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Ok, I searched and spent like 2 days reading stuff on here, I am looking more for opinions here than anything else. I realise that our cars suck for imaging, but hey, best imaging I ever heard was a 73 jeep cj7 with rainbows in it.... doesnt mean I am gonna go buy a jeep.
Ok, I am going to be running the new ARC components when they come out next month, actively crossed over, 50w rms to tweets, 50w rms to mids, debating 6.5" or 8"(7") midbass givin 100w rms. Everything is gonna be bandpassed off a ARC DXE.
I am not going for extreme volume levels, I know I could be giving them more power but I dont want to, by the way, with the DXE amps will be getting 9volts input max, so gains will be all the way down. As far as subwoofer goes, I am still working that out.
OK, here is the dabate question. Where the hell should I mount the tweets, midrange (and would 5.25 or 6.5 be better), and midbass. I am lazy, but I am willing to make kicks, but if the q-forms are at all acceptable i would rather run those. I was thinking q-forms with 5.25 and an 8 midbass in the door, or would that just be stupid? This is all for personal enjoyment, so i dont need to go all out for a sq competition car. Thoughts? Crossover points and speaker locations you are currently running? Should I run a membrane box or free air or seled box on the midbasses? I dont really need a lecture, I am new to civics, just looking for individual experiences for best sq and imaging. Thanks ahead of time. I will take pics and document the install once I finalize everything.

 
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Mine are imaged and have silk domes in the kicks and alum dome in the a-pillars. Car sounds aesome. Search for posts by me for pics

 
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our cars are excellent for imaging! if you keep the mid and tweet close together, preferrably in the kick panel location, you'll be able to get proper imaging. that is, if you're going for sound quality. you will also want some type of EQ, like a 31 band. i don't think you will be able to fit an 8" in the door without modification. if you do a 2 or 3 way component set in the front, i would not have any other speakers hooked up except for a sub or two. good luck.

 
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i think unless you have super human hearing a set of kick panels with very good components in them, and a sub or 2 in the trunk, are more than enough! Rear speakers are good as 2- or 3-ways since they really just fill.
With a nice EQ you can do just about anything lol

 
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Either Ludlam Theory(is he even around these parts anymore, I know he was busy with school) or White Rabbit put a set of 8's in the door of either an 01 or 02 civic. Regardless, I'd be incluned to say that for imaging purposes in an SQ type setup the mids and tweets would sound best i the kicks (from personal results) and the midwoofer in the door. Anything will fit, just depends on the modification you're willing to do.

 
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Lower frequencies are less directional and do not require the imagining that higher frequencies do. The doors seem to cause cancellation. I run no door speakers
My setup works great and the stage is up high.

You can see how much we had to move the clutch pedal over for the kicks

Passenger kick

Backside of the kicks

Fiberglassed trunk. 4.1 cu ft. Top is Suede

Deck, EQ, Sirius

DEQ-230

Nice plates eh?

Tweets behind a-pillars

Front of pillars wrapped with grille cloth

Dyed the interior black

Rear deck Diamonds

Cap and distribution block in hiding..

Full size Optima Yellow Top. 0 guage power wire.

 
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don't the rear speakers conflict with your sound stage? also, i would upgrade your ground wires in the engine compartment...just my opinion...

 
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My rear speakers are 10db down on the rear fill. I barely notice them and they're there more for my passengers rather than anything else. As far as the ground in the engine compartment, I agree, lol.

 
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Cool, just what I wanted to see. I already have 2 fullsize optimas in the trunk, 0 gauge to the amps, gotta get a high amp alternator. I would like to do some custom kickpanels like those (interior looks GREAT by the way Rufus) but this is my daily driver/**** car. Everyone drives it, I need to keep it as idiotproof as possible, plus I have too many other projects to spend that much time on it. So anyone have any firsthand experiences with q-forms and sq? Are they worth the money or just a waste? I was gonna try and angle the midbasses in the doors up and back a little to try and eliminate as much cancellation as possible, but i was going to give them a decent amount of power too... I got the eq and crossover situation taken care of also, so right now my big debates are;
1. Are q-forms crap or good?
2. Make 6.5's fit in q-forms/custom kicks or run 5.25's?
3. Midbass in door or somewhere else(under dash?)

 
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Oh yea, I am not planning on running rear fill to start out with, if it needs it i can always do it tho.

 
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First off good luck getting anything under that dash. lol
Second off, I had q forms in my 93 Accord. Compared to my sealed kicks they sucked. I BARELY squeezed 6.5's into them. The need a lot of reinforcement to work.

Thanks on the interior too bad it's dirty as hell in those pics. lol

 
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1. For the price, I think q-forms sound very good in our cars, as i have heard many civics with them.
2. Definitly run a 5.25 in midrange in the kicks. I would even recommend using a smaller 4 inch driver if possible.
3. Put the midbass in the dash aka (center channel) or in the doors.
4. Since your going active like i will be soon. midbass from about 50-250
Midrange from 250 to about 3-4k for kick panel mounting and tweeters up. Should get good results. Just make sure to dampen you doors.

 
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I will agree with "for the price" but then again who else is making prefabbed kicks? nobody

A 4" would be nice if you're running a 3 way. You'll need to buy a trim ring to fit 6.5's in your doors though.

 
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The main reason I was talking about running an 6.5 and 8" midbass was that I listen to a lot of rock and metal music, and trying to get a drop d tuned guitar along with a bass is difficult without a lot of larger midbass drivers. I was thinking more like tweets at around 4.5K on 24db/octave, midrange at 300-4.5, 12db/octave, midbass 65-300, 12db/octave on top, 48db/octave on the bottom.

 
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I used to have Q-Forms, they sounded good, but because they are open backed and because they were plastic, they didn't allow the midbass I used to play any low frequencies. If you want Q-Forms, you have to spend the time and seal off the back with fiberglass. They are meant for 5 1/4" speakers, but my 6" HEX S600s fit perfectly.

for comparison, here are some pics when I had Q forms with 6" HEX components: http://www.sounddomain.com/ride/260166/4

and here are some current pics of my custom kicks with 7" Diamond Audio D9 components: http://slickssite.com/kicks/

Having both, I would rather pay the extra money and put in the extra time for custom kick panels, well worth it at the end.

 
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On the other side of the coin, IF i do seal the q-form and glass the back of it (basically just use the form as a template) and then run a midbass, would that work?

 
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if you are planning to run a mid bass driver, why would you need sealed kick panels producing bass frenquencies?

 
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I guess I didn't really understand. If you are going to be using a dedicated midbass in the doors, and a 4" or 5.25" in Q-Forms, then I wouldn't seal off the back of the Q-Forms. I say you should seal the Q-Forms if you are going to be running a midbass driver in the kick panel.

 
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Agreed

 
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Allrighty then. It will probably be a week or two untill I can get the components, but I am gonna nab some 8" drivers and see if I cant find a good place to put them. If not I will probably get a 7" or smaller driver, like the diamond or elemental designs or CDTs.