Kick Pods or Modified Dash?

[Captain Morgan]

ok, as some of you may know, #180 will be getting a major interior face lift this winter, which will include some stereo upgrades since the current system was designed done in 2002.

Basically I will be doing some extensive dash work as well, so here's the deal.

Do I remove the dash speakers completely and go with custom kick pods or do I forget about the pod idea and just install some custom mounted dash speakers?

One or the other, im not doing both dash and kicks cause im not looking into installed crossovers and all that just to balance out speaker phase.

 

[Gnocide]

nothing you do to that dash will give you a balanced sound stage except turning the balance 3/4 of the way to the right.

 

[Captain Morgan]

nothing you do to that dash will give you a balanced sound stage except turning the balance 3/4 of the way to the right.

so kick pods for you?

 

[Windedv6]

My Ty was on the IASCA and USAC tour for about six years. Got as far as 3rd place in the pro class world finals and second in the in the USAC expert class finals. It is difficult to get any where with the dash setup in our trucks. Kicks are the only way to go (unless you build wave guides into the lower dash). You need to get the path lengths as equal as you can...that means the farther away from you the more equal distance you can get . Kick panels are the way to go.

Aim the passenger kick on axis to the drivers ear and the driver kick to the passenger ear. That way the speaker closes to you is off axis which helps to equalize the path lengths for each the driver and the passenger. Get them as far forward as possible. Go lcuk with your build.

John

 

[Captain Morgan]

John thanks for the info, I'll be sure to bother you if I have any other questions, :lol:

 

[Sy769]

John,
what do you think of the prebuilt kick panels built for the S-series trucks?

 

[Captain Morgan]

John,
what do you think of the prebuilt kick panels built for the S-series trucks?

If your talking about Q-forms, I can tell you they are crap.

they are flimsy plastic, not to mention they are not sealed enclosures. For what you pay for Q-forums you could have a custom set made or make them yourself for 1/2 the cost im sure.

 

[Loeryder]

Yeah Kick pods are the way to go.
Only reason I haven't done them is the QForms are flimsy at best.

I'd be interested in seeing what you can come up with Morgan.

 

[dgoodhue]

I agree with the Q-forms having a lousy unsealed enclosure. I had planned to do a set of Q-form kick pods and make a fiberglass enclosure to seal it properly. Is this a bad idea? If so, I don't have any good ideas for finishing a fiberglass pod off.

 

[turbodog]

Well, I'm not into competition, but here's my $.02:
I was tired of the crappy sound from the Pioneers I put in the dash. I listened to several plate-type 4X6 and didn't really like the sound. I listened to some Polk 4X6 and liked them a lot, but they wouldn't fit (tweeter not flush and magnet too big). I decided sound first, so I modified the speaker grilles (cut away the grille so the speaker can mount flush with tweeter extending up) to make the Polk's fit. Now I have openings in my grilles, exposed 4X6 cones and coaxial tweets, but the sound is 500% better. Now I'm looking for an acceptable cosmetic fix. As good as the custom waveguide stuff? I dunno, but the best I've achieved in 3 S-Blazers/2 Typhoons. FWIW.

 

[Loeryder]

I have also considered hacking the stock grills.
Cut out all of the material (over 50% of the area is blocked by plastic).
And then use a acoustic cloth to cover them.
Plus I have a dashmat, so in my case I dont need to worry about cosmetic.


The fiberglass kick pods I have seen made from scratch started with a stock panel and a 1/4 piece of mdf for framework.
Everything else was glass.

 

[Beavis]

Kickes are the only way to go... Did the dash thing, tried the kickes and will never go back. As far as the Q-forms, if you can seal them and make them strong,(flex), they should be good(mine are from scratch with the origanal plastic panels. They were made of alot of Kittyhair (bondo with fiberglass strings) and bondo. Took some time, but well worth it. Gonna put them in the TY when I strip all my music out of my '89 S-15 Jimmy.
Do the kicks, you'll love them!!!

 

[syclonekid43]

i got audiobahn(sp) in my dash and i also have the q-form kicks. i got them from my buddy for $25.00. cant beat that. i like the way they sound but the spot for the tweeter is aimed straight to the other side of the truck. i might play with them and try to aim them up and across.but they do make a world of diffrence in the sy.

 

[kwick6]

Re: Kick Pods or Modified Dash?

Basically I will be doing some extensive dash work as well, so here's the deal.

don't forget this in the dash
http://www.syty.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31619

 

[Captain Morgan]

Re: Kick Pods or Modified Dash?

Basically I will be doing some extensive dash work as well, so here's the deal.

don't forget this in the dash
http://www.syty.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=31619

not a bad idea, perhaps next year.

 

[E-Rue]

i put orion pro components in my "typhoon" doorpanels.

i also made a bracket to hold bostom acoustics where the 6x9's used to go. here are some pics.

http://www.ridetillyoudieinc.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album01

e

 

[cliffey83]

i got alpines in my dash and couldn't be happier. i also put some of those alpine type r's in the back, with some kicker subs and it sounds great. just my 2 cents.
Chris

 

[rockvillespeed]

cliffey, d'ya mean those alpine plates?
i think they may have been 6045 model?
i used to sell high end car audio for a while and those were really the best sounding 4x6 ever - which makes them the only good sounding ones i ever heard.
i was bent when they dropped em.