Need advice re: using Morel MW-168 in car

[DerrickM]

Hi everybody,

I'm new here, and need some advice.

I'm considering using some Morel MW-168/4 in my car, and wonder if auto speakers are built differently to stand up the temperature and humidity extremes of a car door.

Also, the FR on the 168 drops off after 5k, and I was wondering if I'd be safe using a 12dB/oct @ 3.5k crossover on that speaker.

Thanks in advance for your replies.



Derrick

[cody6766]

nope, you'll be fine. I run Vifa PL 7's in my doors, a pair of Vifa/Infinity 4" mids and Morel MDT10 tweets in my car with no problems.

just keep the water off them and you'll be fine.

[DerrickM]

Thanks!

[Mason @ B&M]

One thing to watch out for is the low end extension. As they're designed to work in smaller enclosures than a car door you probably won't get much out put below 100hz..

If you're not expecting that then you'll be fine.

[GhettoSQ]

From what I understand (admittedly little), for a car environment you need a Qts of .70 or above...most "car" specific speakers have a Qts of 1.0 or more (I think), unless designed for enclosures only. For that reason I got a set of Pyramid w64 midbass drivers to experiment with, I know Pyramid's rep but they sound OK except for that high mid (3500-5000Hz) range. They have a Qts of .74 and SPL of 94db. They also have foam surrounds, which are the real issue in a car, but I was told by a guy at partsexpress that treating the surrounds with armor-all will help block UV rays. My old pioneer 6.5" coaxials are ten years old with intact foams...who knows?

Are you putting these in front, in back, in a box? Interesting aside about sizes -- turns out "car" 6.5" is actually about 6-1/8", so when I got these they just barely didn't fit. In keeping with my nickname, I used some weatherstrip foam to seal off the hole and stuck the speakers down with sticky-tak.

Let me know how it turns out, esp. the crossover...I'm planning on starting with a 6db filter at 1250Hz and seeing how it sounds, but I'll probably end up with a setup like yours.

[DerrickM]

Well, I had decided against this path when one of my tweeters started distorting, because I need new everything now. However, I found someone selling some mw-168's with tweeters for about what the 168's cost new. So, now I'm considering it again.

These would be going in the front doors.

[cody6766]

for a car environment you need a Qts of .70 or above...most "car" specific speakers have a Qts of 1.0 or more (I think)

generally you're right, a qts of .7 is ideal, but not required. My Vifa PL 7" in one of my doors has a Qts of .35 and I play it down to 50hz in deadened doors with about 150w. I have to be a little careful with it down that low, but it works out well. There are quite a few peole running the Adire Koda midbass in their doors and I beleve it has a Qts of around .4 or .5 (right?).
the best thing you can do for your midbass in the doors is deaden the hell out of them. I use Peel and Seal (roofing material smilar to dynamat) for my mass loading and it works very well. It's about 1/4 the cost of dynamat per sq. ft. and a little more than 1/2 as much as the other main stream deadening companies (eDead, Rammat, FatMat, etc). Some people can find it at Lowes or Home Depot, but I had no such luck. You may also call local roofing supply stores and see if they have it. If not, and you're interested, shoot me an email and I'll foreward you the email addy of a peel and seal cust service rep that hooked me up with the phone#'s and names of some local suppliers. I just did a friend's car and it ran him about $25 for somethign like 36sq ft. ----It is thinner than dynamat (45mills vs 60mills) but if you double it up it's still way cheaper and a little thicker.
I have pics on my website if you want to check things out.


are these Morel speakers 6.5's or 8's? I had a pair of mw166's in my car and I wouldn't do it again. They had almost nothing below 100hz. they'd bottom out and distort with anything above low volume when crossed at 50 or 80hz. I had them in open doors, deadened doors, sealed kickpannels and vented kickpannels and each had the same result.
I have been told that Morel 8's don't suffere from this problem. A guy on the car audio board I go to a lot has a pair of 8wr's for his midbasses and he loves them. They keep up with his pair of Brahama 15's in the back end, he said.
I've head great things about the Peerless CSX and HDS line for car use. Also, the Dayton Ref midbasses are supposed to be an excelent buy. They're pretty deep because of their shielding, but if you remove the back caseing and knock off the bucking magnet they're just under 3" and it doesn't affect the sound (so I'm told anyway, no personal experience)

www.elitecaraudio.com is an wonderful resource for car audio advice. A lot of guys over there use or have used DIY drivers and built their own component sets (myself included) with great results.

[DerrickM]

Thanks everybody. I ended up ordering some DLS component speakers that use Morel drivers. So, I'm still going with Morel, but somebody else has done all the hard work for me.



Derrick

[DerrickM]

Thanks Cody--I'll call HD and Lowes and see who's got peel'n'seal here. New speakers should be here by Friday.

I'll try to deaded the doors as much as I can. Do I just need to door around the speaker area, or all of it?

[downward_dog]

Originally posted by DerrickM
Thanks Cody--I'll call HD and Lowes and see who's got peel'n'seal here. New speakers should be here by Friday.

I'll try to deaded the doors as much as I can. Do I just need to door around the speaker area, or all of it?

DLS makes really nice car speakers. I hope they treat you well.

To best deaden the door, do this:

1. Apply 1-2 layers to the outer door skin (if you think of the door as a box, the "back" of the inside of the box).

2. Apply some closed cell foam behind the driver (Parts Express has some for a good price)

3. If your car door has a flimsy plastic sheet covering the inner door skin, tear it off and throw it away.

4. Apply 1-2 layers of deadening material to the inner door skin. Seal up as many holes as you can. You're trying to make the door act like a good IB enclosure, so you want to separate the rear wave from the front wave.

5. If your stock mid is mounted on a flimsy plastic baffle, get rid of it and build a MDF ring to mount the driver.

Raamat is a great alternative to Peel & Seel. It is a little thicker and stickier. A lot of the DIY car audio community uses it. See www.raamaudio.com.