SHO center speaker for surround sound

[Dave Ladely]

Anyone take out the cigarette lighter panel and trim it to accept about 4" speaker for the center channel for surround sound? I am thinking about doing this as it looks like a perfect place for a center channel speaker.

 

[Slo-Sho]

That'd be a great write-up. I want to add more gauges into the cassette space, it's just useless as is. Who listens to tapes??? thumbs_u

 

[shadow102]

yeah i was thinking almost the same thing i ran across a 5.25" infinity speaker i had laying around (dun know what happened to the other) and was thinking aobut putting it some where in the dash

 

[WinnipegSHO]

I mounted my tweeters there (I say it looks cool, and I like it). I bought a plastic panel from a SHO website, and would send out the template I drew up before I installed it (charge me too much, will ya?!?). Email me at [email protected], I'll see how I can get it out. Removal/install is easy, too. Later.

 

[quadmasta]

What's up guys? After I get my exhaust situated (I think I can get it done for like $475 all custom) I'm going to start workin on finding a '91 dash so I can mount my 10" monitor in the dash I'm also going to put a 5.25" component set in the center of the dash so I'll keep you guys updated on that. As far as putting it where the cig lighter is, that's not too good of an idea seeing how your ears could tell EXACTLY where it's coming from. True surround is supposed to be a good blend, getting it as high and as forward as possible is going to be your best bet

 

[Dave Ladely]

Just mount the center speaker as high in the DIN area as possible. The center speaker is mostly for vocals, so the "blend" is not a factor; in fact, the entire frontal sound is NOT supposed to be a "blend", but a wide seamless soundstage. And in the newer surround modes, the rear speakers are not really "blends" either, but are full range and more direct, as opposed the the earlier Dolby designs. With DVD audio coming out, as well as the newer surround modes, the older car speaker set ups are becoming obsolete fast, so its a good idea to install with the future in mind.
I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January and saw some of the future products there, so get ready now!

 

[Dave Ladely]

I just ordered several lets of Kevlar 6.5" two way component speakers, as well as a pair of 5.25" sets and a 4" set for possible center location where the DIN area is. I expect a true surround sound experience similar to home theater this way. Should work well with DVD audio, too.

I can get the 6.5" component sets for about $150.00 a pair rather than the $300.00 or more generally charged, and can get the smaller component sets for slightly less. I am getting all the same kind for consistency in sound.

 

[Dave Ladely]

check out Alto Mobile for their line of digital amplifiers, crossovers, speaker management, and new speaker designs. I believe they are the first with full range fully digital amplifiers that have overcome the problems with full range digital designs. The speaker management systems are fantastic and are software controlled so you can use a computer to vary parameters. Super advanced designs!

 

[Dave Ladely]

Check out www.altomobile.com
They appear to be ahead of most other manufacturers.
Here is some info on one of their products:

Signal processors primarily designed for frequency correction but offering additional features that make them a lot more than merely equalizers. The Altomobile CONTROL 8 offers 8 bands of parametric equalization on each of its stereo channels. The Altomobile CONTROL 16 offers 16 bands per channel. These can be ganged so that both channels are processed in the same way at each selected frequency, or they can be totally independent. Three parameters of adjustment are available: gain, frequency and bandwidth 'Q', for full parametric equalization. Each band's center frequency can be set to any point from 20Hz to 20kHz. So, for example, it's possible to concentrate more of the bands in the bass region, or target problem areas in the vehicle's mid-band acoustic.

In addition to their roles as high quality digital equalizers, both models incorporate digital filters, digital delay (for speaker time alignment) and factory-preset curves, as well as the option for storing custom setups.

The CONTROL 8 offers both high-pass and low-pass filters, while the CONTROL 16 offers a high-pass filter. In all cases the crossover point is variable from 20Hz to 20,000Hz in 1/12 octave steps. A slope of 6dB or 12dB per octave is selectable.

A tiny amount of fully variable delay (in steps of just 21 microseconds) can be set on each channel to compensate for the differences in the distance between the various speakers and the driver's head. This is generally known as "time alignment". When applied correctly to all speakers in the system, the result is an improvement in the apparent stage position, height, depth and the location and focus of the musicians.

The output levels can be set within the software and stored as part of a custom preset. Heavy equalization can cause considerable variation in output level when switching from one preset to the next. This allows setting of the same overall level while maintaining very different tonal contours. It can also be useful as a master gain control to limit or extend the maximum output level set by the panel-mounted rotary gain controls.

There are 16 factory-preset curves and 48 user definable preset memory locations, giving a total of 64 presets. The factory presets provide a variety of very useful, professionally engineered tonal enhancements straight out of the box, all fully explained in the supplied user manual. An optional A-Link remote control is available for preset selection.
Specifications:
CONTROL 8
Channel Layout: 2 inputs / 2 outputs
Inputs: 2 RCA-Fem
Input Impedance: >400 kOhms
Max. input Level: 18 dBV
Outputs: 2 RCA-Fem
Output Impedance: <600 Ohms
Max. output level: 9dBV
Frequency Response: 20 Hz - 20KHz +0.2 / -1.5 dB
Signal to Noise Ratio: 90 dB
THD+N: 0.03 % @ 1KHz
Conversion: 1 bit Sigma-Delta for a/d and d/a converters
Parametric Equalization Filters:
- Number of bands: stereo, 8 per channel
- Gain: -15dB to +15dB, 0.5dB step
- Frequency: 20Hz to 20KHz, 1/12 octave step
- Bandwidth, Q: 0.05 to 3 octave, 0.05 oct. step
Crossover Filters:
- High-Pass & Low-Pass
- Frequency: variable 20Hz to 20KHz, 1/12 octave step
- Slope: Bypass, 6dB/oct., 12dB/oct.
Time Alignment:
- 0 to 100ms
- Step Delay Adj: 1ms
- Step Delay Fine: 0.021ms
Output Volume range: variable from -12dB to +12dB, 0.5dB step
Power Supply: Servo - controlled, Switching
Voltage supply: 11Vdc - 15Vdc
Remote Control System: Alto Mobile A-Link,wired.
Optional Remote Control: Alto Mobile REM.1, for preset selection

CONTROL 16
General specifications as CONTROL 8 except:
Parametric Filters:
- Number of bands: stereo, 16 per channel
Crossover Filter:
- High-Pass only
- Frequency: variable 20Hz to 20KHz, 1/12 octave step
- Slope: Bypass, 6dB/oct., 12dB/oct.

 

[2slosho]

i put my center channel(An Infinity 4 inch) to the left of the passenger's air bag. Removed the dash cut a 3 inch hole behind. And drilled a starburst pattern of holes with a one inch hole in the middle. So as not to disrupt the high frequency waves. I can't afford a DSP so to get the desired effect of a center channel I cut the tweeter lead off of the terminal and wired the woofer to the front left channel and the tweeter to the front right. I have an Alpine 9807 mp3 player and Infinty Kappa 6 1/2 and 6X9's on a 75 watt rms 4 channel by LA Sounds. With the speaker placement so high in the doors I find the highs to be "almost" too much. Other's find it way too loud. If it wasn't dark out I'd take a picture of the center speaker to post.

Also, I took the Infinity logos off the grills and glued them over the premium sound badge. Looks factory.
dave

 

[autobahnsho]

slosho:

Do you always drive fast w/ no gas in the tank??
Will

 

[Dave Ladely]

Slosho,
that really is not a true center channel and actually defeats the surround sound idea and messes up the stereo image, so its self-defeating. From what I can tell, you have the low sounds from one channel going to a midrange speaker in the center area and the high sounds from the other channel going to the tweeter. I would call that Mickey Mouse to say the least.

A better way would be to get a small mono amp that has a level control just for the center speakers. Get a cheap crossover and hook them up as a separate channel. Then use three Y adapters to send both left and right signals to the mono amp as a "blend" of both left and right input signals. Use the mono amp's level control to control the output. You would then have a genuine center channel, but not a discrete center channel, which would be a blend of right and left channels. A discrete center channel would have a center channel output driving it and would concentrate on the vocals, as done in Dolby and DTS surround modes. Since Dolby and DTS are coming on strong, I would plan for the future, keep that mono amp set up, then, when you get a head unit that features surround sound, just hook up the center channel output to your mono speaker amp and you would have genuine surround sound as long as you also have rear speakers. All for a bargain cost!