I'm sort of going to continue the linked thread where it left off. Sort of.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/239113-adding-mass-driver.html
I bought myself a truck/pickup/ute/bakkie (pick the one which is relevant to you). It's a really fantastic vehicle, and it ticks all the boxes and some. On paper, it quotes "6 speakers", so I was hopeful about that, but when I got it, I was very disappointed. I never base a car-buying decision on a sound system, since they can simply be upgraded.
The vehicle has something pitiful in each place a speaker can be put. I mean, can't a manufacturer just spend $100 on decent speakers. It's such a mission to upgrade, or at least, so inconvenient (for the guy with a budget and a preference for DIY). Anyway, it has given me the opportunity to do some Audio DIYing.
Firstly, I need a solution for the bass. Once that's done, I can start upgrading everything else. I will unfortunately not be able to upgrade the front tweeters because they're well-integrated into the dashboard. So I thought I can put some 6.5" mid-bass's into the front doors, and some decent 6" 2-way's in the rear doors. I thought I could possibly get an 8" or 10" flat woofer under the seat, but I'm not sure about that yet.
That said, I do still want an interim solution. I have 2 6.5" drivers unused, and they're not half bad either. They were experimental drivers and cost me about $8 each. Anyway, I decided to experiment with them (and my nice old car amplifier I've had for many years), and they turned out to work fine when the crossover was set to very low. So I built a 50x24x9 cm box consisting of two enclosures, one for each driver. I built it out of hardboard, covered with carpet, and filled with fiberglass (not too stuffed though). That little box gives each driver about 3.3L, so it's really tiny, but considering it needed to fit under the rear seats, that's all the space I have.
I've now spent quite some time testing, and for pop music, music with a beat, it works nicely. When I listen to real music, music that I normally listen to, the bass sounds really muddy and wobbly. This got me thinking quite a lot. I figured that if I add weight to the drivers (Mms) it should lower Fs, and not affect anything else really (except sensitivity). Obviously it would affect the high frequency response, but that's a good thing. I researched a little (look at top link) and decided to give it a try. So I used some butyl tape and added about 20g to each driver, and it worked beautifully! The bass response is much better.
So yes, adding weight to the drivers works well. If I get a proper flat woofer, it should fit in the box and I will just need to make it one enclosure (break the middle divider). So now the final install will need to happen. I decided I'm going to use the rear door speaker signal to drive the amplifier.
Has anyone tried adding mass to a woofer?
Has anyone got any advice on working with sound systems in Great Wall cars? Is there a woofer output? How would one access the radio connections?
I'll see if I want to keep a woofer after upgrading the door speakers. I'm going to go with speakers that have good low-end specs. Once I've got that all done, I can decide if I want something proper (8" or 10"), or if I'm going to chuck the current solution.
I'm open to suggestions and advice.
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/239113-adding-mass-driver.html
I bought myself a truck/pickup/ute/bakkie (pick the one which is relevant to you). It's a really fantastic vehicle, and it ticks all the boxes and some. On paper, it quotes "6 speakers", so I was hopeful about that, but when I got it, I was very disappointed. I never base a car-buying decision on a sound system, since they can simply be upgraded.
The vehicle has something pitiful in each place a speaker can be put. I mean, can't a manufacturer just spend $100 on decent speakers. It's such a mission to upgrade, or at least, so inconvenient (for the guy with a budget and a preference for DIY). Anyway, it has given me the opportunity to do some Audio DIYing.
Firstly, I need a solution for the bass. Once that's done, I can start upgrading everything else. I will unfortunately not be able to upgrade the front tweeters because they're well-integrated into the dashboard. So I thought I can put some 6.5" mid-bass's into the front doors, and some decent 6" 2-way's in the rear doors. I thought I could possibly get an 8" or 10" flat woofer under the seat, but I'm not sure about that yet.
That said, I do still want an interim solution. I have 2 6.5" drivers unused, and they're not half bad either. They were experimental drivers and cost me about $8 each. Anyway, I decided to experiment with them (and my nice old car amplifier I've had for many years), and they turned out to work fine when the crossover was set to very low. So I built a 50x24x9 cm box consisting of two enclosures, one for each driver. I built it out of hardboard, covered with carpet, and filled with fiberglass (not too stuffed though). That little box gives each driver about 3.3L, so it's really tiny, but considering it needed to fit under the rear seats, that's all the space I have.
I've now spent quite some time testing, and for pop music, music with a beat, it works nicely. When I listen to real music, music that I normally listen to, the bass sounds really muddy and wobbly. This got me thinking quite a lot. I figured that if I add weight to the drivers (Mms) it should lower Fs, and not affect anything else really (except sensitivity). Obviously it would affect the high frequency response, but that's a good thing. I researched a little (look at top link) and decided to give it a try. So I used some butyl tape and added about 20g to each driver, and it worked beautifully! The bass response is much better.
So yes, adding weight to the drivers works well. If I get a proper flat woofer, it should fit in the box and I will just need to make it one enclosure (break the middle divider). So now the final install will need to happen. I decided I'm going to use the rear door speaker signal to drive the amplifier.
Has anyone tried adding mass to a woofer?
Has anyone got any advice on working with sound systems in Great Wall cars? Is there a woofer output? How would one access the radio connections?
I'll see if I want to keep a woofer after upgrading the door speakers. I'm going to go with speakers that have good low-end specs. Once I've got that all done, I can decide if I want something proper (8" or 10"), or if I'm going to chuck the current solution.
I'm open to suggestions and advice.
Yes, many times to tune cheap drivers tot fit an existing box, though never in a mobile audio app. Back circa 2000, it was popular to mass load the 'sub' woofer of 2.5 way speakers using dual mid-bass woofers.
'Great Wall cars'? Chinese? Regardless, no clue.
Well, in my Toyota PU I'd have to remove the radio, CD, tape module from the dash to access the plugins to the interior's under dash main harness and even though it has the upgrade system there's no sub woofer option in any of the 2000 models, though newer models have them.
Anyway, I've been involved in many custom installs long ago beginning with a '62 MG Miget and always had to add a dedicated amp.
Anyway, not into DIY mobile audio since '70, so good luck with it and can only suggest this forum: DiyMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum
GM
'Great Wall cars'? Chinese? Regardless, no clue.
Well, in my Toyota PU I'd have to remove the radio, CD, tape module from the dash to access the plugins to the interior's under dash main harness and even though it has the upgrade system there's no sub woofer option in any of the 2000 models, though newer models have them.
Anyway, I've been involved in many custom installs long ago beginning with a '62 MG Miget and always had to add a dedicated amp.
Anyway, not into DIY mobile audio since '70, so good luck with it and can only suggest this forum: DiyMobileAudio.com Car Stereo Forum
GM
I installed the amp and it gave me insight into how the car is built. Let me put it this way - I've installed sound in a BMW, and the GWM compares well in terms of attention to detail. The insulation, the quality of materials, the tolerances, they're all really fantastic. So much so that I struggled to get the power through the firewall, and under the trim. The clips are next level.
Anyway, GWM provided a nice little gap in the firewall, seemingly for this purpose. So once I discovered that, I could get to work. The install looks good, and it sounds really great. On radio or CD, the bass seems to be thinned at the source, but with BT audio or Aux input, the bass is full and rich.
Adding that weight to the speakers really did the trick. I think I can leave it like that and upgrade the door speakers in the future. More bass in the front will bring balance to the force.
Anyway, GWM provided a nice little gap in the firewall, seemingly for this purpose. So once I discovered that, I could get to work. The install looks good, and it sounds really great. On radio or CD, the bass seems to be thinned at the source, but with BT audio or Aux input, the bass is full and rich.
Adding that weight to the speakers really did the trick. I think I can leave it like that and upgrade the door speakers in the future. More bass in the front will bring balance to the force.