So i built some kick panels for my car a couple months ago. It seems they are too small and it doesnt give much room for extention. The mids seem to reach their limit pretty early before and real good output. They arent terrible, but could surely be better. I was wondering if drilling a 2"-3" hole in them on the side would help at all? Since im am going to build new ones that are bigger, I dont want to mess with any special vents or anything like that. Just simply a hole in there to relieve some pressure...or not. Wadda ya think?
Venting kick panels
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Would some sort of aperiodic speaker pod be of any help?
Along the lines of - Optimise Automotive | Speaker Pods
Along the lines of - Optimise Automotive | Speaker Pods
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If the hole would vent them out of the cabin yes. If it would vent them into the cabin no, the rear wave would interfere with the front wave..If you make bigger ones make sure they are big enough to suit the mid that's in them. Maybe check to see what the manufactures calls for size wise in the freq range your running them. You current ones maybe be fine if your able to vent them out of the cabin. But remember the area you find to vent them may also vent to the outside and may be hear from the outside too.
I guess I didnt think a small hole would be the same as infinate baffel (im pretty new at this). They are SB Acoustic SB17 NRXC35-4 (6.5").
I have them covering 80-4000 hz at a 24db slope i belive. But the hole would vent it to the cabin. I actually mounted these to my kickpanel (not replacing the kickpanel) so there really isnt any way of venting out. It calls for a sealed box of .25ft for an F3 of 85hz. Vented box of .5ft with a 2"x 6" vent for an F3 of 55hz.
I guessed on the size when i made it, it wasnt until I saw how big my .5 ft sub box was that I realized I was pretty small on the build.
I was planning to put the hole in the top to run the sound up under the dash.
I have them covering 80-4000 hz at a 24db slope i belive. But the hole would vent it to the cabin. I actually mounted these to my kickpanel (not replacing the kickpanel) so there really isnt any way of venting out. It calls for a sealed box of .25ft for an F3 of 85hz. Vented box of .5ft with a 2"x 6" vent for an F3 of 55hz.
I guessed on the size when i made it, it wasnt until I saw how big my .5 ft sub box was that I realized I was pretty small on the build.
I was planning to put the hole in the top to run the sound up under the dash.
I should mention I can tune it out easy enough to get more output. It just seems to reach its limit too easily. They are a complex shape and it would be hard to figure its actual size. Best way would probably be to fill it with water and do a conversion. But I cut them down to about as small as I could so I didnt use up too much footwell room. But there is room there up higher to make bigger ones.
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ah yes, midbass should be vented out of the cabin. i was thinking you meant midranges where this wouldnt matter as much
I think I would just rather make a proper sized enclosure. I just went out and put some polyfill in them and it helped a little. Still need a better enclosure though. I think the poly actually made it sound a bit less tin canny too. Or maybe im asking too much of my budget components. I still havent picked up a mic for tuning yet either. So I do an auto tune on my 80 PRS and then fine tune to my liking. Sounds good, just have more work to do on it.
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This is the ring bonded to the car and the opening through the collision panel. The front of the cone is sealed from the rear of the cone. This step in the process is before the deadening materials and grill for the vent was installed.
Needless to say, the 8 plays effortless in this application. Very pleased with the results.
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Needless to say, the 8 plays effortless in this application. Very pleased with the results.
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What do you have for a sub woofer?
Too small of an enclosure will limit your bass output.
You have to keep the front of the woofer separated from the back of the woofer or they will cancel each other out. A vented enclosure is designed and tuned for both waves to work together.
If you keep the enclosure the size it is it will only perform as a mid with a higher crossover point. You might could try using an Equalizer to boost the lower frequencies.
I have a SI MKIV sub.
But its not as much of a problem of not enough bass out of the mid (although im sure with the right size enclosure it would be better). Its more of a problem that I can hear the speaker hit its limit in movement with less than what feel is that much output. Boosting the lower frequencies would only make it worse. Its not super terrible, but I do feel its lacking.
With the MKIV sub, I can (and did) easily raise the crossover point to cover more of the low end, but that would just be a band aid.
For now I increased the slope to keep a bit more of the lows out of the mids, but of course now it will be lacking a bit more of the low end I would like to have from them. I am also now crossing the sub at 100hz to help compinsate. Its looking like rain for us down here this weekend, so maybe I will get a chance to make new kicks for it. I am going to make the enclosures big enough to slip the tweeter in it as well.
But its not as much of a problem of not enough bass out of the mid (although im sure with the right size enclosure it would be better). Its more of a problem that I can hear the speaker hit its limit in movement with less than what feel is that much output. Boosting the lower frequencies would only make it worse. Its not super terrible, but I do feel its lacking.
With the MKIV sub, I can (and did) easily raise the crossover point to cover more of the low end, but that would just be a band aid.
For now I increased the slope to keep a bit more of the lows out of the mids, but of course now it will be lacking a bit more of the low end I would like to have from them. I am also now crossing the sub at 100hz to help compinsate. Its looking like rain for us down here this weekend, so maybe I will get a chance to make new kicks for it. I am going to make the enclosures big enough to slip the tweeter in it as well.
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you absolutely need to vent them somewhere that won't interfere with the front.
i've redone 4 kick panel installs in the past year. a lot of guys make the front look good, but the rear is what's important to the sound. making sure the front and rear wave do not interfere. not directing the back wave will lead to cancellation.
this last one i just finished was night and day difference.
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couple holes cut for venting, and bolted down in two places. the original kicks were falling down due to now being mounted.
trimmed the old panel down in the back so the speaker wasn't so stuffed in a small hole, then mended the front with my fiberglass part using fiberglass and short strand filler.
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passenger side
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Amazing difference.
i've redone 4 kick panel installs in the past year. a lot of guys make the front look good, but the rear is what's important to the sound. making sure the front and rear wave do not interfere. not directing the back wave will lead to cancellation.
this last one i just finished was night and day difference.
couple holes cut for venting, and bolted down in two places. the original kicks were falling down due to now being mounted.
trimmed the old panel down in the back so the speaker wasn't so stuffed in a small hole, then mended the front with my fiberglass part using fiberglass and short strand filler.
passenger side
Amazing difference.
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6,767 Posts
Whats funny is I scrolled down quickly to the pics and didn't even look who posted them. I said to myself, those are really nicely done and remind me of JTAudio quality. Then I saw it was.....lol!you absolutely need to vent them somewhere that won't interfere with the front.
i've redone 4 kick panel installs in the past year. a lot of guys make the front look good, but the rear is what's important to the sound. making sure the front and rear wave do not interfere. not directing the back wave will lead to cancellation.
this last one i just finished was night and day difference.
![]()
couple holes cut for venting, and bolted down in two places. the original kicks were falling down due to now being mounted.
trimmed the old panel down in the back so the speaker wasn't so stuffed in a small hole, then mended the front with my fiberglass part using fiberglass and short strand filler.
![]()
![]()
passenger side
![]()
Amazing difference.
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2,372 Posts
just to be clear, i only added the back and focused the rear wave energy away from the front.
as far as getting a large enough hole, it's not always easy, but even a sub standard size still, imo, is beneficial compared to door panels that resonate to the point of complete annoyance.
as far as getting a large enough hole, it's not always easy, but even a sub standard size still, imo, is beneficial compared to door panels that resonate to the point of complete annoyance.
If they are hitting their mechanical limits, Id say you have a different problem than what you are thinking. I think the problem is that you might not have sealed the back of the enclosure. If you did, and they are good solid sturdy enclosures, then you need a mid with more excursion. But the pods HAVE TO BE SEALED or you will get very minimal midbass and they will reach their mechanical limits with very little power in the lowest octave. You need to 100% seal the back wave from the front wave. I think you will be surprised at how much punch you can get from those speakers when you put them in a very well sealed enclosure, even if the enclosure is technically way too small. A vented enclosure in a kickpanel would be a nightmare to even consider.
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2,372 Posts
10,000% disagree with this. very inaccurate statement, especially not knowing the speaker.
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