching.

 

[Andy Wehmeyer]

Be sure to have a separate EQ devoted to the center channel. The timbre has to match the left and right pretty closely, but there's no need to use the same speaker. That's a good rule of thumb for home audio, but it's less important for cars where the response depends more on the location than the original frequency response of the speaker.

 

[Problemhouston]

Be sure to have a separate EQ devoted to the center channel. The timbre has to match the left and right pretty closely, but there's no need to use the same speaker. That's a good rule of thumb for home audio, but it's less important for cars where the response depends more on the location than the original frequency response of the speaker.

Andy, thanks for taking the time to chime in and give me some advise. My major concerns are the windshield and all the early reflections. I figured that if I were going to do it I would do my best to have the mid as parallel with the glass as possible. I know I don’t want to aim it directly at the glass. Do I have the right thoughts or am I way off base?

 

[THATSALEXUS?]

I ran a center channel on one of my rigs and was quite happy with the results. I think that the key is being able to adjust it real time without the hastle of complex menus and such. I also think that you want to keep it toned down to the point that it doesn't draw any attention to itself, audibly speaking of course. Mine was mounted on the dash, very similarly as it would be in your rig.

 

[Andy Wehmeyer]

The reflections from the glass help and hurt. They'll raise the stage, but you'll have a frequency response problem at whatever frequencies you have constructive and destructive interference. That's why I say get a separate EQ. I've had the best results from firing the speaker into the glass and poorer results from an on-axis placement. The dispersion of the speaker is only narrow at frequencies with wavelebgths that are short, compared to the diameter of the cone. That means that MOST of the reflections won't be different for on and off-axis placement.

 

[emperorjj1]

interesting. ive wanted a center channel to complete my 5.1 for some time but i havent really had the chance yet. So andy it would be best firing up instead of forward? and would you do a single woofer or two? im planning on staying in the same series as my midrange woofer (cdt es-07) and going with 03(s) or 04(s) with a single tweet

sound like im on the right track?

 

[Problemhouston]

The reflections from the glass help and hurt. They'll raise the stage, but you'll have a frequency response problem at whatever frequencies you have constructive and destructive interference. That's why I say get a separate EQ. I've had the best results from firing the speaker into the glass and poorer results from an on-axis placement. The dispersion of the speaker is only narrow at frequencies with wavelebgths that are short, compared to the diameter of the cone. That means that MOST of the reflections won't be different for on and off-axis placement.

If I'm not mistaken the H-700 should allow me to eq for each channel (someone correct me if I am wrong). I bought the H-700 when they first came out and have only opened the box once to look at it. It has never been installed. Firing at the glass would make for a much cleaner and more stealth install for me at least. I guess I will have to build a makeshift enclosure and see how the center sounds in different positions...

 

[dashan]

Not a big difference at all

 

[AWC]

I've added a passive crossover, 5 inch driver and tweet and am processing it through the sub out on an audyssey tuned sub out of the CDA 9887. It's amazing. Thanks again Andy for showing me little things like its ok to fire at the glass. I've repositioned, retuned, and have the most amazing sound ever by tricking the deck.


Simply awesome and Andy inspired all this trickery

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy-mobile-audio/57542-my-cda-9887-w-imprint-center.html