Well this thread kinda died, just before things got interesting

So let's spark things up a bit, shall we?
I'll start with a couple of common objections against kickpanel speaker locations, and provide some comments (hoepfully, thought-provoking) for each :
1.
My ears are not at my ankles, why put speakers down there?
Several comments against this common objection:
- The objection fails by logical extension. If we only put speakers "where our ears are", we would all be listening to headphones
only. In home audio, speakers are often placed (largely) in front of us ... and my ears are on the sides of my head, not the front.
- One may say, as a corollary to the objection ... "well, moving the speakers UP at least gets them
closer to your ears." Agreed ... but the problem is, moving speakers
closer to your ears is not, by any means, always a smart thing to do. In fact,
maximizing pathlengths in the car (while
minimizing pathlength
differences) is almost always a
good thing ... if you care about accurate spatial reproduction.
- The objection fails to recognize how we locate sound sources, and what location cues can ... and can't ... be fixed by aiming and electronic equalization (covered earlier).
2.
I don't place speakers on the floor in home audio.
- No, you probably don't. But if you care about accurate spatial reproduction, you most likely maximize pathlengths while minimizing pathlength differences. And it just so happens, that optimizing
these constraints ... in a car ... means kickpanel locations (in most vehicles).
- I listen (sometimes) to my beloved Martin Logan Electrostats at home. Does it make me a hypocrite if I don't listen to them in a car? Or ... just perhaps ... are the constraints in a vehicle sometimes a bit different than those in a home?
3.
Legs get in the way of the sound.
- Yes they can ... depending on wavelengths, of course ... think
diffraction. Remember ... no one is suggesting that
all drivers necessarily belong in the kicks

But the tradeoff in moving drivers up higher is introducing more nasty
reflections ... under-dash areas can be treated more readily, to help tame reflections, than glass you must see through.
I think the real mesage of this thread (if i may ... hey i am the one who started it, ya know

) is that car audio is all about
compromise. There's no
single best way to do anything. Optimization in the face of several variables ... often conflicting ... means compromise. The
educated are better positioned to sort through the compromises than the
opinionated.
