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    Kick panels

    Can someone explain to me what the advantages are to having kick panels instead of just replacing the door speakers?

    examples are welcome (how i learn best)


    Kenwood KDC-519 w/ RF 500bd + e12K.44
    RB springs
    Magnaflow catback

    2004 mods:
    MP3 front bumper conversion

    #2
    Tha angle of the speakers directs the sound towards your ears not your feet.
    I think most of em are a two speaker deal so you can have seperate tweets than mids??? maybe....
    -tony

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      #3
      my inifity's have tweeters that swivel, so I aimed mine up at the pax
      My MAM SS Kit Install Thread | Gauge Customization kit - LEDs, icons, more! Sample:

      Replacement Stainless Steel Hex Screws for your AWR swaybar! now 19mm AND 21.5mm!

      99 ES 1.8 | Highlight Silver Metallic | shaved mouldings | DaveB's Brushed Gauge Rings | Llumar Tint charcoal 35 side, 20 rear; smoked mirror 18 moonroof | clear corners
      JVC deck w/ Infinity Reference 5x7s and 6x9s, XM Radio via Custom Mount Delphi SkyFi | Rage Vigors 17x7 metal | Potenza RE750 215/40 rubber | Espilir springs
      AWR 21.5mm Sway Bar w/adjustable endlinks & Trailing Links & Front/Rear Engine Mounts | Custom Fiberglass hood from Maz1.8T | 626 Wiper Stalk

      C-17 Pilot--Jonathan--ProTuner

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        #4
        A car is a HORRIBLE environment for sound.

        One of the toughest things to do is get a proper soundstage and stereo separation, due to the fact that the driver is on one side of the car.

        If you owned a McLaren F1, you souldn't have such problems (the driver sits dead center like an Indy car).

        So people put speakers in the kicks to get them as FAR away from their ears as possible, thus minimizing the difference in distance to the ears.

        The kicks are - in most vehicles - the furthest point of the interior from the driver's head (while still being up front, where it counts).

        Placing the speakers there (and aiming them properly - read; hours of testing and fiddling) can create very close to optimum stereo separation, and soundstage.

        The objective is to fool the ears into thinking the band is playing out on the hood of the car, and that the "stage" is a little wider than the windshield. Furthermore, you'd also like to be able to "place" the instruments out there; meaning, drums and vocals mostly centered, guitar on the right, bass slightly left of center, etc. This can usually be demostrated well with orchestral music, where the members of the orchestra sit in a particular array on stage, and hearing the individual sounds from different areas and instruments is part of the whole experience.

        It takes good speakers and lots of tuning to get your sound to seem to emenate from outside the car. But that's the purpose of kicks. They also allow people to run a 3-way setup up front, with a midrange and tweeter in the kick, and a midbass in the door.

        Hope that clears it up.

        Off topic: BLUE LEDz!! WTF is with the CarSound board? I'm going into withdrawals. LoL

        ~HH

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by glyph
          my inifity's have tweeters that swivel, so I aimed mine up at the pax
          Q: what's a pax?


          Kenwood KDC-519 w/ RF 500bd + e12K.44
          RB springs
          Magnaflow catback

          2004 mods:
          MP3 front bumper conversion

          Comment


            #6
            carsound is in the process of cleaning up the website and switching servers.
            '02 classic red p5
            currently enrolled in AA.

            Comment


              #7
              Off topic: BLUE LEDz!! WTF is with the CarSound board? I'm going into withdrawals. LoL
              i haven't been on there in almost a week haven't really been online since thursday, since i had to work friday, then when i got off, i drove 8 hours to motegi's, then spent the weekend with her, and didn't get back till monday

              Comment


                #8
                or you could just get a good alpine HU that has time correction and not have to do kickpanels and just delay the sound on all the speakers to a certain degree and get the same effect and not have to do hours of testing and what not since you just the ipersonalize on the alpine site and hten lower the numbers tehy give by one and you got a perfect soundstage.... only bad thing with this is you'll have your perfect soundstage setup for the drivers seat and not the rest of the seats so it wont be perfect to everyone else but none of my friends have complained about it yet.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by asylum24
                  or you could just get a good alpine HU that has time correction and not have to do kickpanels and just delay the sound on all the speakers to a certain degree and get the same effect and not have to do hours of testing and what not since you just the ipersonalize on the alpine site and hten lower the numbers tehy give by one and you got a perfect soundstage.... only bad thing with this is you'll have your perfect soundstage setup for the drivers seat and not the rest of the seats so it wont be perfect to everyone else but none of my friends have complained about it yet.

                  it's not just about the time, it's about the position of the speakers would you rather have your speakers facing your, or your legs? and you don't need an alpine HU for time correction, since many processors have it i'm trying to decide if i want to get one, but if i do, i'm going to get one that has easily changed settings with at least 3 presets. with the blaupunkt san francisco i was able to have several settings that were easily changed, based on where passengers were located:p:

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Kick panels even out the distance of the speaker's sound that arrives at your ears at both left and right areas. It gives you the most balanced sound which is why they are very popular in competitions and in enthusiasts' cars. A guy on SoundDomain sold me his and used some Boston Acoustics Ambient tweeters to help lift the soundstage up without you noticing the sound coming from one direction more than another. Unless you have a McLaren F1, where the driver's seat is in the center, you are going to have unbalanced sound. Kicks help compensate for this. They can be very costly as most have to be custom made. I lucked out and found some on SoundDomain that I got for $100 plus S/H for a pair. They probably cost around 3 or 4 hundred if custom made. The guy who sold them to me worked at an audio shop, so I am sure he got some break in the price, but still paid over $100 for them new when he had them made. All I had to do is widen the holes from 4 1/2 to 5 1/4 with a Rotozip saw and get a ring to increase mounting depth do to my Boston Acoustics Pro's oversized neodymium magnets. I am pleased with the results as well as was able to utilize my 6 1/2 inch midbass in the doors (no rear speakers). Sound is really good too! I am very happy with the end result.
                    2001 ES (Featured at SoundDomain)

                    Pioneer/SoundStream/JBL/Coustic/Elemental Designs/Focal/
                    KnuKonceptz/Lightning Audio/SoundQuest/Tiff/
                    Gel America/Dynamo Deep Cycle Battery/
                    Groundkit

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                      #11
                      i know you dont have to have an alpine HU... im just sayin that its an option

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Would you sit in a room right next to one speaker and far from the other with the speakers at your feet?

                        Time correction - like an equalizer - is not a be-all, end-all solution.

                        It can be helpful in getting the stereo image correct (meaning, the left and right channels hit your ears at the same time), but that's about it.

                        Time correction does nothing for the soundstage. It also does nothing to correct the fact that the speakers are at different angles relative to your head when they are in the doors.

                        The point of kicks is to attempt to duplicate what you would have in a great listening room in a house. You'd have the seat equidistant from the left and right speakers, and the speakers would be facing at you.

                        No time correction in the world is going to be able to correct that scenario if you sat with the speakers at foot-level, facing each other, with the left one 4" from your leg, and the other one 3 feet away.

                        ~HH

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Lil Freek
                          Q: what's a pax?
                          Sorry, pilot term for passenger(s).

                          I personally try to make it sound like I am in the middle of the stage, so that the sound is equally balanced all around, completely immersed in it. I don't really see the point of having it sound like it's in front of you, unless you are trying to recreate a concert experience.
                          My MAM SS Kit Install Thread | Gauge Customization kit - LEDs, icons, more! Sample:

                          Replacement Stainless Steel Hex Screws for your AWR swaybar! now 19mm AND 21.5mm!

                          99 ES 1.8 | Highlight Silver Metallic | shaved mouldings | DaveB's Brushed Gauge Rings | Llumar Tint charcoal 35 side, 20 rear; smoked mirror 18 moonroof | clear corners
                          JVC deck w/ Infinity Reference 5x7s and 6x9s, XM Radio via Custom Mount Delphi SkyFi | Rage Vigors 17x7 metal | Potenza RE750 215/40 rubber | Espilir springs
                          AWR 21.5mm Sway Bar w/adjustable endlinks & Trailing Links & Front/Rear Engine Mounts | Custom Fiberglass hood from Maz1.8T | 626 Wiper Stalk

                          C-17 Pilot--Jonathan--ProTuner

                          Comment


                            #14
                            ahh. ok.
                            I would try to get the immersed feeling, too... concert would be strange with my kind of music.

                            unrelated Q: what's the SPL on a e12K.44?


                            Kenwood KDC-519 w/ RF 500bd + e12K.44
                            RB springs
                            Magnaflow catback

                            2004 mods:
                            MP3 front bumper conversion

                            Comment


                              #15
                              recreating the concert sound does not sound like 2 little computer speakers sitting infront of you b/c they are crappy. true concert sound has so much soundstage that you can tell its coming from the front, but you think its everywhere. every type of music can be enjoyed in a live environment, when at the proper sound levels and correct tuning, you can tell where the sound comes from, but you can't. putting speakers in kicks gives you that pull sound, and putting speakers in the rear at equal volumes goes away from the concert full sound, but into a home surround sound, where sound is coming from everywhere, but you can tell its coming for ever where. thats not a bad thing, i just depends on what you want.


                              download winisd pro and it will autocalculate spl for your with the other driver parameters already entered. spl on that driver is 85.35
                              '02 classic red p5
                              currently enrolled in AA.

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