Some of the best low powered midbass I ever heard, was from 2 sets of clarion marine 6.5s mounted in the fibreglass hull of a boat - off of deck power. It really shows off how bad a car door is as an enclosure. I got back in my car with all my amp power / deadening / foam / clay / t-nutted baffles and my shame

 

And to OP - keep your eye out for something like a Memphis 3way xover - Mine came shiny in original packaging for $30 - it has some nice tuning features

 

I have been the big midbase route and it wasn't worth it...fitting 8's and then 10's!
It really just went lower, midbase per say wasn't any better.

There is a defnite allure to big drivers though, no doubt about it... I always have a hard time resistnig this allure haha.

 

Also for car audio related midbases

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...e-drivers.html

 

Wow- thanks for all the input, guys!
I mad a boo-boo and pushed the inner door skin in too far while trying to get an extra 1/2" of depth, so I put the panels back on and will leave it for a bit so I don't do anything out of frustration.
On a very related note, swapping decks to the Alpine 117 made the entire audio spectrum louder, punchier and revealed TONS of mid-bass. I almost think I wasted my time fabbing kicks, but they're done so whatever...
My car is a tin can and very loud while driving. Because manufacturers tune as much NVH into the midbass frequencies, I really still need the 8" for listening while driving. I have started looking into some good quality mat damping.
Will try and get back to them next week, and thanks agin for the input.

 

I'm glad you are getting some results. Maddening when you focus on something with minimal returns and then change something else and it all comes together.

 

Does the Alpine have T/A??

 

cda 117 does have t/a.

 

They sure can - great quality mid bass can come out of 5.25s and 6.5s. But anything over 100 watts rms of Midbass between 100hz to 200hz into a 6.5 will usually blow the speaker unless you have super expensive components. This is why they make dedicated midbass drivers, and i have actually done more research and have come across many companies that make them because the reasoning I have shared with you is certainly valid. JL audio makes one - 150 Watts RMS, DynAudio does, same power, Kicker, Cerwin Vega makes one, and so does Morel Audio (200W rms - which is the one for me).


Not when its a shallow mount woofer and not when you have the space for it.

And by the way that set-up configuration you mention is not my setup. My 1997 Volvo 850 has the 5.25s at the upper door, and tweeters up higher stock grilles from factory. Those will be replaced with Fosgate power series 5.25 components. The lower portion of the door has a massive pocket opening which is an excellent place to get a fibreglass or 3/8 mdf fixture for a dedicated midbass woofer driver of 8-9 inches.

And I have found out that Morel is the company that used to make the Phoenix Gold Ti Elite 952 set. The 8.7 inch shallow mount woofer that was sold in that 1800 dollar 3-way set is still made under the Morel name and they are part of the Elate Set, or can be bought seperately for 400 dollars each woofer. It is 200 Watts of RMS midbass. Seems more appropriate to me than sending my 2-channel 801s amp to overkill components with midbass.

 

Sure it can, but how is that going to compete with 2000Watts of bass thats going to drown out the mid bass going to 100 watts up front? Fine for highs and high mids up front, but seems like a massive gap in the middle.