Headrest speakers... I've found some 3" that may work.

poison · Post by **poison** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:59 pm

While looking for some small head rest speakers I stumbled across some
Boschmann 3" two way full range 55W rms speakers at www.etechnology.co.nz for
$27.90/pair (see link below for specs). Anyway I've emailed them about our
club and they are offering a possible discount structure, if I get anywhere
I'll put them onto Nigel for possible advertising in our mag.

Has anyone seen these speakers before???

The advantage is the 3" size is simple fitting, and the 3" leaves room to
insert a small enclosure behind the speaker (maybe made from a plastic cup).
having a sealed enclosure will make the speaker sound much better being less
tinny and also will probably last longer than one operating in free space
(such as a 4" with just a hole cut in the foam).

For those unconvinced, just unscrew one of the standard (crappy) headrest
speakers and compare the sound in and out of the little box, turn up the
volume the speaker will soon become harsh and tinny. I'm sure you've all heard
the difference in a car speaker in and out of the car door or rear shelf.

The link...
http://etechnology.co.nz/xurl/PageID/10 ... /98222/pmm_
id/0/content.html

Gazza
"PO1SON"

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:50 am

WELL DONE Gazza!. However:

Tried researching this company via various audio tech review sites -not
much on them, They have a neat web site - but that says nothing about
their speaker performance.

Given the price and as I understand it they are a German manufacture,
the price is low for what is usually an expensive products (German
made).

Having said that, for under $30/pair, there is not that much to lose...
Anything would be better the OMEs

Regards
Bill

dscotland · Post by **dscotland** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:26 am

the brand is known to me as a no-name entry level brand, commonly carried
by auto sparkys looking to make some retail $$ on the side, B and I would
describe them as not great (although still probably better than OE). B Are
you sure they are German made or are they Chinese made and branded like
Bosch to make you think they are made in Germany??

If you guys want to find speakers better than standard, let me know what
your requirements are and I'll do some research via work contacts. B I don't
have the speaker problem because the seats are in my garage rather than in
my car (I have race seats)

Cheers

Duncan ( used to be a car audio product manager)
By the way, I have no personal involvement in any other brand, if I did I
would tell you and you would be getting a full-on sales pitch right
now... B

|-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------|
| Bill Rehm | |
| <bill@kase.co.nz> | |
| Sent by: | To|
| e-admin@mx5club.org.nz | "'MX5List'" |
| | <mx5list@mx5club.org.nz> |
| 20/09/2004 08:50 a.m. | cc|
| | |
| Please respond to | Subject|
| MX5List<mx5list@mx5club| RE: Headrest speakers... |
| .org.nz> | I've found some 3" that may|
| | work. |
| | |
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| | |
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WELL DONE Gazza!.However:

Tried researching this company via various audio tech review sites bnot
much on them, Theyhave a neat web site b but that says nothing about their
speaker performance.

Given the price and as I understand it they are a German manufacture, the
price is low for what is usually an expensive products (German made).

Having said that, for under $30/pair, there is not that much to loseb&b&.
Anything would be better the OMEs

Regards

Bill

Creating Great Places To Work!

KASEConsulting Group Ltd.

www.kase.co.nz

bill@kase.co.nz

T:B 64 9 523 5238

M: 64 21 366 999

F:B 64 9 523 2619

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:03 am

Duncan

I would go to the TAB and bet you are correct about the Chinese-German
connection. I personally would be interested in your doing the research
and suspect I would not be alone in spite of someone on this list who
has identified speakers in the US which I believe where 3.5".

Regards
Bill

poison · Post by **poison** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:12 pm

Fair comment about the dubious speaker quality, but to be
honest unless these are really crap I dont think anyone
will be able to tell the difference between these and some
at $100 a pair. And again, unless they are really crap I
think that having them in some form of sealed enclosure will
have a far greater impact than spending an extra $100. They
have possibly played on the Bosch name, but its also a
fairly common German name who knows, but made in
China so are most other audio products. The again if
you can find a reasonable 3 speaker for not too much
money many would be keen to hear. Good point about the 3
= too, as they are in fact 87mm, I didnt notice
that.

The main issues for me and I guess many others is
a) the size, allowing easy installation (with an enclosure
if motivated enough during the install) Ill try and
invent a simple enclosure and publish it.
b) the power capacity, although from memory they claimed 35W
rms (who really knows) they have to be better than the stock
units, most end users are now buying (so called) high
powered head units with a claimed 50Wx4 which in reality
probably comes in at about 14W rms, but this is still more
than the stock speakers can handle.
c) The $$$$.

Anyway Ill be getting some of these for my car soon,
hes offered them at $24 a pair including freight which is
15% (better than a kick in the pants) and Ill do a sound
off between the two set-ups in each seat. I have an audio
test CD thats just perfect for this purpose.

Cheers

Gazza
PO1SON

[...]

Rex Johnston · Post by **Rex Johnston** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:01 pm

poison wrote:

The main issues for me and I guess many others is
a) the size, allowing easy installation (with an enclosure
if motivated enough during the install) Ill try and
invent a simple enclosure and publish it.

I doubt any enclosure that you can fit in there will help much. Find a driver
with a nice high Qts (around .7 is ideal for free space operation).

b) the power capacity, although from memory they claimed 35W
rms (who really knows) they have to be better than the stock
units, most end users are now buying (so called) high
powered head units with a claimed 50Wx4 which in reality
probably comes in at about 14W rms, but this is still more
than the stock speakers can handle.

The rated power of drive units and speakers is just rediculous. Speakers
are no
more efficient than typical lightbulbs. Can you imagine how hot a 35w
light bulb gets?
Then channel this heat into the voice coil of said speaker and imagine
what will happen.

Yes, very smelly.

A much more important indicator of auto-sound drive unit performance is
efficiency.

A good unit such as this one,
http://www.d-s-t.com/vifa/data/tc08sd49-04a.htm will mean
less stress on your poor head unit, as well as less excess heat.
Co-axial tweeters usually
suck too. Some are little more than pezio elements that squeak at just a
few resonance modes
creating the impression of a tweeter. At this size driver, either get an
external tweeter, or forget
it.

c) The $$$$.

You get what you pay for, the Boschmann stuff is crap. If you want it,
go into a trade
electrical place, and you'll find it *real* cheap.

Rex

<SNIP>

Bill Rehm · Post by **Bill Rehm** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm

Well, if someone doesn't come up with an alternative before 23 November,
I'm bring back from the USA 2 pairs of the Clarions someone recommended
a while back. BTW, how do the Clarion's perform???

Regards
Bill

dscotland · Post by **dscotland** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:33 pm

Hi, I'm getting replies to emails on the list without ever receiving the
original emails. B Whats the story with that? B Gazza, I didn't get your
original note, which I assume has been replied to below?

Rex Johnston · Post by **Rex Johnston** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:43 pm

Bill Rehm wrote:

Well, if someone doesn't come up with an alternative before 23 November,
I'm bring back from the USA 2 pairs of the Clarions someone recommended
a while back. BTW, how do the Clarion's perform???

I did. Vifa are one of the largest, and certainly most prestigious
makes of drive units
in the world.

A good unit such as this one,
http://www.d-s-t.com/vifa/data/tc08sd49-04a.htm will mean
less stress on your poor head unit, as well as less excess heat.
Co-axial tweeters usually

Cheers, Rex

David & Judy Kerr · Post by **David & Judy Kerr** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:09 pm

I would personally like to see your comparison to these speakers, anything
to make things better.

Dave.

David & Judy Kerr · Post by **David & Judy Kerr** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 11:10 pm

Do you guys' have these nice metal grills? if so how much please?

Dave.

carl.halvorsen · Post by **carl.halvorsen** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:02 pm

C'est moi

I bought 3.5" Clarions from a company on eBay for $US13 a pair. Had tweeters
in the centre as well and sound great . Model Clarion SRC 925.

Carl

carl.halvorsen · Post by **carl.halvorsen** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:05 pm

Hi Bill
They are great. If anyone wants a pic of them in the seat, email me.

Carl

poison · Post by **poison** » Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:33 pm

Hi Carl

And thanks for the gear boot, looks awesome. I'd like a picture as I'm about
to embark on the install of my 3.5" ones.

Gazza

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