NOTICE: This answer is designed to help you improve the systems overall sound performance. Due to reflections, absorptions, and cancellations of the automobile environment, it is impossible to accurately predict the outcome of any system until actual trail and error testing is performed.

Sound Damping

Sound Damping Materials

Damping materials are available in liquid air-spray & mat forms.

Sound damping reduces panel resonance, road noise, and ensures optimum performance from your audio system. We recommend two types of damping that quiets the interior of your automobile lowering the noise floor so you hear more of the sound from your audio system.

• Sound damping can be applied to any surface that may resonate or rattle.
• Reduces panel resonance.
• Reduces road noise.
• Quiets rattles.
• Lowers noise floor.

Speaker Placement
Speaker placement is the combination of location, configuration, and direction that the speakers are mounted in the automobile. Correct speaker placement is the most important element in achieving accurate and balanced sound. An inexpensive pair of speakers optimally mounted will often out perform an expensive pair that is not. There are some simple rules to follow which will help your audio system reproduce the sound as it was recorded.

• Place the midrange and tweeters as close together as possible
• Maximum path length differences of 2 feet or less
• Use as few number of speakers as possible

Midrange and Tweeter Placement

Midrange & Tweeter Placement

Position component speakers within 2" of each other.

• Place the speakers where they have a direct path to the listening area.
• For the best integration between the midrange and tweeter, the tweeter should be placed less than 2" from the midrange.
• If you cannot place the tweeter less than 2" from the midrange, then place the tweeter more than 7" from the midrange. Placing the tweeter 2" - 7" from the midrange can cause destructive interference (frequency response problems) which will affect the speaker's ability to reproduce the frequency range around the crossover frequency of the system.
• Whenever possible, place the tweeter directly above or below the midrange as this maximizes the imaging (point source) capability of the speakers.

Speaker Path Lengths
Equal speaker path lengths allow the sound from both the left and right speakers to arrive at the listener at the same time. In an automobile, this usually is not an easy task since the listeners are not centered between the speakers. There are three common locations that speakers are mounted in an automobile. All have their pros and cons. Only one offers close to equal path lengths, which still requires some work for desired results. The others are a compromise that can be manipulated to achieve better results.

The 3 most common locations for mounting speakers are:

• Kick panel
• Dash
• Door

Kick Panel Location
Kick panel locations in most automobiles offer the least amount of path length differences (approximately 5" - 10") and a more effective on axis response to the listener. This allows information from both channels to reach the listener close to the same time with reduced secondary information caused by off axis reflections. Most automobiles do not have a mounting location for speakers in the kick panel, this leaves you with a couple of options; either buy pre fabricated kick panels or build your own custom fabricated kick panels.

Kick Panel Sound Test
If building custom kick panels are your only alternative, you must first discover where in the kick panel area the speakers perform the best and what direction the midrange and tweeter need to fire. A simple sound test will help you find the optimum position for the speakers.

To do this, you must simulate the position of the speakers in the kick panel area with either:

• A pair of small enclosed reference speakers.
• The actual speakers that will be installed.

 NOTICE: If the actual speakers that will be installed are used for this test, you must contain the sound that emits from the rear of midrange speakers. This can be accomplished with an enclosure, or by wrapping sound absorbing material around the speaker, leaving a small air pocket for the midrange so it can reproduce lower midrange frequencies. This is not a test for tonal accuracy, only a test to estimate the position for the mounting location of the speaker system.

Once you have selected speakers for the test:

• Wire them to an amplifier and place them in the kick panel area.
• Listen to the speakers for accurate reproduction of the soundstage, and center image.
• Move the speakers in various positions and directions until you find the sound that best replicates your reference sound system.
• Once you discover the optimum location and direction, mark the position of the test speakers and remove them.
• Mount the desired speakers to be used in the same location and direction as the test speakers and audition them to confirm your results. Remember that the kick panels should isolate the rear sound information of the midrange speakers.

NOTICE:   Systems of this type require careful attention to system tuning to achieve an accurate reproduction of the recording.

Dash Mounted Speakers
Dash mounted speakers have path length differences of approximately 12”-15” in most automobiles. This location is not the worst for path lengths, but suffer from reflections from the windshield.

It is recommended to angle the speaker away from the windshield as much as possible. Directing the speaker at various angles may take some trial and error to achieve the optimum position.

Door Mounted Speakers
Door mounted speakers are the easiest to install since most of today's automobiles already have existing door speakers. The problem with door mounted speakers is that they can have up to two feet of path length differences.

The problem with these large path length differences is that you primarily hear the speaker closest to you. This is compounded by the fact that most high performance speaker systems have a wide dispersion pattern which will direct more sound to the near listener.

In order to reduce the dispersion from door mounted speakers is a pro audio trick of placing two identical speakers in close proximity of each other. This will reduce the dispersion pattern in the opposite direction the speakers are stacked, which in turn will reduce the amount of sound to the near listener.

 NOTICE: Two speakers cannot reproduce the sound as coherently as one. This system could benefit from a center channel speaker to help focus the center image.

Center Channel Speakers
Center channel speakers will not correct a system’s inability to image correctly. In other words, a center channel is not a Band-Aid, and will not help a system unless it already sounds good. A center channel should only help your system have a more focused image that is apparent with properly mounted left and right primary speakers.

• Center channel speaker should be of the same type as the primarily left and right high frequency speakers.
• Component type speakers should be coax mounted for a single point origin.
• Mount equal distance from the driver and passenger seat location.
• Separate level control and equalization for the center channel.
• Same amplifier power as primary front stage speakers.
• Sound dampen dash to eliminate rattles.