mdf speaker rings

[directstep]

nicely done and good to let your ears be the judge. pleased you're enjoying the sound you've achieved

[DaPol]

I actually have a set of these. They're a pretty good fit for the door, albeit there are gaps once they're fitted which sort of need to be there - it's where the wiring runs. I've sealed these gaps with plumbers foam after having run the wires.

They did make a bit of difference with the HK speakers (My car had an HK set originally), but a much, much bigger difference was seen by fitting a cheap set of Envy component speakers from Halfords which come with an actual crossover, a decent set of woven cones and a tweeter which is leagues purer than the HK ones.

For £20 they're good enough - they're dead easy to fit, and if you in-fill the gap left for the wiring they're pretty much airtight, but if you're going to have the door cards off anyway, get a set of vaguely decent speakers (the ones I got were at the "OK" end of middling, and still an improvement over HK) and fit them at the same time - it'll add no time at all to your install and give you a hugely better sound - stereo stage is better, clarity is hugely better - a lot less muddy as the Midwoofers aren't trying to drive full range, and the tweeters are only driving treble.

A bigger improvement again is to replace the head unit - even using the HK oddball amp a huge improvment can be seen between the Symphony, which is probably the best of the "Not Hiline" heads Rover fitted and almost any commercial head unit available these days - I've gone Symphony -> Philips DAB single DIN job -> Eonon GE01B -> Navall3 and everything has been an improvement on the Symphony.

[awvc1]

good idea with the foam, that's probably what I will do then, cheers.

The hk door front speakers i plan to replace in about a week with a set of Rainbow components, so I should fix the problem I have at the front - I've noticed the muddy sound from those speakers too, and I am hoping for a more detailed clarity from the Rainbows - I've heard them before so I should be ok.

The rears I will leave as standard HK's, although I still have a set of bass blocking capacitors, I may end up using them on the rears if necessary.

As for the headunit, mine has already been replaced, its a modified bm54 with a custom internal amp replacement, so I should have a great sounding system at the end of this - well frankly I already feel I have, but I'm going this one step further then see where I am with it all.

[awvc1]

ok. Now we have got past the high point of installing the amp and the sub, and the marvel that I was able to do it, I have less surprising news - the idiot is back.

Yes, I've cocked up again.

I was trying to drill pilot holes into the mdf rings so I could mount the rainbows. Was going well until the drill bit snapped off in the wood. Can't get it out.

Plan is to rotate the speaker about 10 degrees and drill new holes more carefully and leave the existing drill bit end embedded inside the ring. Anyone think this is a bad plan, and if so suggestions are welcome!

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by awvc1

ok. Now we have got past the high point of installing the amp and the sub, and the marvel that I was able to do it, I have less surprising news - the idiot is back.

Yes, I've cocked up again.

I was trying to drill pilot holes into the mdf rings so I could mount the rainbows. Was going well until the drill bit snapped off in the wood. Can't get it out.

Plan is to rotate the speaker about 10 degrees and drill new holes more carefully and leave the existing drill bit end embedded inside the ring. Anyone think this is a bad plan, and if so suggestions are welcome!

Whoops

Your plan is fine, better than trying to drill the bit out

[awvc1]

ok, thanks Jeff. My incompetence knows no bounds. Get this.

I drilled out new holes and did it again - snapped the drill bit off in there. so off we go again... used a thicker drill bit. Hopefully not to big, finally got it screwed in, but the screws went in very easily. I think it is ok as I can hang the speaker upside down on them. I bet I could rip it off with my bare hands if I tried harder, but I don't really want to I think it will hold firmly enough for this, its not as if the speakers are going to be exerting more force than gravity.

So now all I have to do is get some more speaker spade connectors (one short as i damaged one doh!) , and a little bit more speaker wire as there is none included for the crossover to the woofer , and I need to get either some plasticine or some expanding foam to fill the gap these crappy rings have against the door when mounted.

What would be best? I'd prefer not to use the foam if I can avoid it, as I'm sure I will end up with the whole car filled with the NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD- stuff knowing me

[awvc1]

these are so going in this weekend.....

[awvc1]

And indeed I did.

Combination of these Rainbows at front, and standard hk setup including including direct amp'd subwoofer rather than line out does for me.

Precise, clear and plenty loud. Bass can be felt but not enough to feel like an assault. Perfect for me.

Sheer audio nirvana. Thank you all! I will put pics up in my usual thread later

[awvc1]

ok pictures show how i tackled the sealing of the holes here:



and



yes there is stuff at the bottom too.

HK tweeter was removed, and the rainbow one was put in the hk grille and cover. When taking out there are 4 'pins' at the front that in my case snapped off. No matter, they won't be going back in, and the rainbow silk ones, are a massive difference, which is saying something considering the HK ones I thought were rather nice already. The real improvement is on the mid woofer.

The crossover network box is probably helping massively with improving the sound, and that was hidden inside the door itself, close to the hinge end at the bottom. It was secure in its place as a lump of cable of some kind presses into it, but i used double sided tape and some duct tape over it for good measure to ensure no rattling.

Maybe these speakers would be an improvement over HK on their own, maybe the mdf rings plus the door sound proofing and sealing the mdf ring in has made a difference. What I can say is the sound is fantastic, there is real punch to the mid bass levels, and the detail of the mid to high range is stupendous. The HK sub is doing its job nicely in the back, and anything more would be overpowering to me, and probably not in keeping with the tone of how I view my car.

Very Very happy with this, and I think this brings my ICE project to a close. If anyone who has helped me (well anyone at all in fact) wants to hear this at any time I'm sure we can meet up at one of the club meetings at some point. For now I'd just like to say how grateful I am for the excellent advice I have received here, and how it has shaped this mini project and its results. Thank you especially to Jeff (coolcat), clf, and directstep.

[Avulon]

Been thinking about improvements to mine for nearly two years now, but haven't bit the bullet yet, this thread does help inspire me. Thanks for posting it up and showing how it's going (good and bad) as you've gone through the process.