Alright, I dont remember where exactly I heard this from, but I remember hearing that by taking out the Jute padding in the sail panels where the 6x9's go, that the bass can be increased somewhat.

YES, I know that 6x9's cant produce bass like a sub can, but anything helps and that's why im asking.

So is that just a bunch of nonsense or is there any truth to it?

 

Try it, it won't hurt anything.

 

There's supposed to be padding in there!? I don't remember seeing any when I replaced my 6x9s.

 

There is a padding in there, I have refinished some sail panels and it seperates from the material when removed. It only hinders sound and will take away 12 ounces if you need some weight reduction.

 

after doing some research, it turns out that the enclosures are there to INCREASE the bass. lol

SO, what I did, I took duck tape, and covered up the 2 big holes in the enclosures, along with putting duck tape all on the inside of them.

THEN, I realized that they had no bottom on them, worn away I guess, so, what I did was I took strips of duck tape and stretched it across the inside-middle section of the enclosure, effectively cutting the enclosure space in half, but also effectively closing up each 6x9 in a little duck tape enclosure

My original plan consisted of taking out the enclosures as a whole, blocking up the holes with something, and then spray rubberized coating on them, but I then realized I had to remove the plates the speakers were held onto, AND all the big interior plastic pieces, SO I decided not to mess with that, and along with losing a screw in the process, I think the duck tape enclosures will at least help with SOME of the sound they put out right?

Tell me what you all think, since the speaker now has alot less free air to deal with, I think it will help.

 

the "padding" is some thick material in the sails

i would assume to prevrent sound bounce off the sheetmetal of the sails,

IE: reverberations


good luck

 

I stuffed the area with polyfill and I like the results. It sounds a bit tighter, not necessarily louder. A main problem is a car is so noisy that alot of the upgraded bass can't be heard when the engine is running and you're driving the car. I'd reccomend using polyfill, its like $3 per side, and you don't need to duct tape your car (it's not duck tape).

 

whats polyfill??? who makes it???

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-CToTQ9P...g=741&I=027808

You can probably find it cheaper somewhere else, though.

 

You can buy polyfill at wal mart for about a dollar a bag. It's over in the fabric area.

Anyway, on to the 6x9s. The 6x9s are a high-Q, "free air" style driver that is intended to have an infinitely large enlcosure. If you stick it into a tiny box, you'll lose all the deep bass, and the upper bass & lower midrange will blare. On the other hand, since the thirdgen isn't really a true "free air" application like a well sealed trunk would be(the rear sound waves travel around the back near the spare tire area and enter the car there), completely removing that baffle behind the speaker probably won't help things either.

I think any gains you get at all would be minor, but what I would try doing is to retain the stock baffle(don't tape over the holes), but stuff it with approximately 1/2lb of polyfill. This should help clean up the bass slightly without any negative effects. You can also experiment with carpet padding instead of (or in addition to) the polyfill. I've found that the 1/2" premium quality carpet underlayment that you can get from any carpet store or home improvement center does a better job at absorbing sound inside an enclosure than polyfill, but due to it's density, it can start to have a negative effect if it's packed in too thick.

 

I took it out and use some RAMMat and that actually made them sound a heck of a lot better. I just Made it the same dimenstions as the old box and folded it carefully to fit through the hole and then opened it up and stuck it to the sheet metal. Works great.

 

I'd be willing to bet that the majority of your improvement is due to reduced vibrations in the steel panels, and not directly as a result of having the "enclosure".

 

Quite possibly, but how much vibrating could a 6x9 really have on an entire piece of sheet metal that large and fully secured?

 

A ton. There is a tremendous amount of resonance transferred into neighboring panels. Though it may not be audible in the sense that you hear stuff rattling, the coloration to the sound is extremely noticable. When you've got tin resonating like that, the sound is harsh, unfocused and sloppy. In essense, it can make a good quality speaker sound like a $5 flea market piece of crap, even if it doesn't sound "distorted" to the untrained ear.

 

Cool.