pods for front stage

[thekid]

A few questions for you guys....I've got a 2000 ITR right now I've got a pair of Focal Utopias in factory locations. I'm using the time-alignment option on my alpine deck to try evening out the path lenth differences but sound is still not what I want. The other challenge of the car is the narrowness of the car in general. When I'm in the car there is about 2-3" space from my leg to the door and in the location where kicks would be placed I've got my leg to deal with and the steering column/steering wheel. I'm concerned the passenger side dispersion pattern will be quite different from the drivers side pattern. I expect at lower frequencies this may not be so noticeable but mids and high frequencies could be an issue.

==> Has anyone found this to be a problem?

I've started thinking about doing pods on either side of the dash with the speakers facing the occupants. My assumption is that the benefit of this + getting some heighth in my front stage will be worth other problems that are inherant in this type of install.


==> Is this valid?

And lastly a question about aiming them (if I were to eventually go through w/ this) If they were simply aimed at each occupant I think you'd end up having path length problems. If you did some type of crossfire setup, what might be the problems? Would you try and tilt the pods towards the ceiling? My eventual goal is to compete so I want things as perfect as possible.

[subarusteve]

for aiming purposes make a small jig with a lazer pointer....and aim for the domelight or in front of or behind it...I have done several kick panel and dash pod installs and by experimenting i've found that overall aiming toward the domelight will get you near perfect imaging....and the time alignment in your deck can help bring it all home...ideally you'd want to make a pair of test pods and fine tune the aiming with listening tests but it's very tedious and time consuming but well worth the effort...use the laser pointer to reference your final set up and build the angle into your finished pods.......enjoy !