The situation : I want to install a pair of 6.5 inches mid-bass drivers
in custom 7 litres closed enclosure located at the rear of my *small*
car. Below 80 Hz is already covered by a NHT 1259 in a 2.5 cu-feet
sealed enclosure, also at the rear and powered by an Alpine 3549 amp
(300 watts bridged at 4 ohms). HU is an Alpine CDA-9815 (built-in
active crossover and parametric equalization). Those 6.5 will also
contribute as rear-fill but I'll low pass them to about 500 to 1000 Hz.
Amp for those drivers is unknown at this time, it may be the HU itself
or a 50 to 75 watts outboard amp. Front components will be 5.25 +
tweeters but unknown at this time (look for a subsequent post here in a
few days!). Sound quality is the most important, SPL is already plenty
for me at 125 dB. I'd like to keep the price under 200USD. So far,
I've looked at those :
Audiobahn AMD60Q : Looked great but are incompatible with closed box due
to T/S parameters. Too bad.
Dynaudio MW 170 : I use and love Dyns at home but they are expensive as
hell and some says they are somewhat less efficient. Also, it's kinda
sad to use a driver with such a great midrange quality only below 500
Hz... (F3 = 78Hz @ Qtc = 0.81 in my enclosures)
Image Dynamics CX64 : Mostly same comments than Dynaudios about the
midrange "waste"!
Kicker RMB6 : Now, here is a real mid-bass at affordable price! I like
that one and appreciate comments about them.
Morel-USA WR-6 : Looks great but I'd have to buy them at full retail
direct from them since there are no distributor in Canada. That means
near 400$us a pair, ouch! (F3 = 60 Hz @ Qtc = 1.02 in my enclosures)
Morel-Israel MW168 : Great specs, manageable price and Madisound sell a
4 ohms version. (F3 = 76 @ Qtc = 0.75 in my enclosures)
I've checked at Vifa and Peerless but couldn't find anything better than
those I have listed.
Any discussion and opinions appreciated!
Thanks!
(Photos of the current install - except HU that changed - and car can be
found at my web page, URL follows.)

Signature
Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95
MZ - 23 Mar 2004 01:16 GMT
> The situation : I want to install a pair of 6.5 inches mid-bass drivers
> in custom 7 litres closed enclosure located at the rear of my *small*
> car.
Sorry. Ignorant American here. 7 liters corresponds to how many cubic
feet? Lazy American also (too lazy to look it up). :)
> Below 80 Hz is already covered by a NHT 1259 in a 2.5 cu-feet
> sealed enclosure, also at the rear and powered by an Alpine 3549 amp
> (300 watts bridged at 4 ohms).
That's a pretty large sealed enclosure. That's gotta be approaching the Vas
of the driver, no?
<snip>
Of those you listed, I think the Kickers may be the best option. The others
are all too expensive for your application. Put the extra money into
amplifying them.
Eric Desrochers - 23 Mar 2004 02:54 GMT
> Sorry. Ignorant American here. 7 liters corresponds to how many cubic
> feet? Lazy American also (too lazy to look it up). :)
0.247 cu-feet
Actually, it's just a guess because I dont have the car around here
right now to measure the enclosures (car is still in storage - gotta
love those winters!) but I do know that they are made of 6 inches ABS
tube about 13-14 inches long.
> > Below 80 Hz is already covered by a NHT 1259 in a 2.5 cu-feet
> > sealed enclosure, also at the rear and powered by an Alpine 3549 amp
> > (300 watts bridged at 4 ohms).
>
> That's a pretty large sealed enclosure. That's gotta be approaching the Vas
> of the driver, no?
That driver requires a big enclosure. See:
Fs = 19 Hz
Qts = 0.46
Vas = 6.71 cu-feet
I use two of them at home and they are in a 3.6 cu-feet box each. That
gives a F3 = 29 Hz @ Qtc = 0.78
> Of those you listed, I think the Kickers may be the best option. The others
> are all too expensive for your application. Put the extra money into
> amplifying them.
That's a sensible option :)

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Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95
Tony Fernandes - 23 Mar 2004 02:11 GMT
If SQ is the most important, then I suggest you keep your midbass drivers in
the front of the vehicle. At 500-1KHz, the midbass will sound like it's
coming from the rear of car, instead of the front where it's supposed to be.
I agree with Mark...get the Kickers and use the money saved for an amp to
drive them.
Tony

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What's more likely? That an all-powerful mysterious god created the
universe and then decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or, that
he simply doesn't exist at all? And that we created him so that we wouldn't
have to feel so small and alone. -Eleanor Arroway, Contact
> The situation : I want to install a pair of 6.5 inches mid-bass drivers
> in custom 7 litres closed enclosure located at the rear of my *small*
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> (Photos of the current install - except HU that changed - and car can be
> found at my web page, URL follows.)
MZ - 23 Mar 2004 02:28 GMT
> If SQ is the most important, then I suggest you keep your midbass drivers in
> the front of the vehicle. At 500-1KHz, the midbass will sound like it's
> coming from the rear of car, instead of the front where it's supposed to be.
I was under the impression that these drivers were in addition to fronts,
not instead of fronts.
Eric Desrochers - 23 Mar 2004 02:57 GMT
> > If SQ is the most important, then I suggest you keep your midbass drivers
> in
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I was under the impression that these drivers were in addition to fronts,
> not instead of fronts.
Yes, I'll have 5.25 inches 2 way component in front doors. There is no
room for real mid-bass at the front. Did I said the car is small!
Having frequencies up to 500 Hz rear surely will be better than the full
range I have now!

Signature
Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95
MZ - 23 Mar 2004 03:10 GMT
> Yes, I'll have 5.25 inches 2 way component in front doors. There is no
> room for real mid-bass at the front. Did I said the car is small!
>
> Having frequencies up to 500 Hz rear surely will be better than the full
> range I have now!
No possible way to get 6's in the front? Yeah, the rears will be good
anyway, at least to reinforce the midbass.
Daniel Snooks - 29 Mar 2004 17:37 GMT
On an entirely different train of thought ... why not save the extra $ from
the 6.5" and amp to run them and get a set of 5 1/4" up front that can run
down to 80Hz?
looking at your examples you could go with:
Dynaudio 220MKII
ID CSX54
Kicker SS56.2
Morel SR-5.2
Also ... you could look at
RF X152S
Soundstream VG.5C
lots of others, but you get the idea. Optimally, get a 4-channel amp and
bi-amp the fronts.
Just a thought.
Dan Snooks
> The situation : I want to install a pair of 6.5 inches mid-bass drivers
> in custom 7 litres closed enclosure located at the rear of my *small*
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> Thanks!
Eric Desrochers - 29 Mar 2004 22:53 GMT
Thanks for the suggestion. I indeed looked at the Dynaudio, Morel and
Image Dynamics sets.
But this thread is already old and I moved on something else after
reading a lot of RAC archives on Google Groups.
I'm pretty set on a different configuration now. Please see the thread
: "Do you think the following system would work OK?"
I think a single 5.25 front won't produce enough mid-bass. Also, I want
to go all active x-overs and discrete amplification.
Thanks again!

Signature
Eric (Dero) Desrochers
http://homepage.mac.com/dero72
Hiroshima 45, Tchernobyl 86, Windows 95