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Dash vs door speaker choices for a home audiophile

3.4K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  LBaudio  
#1 ·
Hi all,

I'm a much accursed home audiophile, and build my own speakers and tube amps. So my technical knowledge is very high.

I need help choosing speakers for my 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime SE. I just installed an Alpine PXE-C80-88 Optim8 and 12" sealed sub. The DSP tools on that amp are insane, and I love the ability to tweak.

Now I need to upgrade the dash and door speakers, and need help choosing the configuration. I really like a good soundstage and well-balanced clean sound with minimal coloration.

I have picked out some speakers that fit my locations and general sensibilities.

Option 1: Focal Performance 165AS
  • Dash: tweeter
  • Door: 6.5" woofer
  • XO: active DSP

Option 2: Morel Virtus Nano Carbon 42
  • Dash: tweeter + 4" woofer
  • Door: my system would lose the door speaker in this scenario
  • XO: active DSP

Option 3: Morel Virtus Nano Carbon 42
  • Dash: tweeter + 4" woofer with passive XO
  • Door: 6.5" woofer (I have a Morel 6.5" 2-way there now)
  • XO: use passive XO for dash drivers, and active for door to supply bass only

I would appreciate help with the sound quality tradeoffs from each option.

How well does the sound integrate in Option 1? I'm concerned with the distance between the tweeter and door location down by my feet. Although the woofer has a phase plug, which should help off-axis response at higher frequencies.

How does the dash location affect the sound emanating from the 4" woofer in option 2? Is tweeter-only a preferred option for dash speakers located in the corners?

Option 3 uses the most speaker locations available, but requires use of the passive XO from the Morels. It's a high quality XO for sure, but any passive XO adds phase shift and coloration. Perhaps this is a minor affect compared to all the reflections and issues of car mounting. Any thoughts on this scenario are appreciated.

If I were to guess, Option 1 will have better sound overall. What do you think?

Thank you!
 
#2 ·
Avoid the focal at all costs - they're awful, especially the tweeters. Loads of sibilance, harsh, shrill, and the woofers don't offer much either. The cost is misleading - in the UK the focals are only ÂŁ150, and not even worth that - they look stupidly expensive in the US.

By contrast, the Morels (I've got the virtus 602) are stunningly good for the price (which is over 3x that of the focals).

So, I don't think you'll happily integrate a 4" to a 12" sub, and most people aim for a 6.5 or larger to cross over somewhere around 80Hz. A 2way can work well, but consider a wideband (rather than a tweeter) crossed around 400Hz.

Option 3 confuses me - you have an 8 channel DSP in that amp? Why would you consider using a passive?

So. option 4, 6.5" in doors, 4" & Tweeters in dash, all run active.

And again, avoid all cheap focal!!
 
#4 ·
I can verify what LM said about Focal AS(S) series tweeters, I bought two sets (for front and rear) and the made my ears bleed...

Without ever hearing the Morels you mention, I'm reasonably sure they would be MUCH better choices than the Focals.

With that being said, I have heard these Alpines (the 3-way versions) and they sounded awesome, too bad that Crutchfield recently had them on sale (but it's over Johnny), but they are great speakers:

 
#5 · (Edited)
Go 3 way up front.

I loved using Focal(K2 power baby) years ago(grew up on MBquart and Boston Acoustics)... but once I heard a good newer 3-way, I would never do a 2-way. I think the overzealous ear bleed tweeter ideology is because of poor mounting locations in many vehicles that some speaker manufacturers compromised with. That shouldn't be an issue with the Rav4 and could be difficult to tame. I tolerated the tweeter because my ears were accustomed to it from other brands with equivalent tinnitus monsters. With the Optim8, I pretty sure it'll make any tweeter sound pretty tolerable but my ol' ears only want silk and no metallic tweeters. recommend all active and don't bother with passive crossovers.

My recommendation is a 6.5-7" front door mounted midbass, a 2.5-3.5" midrange in the dash, along with a tweeter(mounted in the pillar like what ToyotaJBL does).

For example:





For Morel, hybrid 63 or Virtus 603.


 
#6 ·
If you are going with 6,5"+tw - choose higher lines from Focal...FLAX are quite nice

Version2 - you will have hard time to mate subwoofer to 4" midrange - not the best option
Version3 - best out of three options - why not add two amplified channels and go full active and ditch that passive xo

You could go with 6.5" + TW on the dash, but expect weak midbass - midbass will not dig under 100Hz in that location, but soundstage will be all eye level - many EMMA competitiors run similar setups