A few questions still lingering for my 04 TL. Anything is subject to change.

This system is aimed to get great mids and highs with mild bass.

So far...

JL HD900/5 Amp
2 JL 8" W3v3
FOCAL 165A3 6.5" 3 WAY COMPONENT SPEAKERS (Front)

Having second thoughts on 3 ways because of customization and additional cost for install. Where do they typically mount the mid on a 04 TL. Should I just go with some Focal 2 ways or will the 3 ways be worth it.

Last questions -

Most guys on this forum said rears are not necessary with these Focal 3 way fronts and to leave them stock. The guy at the audio shop told me to defiantly get some rears they just dont have to cost a fortune.

Should I leave rear stock or go with a slight upgrade?

 

I'd either leave the rears stock or just not use them/pull em.

If you aren't looking for a large cost for installation or added install time for you then 3-ways won't be worth it. Sound wise, they will be but you'll need to mount them somewhere like the kick panels, which needs to be custom fab'd up...or the a-pillars, which also needs a custom job. I would MUCH rather have a 2-way system with a processor than a non-processed 3-way system. I'm sure most will agree.

Also, why the 8's? The w3's won't give you too much, especially in 8's. Just wondering

 

I am not too concerned about the cost for 3 ways - more concerned with the work needed done... Will they need to cut my door/ kick panel ? If I take the speakers out will there be holes?

 

Not sure what size the midranges are but I assume 3". I've seen them put in the kick panels or a-pillars 99% of the time. Neibur on here makes custom kick panels for mids and if you search threads posted by "I Hate Cars", you can see what they look like as he has them. I'm sure they're in Neibur's build thread or pic threads also.

They'll likely need to cut the factory midbass hole to enlarge it, even with an MDF baffle (hope you got one of these). They "could" put the midrange in the door I guess but I don't know where they would put it. It'd take a lot of custom work and probably not sound too good. One thing I've really been giving thought to is taking out the center and somehow running 2 3" mids in that location. Not sure if it'd fit down there but that'd be pretty cool. Not sure how the imaging or stage would be effected but hopefully others will chime in.

Personally, I'd say ditch the 3-ways and go with 2-ways and processor first. You can always add a midrange whenever you want...when you get it all dialed in.

 

Personally, I'd say ditch the 3-ways and go with 2-ways and processor first. You can always add a midrange whenever you want...when you get it all dialed in.

Very true. I am going to check out some Focal K2 or Focal Polyglass 2 ways.

 

The 3-ways are totally worth it. You're not asking the 6.5" to play into the midrange. You have a separate driver for the midrange which will sound cleaner and clearer. The tweeter no longer has to cover the 2khz range, it can start at 4-6khz which will make the tweeter sound better as well. 3-ways will sound better all around and especially at high SPL.

My 3-ways sound amazing at levels that are painful. I could never go back to a set of 2-ways after experiencing this. I know I'm running Dynaudio and you have Focals but mine sounded great off the supplied passive crossovers right out of the box and I'm sure yours would too. People don't realize that sometimes a 3-way is easier to set up because you're not playing a 6.5" to it's upper limits and you're not stressing the tweeter by playing it at it's lower limit. Having that mid gives a ton of wiggle room. IMO, do it right the first time, it will probably be cheaper to buy the speakers as a 3-way set vs adding a mid later on. Trust me, it's very easy to set up a 3-way.

Kick panels are a great place for the mids. Niebur3 makes come great kicks that take up zero foot space.

As for the subs, you would probably be more happy with a 13W3 than two 8s. The only downside to a larger sub is the space it requires..... Otherwise the larger sub will be just as tight and punchy in the upper frequencies but will be more efficient requiring less power, will dig deeper with much less power, will have a flatter frequency response with less need to eq, and will have less distortion due to less excursion required.

The two 8s will give a displacement of 4,200cm, the single 13 would give a Vd of 10,385cm. The 13w3 will move more than twice the air of the two 8s and sound better and be more efficient while doing it. A single 12w3 will still give you a Vd of 6760.

 

Almost forgot, the HD 900/5 is a great choice. I'm running the 600/4 under the passenger seat right now and am getting a 900/5 to run my tweeters, two 15s, and center. I like the HDs enough that I'm getting rid of my McIntosh amp for one.

 

One more, those are the low end of the Focal line but I like them. I put a set in the GF's car and to my surprise the tweeters weren't harsh like I expected and midbass is surprisingly good. A 3-way lower end system can easily sound as good as a more expensive 2-way system since you're taking a lot of the load off of the midbass and tweeters.

 

Great thoughts guys. I have so audio stuff getting sent to my house I could open a radio shack

I am just going to sell what I dont use on eBay/Amazon and get my money back or close to it.

I have some focal 3 ways and 2 ways coming but I am going with the 3 ways after your input.

I think I am going to stick to the 2 8's because of the space I will save and I already have them.

 

Probably won't save too much space going with 8's. If you bought 2 12's or 10's that only need a 1 cube a piece, you're box could fit against the rear seats and span the whole rear seats...but come out more than 12". That's probably about the depth of an IB setup. I've come to realize that it's always better to have too much power than not enough. Not just on the "cool" factory but on efficiency, power, etc.

Do you have any idea how you're going to mount the midranges?

 

8's, though?

I mean, 10's won't even need that much bigger of a box and are much more efficient.

 

I often carry 4 sets of golf clubs in my trunk so space is crucial.

I read a bunch of really great reviews on these 8's on cruchfield along with other sites.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-BDy0oCz...DynamicContent

Many said they didn't sound like 8's. and they were louder then some 10's. Whether thats true or not doesnt matter to me.

I really think my bass goals are different from most on the forum. I DONT want to rattle my mirrors or to be herd coming down the road. I had a day for that...

Maybe you guys are right, and if they are that disappointing I will change them up. But already got them so im going to try them out.

 

I am not mounting anything. I ordered all the parts and I am local shop wire it who I have gone to in the past and I know they do good work. I know it will cost more but I want it done right and I lack the patience to do the same job.

I am going to have them point everything against the back wall by building a customer wall

or

I am going to have the mount the subs my trunk sides and put the amp in the floor.

As far as the mid bass goes... I am not to sure. I was told kick panel is a good spot? Any suggestions on what I should tell the installer?

 

I understand your bass needs. I don't like bass like I used to (though I like it to be there for those days I feel like rattling the car). My point was the larger subs will not only be louder, they require less power and will sound better as well.

Have you thought about infinite baffle? I have a pair of 15s (for sound quality, not for getting loud) and they take up as much space, maybe less they your pair of 8s.

There's an IDQ15v2 for sale for $150 right now that would sound AMAZING in your car. I've personally heard this setup and it's one of the best sounding setups I've ever heard. This particular sub setup would require about 90watts to shake the car, will barely dig into your trunk space, and will sound far better than any of the other sub setups mentioned so far. I love JL audio subs but this IDQ15 in infinite baffle will blow them away in sound quality.

 

Lol...those reviews were pretty funny to read. I liked "no one can believe that this 8" hits like a 10". Cone area is more than just loudness. Hell, I have 2 12's and I barely ever want to rattle a window or whatever. It's all about efficiency/ease of reproduction of that note at a specific db. Another route you could have gone is the corner loaded box and it would free up more space. You could do a single 12 also.


As for mids, the kicks will work but I'd make sure he does it correctly and how you want it. I can see a bad story coming soon



Edit: got beat again...

 

Hopefully I wont have any bad stories coming soon!

The same guys have been at this Auto Sound for years. Its the place everyone takes their car to after the other 2 places in do a botch job. They charge more but have so much experience and know how its worth it. The guy I talked to did an TL 2 weeks ago and showed me pics and did and gave me some different options.

The problem is - I dont know how to tell him to do the mid base. I was going to suggest the kick panel and have him recommend the set up. To new to this to form an opinion of my own.

Anything I should tell him specifically?

 

The mids in the kicks work very well. Midbass in the doors and tweeters in the stock locations. It sounded great on the passives with no processing and it sounded even better when I went active. Even with no processing, the mids were very hard to locate. No problems with staging, no harder than what you would get with a 2-way setup. In fact you can say a 3-way is easier because you're not trying to keep the balance between how low the tweeter can play and still sound good and how high the midbass can play while still sounding good without beaming and breakup.

Don't let anyone scare you away from the 3-way system, they're easy.

 

Definitely do a 3-way if you can. Not sure how that guy set up that TL..was it a 3-way setup? Unless he can do fiberglass work, I'd look at purchasing kicks from Neibur on here.

 

I velcroed my mids to the carpet while I was waiting on my kicks from Jerry. Pretty ghetto but with a dome mid you can get away with it. Prior to the kicks I had thought about putting them in the door pocket. Again, with the domes aiming is not quite as important.

Jerry's kicks are worth every penny. Very nice work and they don't take up any extra room over stock, nothing sticking out.

I just hope my new mids will fit the existing kicks since the cone mids will need an enclosure.

 

How big is the kick panel enclosure Jerry builds??

 

I'll post pics when I get home but it's recessed in except at the very bottom. I had to trim 1/8" from the dead pedal.

 

I always thought creating a pod for the door would be the best bet. Take the door car out and cut out the speaker grill area. Cover The area in tape and glass. Build a mdf structure out to the edge of the door sill (another 3-4 inches out from stock) and point the mid-bass and mid up at the passengers.) Take the structure out and do the whole t-shirt trick stretching over the ring and glass that. Connect the pod to door. It wouldn't take any foot space at all and would get all your speakers pointed the right way.