# Midbass installation: Door panel mounting vs Door frame mounting



## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Can we discuss the pros and cons of each option?

For both options, assume that a single layer of dynamat is added to the outer door skin, the inner door skin, and the back of the door panel.

Option A) Create an MDF baffle and mount driver directly to inner door skin using factory speaker cutout or equivalent.

Option B) Modify the door panel. Secure an MDF ring to the panel and add fiberglass to all or part of the panel to add mass and strenthen it. WIth this design the woofer can be angled slightly towards the listener. Once complete add sound deadener to the back as described above. Mount the driver from behind to hide mounting screws.

Option C) Modify the door panel but continue to mount the driver to the inner door skin. I don't know if this is possible but if someone has done it I'd love to see build-up photos. The driver can't be angled (well not easily at least).


I have always gone with option A because its quick and easy. However it always hides the speaker behind a cheesy factory plastic grill which doesn't breath very well. I would like to fabricate custom panels but I don't see how I could keep the door mounting since it would be difficult to line things up for fiberglassing. So it looks like option B is the route I would take. However, if someone can explain how I could fabricate the panel and have it line up perfectly with the door skin mounted woofer then I guess that would be the best of both worlds. 

Or perhaps people can share there experiences with door panel mounting and how it worked out for them. I'm primarily concerned about the gap that is between teh door panel and the inner skin. There is never a tight seal.


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## jperryss (Mar 15, 2006)

No experience here, but I was researching the same thing a few weeks back and came across this:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2462&

Particularly post #5 from MiniVanMan.


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Here is the quote for reference...


MiniVanMan said:


> It'll be time to get creative. A lot will depend on how far you're willing to go. Are you willing to carve up your door? Maybe just using a dremel and opening up the stock location a bit. Maybe carving out a whole chunk of the panel and completely rebuilding it.
> 
> Here's what I'd do if your panel doesn't come apart...
> 
> ...


This sounds good in theory, but I see a slight flaw in the logic, or maybe it just won't work for my situation. Lets say I create a baffle for my 5x7 opening and I create a second baffle for my 6.5" driver and I glue them together using dowels. Then I fiberglass them together. That's all well and good but now the mounting screws for the original baffle are unaccessable to me. Unless I was installing an 8" driver there is no way I could get my hands inside the baffle to screw it to the door. Perhaps I would have to use nuts and bolts and a really small wrench. Hmm...that might work if I planned ahead and left just enough space to get in there. 

I'll ponder that on my way home.


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## ArcL100 (Jun 17, 2005)

http://www.z2b2.com/doorsu.jpg

Aesthetically, I'm redoing them in August, as last year I was in a time bind before school started, so theyre not up to snuff in the looks department yet, but functionally it's sound.

I ran nuts and bolts through the old snap holes every 6" or so and various other holes in the inner door skin. The whole mdf + driver piece was probably a good 10# or so. I'd like to redo it this time with the rivet type nuts into the sheet metal that AzGrower enlightened me too awhile ago, instead of simply sandwhiching the sheet metal between a nut and washer/bolt, which I'd have to remove my deadener if I ever (havent yet, but stil) needed to take them off.

The payoffs are absolutely no door resonances, even off 200W per RS225. The only resonance I get is from the actual door skins buzzing because they're starting to loosen up over the past year, but that will be fixed in August, + RAAMolite.

-aaron


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

What about this... Building a speaker pod out of fiberglass thats sealed to the drivers specs vs. IB? For instance I plan to use SEAS W18NX's in my doors. Someone said a .34 enclosure is ideal for these and he would worry if too many watts went into that speaker IB. I plan on way over powering the Nextel woofer as I like Headroom in my system. So should I be considering making .34 sealed enclosures that would attach to the doors instead of using the door as the enclosure?


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Sealed is more trouble than its worth. Its way to difficult to even get .34 cuft unless you are building the entire door panel from scratch and can incorporate a signficant portion of it to the enclosure.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

chuyler1 said:


> Sealed is more trouble than its worth. Its way to difficult to even get .34 cuft unless you are building the entire door panel from scratch and can incorporate a signficant portion of it to the enclosure.


Well its actually fairly easy for me. I have a 1991 Geo Prizm which has cheap flat thin door pannels. Any curves on it will be mabe by me lol!
This is what they look like now... and where the 7" woofer will go one way or another...


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## DS-21 (Apr 16, 2005)

chuyler1 said:


> Or perhaps people can share there experiences with door panel mounting and how it worked out for them. I'm primarily concerned about the gap that is between teh door panel and the inner skin. There is never a tight seal.


The 1999-2006 Mazda Miata came from the factory with woofers mounted to the inner metal door skin. Bose had them put some open-cell foam around the cavity, but there are still serious midband resonance issues. That's one reason I am so adamant that the only path to remotely decent sound from a stealth install in these cars is to use a 2" wideband driver (mounted in the tweeter hole, which is on the fiberglass door panel) and only use the door woofers below a maximum frequency of 600Hz or so.


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## chuyler1 (Apr 10, 2006)

Nice work on the Prism! Are those the Q-Form generic enclosures? I've never seen them installed before.


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## 3.5max6spd (Jun 29, 2005)

chuyler1 said:


> I have always gone with option A because its quick and easy. However it always hides the speaker behind a cheesy factory plastic grill which doesn't breath very well.


I hear you there. But it IS the most solid baffle you can create for the speaker via door mount. I have drilled more holes into the OEM grill area of the door panel, with little result. What I'm looking into doing is build out the driver as close to the door panel as possible, cut the oem plastic grill area and make my own grill cloth/hardboard grill to cover the driver- let more sound into the car, rather than trapped behind the doorpanel.

While drivers look cool and nice mounted outside the door panels, I have to stay on course of keeping things conceiled and as oem as possible from plain sight.


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

chuyler1 said:


> Nice work on the Prism! Are those the Q-Form generic enclosures? I've never seen them installed before.


Yes they are! Good eye


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## 3.5max6spd (Jun 29, 2005)

Oak244 said:


> Yes they are! Good eye


They look awesome, nice custom look. Did you wrap them in vinyl? Or is it the platic itself?


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## Oak244 (Apr 7, 2006)

Nope that what they look like stock. They were close enough to my interior color I let it be.


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