Momo midbass in Kickpanel - yaye or naye?

Topper

hi guys!

Am looking to improve the performance of my frontstage by transferring the MMC650 coax from the doors to the kickpanel? anyone do this before? hows the performance (especially of the midbass)?

Car is 2004 Corolla sedan automatic

MacLeod

If you build the kick panel properly and sturdy enough with enough air volume, this will improve your imaging and your midbass wont suffer.

If your kicks are kinda flimsy, your imaging will improve but youll lose substantial midbass.

Topper

Thanks for the quick response bud. Now I'm sure i can get it sturdy but my biggest worry is the 'enough air volume' part. Been discussing with the installer and he's saying you gotta vent it inta the carpet to retain as much midbass as possible but its still definitely going to be a lot less than the door install.

MacLeod

The key is to keep the back wave totally isolated from the front wave. If you just have it firing into the carpet and dont have it sealed off, the back wave can and will interfere with the front wave.

Trust me on this. In my old Ram I had my beloved SR5250's in some Qform kick panels reinforced with 2 layers of Dynamat and 10 pounds of modeling clay. However they werent sealed off and while my midrange was fine, the midbass was sorely lacking. Now I have those same 5250's in the doors of my Accord and they have EXCELLENT midbass.

One way to do it would be to cut a hole in the sheetmetal of the kicks and mount the speaker flush against it firing across the car. This way it can vent into the body, have plenty of air space and the back wave will be totally isolated from the front.

Topper

thanks for the tip. will be talking to my installer about it this week


EDIT: If i'm understanding this right, wouldn't this expose the speaker to the elements? any chance you've come across a build-up showing this done?

Thom

In some cars there will be a hole in the kick panel leading to a small cavity behind it. Some cars tuck a fuse block or connectors there (my friend's old Corrolla was like that), and some have a piece of plastic stuck there (like the GMC 2500HD we did last year). By moving what's there (or in some cars making a hole) you'll gain some volume. In some cars I've opened that cavity into the frame rail below to add more. Plenty of guys have vented the kicks to the extrior of the car but you'll want some protection from the elements if you do that. Search for AP mats or enclosures and you should be able to figure out what to use. You'll need a material that keeps moisture out but doesn't provide too much resistance to the speaker. But I've never gone that far.

Topper

what your buddy with the corolla do about relocating the stuff there? (outta curiosity )

Thom

I helped with it but it was probably 8 or 9 years ago. If I remember correctly, there was a large piece of plastic that various connectors clipped to. We unsnapped all the connectors, removed the plastic mounting piece, enlarged the hole a bit, and just let the wires hang in the cavity. We were only putting an MB Quart 4" down there so we didn't need a lot of room.

PoweredByDodge

Ya the whole idea of a "not so infinite" infinite baffle doesn't do a whole lotta good.

Personally, I think you could probably seal them in a large kick panel and retain similar properties... it's just a matter of how large it has to be... that, and you don't have a whole lotta room in the kick area.