If we talk about high-quality rear sound, you should immediately abandon the options for installing subwoofers in the front doors, under the front seats, in the center armrest (between driver and passenger). Hobbyists often practice this setting, but it does not give a full soundstage, stereo surround sound.
Subwoofers can be mounted on the rear sound shelf or in the rear doors of the car. The door option is preferable, as it minimally affects the interior space. It will have no alternative if it is necessary to frequently transform the interior, which is resorted to by owners of SUVs, minivans and station wagons.
The location of the woofer in the rear doors depends on the shape, size and depth of the door cavity. More Choice options are possible for rectangular doors of station wagons and older car models. In compact cars with a rear door cutout under the wheel arch, the subwoofer is placed only in the lower part of the cavity. The main disadvantage of this installation option is the need to choose the exact angle of the subwoofer using a podium or spacer rings. If this condition is not met, all bass sound will go to the feet rear passengers and you can forget about a full-fledged sound stage.
Unlike placing a woofer in the trunk, a door installation requires two subwoofers to produce a balanced stereo sound.
Selecting the type and model of speakers
The shape of the door limits the choice of type, model, size of subwoofers. For installation in rear doors, it is often difficult to find ready-made cabinet speakers active type(with built-in amplifier). The best option there will be a choice of two separate passive speakers and amplifying equipment for them.
The size of the subwoofer also depends on the car model. The dimensions of the door cavity practically do not allow the installation of woofers in popular sizes of 12 or 15 inches. In compact models, it is often possible to install only 6 and 8 inch subwoofers. The amplifier for them can be placed in the front of the cabin (in the glove compartment, on the shelf below it), since it will not fit in the door.
Our experts will be able to advise you desired type(active or passive), size, subwoofer model only after inspecting your car and talking about your needs. You can choose several models of low-frequency speakers in our car shop.
Difficulties installing subwoofers in rear doors
When installing subs on your own, laying cables becomes a difficult process for amateurs. For it, you need to disassemble the floor lining of the cabin or thresholds, correctly select the desired sections of power and acoustic cables, the number and material of the cores (preferably using copper of the highest possible purity).
An amateur installation is usually carried out without calculating the sound stage, the exact direction of the sound of the subwoofers. To create a full-fledged bass installation, stereo sound, subwoofers need to be pushed out of the door skin using podiums or spacer rings. Such an installation requires a complete reworking of the door lining, the manufacture of protective grills that also perform a decorative function.
After installing the subwoofers, it is necessary to fine-tune and adjust the entire speaker system, which amateurs rarely do correctly - almost always something is wrong somewhere. Particular attention should be paid to sealing the door cavity. Moisture seeping through worn rubber seals, which are rarely changed in amateur installations, disables the subwoofer in a year.
The main flaws of the amateur installation of door subwoofers
Major mistake amateur installation subwoofers in the rear doors professionals consider incorrect speaker placement. The dimensions of the woofer do not allow it to be sunk into the door cavity, which amateurs often practice when installing midbass. Choosing the wrong ("flat") cone location provides the opposite direction of the sound pressure of the two subwoofers at the level of the floor or the knees of the passengers. Such a sound cannot be properly balanced and adjusted.
Amateurs make other mistakes when laying cables and setting up equipment. Common Mistakes beginners professionals consider:
- choice large sizes subwoofers (the speaker protrudes far from the door, interferes with passengers, is damaged when the doors are open or when getting into a car);
- passion for the power of the speakers (excessive volume degrades the sound quality);
- neglect of sound insulation;
- damage to the cable sheath with sharp metal edges;
- selection of insufficient sections of power cables (leads to frequent protective shutdowns of equipment);
- application of cable twists;
- intersection of power, acoustic, control cables (causes electromagnetic interference, interference);
- Not correct connection passive subwoofers to the amplifier (the speaker does not work or clicks, wheezes);
- damage to interior elements, car radio during disassembly and assembly.
Our masters regularly encounter such amateur installation errors when beginners visit a car dealership to troubleshoot after illiterate installation and adjustment of the speaker system.
Professional installation of door subwoofers in our car service
Our masters begin to install subwoofers in the rear doors only after examining the installed speaker system, a detailed discussion with you of all the nuances of choosing equipment and installation features. For a complete sound installation, you may need to replace the head unit, midbass.
After you approve the plan and estimate of work, purchase the necessary models of subwoofers, amplifier, processor, master acoustics, all installation operations are performed according to the correct technological schemes.
When installing door woofers, you can order:
- additional soundproofing of the rear doors (carried out with vibration isolators of your choice, soundproofing and anti-creak materials);
- replacement of standard cables with a copper cable from the best manufacturers in the world (we recommend cable products from Audison, Dietz);
- laying power cables in corrugated tubes, without crossings that cause electromagnetic interference;
- sealing the inlets in the doors with adapter bushings (plastic or rubber);
- power cable installation additional fuse, capacitor, crimping of the copper tip for connection to the battery;
- the use of soldered cable connections, insulation with heat-shrinkable cambric;
- replacement of door seals;
- production of podiums, spacer rings for subwoofers;
- alteration of door cladding, production of decorative overlays and gratings;
- and much more.
To provide right direction sound (according to a specially designed sound scheme), our masters use figured spacer rings made of acoustic plywood. Protruding podiums can be made of monolithic liquid plastic (cosmofen), fiberglass. The door lining is finished at your choice with plastic textures in the style of the main interior trim, artificial or natural leather, wooden lining (even from valuable species).
All operations of disassembly and assembly of the cabin, installation work the masters carry out sparing methods, without causing any damage to your car. Our masters guarantee you the correct connection of all acoustic equipment to the head unit, amplifiers.
Complicated procedure setting up an acoustic system with installation and bass balancing when ordering subwoofer installation from us is free of charge, it is included in the general complex of mandatory work.
The second car of one of our regular customers. The man decided to radically improve the audio system in his car. because for many years I went with standard acoustics, which in this car can be called "acoustics" at all.
When we started discussing the concept of an auto sound system in this car, the question arose about what the Client actually needs? He already had a Carmani radio that had been in his car a hundred years ago. It was used mainly as navigation. In terms of sound, she did not give anything, because. everything else was regular. 2 sets of acoustics: in the front doors and in the rear doors and a kind of subwoofer - in the rear left wing. All. There was no talk of any quality, loudness at all.
We had 2 concepts:
a) new front acoustics, new rear acoustics, new subwoofer (case or stealth), new amplifier, new sound source (radio). Installation of all equipment in regular places. In addition to the subwoofer complete soundproofing. of course.
b) new front acoustics, with the correct installation on the new podiums. Which required intervention in the door skins. New amplifier. New sub. New tape recorder.
The first option was good because everything is installed in regular places with minor modifications and we immediately get the result. But .... there is, of course, a "but".
The fact is that in the Subaru Forester, the regular installation sites for acoustics are covered with regular grills that are integrated into the door trim. Those. it's just a plastic mesh that is part of the door skin. Moreover, this grille is much smaller than the size of the speaker. This leads to the fact that no matter what kind of acoustics you put in a regular place FOR the door trim, you still get a rather modest result. Part of the sound will remain just BEHIND the skin, relatively speaking.
Therefore, we decided to consider another option - normal, correct installation front acoustics, which includes the manufacture of new pods for tweeters and woofers. But in order to minimize the Client's costs for this operation, we decided to follow the standard path: making new seats for frontal acoustics and the manufacture of overlays, which will be installed on the door trim. At the same time, we completely reject rear acoustics(we save). We do the subwoofer - in the left rear wing. To the place where the staff stands. We get the classic scheme: front + sub.
Well, after such a preface, let's look at the car itself.
First, we drive it to the sink, because. We only use clean cars
front door
backdoor
trunk, which is used for its intended purpose by 100%. Those. We don't have extra space here.
general view of the center console
The car has an Eberspecher pre-heater. The client asked to connect it to a new security complex
and here is the old school Carmani
regular places for tweeters
and here are the grills in the door skins. Behind them are the speakers
as always, I decided to measure the car before installing
but the vile Carmani chewed on the disk and refused to give it back. I had to abandon the idea of \u200b\u200bmeasurement
We list the list of tasks assigned to us for the car:
- installation of a new audio system with the manufacture of the necessary podiums
- complete soundproofing of the car (no ceiling)
- installation of a new security complex with the implementation of autorun and control of the preheater from an Android smartphone
- rear view camera installation
- hood repair and painting
- hood wrapping with 3M Installshield film
- front wiper arms painting
- and for the action - hauling the steering wheel and gearshift knob
We start work
We disassemble the interior for complete noise and vibration isolation
there is nothing at the door. nothing at all. not a piece of regular vibration isolation
under the rear seat is a piece of vibration isolation
"exploded" salon
and this is a regular subwoofer :)
we remove the standard acoustics and begin to be surprised at how miserly the Japs turned out to be
translucent acoustics - new trend in car audio
the largest magnet is in the stock subwoofer. Which, in fact, looks like a regular "pancake" 6 by 9.
here is the whole set. beauty. Worthy dins for our
compare with the new acoustics. Our new acoustics CDT Audio HD 62 . Excellent acoustics for powerful sound. Moreover, a person prefers good rock.
compare magnetic speaker systems
and here are the new tweeters, which will stand in the places where the regular tweeters stood. But only on new podiums.
Begin interior vibration isolation work
the second layer of vibration isolation.
luggage handling
and rear of the cabin
put a soundproofing sheet on top of the vibration isolation
processing of plastic casings. vibration isolation first
then - soundproofing and around the perimeter - Antiskrip
and so - all the plastic parts of the cabin
door skins are processed according to the same principle
The ceiling in this car is not processed for 2 reasons: a) a huge panoramic sunroof, which occupies about 50% of the roof area; b) there is no volume level so that the undamped roof plays some serious role in the interior resonances.
Installing front speakers
This is one of the most interesting questions in this installation. As I wrote above - we decided not to take the path of least resistance (installing all the acoustics in regular places), but through hardships to the stars - we decided to make podium linings and put the acoustics in the right way.
In order for the speaker to give us the maximum, it must be installed correctly and very firmly. To do this, a so-called "well" is installed on the metal of the door. These are several plywood rings. A few - because we need to dial the desired thickness of the "well" from the metal of the door to the plastic door trim
in our case, these are 2 rings made of 21 mm plywood, which are interconnected with a sealant and fastened to the metal of the door tightly - with bolts and sealant
why is it needed? you ask. And you look at the speaker that will stand in this place. This midbass has a rated power of over 100 watts. In order to implement it without any resonances, wheezing and clipping, you need the right installation.
we cut out another ring - this will be the landing ring for the speaker. It is on him that the speaker lies. Here it is necessary to take into account what material the podium itself will be sheathed at the very end and what kind of grill the acoustics will be closed with.
In order to make a perfectly even circle, we use a special milling bar
applying this ring to the skin, we find the place that needs to be cut
and cut it out
compare what hole we got compared to a regular grill
after that we need to combine the "well" with the landing ring
having roughly understood how the ring will be located, proceed to the next step
start making the base of our overlay
the base is made of fiberglass. This is the most convenient manufacturing option if you are allowed to work with fiberglass and resin by your production room. Many refuse "glass" precisely because it is a very dirty job. We can afford to work with resin.
draw the contours of the future overlay
after the first layer dries, we apply the second. The base consists of two layers of 450 glass mat
contours are visible, along which we cut the blank
check how she sits on the skin. did it warp during drying
Everything is fine
cut out the middle and combine the blank with the seat ring using hot glue
blanks ready for wrapping
the blanks are covered with supplex and after the supplex dries, the first layer of 450s is applied to it
for the front part of the lining, one layer of glass mat is enough
after that - puttying and removing the overlays "to zero", because we will fit them with Altagration
Altagration is an analogue of Alcantara, only more budgetary (three times cheaper)
how is the door assembled? First, a podium lining is applied to the door, which is fixed with inside in several places. The door skin is then installed on the door. After that, the seat ring integrated into the lining is aligned and completely fixed with self-tapping screws. The ring is attracted to the "well". After that, a speaker is installed, which is also fastened with self-tapping screws, which act as an additional connecting link of the entire structure. After that, a grill is put on the speaker. The car will rot, but the podiums will remain ... A monumental structure.
Making podiums for tweeters
Established places for tweeters look like this.
we are modifying these "triangles" by placing landing cartridges on them for our new tweeters. With a turn up and into the salon. Direction - to the center between the heads of the driver and passenger. The tweeters of CDT Audio are silk, so you should not be afraid that there will be a lot of high frequencies
finished structures are covered with supplex
and impregnated with resin
after the supplex has dried, we put the first layer of 450s. one layer is enough for such a design
after drying, cutting and grinding - we display "to zero". Podiums are also covered with Altagration
just a different color
install
the whole set of new acoustics looks like this
Making a stealth subwoofer for a Subaru Forester.
The speaker we chose for this installation has been used many times in various systems.
This is a universal budget 12-shka CDT Audio HD1200CF
The photo shows the regular grill of the regular "subwoofer"
our task is to build such a stealth so that it uses the maximum space that is in the left wing and at the same time does not interfere in the trunk.
to do this, we cut out the standard wing skin and "go" into it with the subwoofer case
put the first layer of 450s
and then the second
and leave it all to dry naturally overnight
in the morning - we have a ready "Doodle"
we will make the front part of plywood, because. it makes no sense for us to make some bizarre forms. In order not to do the same work twice - use a cardboard template
as a front part - 22 mm plywood
which we grind locally in the places we need
it turns out a perfectly fitted piece of plywood
combine it with the rear "doodle"
then - several layers of fiberglass
dries, cut, apply another layer, dries, cut ....
and here is the finished structure, which we process inside with vibration isolation
paint the back
we cover the outer part with a carpet, and we process the insides special material, which eliminates standing sound waves inside the cabinet
and install the sub in its place
grill of course
finished part of the system
Well, a little about the rest of the work
Dismantling of the Old Carmani. Wires, wires .... but to no avail - zero
new radio, JVC NSX600 is a good device, about which I will write an article separately
stands in its rightful place
here is the device
Rear View Camera
amplifier Alpine MRX F65 and the process of installing it under the passenger seat. The amplifier, by the way, is also a conscious choice. Budget, reliable, time-tested amp.
2 channels for front speakers, 2 channels for bridge to subwoofer
new battery terminals from Sound Quest. All power wiring is top wire from Stinger
the process of altering the steering wheel (the steering wheel was sewn for a promotion, i.e. for free)
and gear knobs
in order to alter the steering wheel, they removed the patterns from the old one. One of the patch options
New steering wheel in Nappa leather
and gear knob
hood painting. The hood, although it was covered with a film, was still exposed to time
dents
chipped
filming, prepping, painting
after installation on the car, it is fitted again protective film- 3M Installshield
And finally - the most delicious - measurements
used for measurements complex SPL-Lab
We first measure the car with the engine running and with the interior closed.
We see maximum level noise in the form of a burst at a frequency of 2062 Hz with a volume level of 62 dB. Very good. The noise is working.
turn on the test track (pink noise) and measure the frequency response of the system. At the same time, everything on the radio is set to "zero".
Almost a classic straight line :) There is an excellent rise at lower frequencies - this is our wonderful 12-shek. A little overwhelmed by treble (above 20kHz), but for me - excellent. Nothing squeaks, does not hurt the ear. You can always add high frequencies using the equalizer built into the radio.
and here is another one interesting moment associated with the radio. The client himself chose a radio tape recorder from several offered to him. I settled on this JVC, including the reason that the TTX on the radio says that it supports Mirror Link technology and will work with the Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone. And the client is just like that. Here it is in the glove box and navigation from Yandex is enabled on it
and here it is - on the radio. Management - from the touchscreen of the radio. a little slow, but it works!
and here are two devices connected by cable.
I really did not believe that Mirror Link would work properly. But no - plow. true only with the Galaxy S3. With my Galaxy S4 mini - she refused to work. And we paired it with a client smartphone for a reason. There were small dances with a tambourine. But... it works! and this is for 17,000 rubles, which is worth this radio. In my opinion - a very good result.
The work on the car took us 10 working days
WATCHES AT ACADEMICS
Toyota RAV4, sound technology studio
Ever since school, we have all become accustomed to the fact that a lesson lasts one academic hour, which, in turn, consists of 45 minutes of an ordinary household hour. The benches of higher educational institutions are probably better suited for mental activity, since a lecture (or a seminar) lasts without interruption for two academic hours at once, one "couple". In some, especially difficult cases, training couples turn out to be doubled, and then inquisitive minds can devote as many as three household hours to their favorite subject, though with a break. IN OUR EDITORIAL PEOPLE love their work and have been studying the manifestations of car audio in the everyday life of a motorist for several years now, several academic couples a day. Here you will find lectures, seminars, and laboratory works, and even homework comes, which everyone sets for himself. Any trip to the installation studio is, as a rule, a double pair, when three or even more hours (not counting the road) are spent studying and documenting a new fact of the car audio system that has taken place. A phone call to Denis Nikishkin amended the curriculum practical exercises at the course "Systems", condensing with another topic a double pair of photo shoots, interviews, measurements and listening. We usually touch on this topic in passing, mentioning only the scope of work and the brands of materials used, although its importance in relation to sound in general and music in particular should not be forgotten in any case, especially in a car. And even more so when moving. It's about the basics proper preparation car body, about the theory and practice of noise absorption and vibration damping, basic training courses, the credit for which is taken by the most stringent examiner - the customer of the car audio system. After the editorial "Kangu" paved the way through the snow-covered streets of Moscow to the gates of "Technology of Sound", I learned that Denis had prepared a special selection of photographs for us. For the upcoming twin pair, I had to get acquainted not only with the sound system on the platform of the new Toyota RAV4, but also hear an almost academic story about the theory and practice of “shumka”. David, the owner of the car, came into contact with the studio primarily as part of its anti-noise specialization. Noises interfered, and it was the road that annoyed me most of all, rustling with pebbles and sand along completely bare - in a noise-absorbing sense - wheel arches. The body of the car, which by the end of the first year of operation “warmed up” and accumulated road dust, brought to life the plastic panels of the cabin, which added their nasty creak to the road noise. In general, there were plenty of reasons for communication in the profile conference on the dop.ru website.
