01-31-2017, 11:45 AM
So there I was roaming through the site when I saw I had mentioned 'Speaker Mounting 101' - here it is.
There are only two methods of speaker installation:
1) Infinite Baffle
2) Base Reflex.
In essence 1) refers to sealing the frame of the speaker on a board/baffle of infinite size. This prevents the 'compressed' air, caused by the speaker cone moving forwards, from rushing round to the rear of the cone and cancelling the sound.
In practice this ends up being a sealed box on a shelf or on the floor.
Base Reflex (2) is mounting the speaker in an enclosure with a tube as a 'vent'. Many house sub-woofers have this feature.
By balancing the volume of the tube to the volume of the enclosure the speaker can have an enhanced performance at particular (usually lower) frequencies.
There are articles on speaker cabinet design that have graphs indicating the best size ratio between the two.
Cars tend to utilise the first method, either in the door or rear parcel shelf. The problems usually relate to air gaps round the speaker frame or panel flex. Either can/will adversely affect speaker performance.
Careful solid mounting can solve the first problem. Remanufacture of trim cards in 6mm MDF is a trick I have used in the past with success. The card is mounted to the vehicle with draft excluder strips to get a really good seal. Using the boot (trunk) as a speaker enclosure is pretty good as any escaping air then has to get back into the cabin.
Door mounting is compromised by air escaping round the window channel back into the cabin, getting a good seal on the inner door metal and panel flex.
Great improvement can be achieved by sound deadening products correctly applied.
Base reflex mounting in a vehicle is not possible without building custom enclosures - I have a friend who spend two week-ends making enclosures for the front speakers of his Suzuki. They were volume correct and fitted under the dash. Great sound but too much trouble for me!
There are only two methods of speaker installation:
1) Infinite Baffle
2) Base Reflex.
In essence 1) refers to sealing the frame of the speaker on a board/baffle of infinite size. This prevents the 'compressed' air, caused by the speaker cone moving forwards, from rushing round to the rear of the cone and cancelling the sound.
In practice this ends up being a sealed box on a shelf or on the floor.
Base Reflex (2) is mounting the speaker in an enclosure with a tube as a 'vent'. Many house sub-woofers have this feature.
By balancing the volume of the tube to the volume of the enclosure the speaker can have an enhanced performance at particular (usually lower) frequencies.
There are articles on speaker cabinet design that have graphs indicating the best size ratio between the two.
Cars tend to utilise the first method, either in the door or rear parcel shelf. The problems usually relate to air gaps round the speaker frame or panel flex. Either can/will adversely affect speaker performance.
Careful solid mounting can solve the first problem. Remanufacture of trim cards in 6mm MDF is a trick I have used in the past with success. The card is mounted to the vehicle with draft excluder strips to get a really good seal. Using the boot (trunk) as a speaker enclosure is pretty good as any escaping air then has to get back into the cabin.
Door mounting is compromised by air escaping round the window channel back into the cabin, getting a good seal on the inner door metal and panel flex.
Great improvement can be achieved by sound deadening products correctly applied.
Base reflex mounting in a vehicle is not possible without building custom enclosures - I have a friend who spend two week-ends making enclosures for the front speakers of his Suzuki. They were volume correct and fitted under the dash. Great sound but too much trouble for me!