Fluffy

looking to drop something like a 6.5 Focal polyglass up front in my 99 civic.

i'd like to go with kicks for less difference in distance from the L&R speakers. but i'm a little unsure of kicks because i use the car for skiing and mountain biking so there's always mud and water everywhere. also, the car is totally stealth and stock, so i don't want the kicks screaming high-end audio when you look in.

so, could go with doors. couple layers of deadener, and new baffle. maybe a fiberglass enclosure as well? i dunno, i guess that would depend on the exact drivers and door, the deadening, and be trial and error? ideally, i would want the doors to be totally stock outside, otherwise may as well do kicks if you've lost the stealth look.

so the question of this long winded post: can mud/water friendly stealth kicks be done? and then can i afford them if i get a shop to do it? [img]smile.gif[/img]

another question: anyone with specific experience with any of the late '90s civics i would be very happy to hear what worked well for you [img]smile.gif[/img]

Vanilla Gorilla

I have mine in the doors. in my experience, I've noticed 'very little' difference in sound performance. my dynaudio 6x8's are in the doors, and its sounds phenominal. The type and slope degree or crossover choice will affect the sound dispersion of the speaker. Like a Linkwitz-Riley 12 DB/octave crossover will have 120 degree dispersion, from the center of the speaker. In comparison to a Butterworth 6 DB/octave having a 270 degree dispertion pattern. When you take this into account, this totally elimates the need for altrenate speaker placement... I.E. KP's.
In my mind, K.P.'s are way too difficult to build for what its worth, so the idea of building KP's for my car never crossed my mind. Perhaps Im wrong, but I was told that most speakers are designed to have the door work as a box, so to use an extremely small non-sealed KP will have different effects on the performance. I honestly dont see why most people dont utilize their door placed speakers. Their fine there, Kick panels aren't manditory for Ultra-high fi stereos, unless your trying to use a difference sized speakers. And then, there are still ways around it. Dynaudio does not make any 6x8's. So I have a Dynaudio 5.25 Midrange with a tweeter. in a "plate" style speaker. Then I use the Vifa woofer for the mid-bass and down. Sounds frickin' awesome.....

[ December 30, 2004, 07:24 PM: Message edited by: Graham ]

Big Sexy

For a daily driver. Man I just can't see how kicks work, don't your friggin' legs block the sound man. I mean if you're like 98 pounds or somethin' you might get some sound to your ear, but if you're a little bigger your leg has got to block a lot of the tunes. The other problem I always have is that my foot likes to rest exactly where the driver kick goes. My size 16dd shoes are bigger than most kicks man. If you are building a comp car it's cool, but for a daily driver I can't see it bein' practical. Just my opinion.

Vanilla Gorilla

oooooooooo nice kicks. honestly, how long can those seriously stay clean though, in Canada? are they still exactly that clean? as for me, my car is a disaster, they'd be encrusted in mud after the first month of winter

RDub

I'm driving a '98 civic w/ mauaul transmision...daily driver...kicks are fine(5 1/4 though)...sorry no pics. I say give it a shot, It's worth the weekend install IMO...ya ..a shop will charge you a pretty penny...(time is money)...YOU CAN DO IT! A close vinyl and speaker cloth match will make them near invisible from prying eyes...

Vanilla Gorilla

What the heck does that term " IMO " mean? I've seen that a lot

RDub

In My Opinion....

u13grocerygetter

In My Opinion