CarAudioTopic: Need more midrange bass

[Ns1]

Setup:
5 1/4 JL components (XR something, 170ish on eBay back in the day new. )
-> JL 300/2

1 JL 12w3
-> JL 500/1
Head Unit: Alpine something. Pretty gangster though.
Car: 97 Prelude
Notes: I removed the rear speakers a long time ago. I'm part of the crowd that thinks having rear fill is wack and doesn't portray the live music experience
Music: Rock

The problem: I NEED MORE MID RANGE. I dig the current setup I have. In a car my size, it's nice and loud w/o being a menace to other cars. But, there's a huge gap in uh perception? The components do a great job with the vocals, guitars (goddamn I love distortion), and drums. The sub is (obviously) good for the bass drum and SOME bass guitars. It's fantastic at Sublime-ish bass, SOME tool...

but for more mid-range bass, I'm completely fubar'ed. Think RHCP - Flea, and some of the more technical tool stuff. I play bass so I know where to listen for it, but it's just flat out not prominent enough. What can I do? I've played with the EQ and crossovers, and I just think my setup isn't capable of playing the frequencies I want at the volume I want.

I'm thinking 6x9's in the back would help, but don't really want the rear fill. I am destined to get 6x9's? Do I get some 10's?

 

[spidey07]

You're not gonna get it with the 5.25s, some other speaker is going to have to produce that range.

6x9s would work in the back or try messing with your crossover point so your sub picks up the bass.

Also, midrange is vocals. I had a 99 prelude and added kick panel extensions to put in some MB quart 6.5s. But you can't get really good mid-bass out of small speakers, especially since they are buried down by your feet.

If you truly want a stage in front of you you're going to have to get bigger speakers and more enclosure volume up front - new kick panels specfically made for your car.

 

[thomsbrain]

If the sub isn't playing all the frequencies up to the point where the other speakers take over, you'll need to turn up the crossover until it does. The trade-off is that things get more "boomy" without providing any additional "kick." So you'll need to find the sweet spot, or adjust using EQ to allow the sub to play low-mids, but still put the emphasis on the super low stuff.

I personally hate mid-range bass. Anything over 80 Hz and below ~800 Hz is just a bad region for me. It sounds like mud to me and I hate stereos that emphasize it, especially to the detriment of the fundamentals (sub 120 Hz stuff). Keep in mind that even a regular guitar in regular tuning produces an 80Hz fundamental on "low E." Bass guitar starts at 40 Hz in regular tuning, and can go a lot lower on a 5 string setup. Anything else is just overtones. That said, you definitely need some, or it will sound thin and lifeless, and you may have trouble distinguishing notes and stuff.

 

[Ns1]

Yeah, in bass terms the the E/D strings would sound fantastic on my setup up to about the 5th fret, anything on the A/G strings are going to get lost between the lows and the highs.


So pretty much 6x9's or custom kicks with a bigger driver up front?