advice for noob on sr5250 active set up

[mikeym]

Hi all!
I've been reading up on CP for almost a year now (both home and car audio), and I really value the contributions from the members on this site. With that said, I have questions with an install I plan on doing and I would really appreciate some advice.

I purchased sr5250's and was just going to run passive with the supplied crossovers for ease of install, but the crossovers are huge and I can't find anyplace where they will fit in my doors. (Previous install was done at a local shop and I was hoping to plug and play using current crossover location)

Then I thought, ok, I'll just mount crossovers in trunk. Then that led to... if I'm running extra wire from the trunk anyway, why not just use my four channel amp to run active? I was previously running my amp bridged to components up front, with HU power to stock speakers in rear-(faded forward except for when I had rear seat passengers and wanted to balance volume for everyone in the car).

I don't want to lose the front/rear fade, but if I use rear rca from head unit to channel B on my amp then I'm pretty sure I just lost that option.
I was thinking maybe split the signal from front RCA's before the amp, but then I lose HU control of separate tweet/mid settings & TA (I think).
I don't really want to buy anymore equipment at this time, and I'm thinking my best option to run active is to just leave rear speakers unplugged and then plug them in when I know I'll have rear passengers. (bad idea?)

What I'm working with:
2010 Corolla, HU- KDC-X993, 4 chan amp- KAC-X541, sub amp- KDC-X811D, comps- SR5250, sub- T7512-04, stock rear speakers running off HU

I plan on placing comps in stock locations (tweets in pillars, drivers in doors)

My first question then: Is there a way to run active with my current gear and have front/rear fade option yet still keep rear stock speakers hooked up to HU but turned down for daily driving?
2nd ?: Does everyone recomend just dumping rear speakers altogether-(even with rear passengers?)
3rd ?: With my HU and amp, do you folks recommend just running passive with the sr5250 crossovers?

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give as much info as I could to recieve the best advice.
I've never installed before (other than just replacing speakers), and I'll be learning as I go so any advice is welcome!
Thanks in advance!!

Mike

[kawizx9r]

I'd personally dump the rear speakers, the heck with rear passengers! :p

[arun1963]

You have good equipment and hence the ability to dial in good sound. Here is what I would do.

1. Ditch the speakers in the dash and the rear.

2. Bi-amp the sr 5250 and run active.

If you run active you will lose the fade front / rear.

If you want to stay passive you can mount the passive xover in the boot as you mentioned.

[DSkip]

How on-axis are the tweeters in stock locations? These tweets really shine on-axis.

As far as the topic, you have the right idea. You can choose 1 of 2 options: Front/Rear fade or an Active crossover. I would vote for the latter. It would be better SQ for you. Who cares about rear passengers? They can still hear the music. It might actually be better for them. I know in most sedans, when I sit in back, the rear seats seem to get the brute force of the volume.

[chu]

If you want to run a passive setup, Did you tried mounting the crossover behind the kick panels (should be enough room) or even under the front seat?

[mikeym]

Hi k9r, DS, arun, and chu.
Thanks for the replies! I have decided to go active and ditch the rear fill.

However, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about speaker placement and again would welcome advice and comments from CP members.
(I was trying to post pics but I don't know how yet) :-(

The tweets are recessed back about 1 1/4 inch from the grills of the triangular plastic sail panel inserts.
The door speakers are recessed over two inches back from the grills on plastic door trim and there is a two inch wall right after/behind the door speaker caused by a door pocket.

DS asked about "how on axis are stock tweeter locations?" From searching what that means, I think these would be considered off axis as they face almost towards each other.

The stock tweet locations are angled roughly 10 degrees (eyeball guess) with the R tweet aiming approx 6 inches in front of my face in normal driving position, and the L tweet aiming in opposite direction but directly hitting hump on dash column above instrument panel/gauges.

Anyways...
I'm thinking of cutting a hole in the plastic sail panel inserts and glueing the sr tweet angled mounts on top. This will help angle the tweets almost 45 degrees and face them towards the opposite rear side window.

I'm also thinking about making some spacers with 3/4" MDF to bring the drivers closer to the grills on the plastic door trim (maybe glueing two spacers together = 1 1/2". I'm thinking this will help prevent some of the sound reflecting inside the door trim.

Also, is there a convenient way to angle the drivers upwards and rearwards while keeping them behind the plastic grill of door panels? Maybe somehow using MDF spacers?

Once I finish running the extra speaker wires, I will play with locations and try locating where I like the tweeters best, however advice is welcome!!! I don't really have any ideas as to how I might play with locations/angles of the drivers though as I haven't yet found a container that they will fit in. (Large Carl's Jr. softdrink cup was so close!) :-D

Again my post is too long :-/
So to recap...
1. Cutting holes on tweeter pod grills and glueing angled mounts: Good/bad idea?
2. Spacers to bring drivers closer to door trim grills: Good/bad idea?
3. Ideas on how to angle drives rearward and upward from behind door trim grills.

Advice and suggestions always welcome and encouraged!!! :-)
TIA

Mike

[mikeym]

pics of what I was trying to explain above:

tweeter angle


tweeter & dash obstruction


door pocket obstruction


distance from inner door to door panel grill

[chu]

Hi k9r, DS, arun, and chu.
Thanks for the replies! I have decided to go active and ditch the rear fill.

However, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about speaker placement and again would welcome advice and comments from CP members.
(I was trying to post pics but I don't know how yet) :-(

The tweets are recessed back about 1 1/4 inch from the grills of the triangular plastic sail panel inserts.
The door speakers are recessed over two inches back from the grills on plastic door trim and there is a two inch wall right after/behind the door speaker caused by a door pocket.

DS asked about "how on axis are stock tweeter locations?" From searching what that means, I think these would be considered off axis as they face almost towards each other.

The stock tweet locations are angled roughly 10 degrees (eyeball guess) with the R tweet aiming approx 6 inches in front of my face in normal driving position, and the L tweet aiming in opposite direction but directly hitting hump on dash column above instrument panel/gauges.

Anyways...
I'm thinking of cutting a hole in the plastic sail panel inserts and glueing the sr tweet angled mounts on top. This will help angle the tweets almost 45 degrees and face them towards the opposite rear side window.

I'm also thinking about making some spacers with 3/4" MDF to bring the drivers closer to the grills on the plastic door trim (maybe glueing two spacers together = 1 1/2". I'm thinking this will help prevent some of the sound reflecting inside the door trim.

Also, is there a convenient way to angle the drivers upwards and rearwards while keeping them behind the plastic grill of door panels? Maybe somehow using MDF spacers?

Once I finish running the extra speaker wires, I will play with locations and try locating where I like the tweeters best, however advice is welcome!!! I don't really have any ideas as to how I might play with locations/angles of the drivers though as I haven't yet found a container that they will fit in. (Large Carl's Jr. softdrink cup was so close!) :-D

Again my post is too long :-/
So to recap...
1. Cutting holes on tweeter pod grills and glueing angled mounts: Good/bad idea?
2. Spacers to bring drivers closer to door trim grills: Good/bad idea?
3. Ideas on how to angle drives rearward and upward from behind door trim grills.

Advice and suggestions always welcome and encouraged!!! :-)
TIA

Mike

1. The grill can stay on, it does not effect the sound whatsoever ime and leaving the grill on will let you have the stealth look. Personally, I would suggest you play with aiming/placement on the a pillar, then cut into where you find the best fit for them. Those sr tweets are like laser beams (very directional).

2. I wouldn't want to bring the drivers too close to the grill, since the woofers may get damaged (even with shaving), cosmetically, if you play your music fairly loud.

3. Why not kick panels?

[mikeym]

I will try the tweets in different spots, I'm just kinda hoping the tweets sound awesome in stock location's 'cause I admit I'm a little intimidated by a custom install. But... if I find a different spot where the tweets just "have" to be then I'll try to think of a way I can make it happen and still look alright.

I don't want to do kick panels because I don't feel there is really any space for them.
I drive 2700-3000 miles a month. I'm comfortable with leg room right now, but only "just barely" and giving up any leg room in this car just isn't an option.

As for the door speakers, the supplied adapter rings don't seem to fit well in my doors, so I think I'll just cut a piece of MDF to use as a spacer/baffle to cover the rest of the open area.
Just looking at the placement though makes me feel that the pocket on the door trim is going to be blocking alot of the sound from me on the driver's side speaker, but I'm going to go with it and see how it sounds.

Thanks for the advice!
Any other thoughts/suggestions for this install?

[DSkip]

Here is my experience:

1) get the tweeters on-axis. They can perform alright off-axis if they are in reverse phase, but they really shine on-axis in phase. Just in case you don't know, phase just changes the direction of current through the speaker. Reverse phase is putting + to - instead of + to +

2) the woofer will perform fine in those locations. Ideally, you would want them on-axis as well, but I have mine off-axis and have no issues. I also have them in reverse phase since they are off-axis. The soundstage broadens greatly when I have them set up like that.

3) if you have Time Alignment, definitely put some time into understanding how it works and set it up accordingly. There is no comparison between a system w/out TA and one with TA set up properly.



EDIT:

Forgot to reply to the grill issues. I don't think its a bad idea to rig up the tweeters like you were thinking. Play with velcro tape and find a suitable angle and height for them. I wouldn't go cutting anything until you have a STRONG idea of where they sound best.