phasing problems on front components

[bser]

I'd like some help decieding whether or not I should switch the phase of one of my front woofers in my component setup. I've heard this from numerous sources that sometimes it is nessessay to do this. Well I figured I'd give it a try and see how I like the sound. After many hours messing around with settings and phase adjustments I'm undecieded as to whether or not I should switch phase. With all in phase I think the sound is a little fuller but with the passerger mid out of phase the sound stage opens up wider but also shifts to the right pretty drastically. I get a nice centered image with everything in phase but it is so tightly packed I don't really like it. Once out of phase I get sound coming from beyond the a pillars its just that I have to use extensive time correction to bring the image back to center. What I am wondering is if there is a way to tell for certain whether or not a certain speaker needs to be set out of phase or should I just weigh the pros and cons of each setup? Thanks

[SupraGuy]

The best way is to listen. Keep in mind that although this may work great for you in the driver's seat, it may sound like **** from the passenger side. This may be unimportant to you, however it's something that you ought to realize. In terms of how it sounds, that will be up to you to listen and make relaive comparisons.

Another thing to listen to is full range sound. With just the woofer out of phase, there's likely to be some artefacts in the sound where the woofer crosses over to the tweeter.

Where stage width is concerned, I've found that the positioning of the tweeter can make a world of difference to the stage width. Thi may not be adjustable for you anymore (If you've just dropped a load of cash (Or done a lot of work) on custom kickpanels, you may not want to change them out.

In one car I've done, the left and right speakers were only 18" apart, and the stage width and positioning was excellent, for both driver and passenger.