Myfins1

Well I continue to be educated by this thread. Lots to learn and I appreciate everyones information. I do want a very natural sound and love to hear the music and the concert like feel. I am not wanting to hear the speakers per say.

I like the idea of running the rears off of the stock headunit and use the processor to setup the sound stage in front as a 3-way active system. Let me know what your thoughts are on the tweeter placement once you take a look inside an S197. I would like for it to be identical on both sides in its positioning so they are both on the same plane as you suggested.

My music source is mainly an ipod. Although I am not pleased with the USB cable and stock setup. To the point I may take it into the dealer. It keeps "disconnecting" and it requires me to unplug and replug and several times just to get it right. I am going to put a new cable in to make sure it isn't a cable issue. I listen to a lot of Sat radio otherwise. I rarely use CD's. This has the jukebox 10gb worth. However it only reads audio CDs to dump music to it. Really a crappy deal if you ask me. My wife has the MyGig in her Jeep. She can dump from CD or USB. Ford missed the boat here!

By no means am I a competer, but I like the idea of setting things up as if I were. Who knows some day I might. Doubtful though. I just want to enjoy some great music that sounds natural and will amaze people that this is from a car. So I appreciate all of your critiquing and guiding me to the best setup for my system.

Without knowing people in the business, I can't be certain I am getting the best direction from the installer I was going to use. I may take it to another custom installer and get a second opinion/quote. I am not trying to cheap out as the install is currently being quoted for $1,100.00 and this is with me supplying nearly everything. This doesn't include sound deadening or a secondary battery. I still need to square away that aspect of this system.

Again, thank you all for your input. Almost all pieces are here. Just waiting on a few pieces and hopefully within the next 30 days she goes into the audio shop. It looks like she will be hitting the body shop first here in about 2-3 weeks. Of course I can wrap up the other loose ends while she is being painted.

laserred38

I wanted to address this further. You will only find speakers behind you in a giant stadium watching a concert with 50k+ people. Any smaller venue is going to have the monitors set up on the stage, blasting at your face, left and right. Albums may have been RECORDED in 4-ch "surround sound", but unless you have the processing to properly reproduce all the channels, it doesn't make a difference. With the processor the OP is looking to buy, it's possible to create a surround sound environment - but 1) in a car, it's impossible to account for a proper listening environment and 2) I would bet less than 1% of music out on the market is recorded - to CD or mp3 - in multiple channels. And if the OP didn't have the processor, it would only be 2-ch reproduction anyways, summed as your left and right channels, with the sub being mono.

Myfins1

Patrick, did you get a chance to checkout the 2013 GT? I was curious if you had any more advice on tweeter placement. I am expecting the final pieces of this puzzle here in the next few days. Except for the battery and sound deadening. The end is near! Or is it the beginning?

laserred38

I did today and it reminded me how much the angle of the pillars suck! Look at a 2012 Focus - they are nice and flat. I remember I was going to pull the A-pillars and see how room is behind them to sink the tweeters in as deep as possible, with the driver's side firing at the passenger headrest, and passenger tweeter firing at the driver's headrest. Aim them with a laser so they are on same plane and pitch. Luckily the Mustang dash is relatively flat so reflections won't be too much of a problem. I just don't see a mounting location on the door that will a) look good or b) sound good. The tweeters mounted inside the door along with the mids, on a plate, would be stealthy, but be kinda pointless in having components - may as well get a coax. And the sound will be not in front of you, but to the side. Higher frequencies are much easier for the ear to locate - bass is unidirectional.

Myfins1

Patrick,

I am back for more advice. I ran into a slight dilemma and I am hopeful you will be able to provide some good advice. I received my DQL-8. And I guess I didn't do enough reading and fully understand its abilities and options. When I read that it was 8 channel, I assumed I was going to get 4 pair of low level outputs. When in fact it comes with the ability to connect 8 channels on the input side. It has auto summing as well. So it will combine the factory channels that may have been split/crossed and recombine them into a single usable signal. That being said, it only has 3 pair of low level outputs to connect to amplifiers. I currently have 4 amps I want to use.

I was very interested in going with a 3-way front sound stage and am not sure how I can accomplish this. The output side has front high pass, rear high pass, and sub. Originally the plan was to have front=tweets rear=mid range and sub=midbass or 8" front door subs. And I was thinking there were another of output for subs as well which would drive the main pair of 12" subs. Will I just need to use the crossovers built into the amps and split the sub output on the DQL-8? I was going to run the rear components off of the factory head unit.

I have received all of my equipment. I am about to have the amplifier heat sinks painted or powder coated. I am so close to sending this into the shop for the install.

Additionally, I read your post about tweeter placement. It sounds like the options are very limited. To be clear, where exactly would you place the tweeters if you were installing? Do you recommend custom fabrication of A-Pillar trim panels? The main thing I took away from your thoughts were to have them at an identical plain on each side. I haven't pulled the trim, but I feel the tweeters could be flush mounted in them as is. Unfortunately the aim would be toward the windshield or the door windows.

So as soon as I determine how/where to point the tweeters for the best sound as well as figure out the LOC, it is ready to go to shop. Would love for that to be in the next 7-10 days.

laserred38

Hmmm I should've done more research on that DQL-8, I just assumed it would have 4ch output and input. That's really weird. Let me do some research and get back to you in the next couple days. I have a big event for work tmrw. PM me your email or phone number and good time to call this weekend and maybe we can discuss some things.

You're definitely going to need custom fab on the A-pillars. I'd recommend aiming the tweeters at the headrests or sidewindows - you don't want to aim them at the windshield or else you'd never get a centered image because it would reflect the sound off the glass near the tweeter (basically the sound would bounce right back at the tweeter, if that makes sense). If the installer does fiberglass, the a-pillars should be no problem.

laserred38

Any updates??