[poochieone]

Hi,I`m looking for some reference material regarding midbass location. I`ve already searched but did not come up with the specific details i`m looking to address.
I`m trying to fit an 8-9" shallow midbass in my door but due to the door construction and the way it flows into the dash, i`m not able to mount the mid at the bottom front corner of the door (closest to the midrange and tweeters which are in kicks), but rather about 10" back from there.
My concern is regarding mounting the midbass about 1/3rd of the way back from the front of the door, at knee level. I do have time alignment available via an H701 if that would help.
if the location effects are too degrading, i will simply find a beefy 7" and stick to that which can be mounted at the bottom front corner of the door, although an 8 or 9 is highly preferable.

if it matters, the car is a BMW E46 323i.

thanks,
Marco

 

[FoxPro5]

So you're asking if a 10" loss in path lengths is enough to justify saying down at a 7" midbass vs up to a potential 10" midbass?

What's in the door now?
Why do you feel the need to move up to a larger driver?

 

[VP Electricity]

Is it a coupe or a sedan?

I have put Morel Elate 165mm drivers in the front of the E46 coupe door, with very good mounting and coupling to the door panel backside and so on - and having done so, I CANNOT imagine doing what you suggest and it being worthwhile. BTW, E46 are famous for window regulators failing after ANY door mods, so in the words of rince Humperdinck, "I would not say that if I were you..."

 

[quality_sound]

Put it where it fits. Mine are at the back of the front doors (the OEM location) and after getting everything set up and T/A'd correctly the midbass was dead center in the dash and was NOT localizable. This was with a LP at 300Hz 12dB/oct. Zach heard it and verified this.

I know, I was surprised too.

 

[poochieone]

Hey,
thanks for the input. the car is a Sedan. currently i have HAT L6's in there and they are literally as large as you can possibly fit in the stock location. the L6's simply do not have enough surface area for the output and punch i require. i've had a set of 9's before in another car and it was the best midbass i've ever had and heard. the L6's sound strained although they have some light snap. they are excellent midrange drivers nonetheless.
I'm currently considering DLS Iridium 8's, Morel 9's,XLs 8's and Dynaudio MW172s... all of which are impossible to fit in the stock location.
quality_sound, do you not feel the midbass hitting at your kidneys?

 

[MarkZ]

What frequency range are you talking about here?

Also, consider the Adire Extremis drivers (or whatever it was that replaced them). They've got small cone area but excellent midbass output. They're not terribly efficient though, so you'll need a sizable amplifier.

 

[poochieone]

the range is from 250 hz down to about 60-70 (final tuning will decide). amplifier power is plenty, to the tune of about 400 wrms per side from 2-8 ohm. what i find common in most smaller midbass drivers is that they show sounds of stress when turned up. the extremis are too deep to fit in the stock location, so if i have to cut something up, i may as well go with 8's or 9's...

 

[MarkZ]

the range is from 250 hz down to about 60-70 (final tuning will decide).

Oh, you really DO mean midbass! See, in this forum, "midbass" means anything less than 3kHz.

amplifier power is plenty, to the tune of about 400 wrms per side from 2-8 ohm. what i find common in most smaller midbass drivers is that they show sounds of stress when turned up. the extremis are too deep to fit in the stock location, so if i have to cut something up, i may as well go with 8's or 9's...

I dig. I've got a drawer full of dead mids with toasty coils to prove it.

Actually, in one way or the other, I've popped all but two of the midbasses I've tried in the past 5-7 years...INCLUDING the much-esteemed Peerless XLS 8 (which everybody in this forum creams over). The Extremis holds up better than any other midbass driver I've ever used. It's also very punchy and isn't quick to distort. No back plate flappin. They make your pants dance. I'm not sure why they perform so well, to be honest. The specs imply that they should run out of steam long before they do. Maybe there's something to the XBL^2 idea after all...

But, like I said, the sensitivity is not great. I've got 175x2 (ESX Q1752) on them which is just fine. But I wouldn't go with a smaller amp than that.

Also, they stopped making them, I think. But someone posted a link to a replacement on here not too long ago. I'd almost be willing to try another XBL^2 driver though, personally.

 

[quality_sound]

quality_sound, do you not feel the midbass hitting at your kidneys?

Nope. It's great.

 

[FoxPro5]

Just going to leave this here as something to consider after hearing you say "what i find common in most smaller midbass drivers is that they show sounds of stress when turned up."

Ciare 8.50NDW

I've personally never used it, I just have it on my "wish list" which means I look at it and touch myself.

My senses tell me it's not going to dig down to 60-70hz for you, so you'd have to cross it up higher and rely on some subwoofer transfer function. You may or may not prefer this type sound in your car and just know that driver on 400w will kick the **** out of your doors. The HAT L6 you're used to is hardly comparable IMHO and it's not just because you'd be gaining that extra cone area.

If you're serious about the kidney experience and want a driver that will keep coming and not back down, then pro mid would be my suggestion. The Dyn MD172, to me, is the exact driver you don't want based on what you've said. I've used a few others mentioned, but I'm not going to rant and rave about them...nor tell you how many I've toasted. Ok, I guess I will: none.

 

[poochieone]

Foxpro,
those look interesting but if i'm going to use something that deep, i already have the XLS 8'... interesting none the less. it is imperative to have a decent extension to the 60 hz mark imho.

MarkZ,
i've heard the extremis before but they only had 120is watts on them. they sounded ok but either because of a lack of power or the system never having been turned up, i never got to feel their potential. if i find a way to fit them i just may try them.... they are reasonably cheap if you can find a pair (or even the Mpyre version).