Be careful... the further you get the tweeter from the midrange the more separation you'll have... which will kill image accuracy... rather than a solid point source it will sound be ... since it will seem as though the singer is coming from both the tweeter and midrange...
You can have very high image with the tweets and midranges in the kicks together... it's all in aiming and tuning... the only time I suggest running tweets on the dash is with a CDT Audio Upstage series set... reason being that it is crossed high enough to not cause this problem.

Also not all tweeters sound nice pointed directly at the listener (on axis)... this is especially true for most metal dome tweeters which will seem to harsh/shrill... by aiming them off axis it will smooth out the response.



As far as placement goes... I find Gleepoy hit it on the button... place the midranges in the kicks and the midbass in the door... the higher a freqency is, the shorter the wavelength and therefore the more easily it can be localized... therefore to keep the image in front of the listener it's best to keep the midrange in the kicks.

Also by placing both drivers as far forward as possible it will minimize PLD's (path length differences) which will help out with phase problems and imaging... however don't place them so far forward that they'll be cramped up under your dash, as you can start to have resonance problems etc.

Last of all, it's much easier to place a smaller midrange in your kicks than it is to place a larger midbass driver and give it the volume needed for proper midbass response.

Best of luck and take your time... proper aiming and setup of a 3-way set is what makes a 3-way set so great...
It's even more important than the actual speakers being used.

A good place to start is with drivers side speaker pointing just in front of the passengers head and the passenger side speaker pointing just in front of the drivers head.
Play from here to get the sound as close to perfect as possible.
From here a bit of time delay and EQ will have you in heaven.

 

I disagree. With tweeters in the kicks...if it sounds like it's coming from below, you're doing something wrong.

 

^^^
Wrong YES (sort of), but it's a pretty fine line. It's really hard to get a perfectly flat stage up nice and high. Even many of the best sounding cars have trouble with this.

 

Without the use of processing, I will opt for Kickpanel placement over Dash any time. Further to that, I don't support the idea of a midrange up on the dash at all if one wants a car enjoyable from both front seats.

 

^^^I agree with Dukk there. There arent many cars that image well from both seats that have the midrange up high. I'm thinking of putting my midrange up high and I know going into it that my car will be a one seat wonder.

 

^ that is quite true.

The mids in my car are in the kicks. but sonically they are transparent..... you could try to listen for it down there. but they're up on the dash. and that goes for the midbass in the doors as well.

 

..psychoacoustics for the win!!

 

Maybe, but consol, steering wheel etc...have ALOT of effect with this. Tweeter and mid in the a-pillar facing towards the center will eliminate the basis on the side your listening to. IMO, its the best way to get imaging from both seats without any processing. "...without any processing" I agree that this should be thought of in every installation.

 

If you're implying that you can only have one or the other (high coherent stage or a system that sounds good from both seats)...I disagree with you.

 

I understand what you're saying and you raise valid points.

However, I disagree with the generalization that one method is better than the other though.

However, in my own experiences, without the use of processing...and in terms of imaging well from both seats, I have gotten the best results by minimizing PLD. In all cases this meant tweets and mids in the kicks.